mr1303

I've never had a hand where I wanted to cue-bid 4S after a pre-empt, when I didn't have enough to bid on the first occasion, similar with 4NT 5C might be something like an 8 count with 4 clubs to an honour. On the given hand, I would double 3S, and correct 4D or 4H to 5C. I'll pass 3NT

Incidently, it's only at level III that double must be used as penalty as a non-passed hand vs 1NT. At level IV any defence goes. After April 1st, any defence is permitted at level III as well. AT LONG LAST!!!

What planet is west on?!?

I can't see why partner should bid 6D with his hand, even if he thought 5D showed a good hand.But 5D was stupid as a) you've no guarantee of a fit :rolleyes: you may have defensive values and c) most of all, to bid anything here at all is a complete breach of partnership discipline. He did not overcall over 2H, and has not asked you to sacrifice at the 5 level. Even if it went only 2 down with 4S making, I would still not be impressed.

One of these sequences came up the other night Holding Axxx AQT JTxxx A Bidding went (1C) X (P) 2C 2D 2H 2S and partner passed it. I thought 2S was 100% forcing

Am I playing good/bad 2NT? If so I'll bid a good 3♥, and see what partner wants to do after that.

HMmm. On that hand I reckon it would go 1NT 2C 2H Pass How good is this game? If trumps are 4-1 you go down. If the K of clubs is offside you go down. If clubs are 4-1 you go down.

I pass. 5H looks wrong, double looks wrong. The 5 level belongs to the opponents I heard someone say. I know partner will be unimpressed, but at least this shouldn't be a complete disaster. I have no defence, and too many losers to bid 5H. So I pass and hope partner doesn't kill me.

I remain unconvinced by oppos rubbish bidding here. South has his bid, but I think 2D is wrong here by North. a) he only has a stiff club, which is bad for setting up his clubs for 3NT unless they're ready to run :D 5 spades to the jack is not a good holding. Opps may be able to cash 3 top tricks here c) Jx is a dodgy heart stop at best.

Interesting. 2C didn't occur to me, but now it's been mentioned I think that's 100% correct. Problem now is what does S do after 2C? 2H should show a longer or better suit than this, and 2S doesn't look too pretty with just a stiff spade.

I'll agree with that. You should really have at least a 7 card suit, or at least a better 6 card suit than AKxxxx. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but 1S 1NT 3S 3NT looks sensible to me. Or if you must manufacture a force 1S 1NT 3C 3H 4H looks like good bidding to me. Other than that, 2NT shows 18-19 typically, i.e not this hand. 3S is probably a slight underbid, but will get you to the right spot on this hand. 2H wouldn't even occur to me by S, for the following reasons: 1) Stiff in partner's suit = bad 2) J high suit = bad 3) 8 count = bad

You, me and the whole world too I reckon

No matter what line of play you want to take, I can't see how this makes. There aren't enough entries to take all the finnesses, and you can't eliminate the spades, and take a club and diamond finesse. So I'll defend.

Yeah, maybe we should go to 4 card majors. We'll have to alter our relay structure to take this into account though. Maybe something like this: 1H 1NT (relay) 2C = 4 hearts only 2D + = 5+ hearts, as before. If we only open 4 card majors with balanced hands then this shouldn't be too hard to impliment Suggestions would be welcome for a relay structure that incorporates balanced hands here after 1H 1NT 2C 2D Mark (Dave's partner)

Certainly I prefer redouble to show a good fit for the suit I transfer to, rather than being to play, since I've only once been able to a) redouble and :) have partner pass it. And even then it wasn't cold.

Fair point, but why is 6C "pick any slam"? Why shouldn't it be a grand slam try on diamonds (based on a club void)?

Bit of a punt of 7S wasn't it? How do you know partner has any spades at all? By my reckoning you've agreed diamonds at this point. Anyway, your claim that you "found" 7S isn't accurate, since you didn't find it, you jumped into it by accident might be a more appropriate term. And got lucky Fair play to you for punting it though

Just in case it wasn't clear, I haven't gone anywhere like rec.games.bridge to whinge about the TD or opponents or anything. I just felt hard done by at the time, and the incident has long-since been forgotton. HotShot's ideas about how to improve the lot of directors seem quite good to me though, especially the psyche button. I frequently psyche when the hand seems right for it, and these sort of arguments occur more often than I'd like.

I think I'll pass this one. a) you have only 1 club stop, and not a brilliant one at that, since you can't hold up at all :D partner's diamonds may not be running, since with AKJxxx he would have bid 3D at his first opportunity. c) hearts may be wide open.

Just my opinion, but if you can raise a vul pre-empt to 4 on: xxxx Q xxxx Axxx and expect it to make, your pre-empts look more like Acol 2 bids to me.

On the first topic: Personally, the 2H opener (which I also play) comes up so infrequently it really isn't worth worrying about too much, but with the given hand I'd pass 2H quickly. After all, isn't this the reason that we use 2H as the 3 suited hand (as opposed to 2D, which was the standard precision opening for these hands)? Apart from this, the opponents are there as well. 1) They are unlikely to find a penalty double here, and 2) They may well balance in with 3D (which happens a lot more frequently than would be expected). I would be wary of opening 4315 hands with 2C, as this makes it harder to find the correct fit if partner has invitational values, as he usually has to choose one, as to make two bids would be GF. And especially not with 4405 hands.

1H without even thinking about it. 1) 2H is dreadful, as you have a 7 card suit. Partner will not expect this, and as a result misjudge the auction 2) This is a rule of 20 opening. Hence this isn't light: this is a full opening bid. Incidently I wouldn't consider a 4H opening crazy. Hence I think that should be considered as an option. I wouldn't make it, but in a poll like this it should be an option.

How do your relays work after a 1D opening Free? We play relays after 1M openings using 2C as our relay starter, with relay breaks showing hands without support for the major opened. It is also possible to force to game in single suited hands via other bids without relaying. Occasionally wrong-sides contracts, but this is rare. Having played MOSCITO also, I find our method is slightly less vulnerable to pre-emption, since the major suit is known as the longest suit (unlike the canape aspect of MOSCITO), and the relayer tends to be strong balanced, thus reducing the possibility of interference.

A vaguely amusing story from Manchester Bridge Club Newby beginner: What do you open with 16 HCP and 4 spades and 4 clubs, balancedd Jason Hackett: 1NT Newby beginner: What do you do if you play weak NT Jason Hackett: I throw myself into a pit of gravel

The way I play checkback is I show support for partner's major before introducing a new 4 card major, so I think 2S would be the bid on the North hand. Don't think that you have any reason to suggest a 5 card diamond suit here. I think N is showing 2443 more than 2452, although I agree the latter is possible. After 2S by N, the S hand is possibly worth 1 more bid, although it does look like there is wastage from the S point of view. So given that you play the methods you do play, this game is hard to find. Playing 14-16 NT however: 1NT 2H 2S 2NT (Keri, 5 spades 4 card minor) 3D (3+ spades, 4 card minor, non min) 4S (sign off)