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You may need to break your awards down further. The Non-Natural System Forum and the Advanced-Expert Forum contain threads/posts that are beyond the understanding (or the interest) of most BI. Create a separate award for these two forums. Nominations can come from the posters in these two forums. I will cast the first vote here…(drum roll, followed by clashing symbols)…hrothgar Then create another separate award for the poster who provided the most constructive/helpful advice for the BI. There are plenty of threads seeking help/advice on a wide range of topics. The BI should vote for whoever they believe was the most helpful. This is tougher than you may think. Outstanding advice was received from plenty of (regular) posters. By if you want me to select one…(no offense to the other posters)…then here goes…Zelandakh

I understand that encrypted signals are illegal. Some questions – 1. What are encrypted signals? 2. How do they work? Some examples please. 3. How would you recognise that your opponents are using encrypted signals? At MP, at most you tend to play 4 hands against each opponent. Will this be enough to catch out opponents who use encrypted signals? 4. Suspecting that your opponents are using encrypted signals, how do you prove it? 5. Having caught them out, how does the tournament director rule? ...(a.) Are the cheats red-carded and kicked out the tournament ...(b.) Do all their scores get adjusted where they defended? ...(c.) Something else?

I ran the 5-5 minors 5-10 HCP through BBO's deal generator. The frequency of occurrence = 0.45%. Also for the 5-5 minors 14-18 HCP (1 point short of a strong jump shift/reverse bid). The frequency of occurrence = 0.16%. The 5-5 minors weak gains in frequency of occurrence almost 3-1. The gain in frequency is offset by effectiveness of the bid. More so when partner is unable to lift the preempt further. Bottom line is, it probably will come down to each partnerships individual preferences as to your bidding style.

See my previous post above. 438 Rhinos were poached in South Africa alone for their horns during 2011. The tally for 2012 already stands at 11. It is only a matter of time before the rhino is poached to extinction here as well. There are an estimated 20,000 rhinos left world wide of which 90% can be found in South Africa. In West Africa and Sumatra the rhino has already been poached to extinction. In South Africa the very people who are supposed to be arresting the poachers are often involved themselves. The Kruger National Park is losing rhinos at a frightening rate. (This post has been edited.)

No, the auctions are not connected. I was suggesting that questions 1 + 2 for hand type 3 should be read in conjunction. I was suggesting that opening 2NT with real values and 5-5 minors may not be so easily interfered with by the opponents. With these hand types you will compete to level 3 anyway. So why not go there with your first bid? Awm started a thread titled “Shape First!” http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/9814-shape-first/ Here you are showing shape and real values at the same time, making it less attractive for the opponents to enter the auction with marginal hands.

What has happened to – whereagles aguahombre straube awm mike777 free TWO4BRIDGE blackshoe the hog gnasher etc. I really value your guys input. I am seeking guidance on how to show minor suit orientated hands more effectively. The posts placed here could possibly be of assistance to the BI players as well. Thank you.

