mck4711

all vul, IMP, I am dealer, SAYC ♠ Txxxx ♥ AQx ♦ KTxx ♣ x p - p - 1♣ - 3♣ Your call? I forgot: In case you vote for X the bidding continues like this: p - p - 1♣ - 3♣ X - p - p - XX What now?

non-vul against vul, IMP, p dealer, SAYC ♠ AKQJTxxx ♥ x ♦ QJxx ♣ - p - 1♥ - your call? in case you opt for X then the bidding would continue like this: p - 1♥ - X - p 2♣ - 2♥ - it's again you...

at IMP: 2♦, if pard 2♥ then 3♥, if any bid showing 4♥-cards 4♥ at matchpoint: full game, depending on system 2♦ and raise, or 4♦

All hands were played with random partners, no special agreements. I am telling the following 3 stories with a twinkling eye...: 1) xxx, xx, xx, Kxxxxx LHO opens 1♠ and pard bids 2NT. Some kind of Unusual NT? Right, wrong?!?! So, I 3♣ and pard now 3NT. Hm, whats that? P had 22 points, balanced. 2) Jxxx, x, Kxxx, Qxxx, RHO dealer p - p - 1H - X (my hand suddenly is becoming more interesting...) 2H (what else?) - 2S - 3H - X (non-vul against vul, I am deciding to be aggressive) p - 3S, end of bidding? no, not at all: LHO 4H and pard 4S Who is expecting pard to have mere 12 points with 3rd Q in ♠ in ATxx in ♥? 3) my personal highlight ♠AKJx ♥QJ ♦QT9xxx ♣x The bidding was ok until a new suit was mentioned on 4th level, pard opens: 1♣ - 1♦ 2♦ - 2♠, after 2♦ I thought: what a wonderful world..., fit found, reverse-bidding now by responder, GF. Last open Q: how high? 2NT - 4♥, maybe my mistake. I thought: Asking for aces on ♦-base, if not then CueBid, Control Bid, anything, but not... p!!! So, at the end of the day I played 4♥ in a 4-2 contract. +2 btw :). And even better: not so many pairs in 6♦, we still got a good result :D

My name is Markus, 39. Many years ago I played seriously and intensively, participated at several national and european championships. Then I havent played for many years, but started again in Jul 2011. My self-estimation at this moment: advanced. My preferred system: 5-card-major (so far I have played 5-card-major, Acol, Better Minor, 2/1). But I am open to new things, nevertheless that would mean more work. I am reading at this moment Standard bidding with SAYC, Forum-D-Plus and Complete Book on Overcalls to catch up with recent trends and theories. What else? For me respect towards the partner - and also the opponents - is important. If you should disagree with the bidding and/ or the play then lets discuss it afterwards. In case I make a stupid bid or I play badly (can happen, I am not a robot) then lets discuss it afterwards. In case we spot a loop-hole in our system a quick check at the table is of course possible. If possible we play some BBO-tournaments together. Ideally we analyze the played hands afterwards (bidding and play): could we have done better, same understanding of the bids? and of course defense! My time-zone: Europe (exactly UTC+4). As long as I dont need to play during the night I am quite flexible. Fun? Yes, of course, without fun it doesnt work. But as you can read I am also looking for the ambitious, serious bridge-player. Interested? Ok, then lets go...

1. vul? - non-vul? 2. matchpoint/ imp? 3. how strong NT? I suppose the entire bidding was: 1NT - p - 2♠ - 3♦ p - p - ? I consider: 1. pass 2. 3nt 3. 3♥ 4. 4♣ 5. X My personal choice would be 3nt, but I have a closer look at it depending on the answers to especially question 1 and 2. I have good chances to make it, especially if LHO should lead ♦, any ♣-values are well placed. After interference of LHO I cant do everything I would like. So I just take my chances: 3NT.

