TWO4BRIDGE

This system I prefer uses 3C! = GF, and may be artificial, but could just have a long Sp suit. On this deal a bit of serendipity occurs when Opener has a Cl suit and only 2 cards Sp : 1NT - 2H! 2S - 3C! ?? .. 3D! = cheapest new suit agrees Cl and only 2 cards Sp. .. 3S! = long Sp suit, and no real Cl suit .. 3NT = agree neither .. 4C! = agree both: 3s AND 4+c After: 3D! - ?? Responder was going to just rebid 3S to show his long Sp suit ( and cancel interest in a Cl suit ), but a surprising turn of events occurs when Opener really has a Cl suit too; with no 2 quick losers in any other suit, Responder invokes 4C! = minorwood to find out about Cl honors: 3D! - 4C! 4S! ( 2 - cQ ) - ?? Now Responder knows they are missing either a red Ace or the cK as well as the cQ so he makes a surprising PASS of 4S . ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Side issue: I wonder how OP reached his 6S slam ? I bet is was TEXAS followed by 4NT ( RKC ) .

I'm afraid I might get into trouble with my favorite gadget. With suit agreement, I'm tempted to launch into RKC ( by South ), and I'm only saved from destruction if North doesn't give a "void reply" : 1D - 1H 2S! - 2NT! ( artificial GF -- asks ) 3D! - 4D ( long ♦, no 4s, no 3h -- agree ♦ ) 4H! - 4NT! ( kickback RKC -- 2nd step = 1 key ) 5D But if Opener had the ♥A instead of the of the ♠A, slam is practically a laydown. Tough problem.

West East - 1D 1S 4D! ( 4s/6d, CWNN ) 6S

Good questions....I don't know... ( I was not at the table ) . So far, Pass/Correct makes the most sense since South still doesn't know North's long Major. But I think North thought South had 5 cards Hts and short Sp.... perhaps 1 5 2 5.

[hv=pc=n&s=sq4hq953dj7cakt54&w=sak5hk86dakt52c86&n=sj98732haj4d64c32&e=st6ht72dq983cqj97&d=n&v=e&b=9&a=2dp2s(%20invite%20for%20Hts)2np3cd(penalty)3dpp3hdppp]399|300| IMPs 2D! = weak 2H or 2S or strong 2NT[/hv] 3HX-3 went for - 10.4 IMPs whereas 3S-1 was -0.8 or in some cases 3S made with imperfect defense for + 3.8 Who's To Blame ( WTB , aka ATB ) ? ( N/S allows 4-of-other-Major for their Multi weak-2 bids ).

Agree

Ok... agreeing Cl was an "easy" one. But, what if Opener wanted to "agree Spades -- slammish" instead ? How should it go ? [hv=pc=n&s=sk42hkqt84dakt9c5&n=saq873had4ckqt943&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1hp2cp2dp2sp2np3sp]266|200[/hv]

Continue with a full auction .

Coincidently, this hand came up last night. 9 of 19 tables reached slam. I picked the best auction ( IMO ) although none were w/o flaws. EDIT: I just reviewed all of the biddings... 15 Responders bid 1♠ and only 2 bid 2♣ ! ! ! ( I guess that doesn't say much for the caliber of the players ). One table opened 1NT and another opened a "big club" . [hv=pc=n&s=sk4hqt843dakt9ca5&n=saq873had4ckqt943]133|200| IMPs[/hv] 2/1 GF context South North 1H 2C! 2D 2S 2NT 3S ?? What does South do now after partner has shown his 5s/6c ? Or should I say what is his best course of action ? Is there a key card ask available? ( not that it would help if 2 ♥losers ) What would/should 4NT be asking? Does Responder have a ♥-control ? He could be 5 2 0 6 with two ♥losers ?

Double with this strong hand ... and protect partner since you are playing the Neg-DBL convention.

The separate forum heading could be ( right below the A/E forum): By Invitation Only .... Forum exclusively designated for stuck up @$$holes I still like the idea of "just click out" if you have issues with the post... or poster. But I realize it is more fun to subject someone to public ridicule.

What was double ? A mistake, that's what... since he held 3 cards in partner's suit. 2H had to be of some length ( at least 6 cards ) which would mean the Responder conceivably had shortness there. If the Doubler had such a good hand, but not worthy of an immediate penalty DBL, he could have raised to 3H or 4H ( with Spade tricks behind Opener). I can see a penalty double w/o Ht support ... ( So in answer to your question, the belated DBL WAS for penalty ). As it was, 2SX might have made or maybe be off only 1 when 3H or 4H makes.

What does a DBL mean in Direct seat over (1NT ) ?

The 3H-jump rebid after a 2/1 GF sets Hts as trumps and demands cheapest ( mixed ) cuebids. Is your Ht suit long enough and near solid to do that ? If not, a 2H rebid would suffice, showing extra length, but says nothing about "extras". This way you have enough room to show your 5s/6c at the 3-level ( via whereagles bidding, post #14 ).

Here is my horrible bid: Meckwell 4NT! = Voidwood-RKC for ♥, excluding the ♠A ( because 4S! would be ordinary RKC for ♥) That way if LHO raises to 5S, we have DOPI; or if he DBLs, we have ROPI.