This thread has been started to hear others thoughts on bidding minor suit 2-suited hands. Obviously a minor suit is going to be outgunned by the majors, so I am looking for suggestions on how to bid these hand types more effectively. Hand Type 1: 5-5 minors and 5-10 HCP Players who play Multi happily open these hand types with 2NT. The effectiveness of this has often been questioned. All you have succeeded in doing is convey the hand layout and HCP distribution to the opponents making it easier for them to balance and/or the subsequent play of the hand. Defending against this is also easy. One method I have seen used quite often is this – • Double = both majors, majors equal in length • 3♣ = both majors, longer ♥ • 3♦ = both majors, longer ♠ Opening these hand types probably originated from the Unusual 2NT convention. Once the opponents have opened 1 of either major, 2NT shows 5-5 in the minors, either weak (5-10 HCP) or strong (16+). Question: Do we continue opening these hand types with 2NT? Is it better to pass instead and await further developments? What are alternate more effective uses for 2NT (20-22 balanced is obviously a popular choice)? Hand Type 2: 5-5 minors and 11-13 HCP I don’t see any problem here. These hand types are opened 1♦ and over partner’s (expected major suit) response, 2♣ is the rebid. If need be, the ♣ suit is repeated a second time on level 3 to convey the message of a 5-5 minor suit holding. Question: Is there any need to change this agreement? I don’t see any. Hand Type 3: 5-5 minors and 14-17 HCP This is similar to hand type 2 but with this exception. These hand types are also opened 1♦ but after over partner’s (expected major suit) response, opener happily rebids 3♣ at his first opportunity. The message is an attempt to convey distribution and HCP holding. Question 1: If you are quite happy to rebid 3♣ at your first opportunity with these hand types, won’t it be more effective to dump the 5-5 minors and 5-10 HCP from your Multi opening bid and replace it with these hand types? Now your 2NT Multi opening is less likely to be interfered with by the opponents. You have shown real values and partner’s holding in the major suits is unknown. Question 2: When the opponents bid 1M-P-4M-? Holding 5-5 minors and a reasonable HCP holding (16+?), many happily bid 4NT as a takeout of the major in this bidding sequence. If you are happy to do this for takeout, is it not an argument in favour of opening these hand types with 2NT as suggested in question 1? Hand Type 4: 6-5-2-0 minors and 14-17 HCP Here you don’t want the opponents to find a major suit fit at all. Question: How about opening these hand types with 3NT? Partner has the following options over these opening bids – • Pass = stoppers in both majors to play • 4m = shut-up bid to play (bust hand) • 5m = to play • 4M = slam interest in either minor (you can assign any meaning you want to the 4M bid) Hand Type 5: 6-5-1-1 minors 16+ HCP What do you suggest opening with this? Hand Type 6: 6-6-1-0 minors 16+ HCP What do you suggest opening with this? Hand Type 7: As responder holding 5-4 minors and game invitational values For those who play Minor-Suit Stayman, over partner’s 1NT opening bid, 2♠ = 5-4 minors and 10-12 HCP. Question: How do you bid these hand types if you don’t play MSS? (e.g. playing minor suit transfers) Hand Type 8: As responder holding 5-5 minors and game going values Over partner’s 1NT I have seen players bid 3♣ to show 5-5 minors and game going values. I have seen others use the 3♣ bid for Puppet Stayman (2♣ being standard Stayman). And yet others using 3♣ for a ♣ bust. Question: Which treatment is better and why? Hand Type 9: As responder holding 5-5 minors and slam going values. Over partner’s 1NT I have seen players bid 3♦ to show 5-5 minors and slam interest. Question: Do you agree with this treatment or is there a better one? Please add other thoughts on bidding minor suit orientated hands e.g. what do you do with this 2X♠2X♥4X♦5X♣ and 12-13 HCP?

For the benefit of the uninformed (me), could you kindly expand on your point 1 above? 1.) If this is the minority use for 3NT, then what is the majority use? 2.) It appears that you use 3NT for a different meaning. Kindly elaborate. These forums contain a wealth of information for anyone making the effort to read the topics posted. I certainly hope to continue improving as a player. I have posted a question on the meaning of abbreviations in the "General Bridge Discussion" forum as well. If you know the answer, kindly help me there as well. Thank you.

I thought they were good for 1 very simple reason. 14 tables played in 4♥ making 13. 1 table played in 6♣ making 13. These were the only guys to bid the ♥ slam. Who knows how long they have been playing Serious/Frivolous 3NT? Maybe they were a pick-up pair. Maybe these two guys are like me. Whenever experimenting with a new toy, there is always the learning curve. In the beginning one is hesitant, taking instead the safe option. Once you have gained enough confidence with a new toy, exploring for the grand will become easier. I posted the hand for the benefit of non-experts. When they see how the auction unfolded, perhaps they too will be encouraged to experiment with Serious/Frivolous 3NT.

This is an interesting question which is often discussed. I don’t believe that we will ever reach consensus as to what is “right” and what is “wrong.” In the end it will probably come down to partnership agreement and partnership bidding style. Marty Bergen suggested both the Rule of 20 http://www.bridgehands.com/R/Rule_of_20.htm and the Rule of 15 http://www.bridgehands.com/R/Rule_of_15.htm in deciding whether to open the bidding or not. Opening the bidding with hands meeting the Rule of 20 are often overbid. Why? How is partner supposed to know that your opening bid was made using the Rule of 20 and not according to your normal system agreements? Here is a link to an article which appeared in July 2011 in the BBO News having a look at but one example of these hands which are so easily overbid http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/news_fetch.php?id=722 I have a fistful of similar examples.

After having another look at these posts, the following makes a lot of sense to me: 1.) In a 2/1 GF auction e.g. 1♥ 2♣ 2♠ both partners should first bid out their hand shapes. I don't see any reason why the 2♠ bid should be regarded as a reverse bid. 2.) If you want to jump to show a "true reverse bid" all you are doing is taking up your own bidding space. 3.) Once you have established a suit fit (might be on level 3 by now), can't you show extra values for a slam try via Serious 3NT? Or if you play Frivolous 3NT, start cue-bidding on level 4 to show extra values and slam interest?

