DrMunk

Seems like a bad rule to me. Clearly these hands should not be valued equally: Hand 1: A K 10 x x A K Q J K x x x Hand 2: A K 10 x x A K Q J K x x x Hand 3: K x x x A K 10 x x A K Q J Hand 4: A K 10 x x Q J x x K x A K

Obviously it is system on, and 4♣ is always gerber ;) If we dont have this excellent agreement i have to choose "offering help in determining to defend 4H or take a 5D save".

I have to disagree. This is not borderline. This is a very,very,very clear 1♠ opening. Good offence, good suits, high ranking suits, good defence, high playing strength. Even thinking about passing this hand is an error in my view. True, if your partner has a misfitting hand your hand will be a disapointment. But still, you have two aces to him if he ends up bidding a minor suit slam on his own..

Sure looks like a big gain for your system.Some south players will make the mistake of leading a diamond against 4 spade. Some will do even worse and bid 5♥.

How about winning in hand. Draw trumph, ace and king of diamond. Ace and small clubs? This wins when king of clubs is with east, and east has two or fewer diamonds.

:)

Ok, then i have to settle for the universal right to 'pass'. But still i think i will do pretty decent against you, if I also remember to include the 'xx'...

This sounds like a system that Walter the Walrus would have loved.

[hv=d=n&v=0&b=1&a=p1c2dpp3cp4np5dp5hp6cppdppp]133|100[/hv] What is double here?(You might ask what 5 ♥ means, but assume you know that east west does not have any firm agreement here..) If you cant live with that explanation, assume that west bid 6♣ over 5♦.

Provided 2nt is forcing(Which i assume it is, since it appears to be unlimited) that is my bid. I think i would end up in 3nt quite a lot. If 2nt is not possible, i would just bid 3nt, since any 3sp would get us past 3nt/or wrongside the NT. Looks like a good hand for some simulations?

I dont know your system good enough. But 3nt/4s and 6s is all possible final contracts. The advantage with nt is that we still can play it from my hand, protecting the red suits from the lead. If 2nt is forcing, and i then can learn something usefull abot partners hand, that seems like a good start..

1) Why did i not jump to 6 clubs over 4nt? This has to show this distribution, or it could possibly be a hand with 4-4 in the black suits with good black suits, and little soft values in the red suits.(AKQX;EX;EXX;KQJX) 2) Why is 5nt asking for kings when partner only invited slam? Would it not be more usefull to use it as pick a slam like bid, searching for a 4 card minor suit?

As for planning, you have to think about what you will do if your opponents double you, and what you will do if they bid 4heart(or stops in 3nt). Here are some different plans: Plan A: Bid 3 spades. - When opponents double you might bid clubs or pass. -When opponents bid 4 hearts you might bid again(Am I crazy, or would bidding 4spades from you show a second suit, since you did not bid 4spades immideatly with a one suited hand?, ie: 2nt-3sp-4h-pass;-pass-4spades=spades and a second suit?) Plan B: Bid 4 spades: This one seems simple, now you have decided and are usually finnished bidding on this hand. If the opponents double you, you sit. If they bid more you pass. Plan C: Bid 3 clubs. If opponents double, bid 3 spades. If opponents have bid 4hearts next time, bid 4spades. The downside of this plan are clear: You give the opponents more room,and you might get a club lead from partner if he ends up on lead. The upside is that you can stop as cheaply as possible in 4spades or 5 clubs in your best fit. Plan D: Bid 4 clubs and then later 4 spades. Same up and downsides as plan C, but more preemptive. Plan E: Bid 3nt, and later 4spades if somebody bids a red suit.. Plan F: Pass. Not an option for me. I am still not convinced what is the best plan is. Comments would be appreciated.

Matchpoints. Both vulnerable. You hold: ♠AKT7xx ♥x ♦ ♣98xxxx RHO opens 2nt=20-21. What do you bid now? What is your plan?

Nice problem. It looks like partner holds kxxx in spades. We want to set up the spades, but we dont want partner to waste his king. Probably he should be able to work out not to waste his king, but it dont hurt to try to help him. If we play back a small spade maybee partner thinks that our suit were axxx originally, and we are playing him for holding kxx in spades. If we play back the jack of spades at trick three he should get the message..

Nah! I thought everybody knew that: "There are three kinds of bridge players. Those who can count And those who can't"

What do you think about 5♥from east? What alternatives do you consider here?

1) 1. Lightner Yes!(but then maybee east bids 7 ♠?) 2)2. Preempt North should bid 7♦. How can he bid less? 3. Judgement: No, west is not good enough to bid 7♥. East has only made a preference for hearts, and he need not have more than a few small hearts(Swap the north and east hand, how would the bidding have gone then?) But west is still so strong, so he should try for seven. He should bid 6♦ over 5♥, and an inspired east might/should understand that his hearts are a lot stronger than they needed to be.. 5. Preempt[2] " At another table south did not open. I know everyone would open so assume that the bidding started with west ... 2♣ 2NT Dbl ?" Why did east double here? I would prefer to get started showing my suits here, and bid 3♥, even though i dont have enough hcp, east hand has potential.