jerdonald

BBO forum, This may be an old topic but I'm looking for some opinions on using BOSTON(Bottom of Something/Top on Nothing) for the opening lead. Is seems reasonable but gives a lot of information to the declarer. Thanks, Jerry

BBO forum, My partner and I have been playing 1430 RKCB for some time. He recently suggested we go to 3014 and I would like to go back to straight Blackwood to simplify things. I'm sure there will be a lot of opinions here as to which is best but is there a way to calculate what bid would be the most useful over many, many hands? jerryd

Steven Tu, All very good info. As you point out 6 clubs wasn't easy. I understand your comment about not wanting to change our system. I have used 2 diamonds weak, waiting and 2 diamonds says I have an ace or king but haven't used steps to show controls. Which of these responses do most experts prefer? jerryd

Barmar, So your saying my bid is 4 clubs. If you had responders hand would you go on to 5 clubs? The clubs were 3/2 and one defender tossed a spade as I was drawing trump so spades split and the heart K was on side. Three teams bid and made 6. Thanks, jerryd

Barmar, Steps for us is HCP, D 0-3, H 4-6, S 7-9 etc. jerryd

Pigpenz, It would be the cheapest minor. If I had rebid a major after his 2 diamonds he would bid 3 clubs. In this case since I bid 3 clubs so I would think a rebid of diamonds of the next cheapest bid, hearts in this case, would be a double negative. jerryd

BBO forum, I was dealt this hand this week: S AK6 H AQ65 D C AKQT72 my partner held: S Q523 H T84 D T853 C 98 I opened 2 clubs and since we play steps partner bid 2 diamonds, I bid 3 clubs and he passed. We have discussed double negative responses but he decided not to use it here. Should I just have gone to 5 clubs. As you can see 6 clubs is easy. How else could this bidding sequence have gone? Please don't suggest we change our system. Thanks for any response. jerryd

BBO forum, Just learning Puppet Stayman and it looks like you use it any time your partner opens 1NT and you have at least 8 points and at least one 4 card major. What about hands that have no 4 card major such as 3,3,5,2 and you have 9 points all in the minors? We do open 1NT with a 5 card major so we could miss an 8 card major fit with the above hand if responder just bids 2NT. Any other suggestions about this convention? jerryd

BBO forum, This is why I like this forum, post a question and got 33 replies so far. I didn't mean to be rude when asked "how short" but I had been reading the ACBL Announcement Procedures on: http://www.acbl.org/play/alertprocedures.html where all it states is that "could be short" is the proper announcement to a 1 club opening. Now reading the Alert Procedures it clearly states that: Remember that the opponents are entitled to know the agreed meaning of all calls. The bidding side has an obligation to disclose its agreements according to the procedures established by ACBL. When asked, the bidding side must give a full explanation of the agreement. Stating the common or popular name of the convention is not sufficient. The opponents need not ask exactly the "right" question. Any request for information should be the trigger. Opponents need only indicate the desire for information - all relevant disclosure should be given automatically. The proper way to ask for information is "please explain. I guess all this applies to announcements as well. I will still announce "could be short" but will state "0 to 2" if asked how short. Thanks for all the replies, jerdonald

BBO forum, Playing in an open game today my partner opened 1 club which I announced "could be short". On our convention card the 0-2 club box in the MINOR OPENING section is checked. My RHO said "how short" and I said "it's on the convention card". He protested and said you have to say how short when you announce. Is this correct? I have never been questioned before when announcing "could be short" jerdonald

BBO forum, This question may belong in "Laws and Rulings". Does a trump fit bid have to be alerted since you are bidding a legitimate suit? jerdonald

BOSTON is an acronym for Bottom Of Something Top Of Nothing.