What do these abbreviations mean? 1.) ODR 2.) POS 3.) SF 4.) DN I managed to figure out NS stands for Non-Serious. (N/S would be North/South). Thank you.

[hv=pc=n&s=sqj87hkq9764dk4ca&n=sak95hjt2dq2ckq82&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1hp2cp3hp4np5sp6hppp]266|200[/hv] I have seen enough disasters such as this one to realise that Kickback is an important toy to have in your partnership agreement. You can place the blame on either partner for bidding mishaps such as these. In the end it matters not who takes the blame. The auction ended in 6 off to Aces. If the ♠ fit was shown the auction could still have ended in 5♠. My personal opinion is that BI should learn both Kickback and ECKB over Hearts (bidding judgement/discipline will also be helpful). Eventually they will move on to Advanced. 1♥ = Natural 2♣ = 2/1 Game Force 3♥ = Extra length/strength 4NT = RKCB 5♠ = 2 keycards plus the trump queen 6♥ = Disaster! 2 keycards missing

[hv=pc=n&s=s64hakjt9dj64cak5&w=sqt952h854dt85c74&n=sa8hq62da3cqj9862&e=skj73h73dkq972ct3&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=1hp2cp3cp3hp3np4sp5cp6hppp]399|300[/hv] These two guys showed how to bid good slams. They were playing 2/1. 1♥ Natural 5-card suit 2♣ 2/1 Game Force 3♣ Club fit 3♥ Heart fit (now they had a fit in 2 suits) 3NT Non-Serious (no extra values) 4♠ Kickback for ♥ 5♣ 3 Keycards 6♥ One other pair played in 6♣. The rest played in 4♥ makeing all 13 tricks.

[hv=pc=n&s=s9h543dt42caj9843&w=sj87542hj2daj5ct2&n=sakqt63ht7dk97ck7&e=shakq986dq863cq65&d=w&v=n&b=12&a=2s3sp4cp4sdppp]399|300[/hv] There is a website titled Poor Bridge http://www.poorbridge.com/ This auction came up today for another strong candidate for the Poor Bridge website. 7 North’s overcalled the 2♠ bid ending in 3♠X or 4♠X. Needless to say they all got hammered. There was only 1 disciplined North who allowed the 2♠ bid to stand which went down 3 for a top score for N/S. The rest of the tables played in a ♥ contract by East.

How does a person determine the level of acceptance for any new system/gadget designed? Enter what I hear referred to as the “Secret Bridge Olympics.” Apparently the “Secret Bridge Olympics” takes place once every four years. The last one took place in France in November 2009. New inventions/gadgets etc get tested by experts. Participation in the “Secret Bridge Olympics” is upon invite only. All people who are invited must have some form of material to be published and willing to share it with those present. All new systems/gadgets etc are then put through the test and if accepted, get published and a name is then giving to the system/gadget. This is where Michael’s, Splinters, Smolen, Staymen etc were tested and accepted. Your contribution (new system/gadget etc) must be handed in on the first day on arrival. Then commences a 3 day tournament played with pre-dealt hands which meet the requirements of each new system/gadget that was submitted. Usually around 250 boards are dealt. New systems/gadget notes are handed out to each player and every time a player chooses to use one of the new systems/gadgets a note is made and the player then rates the system/gadget on a scale of 1 to 3 – 1 = no good, scrap, dump 2 = may work but needs more thought 3 = system/gadget works, no need to make any changes The more points your new system/gadget receives from the invitees to the tournament, naturally the better. Upon arrival the new system/gadget notes must already be translated into in 4 different languages. It saves translation time during the event. Languages of preference = English, German, Chinese, Turkish, Italian, Polish and Spanish in that order. The problem however is receiving an invitation to this tournament. Can anybody supply more detail? These BBO forums are crammed with some fantastic ideas. One of the posters here may quite easily be sitting on the next best seller. CC Wei’s Precision only rocketed to stardom after his team’s phenomenal success at the 1969 16th World Team Championships (Bermuda Bowl). They ended 2nd. Two years later they again made it to the last four. Precision’s popularity grew when the famous Italian Blue Team started developing their own version of Precision. A lot of money can be made from books/royalties if your unique system/gadget gains enough acceptance amongst other players. The problem however facing most system/gadget designers is being able to showcase your invention before the world’s best players. Polish Club by Krzysztof Jassem is another good example of a system which found sufficient support for the designer to publish an updated version roughly every 5 years. We had WJ2000, then WJ2005, and now WJ2010 (Polish: Wspólny Język, literally "Common Language"). WJ2010 is apparently not available in English. Jassem has no plans to translate it as insufficient interest was shown for WJ2005. These forums had a thread on it http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/41287-wj-2010/

