gszes

I agree with phil 3d can be made on a variety of hands (maybe more than he suggests). E knows p has at most 2 hearts when W bids 3d. If W has only 5 spades that means 6 minor suit cards and a chance clubs might still be the right contract if p has only 1/0 hearts and an increasing amount of minor suit cards. A 3s bid here (not having cue or bid 3s over 2s) means this bid should promise a doubleton. W can then bid 4d (catering to a stronger E hand) and e can bid 4h (catering to a stronger W hand) and w will then bid 4s to limit their hand and e passes. 3s by east (over 3d) does not end the bidding and there are many different possible places to play still. On this hand it gets the partnership to 4s. What little blame there is on this hand I give to east but its not a huge amount of blame.

OPEN ROOM While I would x over 3s the 4c bid vul/nvul is more than reasonable. The question of forcing pass at IMPS (where doubling the opps in a making contract is not so gross) is at what level does it begin. IMO anytime your side contracts for a 4 level or higher contract at this vul-FP should be in effect. That measn south should be able to compete to 6c with the spade void and p showing a willingness to compete. I would not be concerned about 7 since 6 might easily go down on something as simple as the dia A lead and a dia ruff. CLOSED I realize I am defending myself (sigh) but here goes. 2d (major preempt) 3c x (asking for major) I am not clear at all why 3d--is the dia suit supposed to be better than S vul/nvul 3c bid?? I would xx to show club support. Now having bid 3d E bids 3s and S bids 4h w/o having a hint that p has club support. Not only did N not pass (FP) over 4s the bid was 5c. This bid should have a reasonable shot at making given the vulerability but it can be a much more tepid hand. x xx KQJTxxx xxx starting with xx vs 3d changes the entire picture of the hand from S point of view and slam should be easy to reach (though a grand reasonably not).

Did anyone catch the name of that freight train that ran over me on the last 15 boards Sunday??? Anyway (while a bit woozy) I am ready and willing to play again of needed.

if my suit were hearts I could understand a jump to 4 but here??? p has as little as Kxx xxx xxx Jxxx we are big favorite to make 6s. Starting with x and converting to 4s will show our slam potential. there is virtually no chance p is going to convert a 2d tox to penalty and we will get a chance to introduce our spades later. the x is virtually risk free and that way we can save our jumps for hands with better spades and less slam potential: 3s --- KQJxxxx Kx xx Ax 4s --- KQxxxxxx QJx xx A

I think my second choice is 1♠ 1s ackk who are these guys in my posse anyway:)))))))))))))))))))))))))

2n you are behind opening bidder making your hand even better than it appears. Misfits will happen and occassionally this will backfire but it will not be often. The clubs are much better than the hearts so I see no real need to stress hearts over clubs at this point. 2N gives p a ton of info all at once and that is usually a good thing.

I would have a ton more sympathy for not bidding 2d (over 1h) if the opps were vul. S has a very nice suit and strong hand located behind the opening bidder. If you pass now you will never be able to convey this kind of power to your partner later in the bidding. It is just too difficult to set the NVUL opps enough to make up for a VUL game and pass here is pretty much putting all of your eggs into the defensive basket.

2h unless the power is spread most of our power is behind most of the opps power. The reasonable intermediates and the 7th heart give me enough comfort to trot out my preempt while I still can. If the power is equally spread 2h will probably easily make but is in danger of being missed due to a passed out hand.

Am I that big a wusss???????????????????? P had plenty of ways to show a strong hand but chose to bid 4h---I think this is based on a highly distributional and not so strong hand. Something like: void AQTxxxxx Kx QJx even with 5 spades there is no guarantee 4s will go down. I have to admit I would bid 5h not because I am convinced it will make but because I am deeply concerned 4s will make.

all right now all I have to do is find mgoetze out there somewhere in elctron land for practice:))) is mgoetze your normal bbo name mine is gszeszycki (u can see why I shortened it for forums) I visit bbo 3/4 times a day leave me a message there and I can practice a wide variety of times.

given the circumstances---if w passes 4d this gives E a chance to see the potential for a club game since they expect no wasted values in diamonds. Their heart honors also rate to be well placed. Slam will be tough to bid and might easily go down on a heart to the ace and a heart back for a ruff.

