Bidding Judgment Solution
You choose to accept the game try, even though you have a balanced hand with no tens. It is more like 15 1/2 points, so it is a marginal acceptance.
Partner tables the following:
9 8 6 4 
K Q 2 
J 6 3 2 
Q 8.
Your LHO starts with the A and continues the suit. With this favorable beginning, you can see eight tricks, and nine if the A is onside. It is not, and you go down two trying to make the hand. The other table scores +90, so you lose 5 IMP’s.
In the post-mortem, partner is thoughtful and conciliatory. “I would not have accepted with your hand,” partner says, ” but some would, and your bid is OK. On a lucky day it would have made.”
Sometimes bridge can be difficult.
http://www.gg.caltech.edu/~jeff/knr.cgi?hand=KJ7+765+AKQ5+K76
K&R (KJ7 765 AKQ5 K76) = 15.45
DK = 16-
http://www.gg.caltech.edu/~jeff/knr.cgi?hand=9864+KQ2+J632+Q8
K&R (9864 KQ2 J632 Q8) = 5.75
DK = 7-
According to the Kaplan and Rubens (and Danny Kleinman) hand evaluator on Jeff Goldsmith’s website, acceptance is marginal, but perhaps within the scope of the “Invite Seldom”, “Accept Often” philosophy of avoiding 2NT. The evaluations of the “invite” strongly suggest partner was using another methodology.
March 18, 2008 Moose