Chamaco

3♠ if it's a splinter in your agreement. Problem is that for many it simply shows a natural preemptive jump, something like ♠QJxxxxx and nothing else. Others use crisscross raise after dbl (1C-X-2D or 1D-X-3C) as unbalanced invitational+ raises; others use crisscross as GF, the jump raise to 3m as invitaional NF and 2NT ("flipflop") as preemptive. BTW in my pship we use 2C = transfer invitational+ raise of diamonds (2D directly is weak raise), and 1NT = good/bad xfer to clubs. Otherwise just 5D.

This is a full opener to me A+A+K and a 5 card suit. I bid 3NT Would 5D be Voidwood ? If so I bid it. If not, 6S. Double. If partner bids clubs (or signs off in 3C after 2NT Leb), tough luck, but at MP I do not think passing such hand will ever be a winner. Yes I gamble 6S. Opener is under my tenaces, my hand has become huge. I just hope my pard does not bid 7, but he shuld not unles he has a bomb, because with an even better hand I'd have passed and pulled my pard's double.

It depends on what is the definition of "big hand": does it imply defense or not ? The hand is 4 losers, so it is ondeed a big hand but only in offense. I wish I could bid 4H if pard does not expect a powerhouse in terms of high cards but only distribution, but the risk is that they bid 5H and pard doubles expecting, say, a 17+ count. So the answer is the following: if the 4H bid (spades + minor) guarantees a hcp powerhouse, I cannot bid it. In this case I have to bid Michaels and rebid later. If instead the 4H shows only a huge playing strength, but not necessarily many high cards, I bid it. 2D. Upgrade this 11 count to a great 13, opening at 1 level considering it a 14 would not be wrong. Anyway, for partneship issues, better open at the 2 level. The 2D bid is not meant to be destructive, so the hand is not over: pard will pass with a featureless 11 count, and bid something invitational if he has a minimum opening strength. We might miss marginal games sometimes, no system is perfect. I bid 5H if it asks for trump honors. If it asks for a spade control, then 5H is not available and I am stuck: in that case I'll bid 4NT, ace ask (or RKCB?) Pass. Slam migh be on (pard might have a spades voidand the singleton in the other minor) , but it may not. Pard could have instead 2 spades and then start with A of spades and a ruff, or have a trick in trumps and/or in pard's long minor. Is 1NT forcing ? in that case it may be very light, to steal. If not, it guarantees something. All in all I'd say that missing an uncertain slam should be not too costly opposite most fields, whilst looking for the slam would mean putting all eggs in one basket. Better was bidding 4H right away, or show a hcp forcing raise of hearts if you have one in this system: pard then could have been in a better position to evaluate slam potential. I do not think this hand has the info necessary to investigate slam. 4 of clubs.

Roland, a question on timing here. Leading a spade to dummy feels right, but on which basis you decide to do it right away rather than cashing at least 2 rounds of trumps ? If the spade loses, we risk a diamond ruff :P On the other hand, there may be a bad trump split (J9xx on the left), or, we mightneed a ruff in a minor suit. How do you decide on the pros and cons ?

yu can play 3NT as you like, but I advise against gambling, because it wrongsides the contract even when it is right to play in 3NT. The hand receiving the lead should be the other. 3NT could be as well undefined, I see nothing wrong in it. Better having 3NT undefined rather than a bad definition. If you intend to define 3NT at all cost, it depends on whether you play Namyats in 4th seat.

Yes. I'm sure I've posted this before, but what we play after 1♦:1♥,1NT is Alright, I see. You are not advocating canape responses but transfer checkback. Yet those distributions (weakish 54) might cause you a problem if opener rebids 2C or 2D, so having a 1st-bid shape-showing response anticipates such problems.