Double. Where do they want to find another (better) spot? You alone have 4 tricks, unless void or single, and partner promises with his 2NT bid also some points, and therefore has also potentially some defense. At matchpoint you play for the overtrick, the difference between 4♣ undoubled and 4♣ doubled can be the difference between top and zero. Note: It is anyway funny that your opps do enter the auction after p's 2NT :). Make them pay for it...

There are several possibilities why (s)he is asking: - beginner - doesnt know SAYC (though mentioned) - making fun - you can think of more reasons At a tournament - IMO - you should not answer. At a "normal" table you may want to explain, but still you feel bothered to explain standard sequences on a - IMO - basic level. In this case it might be one option to play a couple of hands more and then then leave politely the table. I think there is no established "code of conduct". It depends on you, and on the other people at the table. At a random table you can always have this kind of problem.

4♣: CAB depending on answer I continue: if 1st round control: 5NT Grand Slam Force if 2nd round control: keycards and then 5♠ or 6♠ if no 1st/2nd round control: 4♠

4♦ for me: take out for the majors. 3NT looks without a long running suit not that good. X looks dangerous 'cos of 4♣ from partner.

5-card-major-system you have the following bidding: 1♣ - p - 1♠ - 1NT 2♣ - 2♥ - p - p X how do you understand this X, regardless of any hand shown?

♠ A K Q 7 5 4 3 ♥ 4 ♦ 8 ♣ 8 4 3 2 you are south favorable vulnerability: East passes. Do you open this hand 1♠? I think that you have two options: 1) 4♠, you should have 7 playing tricks, you have one long suit, no (little) defense. perfect description of your hand. a bit disturbing is the 4-card-♣: you might miss a good ♣-contract. Edit: in case you have with your p a clear understanding about this kind of opening (s)he can perfectly well judge any further steps. in case that the bidding goes something like 1♠ - 2♥, 2♠ - 3♦, 3♠ - how do you feel as p with a eg 1543-hand, a lot of guess-work 2) a tactical pass: it is very likely that you have another chance to bid.

5♦ is down 2

It seems to be a topic on that people have (totally) different opinions. :) 1. First I want to apologize. I made a small mistake when describing the problem first, I wrote 4C instead of 4H. 4H is correct. 2. Googling "responses after take out double" you get plenty of answers. And many of them are not consistent. Here are some examples: http://www.jazclass.aust.com/bridge/br14.htm 10-12 points: jumbid with 4+cards 13+: bid game or cue-bid http://web2.acbl.org/documentLibrary/play/Commonly_Used_Conventions/takeoutdouble.pdf 12+ points: cuebid three-level-jump: long suit, good playing strength, but less than game values http://www.bridgeguys.com/doubles/RespondToTakeoutDouble.html Higher Suit responses, eg 1C-X-p- 3H/4H: These bids signify at least a 6-card plus suit in length and enough strength to presumably make the contract with the minimum held by the Doubler. These bids are not forcing, but strongly suggest the placement of the final contract, regardless of the holdings of the Doubler. 3. Having said this - and looking at the replies -, I am concluding that this bidding is a great guessing "grey-area-zone" for any partnership that doesnt have an agreement. Is there anything that can be considered as standard? NT-responses and cuebids - ok; but (high) jumps? It comes down to partnership-agreements! 4. Two interesting questions are: whose hand is it? and who is the boss of the action? 5. P had xx, QJxxxx, xx, AJx 6. I doubled, final contract was 5Dx

non-vul vs vul, IMP, no agreements with p K9xx AK87 x KQ10x 1D - X - p - 4H 5D - ? What would be your choice and why?

sry, always safe... there are still 2 clubs in hand, after 3rd heart spades to king, club, ace of spades and run clubs for 9 tricks. in this case: duck and play E for KQ for 10 tricks

