Gerben47

I thought about it some more, our (2/1 GF) sequence would be: 1S - 1NT (forcing, rightfully! worried about favorable 1S opening bid) 2H - 2NT (invitational, not liking what I'm hearing so far) pass (me neither) It's probably scramble home making two tricks in each suit.

I agree with most of your analysis, it's a close call between pass, 1S and 2S on the east hand. I think I would open 1S and be dummy in 2NT or even 3NT. Then I think the west hand is a clear pass in fourth seat. You have no spades, and you have no rebid. The third problem for many pairs was how to brake after 1minor was opened. I can imagine 1C - 1S - 2C and 1D - 1S - 2C as possible auctions. 1C - 1S - 2D is very bad, that is a reverse bid and shows 16+ points! East understandibly liked his hand which as said above was judged an opening bid by some. Of course, give partner T3 43 AK653 A543 And 4S is an excellent contract, although partner has only 11 points (although these cards are all working, he could easily have a king more and not do anything if you bid 2S now). Alas, even 2S was in danger opposite the actual hand, and if you invite with 3S now you are already too high... There's no "right" bid with the east hand on this auction. Both can be wrong. Solution: Don't play strong jump shifts. Use 1 suit - 2 higher suit to show 5 - 8 HCP and 6-card suit (a sort of weak two bid). With the current hand you can now bid 1D - 1S - 2C - 2S and show 9 - 11 HCP with a 6-card spade suit (the actual hand). For the stronger hands (including those that used to make strong jump shifts) you can jump to 3S on this auction (which is now game forcing!), or even 4S with an independent suit. Or you can bid 4th suit forcing and then spades.

Good question. I bid what I have, which is the king of clubs. Ancient Chinese Wisdom: Why ask the question if you don't want the answer? I'm used to specific kings as well, playing foo+1 as specific kings and foo+2 as number of kings in the auction you mentioned (and in fact 4S as RKCB hearts). What if these are the hands? AKxxxx AKxx Ax x x QJxxx Qxx AKxx If you don't bid your king, don't expect to find the grand.

What's the point? If they want to play against each other they can just open a table or a team tournament.

I would like to try that as well. I assume you mean the system as described in the Groetheim - Sontag book. Please message me or mail me at Gerben AT t-online DOT de to set a time where we are both online.

As defender, when declarer makes an incorrect claim, I don't play on but since I can look at all 52 cards now I make a new offer. This way you avoid declarer taking advantage of changing his line. If I ever make an incorrect claim I hope my opponents will do the same. Another point here: Don't claim unless you are AT LEAST 100% sure of the final result. In real life you can easily make a conditional claim (making, or +1 if the heart finesse works), but on BBO that's not so easy. If there is a correct claim, it is the job of the claimer to EXPLAIN the claim. That's why so many good claims are rejected in my opinion, because the claimer does not take the effort to write down the intended line.

You will need to do more to upset Agustin (was he your partner?). Did LHO have to borrow a double card? :) I like 1NT, and even more of the 4S - 4NT - 5C - 5D try. You won't lose anything as you plan to play 5D anyway, and occasionally something good happens. I had this auction against me. 15 HCP, 2434, no one vulnerable at MP. 1NT would've been 11 - 14. 1C (1S) p (p) dbl (p) p (1NT) dbl (p) p (2C) dbl (p) p (2H) dbl (p) p (p) Misdefended for just made, but even down one (+100) would've been a terrible score, as we can make 10 tricks in spades or diamonds, even though spades break 5-0 (the spades were AJ - K7xxx - QT98xx - void round the table). RHO was 0535. Although we were done in by the spade overcall, we might have recovered if we hadn't been caught in the double rhythm...

Hi Misho & others, I'm also very interested. You can contact me under gerben AT t-online.de Thanks from just another crazy system addict :)

Although I like my NT range to be 14 - 16 for Precision, I think these hands are all worth 1NT 13 - 15. With 4432 the only possible excuse is that you think your hand is worth too much or too few for 1NT (because of the actual cards). 1NT is descriptive and therefore correct. Talking about rebids, have you thought what you do after 1D - 2C? I'm sure that 2NT now shows the balanced hands OUTSIDE the 1NT opening range. If you have balanced hands in the 1NT opening range, you have a problem. The solution is that you should've opened 1NT (Bidding 3NT slams the door in partner's face if he has, say, 6C + 4S and game force. Say goodbye to your 4-4 fit.)