Do they allow opener to bypass a major to rebid 1NT ? This is very important to me. Ok, perhaps 1D:1H:1NT:2S would be canapè, signoff with 5S4H, whereas 1D:2H = 5H4S. BUT what shall we do in such cases ? (PLEASE NOTE THAT OPENER WILL NEVER REBID 1NT WITH A SINGLETON IN PARD'S MAJOR) Hand 1 Opener Qxx-x-AKxx-AJxxx Responder KJxxx-KJxx-xxx-x Using the canapè style bidding goes 1D:1H:2C and now ? A signoff in either minor is a MP disaster. Hand 2 Opener Qxx-x-AKxxxx-AJx Responder KJxxx-KTxx-x-xx Using the canapè style bidding goes 1D:1H:2D and now ? 2S would be Bourke relay and passing 2D is a MP disaster.

Th 3 small hearts are a danger signal rather than an encouraging signal. In fact. holding length in their suit, pard will be short so he has the right shape: so the question is "If he has the right shape, WHY DIDN'T HE BID ?". The only answer can be: "Because he is not strong enough". Here ok, North has the magic cards. But the bidding would go the same if WEST had the black Aces and North had the red queens. The point is, we do not know whether West is weak or strong for his raise, and length in opps suit tends to suggest hat North does not have the power for bidding. I would be much more keen to bid as South if I were SHORT in opps suit: in that case, I am allowed to hope for more stuff from pard, since he might have cards but not the right shape (in that case , *he* would be likely with xxx in opps suit and would not have a nice shape for t/o dbl) BTW, I was North.

Well, your opps were cold for 4 spades. Even going down in 3NT not a big issue, no? BTW, in the 4th seat I recommnd to open a "Gambling 3NT" as 3 of the minor. Usually, when opps know how to bid (not these ones: how come South did not open ?? ) there is little to preempt (e.g. they knew what they were doing when they passed befor, they won't "wake up" now: and even if they do, pard will have his share of points to get at their throat). If you open the "Gambling" hand 3m, the likely 3NT will be rightsided.

This is completely different from the responses to 1D opener :-) When we open 1D and pard responds, we are not in a GF auction, so there is a chance that responder will not be able to rebid over 1NT. So, if 1NT here is a passable rebid, responder may have still some distributional features leading to a better partscore, but not being strong enough to show them (or else risk a big misfit). In this case the whole point is whether opener can rebid 1NT "hiding" a 4 card major in order to better describe the hand. Totally different is this auction, when one opens a big club and responder gives a positive response. When bidding goes 1C:1M (promising the other major), we ARE in a GF auction, so the structure can be more flexible, since both pards have the chance to show distributional features later; in other words, the 1NT rebid will NEVER be passed.

[hv=d=e&v=a&n=saq74hkd65432ca93&w=skhqj3dkqjt8ct652&e=s96ha97542d7ckj87&s=sjt8532ht86da9cq4]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv] West North East South - - 2♥ Pass 4♥ Pass Pass Pass 4H was off 2.

No thx, I want to bypass an unbid major when I have a balanced hand. :) That's all the point of my post. ;) I am trying to keep all these 4 options: 1) being able to bypass a major to rebid NT 2) use XYZ over 1S/1NT opener rebids, Bourke relay over 2D rebid, 4sf over 2C rebid; 3) being able- as responder - to bid differently a GF hand with a long major whose texture is, say AQ9xxx (I'll show only extra length by rebidding it after 4sf or BR) or KQJTxxx (this would need a specific bid/sequence showing not only length but guaranteing also a selfsufficient suit, either a SJS or anything else) 4) being able to find the best partscore when responder is weakish with 54/45/55M The solution I present here sacrifices the 2D inverted raise in diamonds (but only for invitational or GF hands; for slammish hands there is a way to show it) in order to comply with the 4 points above. I wonder whether: a. my solution has holes (please pinpoint them) b. the price to pay (losing the diamond inverted raise) is too much

In "standard" bidding (is there any ?? ;) ), your pard's 2nd round double is not strictly takeout nor penalty. It shows "cards": it means "Pard I was not strong enough to double then bid a suit, but I have a max for my overcall". This maximum should be agreed with pard, but should be, say (13+)14-16 or so. Now with your hand, a penalty pass might be an option if pard had something, but, all in all, pass does not look appealing to me, so I'd have invited with 2NT: all your 10 hcp are working+ a 5 card suit. If pard has bid correctly, 2NT should be fine and your only worry would be that you might collect more by defending 2D doubled rather than by playing any number of NT. Opposite your pard's double, 2H is an underbid: pard will expect you to have some 7-8/9 hcp with long hearts, no spades tolerance (similar to when pard opens 1S and you respond 1NT then bid 2H), and pass with most game going hands.