IMO the following system works well overall 1m x 1M x ability to compete in the unbid suits <xx KQxx KQxx xxx> 2 of rho suit game forcing cue bid 2 of lho suit michaels but stronger than 4 of lho suit 3/4 of rho suit natural AQJTxx(xx) 3 of lho suit 6/7 card suit missing 1 honor hoping p can bid 3n with missing honor NF. 4 of lho suit very distributional but weakish hand at least 55 all other bids natural. 1m x 2M x ability to compete in the unbid suits 3 of rho suit michaels 3 of lho suit same as above 4 of lho suit same as above 4 of rho suit minors all other bids natural 1m x 3M x 4 of the other major and 5+ of the unbid minor 4 of lho suit same as above 4 of rho suit minors all other bids natural this system is consistent throughout but it wont make everyone happpy. Talk it over with your partners and make sure you are on the same page. The hands that specifically want to x rho will have to decide btn NT and (passing ---knowing opps are in a bad spot---- and hoping p can x again). Your example hand the bidding would go 1c x 1s and you would bid 4c to show your weakish but highly distributional hand. This is a large topic and there are many more variations and different ways to handle them. I hope this helps.

just saw this post for first time (i was on vacation). I will start trying to put together a team of friends. We shall see.

p wants to penalize 1s X the xx merely adds frosting to the cake. P wants you to pass. Having said that I would bid 1n. You have a piece of swiss cheese for a balancing x. This hand has almost no redeeming values whatsoever on defense and I would hesitate to play a low level contract with this little in the way of defense. Being competitive is one thing but there is no reason to be suicidal. Leave the xx in with hands that look a bit more like a regular tox and not one you dredged up because you could not stand the thought of letting the opps play 1s:))))))))))))))))) 1n here keeps disasters to a minimum and let p know just how weak you are so the bidding should remain low.

I wouldnt be that happy with x even if you were QJx void AJx AQxxxxx I still like 3c better than x (though the x is less horrendous)(are you sure you want p to convert the x to penalty? p may need to take 4 tricks) over 5d x I would bid 6c If p cannot use the club suit 5d will be a disaster anyway. I agree with lalldonn we need to get lucky here to survive our indiscretion.

6d This will be right probably less than 50% of the time (as far as making) but there are several advantages to this bid even when it goes down. 1. Opps might not x ill take that trade off any day as insurance against 5s making or 5sx(x) making. 2. I am not so sure I would be happy to pass if p x 5s (if I bid 5d). This is far less in the way of tricks p might expect from a 2d bid. 3. Opps might take a 6s "sac" which they hopefully cannot make. 4. Hand should have enough play to keep us from getting hammered for more than -2. Even with X this is a small price to play for allowing us latitude with our competitive bidding. 5. If we bid 5d and later bid 6d the chances of X go up dramatically and I am not so sure our chances of making go up at the same rate.

a worthy suggestion indeed. I can't believe I left out xx by opener sigh. I use the xx to show that opener has a 5/6? card minor. After the xx responder can bid 2c to show tolerance for clubs bid 2d to show singleton or void in clubs and dia tolerance bid 2h to show a VERY weak major 2 suiter I tried very hard to make up for not being able to sign off in 2 clubs by making up tricks in many places elsewhere by allowing opener to play most of the hands. At IMPS the difference may not be significant enough to make up for the inability to play 2c. I have to admit I dont know but, in practice so far, signing off in 2c hasn't been a problem yet.

I like this approach since any squeeze that is due to operate will still work and you can take your best shot at getting a complete count by saving the two club plays for tricks 9 and 10. Worst case scenario is trying to go with the % play in dia (if you can figure one out). trick 9 pitch heart if rho started with heart length else spade. trick 10 pitch other major watch discards and see if you can figure out who has dia Q. Opps really good if xxx diamonds never get pitched (unless ungiven bidding indicated dia importance) especially since we are pitching 2 dia early in the play on spades). This will leave both of our hands with 3 diamonds and we can finesse or try to drop depending on our analysis.

I have found that leaving the doubler on lead when we are in trouble works best. Thus a system that mostly transfers seems to keep the doubler on lead the most. pass = any 2 suited weak hand ask p to bid lowest ranking 3+ card suit we are in trouble and trying to play in a non x spot. If rho X p bid we pass if the suit is acceptable and xx if we are short. xx at least invitational (this wont always work) and invites p to x opps if penalty looks good (vulnerability has to be considered) or pass and let you decide. 2c transfer to d 2d transfer to h 2h transfer to s 2s transfer to c 2n 6 card minor 2 of top 3 and out this includes AK since odds are high opps have a 1 suited hand. 3 (c/d/h) highly distributional hands (at least 55) in the 4-7 hcp range promising suit bid plus higher rank. Axxxx x x xxxxxx for ex willing to risk extra level due to game chance. Opener pass or correct or go to game in suit. 3s 7/8? card minor headed by A or K and out asking opener to bid 3n 4c/d or 5c/d 3n all suits stopped vulnerability not conducive to low level penalty. If lho runs from xx opener can x = penalty pass = unable to penalty x minimum and no stop. 2n = 1 stop minimum hand if max bid lowest 4 card major or 5 card minor. 3n = to play this should solve almost all bidding problems and leaves you with some extra options.

