Antrax

Yes, in fact. And much worse than that. Not sure 2♣ denies game interest, it's pretty wide-ranging.

It's a matter of evaluation, but I think with shortness in both partner's suits, the hand isn't going anywhere without a spade fit. Also, jacks.

Anonymous app play. [hv=pc=n&s=sk9hkt973d93cakt3&n=saj76542hjdqt85c7&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=1hp1sp2cppp]266|200[/hv] Pretty sure 2♠ is the book bid.

Your bidding was, if anything, too conservative. Your partner invited you to game with the 2NT bid. You were over the top of range (you showed 8-10 HCP), so you wisely accepted. If your partner opened light in third seat, then the 2NT has no justification. It shows around 18 HCP, which is not a light opening. (As an aside, in SA your first response should've been 2NT assuming you had a balanced hand, 12 HCP and no four-card major. If you had a four-card major, you always* bid it before NT) * there is no real "always" in bridge, but for now treat it as such.

You only posted that to get upvoted, didn't you.

There's a more advanced concept of opening light in third seat. However, as responder you don't have to account for it - it's opener's responsibility to only do this when he feels he can control the subsequent bidding. It would be interesting to hear more about the scenario - my guess is opener bid 1M with less than usual, and you invited by bidding 3M and went one off when he declined?

What's the plan after X-(p)-4♠? It's GIB so you won't be able to play NT below 6.

Oh wow, I'm way too optimistic. So what happens here? [hv=pc=n&s=saqhaqtdkqjcakqt3&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=p3d]133|200[/hv]

[hv=pc=n&s=sqthaqtdkqjcakqt3&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=p3d]133|200[/hv] Random bot play so IMPs, unfavourable. GIB doesn't adjust for vulnerability when preempting so you know it has the ♦A and a major card or more. I was planning to post this hand in GIB robot discussion to complain about the bidding system, where X is takeout, 4♦ and 5♦ show two-suited hands with 4 and 3- losers respectively, 3NT is capped at 22 HCP and 4NT is undefined, but then I realized my own system has no real answer here, either. So, what do you do with this hand? I realize you normally don't tailor your system to these extreme situations, I just wonder which general agreements might work here. As a bonus question, what if you also held the ♠A? Do you just blast 6NT and hope for a dummy entry or a diamond lead?

"a lot of the time, it will sometimes be right" isn't a great fix :(

I think I get that one. If the opponents double, he can run to his hearts. If you try to transfer him to spades, he can pass you out. What was his plan over something like Stayman? Just play it straight and hope for the best?

For me this sequence is delyaed Texas transfer, showing 6♥ and 4♠. After partner bids 4♥, I can bid 5♣ exclusion - but I'm not sure what to do opposite 1 KC since the ♦ lead is indicated. I guess you could hope that with both partners making artificial ♦ bids, someone doubles for lead-direction allowing us to pass showing no control of the suit.

wank, I'm trying to get a feel for what makes you think "hmm, this situation is such that a psyche is more likely to work to my advantage".

I have 2♦ artificial on this auction so mine would continue like this (for the 3NT one): 1♣-1♥ 2♣-2♦! 3♦-3♥ 3NT 2♦ is artificial, essentially a relay, forcing to game. 3♦ is natural, denies three hearts. 3♥ is natural, shows the extra heart. 3NT shows 1 or less heart and a stopper in spades. 3♠ would've been the "you bid NT if you've got the stopper" bid.

Siegmund, do you mean you open weak 2s on the 1-level to get them to misplace HCPs? Or do you open a short major with 1M?

If your wife asks me what my partner's discard tells me, I'll tell her it depends on what she's holding and ask to see her hand. I'd be happy to explain our signalling agreements at length if needed, but what conclusions I derive from them is my business, as is the question of whether or not I paid attention to which cards he'd played.

I wonder if it's a good idea when not playing a form of Drury? TBH I've experimented a bit psyching against GIB, and results were as random as you'd expect. Probably better than I had a right to expect because GIB never figures what's going on, so it keeps placing you with its partner's high cards. Anyway, I've found that my GIB partner often landed me in game if I psych an opening (going by the law or raising 1NT to 3, etc), which got me thinking when, if at all, you can expect to avoid this situation without CPUs.

I'm not asking about "free" psyches like making a forcing major-suit bid en route to raising a preempt or psyching 1NT with long clubs etc. I'm more interested in the general case you occasionally see, someone opening 1♠ in third with a spade doubleton and 4 HCP. Assuming you're not down 40 and just swinging, what's the rationale? When would you expect doing something wildly unexpected is more likely to screw with the opponents than with your partner?

For the record, I'm one of those idiots who goes to see what the fuss was about after a thread is locked. So I guess one of those 21544 people is me :(

Yes, 1♠-2♦-3♣ is forcing, regardless of 2/1. Whether it shows 5/5 or just extra values is up to you.

I think you might be missing some of the beauty of Bridge Master. If you take the wrong line, you will always fail. The game stacks the deck against you this way. That ensures that unlike real play, you can't get away with your mistakes - you must recognize and fix them. Not sure if you can post the hand here due to IP issues, but if you don't understand the solution (you know about the "show solution" button, right?) and contact Fred, he'll probably reply.

In your example, the ♥2 would tell partner "I'm not crazy about ♦". He will consider dummy, his own hand and the bidding to decide if it means he should continue hearts or switch to clubs or a trump.

When I played it, an "encouraging" signal on trick 1 just said "I'm not crazy about the OS suit" and "discouraging" said "I like the OS suit". Then opening leader had to use his judgment to try and figure out what to do about that preference, similar to any signaling system.

N isn't really a PH, right?

Forgive the devil advocacy, but what is opener supposed to bid after FSF if he's 5-4 in the majors with no diamond stop? Is 3♠ an idle bid here? In other words, isn't it possible responder was worried about opener bypassing 3NT?