Giovanni is sometimes logged on BBO as "pilogen", usually for Vugraphs where Italy plays. He is very friendly, you can ask him info when he is logged.

Perhaps I was not clear. Suitplay tells to play the 9 "just in case" LHO covers, but if LHO does not cover, play the J anyways. It does NOT tell to run the 9.

1♦-1♠-2♦-3♥ can be 55 D+H, picture jump slammish. The 2NT bid might have a "normal 55 major, not slammish. Anyways, the 55M could be removed from 2NT. Another idea is that 55 GF hands start the bidding by 1H response instead of 1S, ready to reverse later. BUT, the hand with 5S and 4H is cumbersome to rebid after 1♦-1♠-2♦. If I bid 2H now I do not want that opener with 4H bids 3H, nor that he raises "artificially" with 2S. I much prefer the idea that now, the 2H Bourke relkay specifically denies 4H (might have 5, perhaps, if we remove the 55 from 2NT) In such a scheme, say bidding (uncontested) goes: 1D:1S(=4+H):? Now, say responder has: AJxx-x-AQJxx-xxx What does he rebid ? I like 1NT rebid always show a balanced hand and never a singleton in pard suit. Also, in many situations (at white, 1st/2nd seat), 1NT rebid shd be 13-15, and I do not like to lie on both hcp AND distribution (one lie might be ok).

AJx Q987x Plenty of entries, you need 4 tricks. Please someone explain why Suitplay gives the following solution (in hidden text) ?

Hi all. I am thinking on possible developments of Precision 1D. CURRENT SYSTEM In our case 1D is either max 15, 4+diamonds (may have longer clubs) or balanced. The range of the balanced 1D opener is variable: when white, 1st/2nd seat, it is 13-15 )(because in that case we open 1NT = 10-12) , otherwise, (10)11-13 (when 1NT = 14-16). Right now the responses are: 1M, 1NT = natural 2C = clubs, invitational+ (if 3C rebid, it is forcing) 2D = inverted raise 2M = strong jumpshift ("SJS"), well defined (selfsufficient 1suiter, 5.5- losers, slammish in hcp or shape) 2NT invitational 3C = invitational one suiter (not 5332; semibal invites with clubs bid 2C then 2NT) 3D = preemptoive 3M = splinter, shortness in suit bid, 3suiter Another important point of the system is that if bidding (uncontested) goes: 1D-1H-? we rebid 1NT even holding 4 spades if the hand is balanced. In case of 1D-1H-1S or 1D-1M-1NT we use a XYZ checkback scheme. ------------------------------------------------------- What are the requirements I am trying to fulfil by changing the system ? 1- include Bourke relay ("BR") in 1D:1M:2D schemes 2- improve partscore scheme when responder has 54/45/55 in majors. IMPORTANT: For weak responder with majors 45/54 there should be BOTH possibilities to be described EXPLICITLY: ......-2a: 5H and 4S: this caters for XYZ sequences, avoiding missing spades when bidding goes 1D:1H:1NT rebid (1NT can bypass spades) and opener has 4S but responder is too weak to bid them; ......-2b: 5S and 4H: this will cater for the Bourke relay sequences that go 1D:1S:2D and now 2H is Bourke relay. 3- responder must be able to describe the Strong Jumpshift hand type below game WITHOUT going via 4sf or Bourke relay: going via BR or 4sf shows only length but a possibly broken suit, not self sufficient. The ability to show a selfsufficient suit below game is useful to start cuebids and for slam search. Is it too much ? Maybe. However, after some thinking, I considered the following possibility:giving up the inverted raise of 2D, and putting all inv+ resposes without a major into 2C (except 3C response = club single suiter, invitational NF). The scheme of responses to 1D would then become (in purple the changed responses): 1M, 1NT = natural 2C = invitational+ without major. If 3C rebid, it is natural forcing because inv single suiter with clubs just bid 3C; if 2NT or 3D rebid, it is nonforcing. Basically this answer is almost unchanged but the natural 2NT invite and the inverted raise are added to this response. 2D = Weak flannery-type : 5H+4S 2H = weak Reverse flannery: 4H+5S 2S = strong jumpshift hand type, 2NT asks suit. If over 2NT responder bids 3D, it is NOT a SJS handtype but a strong slammish hand with 5+ diamonds, that wishes to investigate slam there. 2NT= 55 in major GF; it can be 5S+4H GF but not 5H+4S (5H+4S GF are not a problem in XYZ or BR); It may as well be possible to use 2NT for GF ONLY 5S4H (55 or better should be easy to bid over XYZ or BR relay sequences) I am considering making this 2-way: either GF with majors or weakish 55 minors. What do you think ? 3C = invitational one suiter (not 5332; semibal invites with clubs bid 2C then 2NT) 3D = preemptoive 3M = splinter, shortness in suit bid, 3suiter 1) We lose the inverted raise in diamonds, and gain in the major oriented hands 2) the 2C response becomes nebulous: either inv+ with diamonds OR inv+ (semi) balanced 3) The slammish raise with diamonds could go via the 2S response: this would initially show a strong JS hand type, but after the 2NT ask, bidding 3D would show diamond fit and slam potential. One added advantage is that using such a scheme, 1D:1S:2D:2H is BR and DENIES 4+ hearts by responder, so opener must not be worried of bidding 3H (losing an entire level) "just in case" responder has indeed 4H. Comments ?

