mr1303

I guess the trouble is that many good players get invited by complete strangers all the time. A problem not faced by me :blink:

At least I have 4 diamonds. If they were 5432 I might not like 1NT as much, but they could be 9763 or similar. Besides which, partner doesn't have to get too carried away with this bid. 2S might encourage partner too much on too few trumps.

The last pair I met who played Romex played the 3 way 2D opening as described in an above post. Nice in theory to have two strong bids, but there's quite a large cost involved (i.e. not having 2D available as something pre-emptive). Agree with the Gnome and others about my 2C methods having a great deal to do with my decision what to open here. If fairly standard (i.e. not thought through properly) then I open 1D.

I try 4C here only because passing is a breach of partnership discipline if I'm playing 2/1, as tempting as it is to do it anyway. Incidentally, even playing 2/1, should 4C here be forcing? Mike Lawrence recommended that a 2/1 is forcing to 4 of a minor only if 3NT isn't playable, which I believe it isn't here.

Regarding the ruling question, at the end of the play, North (dummy) says (before you say anything) "I shouldn't have opened 1NT because I had 5 spades. I thought you had clubs, or 11 points, but thought that 2S might play as well as 3C (North only had 2 clubs) or 2NT" North/South are clearly beginners by the way. What say you now?

Just to clarify, North (dummy) opened 1NT. South (declarer) bid 2S explained as natural not forcing.

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=sak98xhj86d108xcax&e=sq1072hk95dqxxcqxx]266|200|Scoring: MP[/hv] Your opponents have the strange auction 1NT (12-14) P 2S (not alerted) passed round to you. You ask what 2S means, and are told natural not forcing, so you pass. Partner leads the 3 of hearts (2nd and 4th). You are mildly surprised when dummy hits, but you play on anyway. Declarer calls for the 6 of hearts from the dummy. What card do you play? For more advanced players and TDs, any thoughts from a potential ruling point of view at this point?

I used to be Boris Johnson's biggest fan. No-one celebrated more than me when he won the Mayoral election (and I live in Bristol). However, when I drive into London, all the things that annoyed me about Ken Livingstone are still there. Congestion charge is still there, still can't park anywhere, low emission zone is still there, tube is still overpriced and overcrowded. I can't use my Oyster card on the main line trains, even if the journey is fully within London. I just feel that he's missing an opportunity.

Being the Mark that David_c used to play it with, I agree with him. We used to play a strong club system with symmetric relays after 1C openings, and wanted to have full relays whilst keeping some of our other useful bits in. The 1M P 2C relays weren't that great, and some of the rubbish that we had to play to incorporate it (such as 1S 2D as hearts) was quite cringeworthy Good fun though :) I miss those days. Perhaps we should dig out the system notes at some point and revisit it.

3NT Might even make ;)

3H. Natural and forcing. I may be able to take 800 out of 3C but can imagine only 500, and I expect to get a good score from the game I'm likely to make.

I think the auction posted is very different from another typical example The hand posted has an opponent passing over 1C and then bidding at the 3 level at unfavourable vulnerability opposite a silent partner. I think there are too many times when you want to punish this indiscretion to give up a penalty double. However, compare to the sequence 1C P 1D 1S 3D 3S ? And here double as looking for 3NT or value showing is a lot more useful since the opponents have a fit, so looking to penalise isn't necessarily the best move. Similar would apply to 1C P 1D X 3D 3S ?

On a serious note, there's a reason why the BPO hasn't been done recently: 1) To actually organise it requires a lot of work 2) There are a lot of people who complain about the scoring 3) There are a lot of people who complain about the hands given Certainly these were my experiences when I had a go. I might be tempted to do it again, so long as people appreciate: i) I have a finite amount of time to devote to bridge each week. Things like work and my family will come in a higher priority to anything like bidding polls ii) The scoring system is always based on someone's opinion. If you don't like the opinion of the person carrying out the scoring, do someone else's bidding poll iii) Choosing a number of hands that have a variety of bidding choices is actually quite difficult and requires a lot of work in itself.

Reminds me of the midnight speedball at Brighton

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=saxxhakxdkxxcaqxx&s=skhqjxxxxdack109xx]133|200|Scoring: MP[/hv] We bid these cards to 7H rather than 7NT. Given the form of scoring, this was not that great a score. Any recommended suggestions? Simple conventions only (since that was the format of the competition).

It might have play, but it's far from cold. You really need trumps 2-2 or a singleton Q of hearts to make this one, which I believe is around 50%. 6NT is worse, so I wouldn't worry about missing it.

I agree it isn't likely that partner will bid 7, but my point was that it isn't impossible, since I have expressed interest in 7, which is (IMO) all the hand is worth.

I'll pass this advice on to my very single sister-in-law who has been asking me for advice!!!

2S, a forcing reverse. What I do after that depends on what partner bids next.

Presumably I have already invited a grand with 5NT. Therefore if I bid 6H quickly enough, partner can bid 7 with a suitable hand? I just can't count 13 tricks on my own here.

Probably misinformation as well. I try 3NT ready to call the cops. If a director suggests this is failure to play bridge, I appeal.

Part of the reason that I bid 6H last time was the spade void. I don't like this so much in NT, so I double even though partner is pretty much marked with the spade ace. Can partner pull this one? Not that I expect he will.

Too much for a weak Michaels at this vul, so 2H it must be. For every conventional upside, there is a downside.

A lobbyist is someone who campaigns and pressurises the Government for something to happen.

P 1C P 2C (forcing, not GF though) 2S P P 3S P 3NT Similar to me, except holding the North cards I'm passing over 2S as North with my heap.