Chamaco

It is common opinion that many of the newest books that include Reese as coauthor (Rees + Bird, Reese + Pottage, etc etc) were not really written by him. Perhaps this might be the case for this book ?

I pass. The usual hole in standard system, and another example of why a Gazzilli/Riton 2C cannot be substituted by judgment alone...

What's the difference (over 4NT) between: a. immediate cue of a minor (opp suit) b. immediate double c. immediate support in spades d. immediate bid of hearts e. pass first round then cuebid of a minor (opps suit) f. pass first round then double g. pass 1st round then support spades h. pass 1st round then bid hearts

(4-2) = 48% (3-1) = 64% the combined probability of such combined layout is slightly less than 32%, quite reasonable IMO. Also note that the risk of the second round of clubs being ruffed is non-existent when the ruffing hand is sitting *before* the high club honor, so he will be ruffing a club loser, which reduces even more the risk However, it's MP, and it does give up the ovetrick, as Gonzalo suggested.

Wouldn't pass suggest playing 2C X? I don't think partner will bid with a normal hand, so I think 2S is just correcting the partscore out of 2C Xed. I do not like to rebid a normal 5 card suit as a runout, in the given 5-2-5-1 hand there is no guarantee that the spade will play better than clubs, given the bidding. I think that either pass or redouble should show the willingness to play the contract in clubs, the other one as "no tolerance, pard". Indeed, I can't tell what is best or "standard" treatment.. :) . In the given hand, 5-2-5-1, if pass is out, rather than rebidding spades I'd much prefer to bid diamonds to suggest another place to play, which we can sort out at the 2-level - unless the partnership has agreed that this shows a better hand (which I don't think it should).

What about cashing all hearts to get a count before playing the crucial club ? EDIT: sorry just saw Ben's post

Yes. To bid 7 without knowing of the 5th diamond is a bit of a shot. Some shots are worth taking, though. Indeed, but playing the odds is generally the best way to reduce losses in the long run ( including losing partners LOL) :)

I wonder whether the hearts finesse could have been postponed ? After cashing trumps and AK and a club, even losing the 3rd club, there are some endplay positions ? Seems like the best return is a diamond ruff/sluff (but is it so easy to find it for the defender ?), where the heart discard from hand is not so useful, and we can still fall back on hearts later ? =================== Alternatively, i the line played by Han, I'd cash the hearts winners to finish counting the hand before attempting the crtitical play in clubs...

Is 2NT really a GF opposite a passed hand pard ? I have always played such kind of sequence as invitational, nonforcing, say a good 13/14 hand.

I am not sure whether we should pull pard's 3NT here.

The grand is on because South has a 5th diamond, and the suit can be set up for a spades discard. Unless the methods you use can find out about the 5th diamond, I think it's more reasonable to settle for the small slam. BTW, I'd open south's hand.

I am strongly biased towards a pass at IMPS, but if indeed pard is a solid opener, I'll open 1D. I won't mastermind with any hand distortion by opening 1S or 1C here.

Nah, it's a 2S free bid after opps double. After opps double I'd just pass with AQJxx, xx, Qxxxx, x; pard has stil the chance to keep the bidding alive. IMO, a free bid of 2S should be a 6 card suit here: of course pard is allowed to bid it with an semisolid 5 bagger (e.g. KQJTx or so), but opener will always be playing him for a 6 bagger (and should not plan the bidding to cater for the possibility that it was only a 5 bagger). However, I agree with Mike's post: both players have shown non minimum values (yes, 2NT shows extras) , 4S could have ben bid from both sides

well, I think it's useful to use it as "cards", e.g. Ax AQTxx KQx Kxx is a typical hand that would double, despite not being strictly penalty. Even the following hand is better suite for dbl than bidding 3 diamonds, becaiuse the free bid at the 3 level should show extra shape, nioit a mere 5422 in the 18 hcp range: Ax AQTxx KQxx Kx ========================== Both hands are not really traditional "penalty" double hands, as they do not provide the traditional trump tricks required. So, the double should be treated as cardshowing, or "cooperative"(*) IMO. (*) = cooperative = "Who's to blame for this hand ?" :lol:

[hv=d=w&v=b&s=stxxhxxdaxxxcaxxx]133|100|Scoring: MP (p)-1♥-(p)-1NT (2♠)-DBL-(p)-?[/hv] Playing fairly standard 5 card major. Pard opens 1H in second seat, and after your 1NT response, West(who had previously dealt and passd !!!) bids 2S. You assume your pard's double shows extras, but not a specific shape: probably in the 17-20 range, likely balanced or some 1-5-(43). You can trust partner, he is a good player, but any inferences from opps bidding will be useless, they are certainly less than advanced/intermediate. What do you bid ?

3NT, even the "serious" 3NT, in thi specific sequence, by a passed hand, when pard has opened a big club, CANNOT be an asking bid. It is logical to infer that it shows a max, and 99% it shows 2 Aces: playing serious 3NT, the immediate cue at the 4 level would have shown a control but denying such a strength. So, in this sequence, it is not a bid to grab the control on the way to slam, but just a way to tell to pard "Hey, my hand looks good for a passed hand, decide yourself whether it's wortwhile to explore slam"

Yes, Kudos to Han and JB :-) Another special thank to Echognome, who provided onn many hands a quick nontrivial analysis of card play for kibitzers.

3NT, I have never liked the expression "WTP ?", but if I ever had to use it, I'd adopt it now ! :P

Yes Gerben, I think that in a strong club context, there is a great benefit in adopting some scheme for strong 2 suited opening (Misiry or other schemes): the 2 suiters are the most vulnerable to preemption if we open a big club. Removing strong 2 suiters from the big club has the effect that it's easier to double opps when it's right.

I use Mike Lawrence "Rule of seven", over a weak 2 and/or a preempt: in direct seat, I bid assuming pard can contribute a decent 7 count. With a marginal opener I frequently pass over a weak 2 (and of course a preempt), unless the hand has extras in shape or values. You can find something about Mike Lawrence's approach at the following link: http://www.bridge-forum.com/Archives/Lawrence_lecture.html Your example hand ♠ 986 ♥ A1065 ♦ AK6 ♣ A52 is to me a huge 15, easily upgradeable to a decent/bad 16 despite the crappy shape, and with this hand, I would double a weak 2 in spades, whereas I'd stretch to bid 2NT over a weak 2 in a red suit.

It seems to me that these suggestions are quite practical, but limited *specifically for ACBL tourneys*. But let's not forget that FD is not geared specifically to ACBL and Nort-America: the conventions that are popular in USA are not as popular in other parts of the world (e.g. Capp and DONT, or Bergen raises , to use some of the given examples.) :P

2NT

I might open at the 3 level, at this vuln, holding the heart suit, to make it harder to opps finding spades. As it is I'll open 1S, planning to compete later to the 3 level .

How do you cross to dummy to run the diamond J ? Low to the ♥Ace or low to the ♥ J , or overtake the ♣ Ten with the A or overtake with the J ? Or did you mean to play a low diamond from hand towards the diamond J ?

Both ideas are great, look forward to it :-)