Pretty sure I'm missing something, but why is #2 so obvious? It looks like a straight-up guess.

Was the ♥4 discard a mistake? If you lead ♥K now, can't they just win and return a heart?

With the play as given it seems better to play West for the ace of hearts and East for Jx or Tx. Run the spade winners pitching diamonds from dummy.

If East stiffs his heart, play the ♣T next and discard a third diamond. West is squeezed. If he keeps two diamonds lead king of hearts. If he goes down to a stiff diamond, we play diamond to ace and then heart to king.

So, East must keep two hearts and two clubs and give up the diamond guard. But now again, we play ♣T and West is squeezed. He must keep two diamonds so he comes down to two hearts; we pitch a third diamond from dummy and lead ♥K.

“Partner, looking at Qxx in trumps, should always ask for another heart.”

Wouldn't that tip declarer off about the ♠Q?

The lichess app is worth a look (and open source).

Hi Eddie, thanks for being in the well!
I remember reading in connection with the Rosencranz kidnapping that you knew the kidnapper pretty well. Is that right? Did he ever do anything to make you think he was capable of a serious crime? And why do you think he did it - was it just for the money?

Hi Geoff - I was wondering about the amount of randomness in high-level matches. For the matches that Diamond plays against other top teams in the trials and the later rounds of national events, do you think most are determined by one team outplaying the other or do you think it's mostly luck (random right-siding, 50/50 slams etc)?

Somewhat related question: how do you and Eric improve going forward? How do you know what to focus on? Is it mostly whack-a-mole ironing out agreements when disasters come up?

What's your continuation when the heart finesse wins and LHO shows out?

Hi Marvin,
I read the editorial but did not see anything calling into question your character or motives - certainly nothing calling you a liar or buffoon or implying that you falsified the report. If anything the takeaway was that people should know the rules and report irregularities just as you did. I agree that it mainly rehashed the story from Mike's perspective. If they can't publish your response due to length, maybe you can ask them to publish a pointer to the full letter here.

I think the problems are getting a level higher when you have an intermediate hand, blabbing your hand type to the opening leader when you have a minimum hand, and helping the ops in deciding whether or not to compete/balance over 2♥.

“It probably won't matter which heart you lead. But in general it is right to signal honestly using the enemy methods.”

Kit (or anyone else), I understand this rule of thumb for attitude or suit preference, but why does it apply to a count situation?

Josh,

“The second option is kind of silly. You may or may not care whether it was signed, but how could you possibly not care if it's accurate?”

I'm not certain of the intent of the poll but I think it's about the requirements for publication on this site.

I care whether it was signed - I think it should be a requirement for publication. This site has a policy of verifying user identity before allowing them to post or comment. Publishing anonymous content would be inconsistent with that policy.

I don't care whether it was accurate - I don't think it should be a requirement for publication. In other words, I don't think bridgewinners should be responsible for fact-checking the content before publication.

Is it necessary for the jaywalker to reasonably foresee the actions of a negligent driver, or is it enough that he could foresee the possibility of danger even if the driver were not negligent?

Applied to the bridge problem, is it necessary (in order to assign any damages to West) for West to foresee East's double with the actual hand, or is it enough that he could foresee the possibility of East doubling with a more reasonable hand and still having it be a disaster?

Hi Art,
I remember you mentioning in another thread that you're a lawyer. How does this “but for” question tend to be resolved under the law? I'm trying to think of a reasonable analogy - maybe this is a bad one but: let's say a driver is driving in an illegal and unsafe manner, driving while texting or something. Someone jaywalks in front of him, he notices late and swerves, hitting a parked car. But for the jaywalker the accident would never have occurred, but there is no excuse for driving while texting in any event. Is the driver fully responsible for the accident?

Does a vote for “100% East” necessarily indicate that the voter would overcall 2♣ with the West hand? The disaster would not have occurred if West had passed. Shouldn't West therefore share some blame unless the voter feels the overcall is clear?

“There is no way partner bidding 5d can expect you to have all this for a 3D bid. So it's easy to argue that your UI suggests you should raise.”

We have evidence in the actual South hand as to what South might have for bidding 5D over a competitive 3D.

Eugene -
Is there a good reason for making the flaggers anonymous (to the community and the poster) and hiding the counts?

Dear Miss Manners: After a successful tattooing is it necessary to stay at the table and share in partner's agony? Or can I go and fetch some water and not come back for 10 minutes?

Jonathan,
(you wrote)
“
'@BWAdmins it would be nice to have a way of pointing someone to a post.'

You mean like this?..
”


I mean a notification service. I don't want to follow this entire thread but I do want to know when Jonathan Ferguson replies to my post. And I want Greg to know when I direct a BWAdmins comment to him.

Mike, if you continue to post like this you'll never get banned or even flagged. It's a self-defeating argument. Also, I think anyone who is nice enough to win a sportsmanship award at bridge should really have an internet alter-ego outlet for his seething rage instead of repressing it all the time. I don't want to be at the table when you finally snap!

You're right about this:
“Is it just me or is it sometimes difficult to read everything?”

@BWAdmins it would be nice to have a way of pointing someone to a post.