1. any convention you use for showing 2 red or other minor + 1 major 2. there might be a snag: if you duck, you E follows with a small H to W's Q and another round of H. entry problems, and you dont get 9th trick (ace of spades), you have only 5 clubs, 1 heart and 2 spades (unless you drop doubleton Q). therefore i would take the ace of H, run the clubs, king of spades, diamond. in case E has KQ of H, no trouble (also when you duck of course, regardless who has the ace of D): 10 tricks, but in case that W has the Q of heart you have the chance that W has also ace of diamond please dont pay attention to above mentioned point 2. i overlooked 2nd remaining club in hand, no entry-problems at all 2. duck and play E for KQ for 10 tricks

OK, here is part 2: whereagles was quite close with his H- and S-guess, but just close :) 7S are ironclad. P had KJxxx, AKQxx, x, xx (or was it KJxxx, AKQxx, xx, x - I dont remember) First I am to be blamed, I could have found something better than 2S, or maybe I should have tried. On the other side I think that p's hand is too strong for 2H - 4S, considering his offense strength much too strong. Even if you lack any agreements with p re fit-raise, eg 2NT Jacoby, there is still a splinter or you just ask for aces. What would you have bid after 1S with p's hand?

10 doubleton in D would be perfect, but despite this: 3NT. I expect 5 tricks in D, 2 in C, 1 in H, 1 in S. Distribution: like wank said.

I agree with MrAce: 4NT One more point: these 2maj-p-3maj preemptive openings are quite common, your competitive bids should carry their meaning after the "sum" of opps action, i.e. X shows the values to double 3H, 3S shows values to bid 3S after 3H, 3NT shows the values of a 3NT bid after a 3H opening. Your hand doesnt fulfill any of these competitive bids, so your only choice is 4NT (ur agreed on convention) - of course with the risk of missing a good game in S. But for this reason your opps preempt, to make ur life difficult, right? :)

all vul, IMP, no agreements with p except 5maj (at least it is mentioned in both profiles) AQ9xx xxx Ax AJx p - 1S - p - 2H p - 2S* - p - 4S * ok, 2H usually shows 5+H, so I could have considered another bid than 2S IMO, 2S actually is a (very) defensive bid. in red I could expect p to have at least 10 HCP, so we are in the range of full game any suggestions? but my real Q: what do you expect p to have? do you try slam?

vul vs non-vul (what else?), IMP, no agreements, p dealer p - p - 1S - 3C (weak) p - p - X - ppp 1) this is the scenario from my side: A109xxx KQx Kxx x What do you p expect to have? In case p doesnt like x I have even 6th S, and KQx and Kxx seem well placed. Or are there other bids than X? 3S from side IMO a overbid, so maybe p? IMO not really, doesnt need a lot that our side has 3S, so (s)he can now judge what is best. 2) this is the scenario from my p's side Jx xxxxx QJx A9x Do you p with this hand over p's X? Or 3S? Last note: I am quite new to this forum, so in case you are of the opinion this problem should be posted somewhere else, pls tell.

all vul, IMP, RHO dealer, no agreements with p A10xx AQ9xx x xxx p - 1H - 1S - 2D p - 2H - 2S - 3C p - ? What to bid? p, 3NT...? I have minimum, but nice shape, all HCP where they should be, but it smells misfit. On the other side p bids freely 3C what should show more than minimum. P had J9x, J, QJxxx, AJxx

all vul, IMP, LHO dealer, 5-card-major with p xxxx K KQ9x Jxxx p - 1S - X - 2D p - 2S - 3C - 3S ppp After the game p said that I should have bid 4S. IMO 2D and 3S describe my hand quite ok, considering that RHO is interfering. 4S would be gamble. What is your opinion? P had AKQ9x, xxx, A8x, xx

I am just reading "Preempts from A to Z" from Andersen/ Zenkel. They recommend the following: 2 maj: 2NT: 15-18, balanced, 2 stoppers 3NT: stopper, and tricks via a long, good suit 4C, 4D: strong 2-suiter with minor and other major 4 maj: strong 2-suiter minor Having said this, 4NT would be free for Blackwood. But I am not sure if this considered to be standard.