BBO has a deal source generator which calculates the odds of being dealt certain hand patterns within a defined HCP range. FWIW I ran both the 4441 hand pattern 17-24 HCP as well as the balanced hand pattern 20-22 HCP through it. This is what it showed: 4441 = 0.05% 4414 = 0.05% 4144 = 0.05% 1444 = 0.05% Total = 0.20% Balanced = 0.85% I fully support your suggestion to rather remove the strong balanced 20-22 HCP hand from the Multi 2♦ bid and retain the strong 4441 17-24 HCP hand instead. One thing we do appear to have agreement on is dumping the 2NT bid to show 5-5 in the minors and 5-10 HCP. If you still want the 5-5 weak option, adopt the Ryall scheme instead. Out of curiosity I ran the 5-5 minors 5-10 HCP hand through the deal generator as well. The odds of being dealt this hand pattern = 0.45%. Dumping it from your 2NT bid in exchange for the strong balanced option is a double gain – 1.) You are dumping a poor option for a very useful bid, 2.) And replacing it with a better option which occurs far more frequently A suggested bidding option to cope with the 4441 hand pattern has already undergone its first round of modification. The game of bridge continues to evolve!

I have another idea on how to deal with a 17-24 HCP 4441 hand. It will only be available for use by players who play Multi. Here’s the basic idea: 1.) Remove the 4441 option from your 2♦ opening bid. 2.) The strong balanced 20-22 HCP option is retained. 3.) Dump the 2NT bid which promises 5-5 in the minors and 5-10 HCP. This must surely be one of the poorer uses for a bid in the current Multi. All you have succeeded in doing is convey the hand layout and HCP distribution to the opponents making it easier for them to balance and/or the subsequent play of the hand. Partner is now marked for any required finesse in the majors. Opener is marked for any required finesse in the minors. 4.) Now that you have dumped 2NT for the minors, use it instead to show the 4441 hand pattern 17-24 HCP. Here is a proposal for the continuation bidding sequence – 3♣ = terrible hand (Say 0-5 HCP. This can be adjusted according to partnership agreement). Subsequent to the 3♣ bid, both partners now start bidding 4-card suits up the line in search of a fit. Finding a 4-4 fit won’t always be possible. You will have plenty of hands where either partner will make the decision to signoff in a 4-3 fit. As soon as opener bypasses any suit, responder knows immediately that that is the suit with the singleton. 3♦ = say 6+ HCP game force whenever opener holds 19+ (18?) HCP. If opener’s singleton is a major he bids the singleton on level 3. If opener’s singleton is a minor, the first choice would be to bid 3NT (this may quite easily be the last game contract which can make). Responders own holding in the minor suits will decide whether 3NT gets passed or not. After 3NT by opener, the contract can still be played with the strong hand hidden in 4 of a major. You can choose to use Texas or SA Texas for opener to transfer into your 4-card major. Similarly when opener has bid 3♥/3♠ as the singleton. If responder has 4-cards in the other major you can transfer into it (again either Texas or SA Texas). The big downside with this approach is this: With a bust hand, bidding 4-card suits up the line, it can and will happen that the strong hand is exposed on the table. Now let us apply this new fangled idea to the auction in the opening post. West = 2NT (announcing the 4441 hand pattern, 17-24 HCP East = 3♣ (terrible hand, 0-5 HCP) West = 3♥ (the ♦ suit has been bypassed announcing it as the singleton) East = 3♠ (to play, our best known fit) All pass A 3♠ contract has every chance of making. In an auction such as this one, E/W can still play in 4♠ where either East or West holds more HCP. Give East say 5 HCP he can still transfer into the ♠ suit on level 4 for West to play the hand. My suggestion is to use SA Texas to remove any doubt from West as to what is going on. With more HCP East will bid 4♦ (West’s singleton) for West to transfer into the ♠ suit. Where West has a really big 4441 hand, the 3♠ bid from East will be lifted to 4♠. There you have it. Nice and easy.