I suppose this means something like that: In an UNCONTESTED auction, 1H-(p)-2D, 2D promises a rebid even if opener rebids 2H which would be forcing 1 round; In a CONTESTED auction, 1H-(1S)-2D, now if opener rebids 2S, it is nonforcing, it can be passed, different from the uncontested case.

I use Mike Lawrence's following definition, taken from his books on overcalls and on t/o doubles (quite strict): When responding to pard's t/o double, the responsive double show the 2 suits of the other ranks of the suit bid and raised (minors if they raise a major, majors if they raise a minor).

Ok here goes the next question: pard's 2H overcall (all vuln) was based on the following hand ♠J2 ♥AKQ84 ♦86 ♣9752 Do you agree with this overcall at IMPS ? What about MP?

:) I thought responsive double (to pard's t/o dbl) when they bid and raise a major would show minors and deny spades (whereas resp dbl when they bid and raise a minor would be for major)

Agree with most of what you say, BUT: I hate to give to my pard a distorted picture of my hand. This hand is clearly suit-oriented. xx-AQxx-KQTxx-xx and KJx-QTx-Axxx-Jxx Have a totally different playing power. If I oopen the 1st hand 10-12 NT, pard will be too conservative, because I delivered him of a playing strength lower. I mean, I would open 1NT with no second thoughts this hand, same values, but scattered: Ax-Qxxx-KTxxx-Qx

If I had a pard issuing such silly complaints, I would be happy when he/she does not get high cards, because I would be frightened at the idea of what he/she would do if getting indeed the right share of honor points..... :lol: So perhaps the (real? imaginary?) bias of your dealer is actually protecting her from herself ?? B)

Hi all, suppose you hold, playing Precision ♠xx ♥AQxx ♦KQTxx ♣xx You are white 1st seat, and at this situation, 1D shows either 4+D max 15 hcp, OR a balanced hand 13-15. 1NT opener at this vuln shows 10-12. I have to decide what to open. I do not mind opening 1NT with 5422 but I hate to do it with values concentrated in 2 suits like here. So I open 1D and pard responds 1S. Now I cannot rebid 1NT (that would show 13-15). Should I rebid diamonds or 2 hearts ? What type of hand would the 2 hearts "reverse" show ? ( I assume distributional reverse with 5-5.5 losers, usually has a good 65 D+H).