I don't know if I count as an expert but I'll give it a try. 1 IMPS, both vul East S 8 H AKT832 D A753 C AK South West North You (east) 2D* 2NT Pass ? (2D is multi, weak 2 either Major) 4D Texas followed by ace asking. If I fear my partner does not understand Texas transfers I will just shoot 6H. The good thing about opponents being vulnerable is that about all the missing HCPs will be in spades (i.e. if partner has the ace of spades we are unlikely to have a loser) #2, Matchpoints, neither vul South S 4 H J853 D J64 C T6532 West North East South 1H PASS 4H DBL PASS ? Take out partner's take out double. 5C, confidently. #3, IMPs, EW vul East S A43 H Q52 D A85 C AQ42 South West North East(YOU) 1H 2H(*) 3H ? 2H = spades and a minor We're vulnerable so even my usual partner will have something in this situation. With KC probably wrong and still a possible heart loser I will not try for slam. 4S. #4, Dlr: East Vul: Both North S 42 H KQ975 D AQ5 C Q87 East South West North Pass 1H 3S ? Tough situation. Double followed by whatever number of hearts is necessary. 4H would show less. Over 4S I am bidding on partner's singleton spade but it cannot be helped. #5. Imps, Dlr: West Vul: NS South S 632 H K96 D J5 C QT843 West North East South PASS 1D 1S PASS 3S DBL PASS ? 5C. Partner is likely to be 1453 / 1444. Either way I want to play 5C. Gerben

Agree with 4H, disagree with 5H. Agree with psyching, disagree with choosing 1H. Put me down for a spade here.

Well the only situation where I play them is on the two-level. Since 2H is weak with both majors, the weak two in hearts hands have to go somewhere. They're in 2D with some strong variants. Gerben

In defence of strong pass systems: The primary purpose of the fertilizer bid is NOT to destroy the opposing bidding. It is to have a bid available with the weak hands that can not be bid if pass is something else. The point of having pass as something else is the simple principle of having more space available. There are 61.8% more possible uncontested sequences below 3NT after pass than there are after 1C. THAT is the point of strong pass systems. The hands where you are least likely to want to exchange a lot of information are the hands with 0 - 8 HCP. If you pass with that, this is a waste. If you systematically open 1something with them, that is much better (except when you go for a number). If you compare Moscito (Pass 0 - 8 (9), 1C 15+, rest 9 - 14) with a Forcing pass system (pass 14+, some bid 0 - 7 (8), rest 8 - 13), you see that the burden has been redistributed in a better way. I will give one argument against ferts. The higher your fert is, the more it is designed to destroy the opponent's bidding. If you want to ban fertilizer bids (which I personally don't), I can suggest a middle way. Allow them but only as 1C or 1D. These opening bids don't mean anything in some other systems anyway.

The best uses of the bid are Brown Stickered by the powers that be, but here goes: a) Weak Two in Diamonds or Hearts (saves 2H for Ekren) B) Wilkosz (5-5 weak, not both minors) Some great ones which are non-brown sticker: c) Rough Diamond - Weak two-suiter in diamonds and a major d) Bloody Mary - Weak two-suiter in the red suits With a) - d) the you still need to be able to handle your strong hands, though. Under the "still good but not as good as the ones mentioned" I rate: e) Multi (weak in major, strong in minor or NT) f) Weak two in Diamonds (not as harmless as it looks, limits space for big hands though) g) Weak two in Hearts or strong (helpful because it solves the NT ranges problem) Under the "bad choices" I rate: h) Flannery i) Anything that denies a weak hand For a lot of different options, visit Chris Ryall's Weak Two Archive: http://www.cavendish.demon.co.uk/bridge/weak.two/ Gerben

1S - Agressive but nothing wrong with that 3H - Terrible! In a strong auction you need room, and you have just taken it away with a bid that does not really describe your hand anyway. There is only one bid here. It's 2H. 3S - Normal. You have a minimum hand with longer spades than promised. 4C - Finding out that he preempted himself on the previous round. Pass from opener - Wrong since you don't want to play clubs. At all. Especially if one opponents has 5 of them. Pass from responder - Not unreasonably expecting more than one club with partner. For the worst bid, it is clearly 3H because it was totally inconsiderate and the cause of the problem in the first place. Suppose the auction had gone: 1S - 2H 2S - 3C 3D - 4NT pass Much more room to bid what you have and end safely on your feet. Gerben

Hi, I was playing an 8 board team match on BBO and at some point I made a psych. Now the opponents (one of which was the match organizer) were mad at me because they said psyching in 1st and 2nd seat is forbidden. I replied that I had never heard of such a rule, and they said it was somewhere in the conditions of contest. Since there were no special conditions for the match I decided to read all the BBO conditions of contest again, but did not find anything. Even if it's not in the rules, this won't get rid of the block in people's minds. Anyone have any idea to approach people who think psyching is cheating? BTW, the reason why I psyched on the hand was because we needed a swing in order to win the match, and the hand looked right for it. We achieved a good score on the hand.