BBO forum, I play with more than one partner and find it's best to use a simple discard system. We play from low to high with an odd number in a suit and from high to low with an even number. Not very sophisticated but less revealing than some systems. If I'm declarer and I know the defense is playing something like BOSTON I can locate most of the high cards in the led suit. With our system I can lead a 3 and the declarer may know I have an odd number but doesn't know if I have an honor in that suit and my partner will almost the entire distribution of the suit. I always respect a declarer who will ask "what are your discards?" jerdonald

BBO forum, Thanks to "AWM" for the actual frequencies of these types of hands. Also thanks for all the comments and suggestions about jump shifts and fit showing bids. Is there anything wrong with using the WJS when my partner opens 1 of a minor and Bergen when he opens one of a major. jerdonald

BBO Forum, There are a lot of good points made in response to my post but no one has answered the original question. How often do these type of hands occur? PhilKing says WJS hands are very rare and Bergen is falling out of favor. Are we going back to Strong(18+) jump shifts? jerdonald

BBO Forum, Standard American. My partner and I use a weak jump shift after an opening of 1 of a suit to show less than 6 points and a 6/7 card suit. With this bid we can't use Bergen raises. Anyone know how often hands show up that can bid a weak jump shift vs hands that can bid Bergen raises? jerdonald

BBO forum, Playing in a local club today where we shuffled and made the boards by hand, I picked up this hand on the first board, which by the way I had made myself. S KQxxx H - D KQx C KQxxx I opened 1 spade, LHO passed, partner bid 2 spades and after some hesitation RHO passed. 2 spades was passed out. A low diamond was led and dummy boarded: S ATx H Qxxxxx D Jxxx C - I played a low diamond from dummy and RHO trumped. RHO then led a heart which I trumped. When I led a trump LHO showed out so every hand had a void! What are the odds? jerryd

BBO forum, I always tell new bridge players that the most important thing you can do on defense is "watch your partner's discards" and the hardest thing to do on defense is "watch your partner's discards". I'm currently trying to make a short list of just the worst mistakes at bridge. Here, in no particular order, is what I have so far. Not taking enough time to think about partner's bids. Not analyzing the opening lead. Forgetting the trump count. Loosing trump control. Take a finesse when there is a possible endplay. Not watching your partners discards. Any additions, comments, etc. remembering that these are for relatively new players. jerryd

S2000magic, Thanks for the reply. What would be the range of penalties or adjustments for this infraction? jerryd

BBO forum, I'm sure this topic has come up here many times but I've not seen it. Playing at a 299er game today I pointed out to our opponents that if they play a short club opening (2 or less clubs) it is colored blue on the convention card indicating it should be announced. They said they don't bother because there's no penalty for not announcing it. Is this correct? jerryd

BBO Forum, I opened 1 spade today with: S AKJTxx H Axx D AQx C x My partner responded 1NT with: S Q H Qxxx D Kxxx C xxxx I palyed the stop card and bid 3 spades and my partner passed. Makes an easy 4. Since this was the last board one opponent asked to see the hand and suggested that I could have bid 3 diamonds which he called an "arificial jump shift". I can't find anything about this bid on the internet. Anyone know this bid? Thanks for any response. jerryd

BBO, At a local bridge club today the opponents were declarer in 4 hearts and about the third trick my partner was on lead. She looked at the board and led a diamond up to what she thought was the Jxxx. Before declarer had a chance to play a card the dummy pulled the diamond ace out from under the diamond jack. I immediately called the director and made the case that my partner would never lead up to the AJxxx of diamonds. There was no penalty and the diamond lead was allowed to stand. Is this the correct ruling? Thanks for any reply. jerryd

Blackshoe, Thanks for the reply. I see that you're from Rochester NY. I spent my first 25 years there. jerdonald

My partner and I were defending a 4 heart contract when late in the play, declarer lead the 4 of diamonds which I trumped with the 4 of hearts, dummy followed with a diamond. My partner saw my heart and for a second thought hearts had been lead. She started to play the 5 of hearts and quickly realized that diamonds were lead. The heart 5 never got more than a couple of inches from her hand and was not at an angle where I could have seen it. As she returned it to her hand the declarer said "heart 5". The director was called and the situation explained. The director said since I was made aware of the of it the heart 5 became a penalty card. Is this ruling correct? And if it is why wouldn't I, as declarer, call out any card I was able to see in a defenders hand to make it a penalty card? Jerdonald