♦ Hellooo, Zel .... long time no see :-) I just reviewed my notes for the "2nd K-ask " : [EDIT: The source of this aspect of RKC was compiled by a fellow nicknamed "PriorKnowledge" and was derived from several sources including Washington Standard by Steve Robinson and Eddie Kantar’s web-site (which has since been removed). ] . Spades are trump... 5NT ( specific K-ask ) - 6C ( ♣K = cheapest bid K ) 6D ( 2nd K-ask and specifically "asks for" the ♦K ) - ?? 6H = denies ♦K but have ♥K ( can bid this since it is below 6-trump ) 6S = no more K's 6NT* = have ♦K ( NT shows the feature of the "asking suit", Diam in this case ) but denies ♥K 7D = ♦KQ 7H = ♦K AND ♥K 7S = singleton ♦ 7NT = "unexpected source of tricks" eg. ♦K Q J T x ( however, 7NT with this holding would be made after the 1st K-ask; whereas something like ♦KQx together with ♥or ♣KQx would qualify for a 7NT bid after the 2nd K-ask. __________________________________________________________ * 6NT ( showing ♦K this way allows "asker" to chose the final contract ) An "older version" said to bid 7-trump with the "asked for King " , but as noted above, you can utilize 7-trump to show a singleton in the "asked for suit".

1st choice is 4C! also [ CWNN ] . A distant 2nd choice is a wimpy 3D! ( reverse-jump splinter which can keep the bidding at the 3-level ).

3C! , limit raise+ ( one more Sp and I would have splintered, 4C! ). ..... If you don't support now, your side may be a in a quandry if West raises to 5C ....

Without any other factors involved, the 3-2 split is almost 68% whereas the finesse is only 50% .

3♣ As I said in the other post, this allows Responder to next bid 3♥ w/extra length ( 6 cards or a very good 5). Now Opener w/2h can "agree ♥ " with a 4♥ bid and the auction is "clarified" because next: 4S! ( or 4NT!) is RKC for ♥ or 5H! is asking for a ♠ - Ctrl - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - If Opener takes up the "space" with the "ambiguous 3H" call ( 2 or 3 cards ♥ ), you eliminate Responder's ability to make a RKC bid ( unless prior agreement with 4S! ) or a well-defined 5H bid when you need a ♠-control.

And now for Justin's other 4SGF auction containing the Ht suit. I know he avoided "artificiality" , but I never do. I have a possible simple solution ( somewhat analogous to the Muppet solution for the problem hand [5s/4h] in Puppet auctions ): Switch the meanings of 2NT and 3H ! ! ! 1D - 1S 2C - 2H! ?? ..2S = have 3s ..2NT!= no 3s, but have 4h(w/4h Responder can now bid 3H[let the cuebidding begin]; anything else denies 4h) ..3H! = no 3s, no 4h, but have Ht-stop ..3D = no 3s, no Ht-stop, but have 6d/4c or good-5d/4c ..3C = no 3s, no Ht-stop, but have 5d/5c [ Edit: or not-so-good-5d/4c "catchall" ].

As usual, J-Lo's posts are well thought out and Justin makes compelling arguments. But on a few points, I have to agree with PHIL ( pass the smelling salts, please ) although not on all things...lol ( I did re-read your posts, phil -- I now agree that 3H [ by Opener ] does not "agree Hts" ). I think, as phil and others have stated, the 3♥ bid would be better served to show 3 cards -- NOT 2 ( but IMO not attach any "extras" meaning -- didn't Opener's 2C rebid after his 1D open deny little, if any, extras ? ) . I think, if Opener has 2 cards Hts and no Sp-stop, he should rebid 3D or 3C -- the 3C being the last option as "could be only 4 cards" . Afterall, we have numerous cases where " Clubs get little or no respect ". But here is my main argument against what I would label " the ambiguous 3H bid " ( as showing 2 or 3 cards ) . You have eliminated " room " for Responder to make a 3H bid with at least 6 cards ( or a good 5 card Ht suit like in the OP [ post # 9 ]: A K Q J x ); and have subsequently eliminated clarification of the 5-of-trump bid and have eliminated the use of any RKC-asking bid ! ! Allowing room for Responder to bid 3H would NOW allow suit agreement by Opener ( with 2 cards ) which would clarify 4NT ( or 4S! ) as RKC and 5H! as "asking for a Sp Ctrl ": 1D - 1H 2C - 2S! 3D ( or 3C ) - 3H 4H - 4NT( or 4S!) or 5H

Exactly... Once Opener has bid 3♥ and NOT 2NT, 3C, 3D, or 3S, then he has shown a 1 3 5 4 hand ( as in OP's post # 9 ), and Responder can confidently bid their favorite RKCB ( and not 5♥ ) . 3♥ does not exist ( as I play it ) for a 2 2 5 4 , and if Opener held a 2 3 4 4 he would have rebid 1NT ( not 2C ) with a minimum.... which brings to mind another question: For those who would bid 3♥ on a doubleton in a 4SGF auction, would you also "reply" ♥ with only 2 cards in a NMF auction ? ... or do you think I'm comparing "apples and oranges" ?? 4SGF and NMF are specifically asking for 3 card support ... NOT TWO .... as a first priority. You can only do so much with the limited bidding language, and IMHO, I think bidding 3♥ on a 2 2 5 4 in a 4SGF auction is bastardizing the system( although some will think they are being "brilliantly creative at the table" ).

Sorry, Max Hardy says to bid 3H ONLY w/3 cards... not 2. Next priority is 2NT w/Sp-stop. Failing that, Opener rebids his 1st suit w/ 6 cards or a good 5 . Failing that, rebid his 2nd suit as " least plausible rebid " . Also, in this "special" auction ( 1D - 1H, 2C - 2S!, ?? ) he allows Opener to bebid 3S with only 3 cards ( instead of the usual 4 cards ) since w/4 cards he would have would have rebid 1S over 1H .... showing a 3 1 5 4 or 3 1 4 5 . ( pp 146-149 in the yellow paperback ).

Pass.... intending to convert partner's reopening DBL ...