If p cared about spade length they could easily have bid 3s vs 3h. P is either making a slam try (which we will find out later) or they are concerned about 3n since they have a minor suit fit. IMO 3s should be used here to show a single stop in spades. Ax(x) Kx(x) QJx. That way we can save 3n to show at least 2 stops in spades and at least remove doubt from p about 3n being a viable place vs the minors.

while there is merit in considering future bidding it is completely possible that bidding 2s immediately will risk several poor things. 1. playing in a 43 spade fit vs a possible 9 or even 10 card dia fit 2. ever convincing p in later competition that we did not really have spades when we bid them and risking further raises (or conversions to spades) on a 43 fit when a possible 9 or even 10 card dia fit exists. 3. Giving P false hope that a spade game is in reach rather than the much more difficult minor game. This might encourage too much enthusiasm. It seems much more sensible overall to bid 2d and when p bids 2h (suggested several times) we continue with 2s and now our hand picture is much more complete and p "KNOWS" its only a 3 card raise. Losing the spade suit (if rho bids 2c over 2h) to play in the second best spot in not the most horrible of fates. 3D should be a reasonable MP score (that pass over 2d was scary). We are in a sensible spot be happy:))))))))))))))))))))))

My suggestion to all beginner defenders is when in doubt take the setting trick then try and figure out what to do. Most total disasters occur when convincing yourself that ducking the setting trick is the right thing to do. Nuff said about N defense. S didnt try to cash the heart A (good) but was careless with the dia return. I am sure by trick 3 N/S must have realized W had lots and lots of diamonds and not the majors. partners 3c bid showed a club return to be completely safe and the club Q a stand out to make it harder for P to dream up a reason to duck the A. phil_20686 feels 100% to each is right and in a perfectly mechanical world I would agree but here the duck of the club A seems far far worse. 160% N 40% south (agreeing with the 200% apportioned by phil_20686).

LHO holding QJ9x will be a lot more unhappy not scoring 2 tricks then they will be happy when they score 2 tricks holding Q9xx or J9xx so run the TEN:)))))))))))))))))) There is also a chance a tired or bored LHO holding Q9xx or J9xx will cover the Ten.

A simple raise of 3c is invitational not a "courtesy". It takes a lot more to make 5 of a minor than 3n so a 3c bid here is similar to a 2n bid w/o a spade stopper. Do not keep the bidding open w/o a purpose===this means 2s is game forcing. There are some limits on the hand types: no 4 card heart suit too easy to bid 2h could not bid 3n could not bid 3s (splinter) The 3c bid by p should deny dia support (too easy to bid 3d) and also denies even a partial spade stopper (bid 3s). Having said this we are going to take advantage of the opponents 3s bid in the situation given. 1. Kx AQx KQxxx xxx 2. xx AJx AKQxx xxx with hand one over 3c we would have been stuck bidding 3n which would have shown 1 spade stop and asking p to decide if 3n is right or not ie if they have running clubs 3n is probably right if not pull. with hand 2 over 3c we have options 3d forcing or my favorite 3h. When rho bid 3s we take advantage of their bidding and we use x and pass to differentiate btn these two hand types. I would much rather x with hand 1 and be able to use a forcing pass with hand 2. In fact 3n is so completely useless at this vulnerability for minimum hands I would use 3n to show a slam invitational hand with 1 spade stop. Kx Axx AKxxx Axx or some such. Note how well this works with the hand given. after our pass p can x with no spade control bid 3n to show extra values and a spade control 16+ bid 4c to show spade shortness with good clubs and average power (given problem) bid 4s to show spade shortness and a minimum x Kxxx x AQJxxxx after our pass p has no problem bidding 4s and an easy route to 6c.

for what its worth--I am available I can bring a partner or a whole team if needed. Just let me know in advance:)))) sundays same thing sigh