The Bermuda Bowl has been dominated by two countries. Past winners are – • USA (18 wins) • Italy (14 wins) • France (2 wins) • The Netherlands (2 wins) • Brazil (1 win) • Great Britain (1 win) • Iceland (1 win) • Norway (1 win) During the knockout stages of the BB “anything goes.” The BBO forums have plenty of posts (posters) slamming the ACBL regulators for what many consider as overregulation. Yet in spite of this the USA has produced more BB winners than any other country. So how do they achieve this if they have limited opportunities for either playing or playing against a HUM system? Examining the CCs for many of the USA players, the most radical thing appearing on their cards is Flannery. :P On a more serious note though. The actual system used doesn’t appear at the top of my list for the USA’s successes. I would rate the following higher than the system itself – 1.) Mental toughness. These guys seem to be able to cope with the pressure of extended tournaments longer than their opponents. Their concentration levels must be incredible. 2.) Better declarer play and defensive play. Again, once mental fatigue sets in, the number of errors made starts increasing. 3.) Innovation. I don’t have any stats here, but I believe that more conventional bids have originated in the USA than anywhere else. Many players (even top players no doubt) use the “copycat” approach to whatever system/conventional bid brought success to someone else. They end up adopting the same methods for themselves. Unfortunately there is a major flaw in this approach. The game of bridge continues to evolve. It isn’t long before these players are facing new innovation which leaves them lagging behind their (USA) opponents again. For me, Multi is an example of point 3 above. None of the USA’s top ranked players have it on their CC’s. Does anyone know the reason why? Fred/Justin: The two of you are regular posters to these forums and both currently ranked in the top 100 in the world. Do you know the real reason why so few of the USA’s top players play Multi?

Straube, I love your sense of humour. :) This post is surely referring to the one you made in the Non-Natural Systems Forum. I'd love to hear how the bidding would have proceeded using a Non-Natural system to stay out of trouble.

Great answer!! Topic closed. Thank you.

[hv=pc=n&s=sj84hqt8da8643cat&w=sak72hak64dkckj86&n=s96h732dqj972cq73&e=sqt53hj95dt5c9542&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=2np3nppp]399|300[/hv] This deal came up about an hour ago. West chose to open 2NT which was raised to 3NT by East. One can argue the merits of East's bid, however after the obvious ♦ lead from North the contract was doomed (2NT was also doomed after a ♦ lead). Was West unlucky that East never held more ♦? Or is there a better way to bid these dreaded 4441 hands? Multi with the strong options (including the 4441 17-24 HCP) would not have helped here either. The bidding would have to be taken to level 4 to show the 4441 hand pattern. A 4-level contract will fail as well. Any thoughts?

The BBO Forums are littered with all sorts of systems. Some deal with improvements on existing already widely recognised systems. Others deal with the development of new systems. The Non-Natural System Forum in particular is crammed with all sorts of interesting ideas for building new systems around. However at the end of the day, how much of your results at the table can be ascribed to the system you are playing? Consider the following – 1.) In top flight tournaments you have to provide your opponents with a copy of your CC. They normally are given sufficient time to study it before the commencement of the actual match itself. 2.) Top flight players inevitably have agreements on how to deal with strange systems or they are able to reach agreement quickly after studying their opponents CC’s. 3.) During play all artificial bids still need to be alerted. So how much was the gain for using a fancy system? Inevitably a huge amount of effort was dispensed in developing a new system. 4.) There was a thread recently where the majority seemed to agree that good declarer play and good defensive play will ensure above average results in any tournament. 5.) Bidding wasn’t regarded as important as point 4 above. 6.) Many controlling bodies e.g. ACBL outlaw many of these fancy systems anyway. Which brings me back to this threads primary question: How much did you gain from developing your own unique Non-Natural System?

I also want to experiment with an exceptionally weak 1NT. What I want to fool around with is this - Only in 1st or 2nd seat regardless of vulnerability: Open 1NT with an exact 10 HCP balanced hand (absolutely denying any 5-card suit). Partner now becomes captain of the auction. Any 2-level bid by partner is to play, a so-called "shut up" bid. When partner has game going values (opposite a 10 dead HCP count) and one or more 4-card majors, partner bids 2NT asking opener for a 4-card major. Opener's responses become transfer Stayman in order to keep the stronger hand hidden. 3♣ = 4♥ and 4♠ (Responder can pick the trump suit) 3♦ = transfer to ♥. The bid promises a 4-card ♥ suit. 3♥ = transfer to ♠. The bid promises a 4-card ♠ suit. With an exceptionally bad 10 HCP, opener is allowed to pass 2NT without a 4-card major. With a reasonable 10 HCP, opener can raise to 3NT without a 4-card major.