Favorite Conventions: Stayman Lebensohl (in many situations) Splinter Bids (in many situations) Ekren 2H (opening bid of 2H shows 4-4 in majors weak) Serious 3M+1 (so 3S over hearts and 3NT over spades) Treatments: Weak jump shift Fit showing jump Weak notrump Not-for-penalty doubles (in all of its zillion variations) Conventions to definitely live without: Cappelletti (1. Because of the penalty double, 2. Because of 2D showing majors instead of 2C or 2H) Gerber Flannery And some treatments I would not want to teach beginners even if the local standard system says so: Strong jump shifts Acol Two Bids

For Beginners / Intermediates I would not recommend Ghestem, as it can only be played if both players have a very good memory for it. You won't be the first to go (1S) 3C with long clubs, partner alerts 5-5 in red suits, uh oh... And unfortunately, not the last either. So let's stick to the most common agreement: Michael's Cuebid and Unusual 2NT. A cuebid of a major shows the other major and a minor, and 2NT as the two minors. The cuebid of a minor shows both majors, and 2NT shows hearts and the other minor. Spades and the other minor can not be shown, this hand is bid naturally, starting with 1S. Also, I play this (or Ghestem) as either weak or strong, so not with inbetween hands. This is because these are the hands where you don't know what to do after (1H) 2H (p) 2S (p) or (1H) 2NT (p) 3C (p) Partner has shown preference and now you have a hand that is not weak (which would pass), and not strong (would bid again). You would have to guess. Not so good. So for example, your (1H) 2H bid is either something like KJTxx x KQTxx xx (good intermediates like the T in both suits is a plus) or at least: AKQxx x KQJTx xx (A hand that can almost bid game by itself) but not something like: KQTxx x AQJxx xx since now we have to guess after partner's preference. Gerben

Try to find out from other clues which play is more likely to succeed. If there are no clues or the clues balance out, take the squeeze, unless you are playing MP in an ordinary contract and you want to go with the field.

Hi, I like having two forcing opening bids to solve this problem (in my case 2C and 2D). I for one play this: 11 - 13: 1NT (or 1x then 1NT) 14 - 16: 1x then 1NT (or 1NT directly) 17 - 18: 1x then 2NT 19 - 20: 2C then 2NT 21 - 22: 2NT 23 - 24: 2D then 2NT 25 - 26: 2C then 3NT 27 - 28: 2D then 3NT 29+: theoretically 2D then 4NT but don't wait up for it. If you don't have two forcing opening bids you have a problem with 3-point ranges or having trouble with the real monsters. If you play with one forcing bid I suggest playing 1x then 2NT as 18 - 20 and 2NT as 21 - 22. It also helps if you can play 2D with both weak and strong variations, but this is not allowed in all countries. Gerben

I use 1430, unless the ace asking bid is one below 5 of the asked suit. (I.e. 4NT for clubs, or 5D as exclusion for hearts). So you're not forced to 6 if partner turns out to have no aces.

After 1D - 2C requires 11 or good 10 HCP. So yes, partner can have some 10-counts and bid 1NT. What do I do after 1D - 1NT? It's close between an optimistic 2H and a pessimistic pass. Since we open light 2H is probably right since CK tends to have some value if partner fails to have D,H or S. For 1NT to go wrong it has to be 1NT all pass and 2suit is better, or some slam try in clubs, or opponents play and partner thinks you have another club. For 1D to go wrong it has to be 1D - 1NT - 2H and going down in 2NT - 1 or something like that. Both might go wrong so I like using the bid that doesn't misdescribe my hand.

Easy 1D for me, but with my partner I have methods to bid 4441 with different strengths after the expected 2C by partner. 1D - 2C - 2H = a) 4=4=4=1 B) Extra values and club fit c) Natural reverse 2S asks which one it is

1NT - 2NT (minors) 3C (preference) - 4H (XRKC) 4S (1/4) - 4NT (Queen?) 5H*(yes and KS) - 5S (Queens?) 6NT (both) - 7D (thanks!) *5C = no, 6C = yes no king, 5D = yes and KD, 5H = yes and KS, 5S = yes and both Ks 1NT - 2NT (minors) 3D (preference) - 4H (XRKC) 4S (1/4) - 4NT (Queen?) 5H* (yes and KS) - 5S (Queens?) 6NT (both) - 7D (thanks!) *5D = no, 6D = yes no king, 5C = yes and KD, 5H = yes and KS, 5S = yes and both Ks Just in case you were wondering why 2NT is minors: 2S is either invitational to 3NT (asks min/max) or signoff in 3C/D 2NT is both minors 3m asks 3NT bid with top honor in that suit

Hi, I was wondering what level of play people expect from players with level: a) Advanced B) Expert c) World Class