SteveMoe

Optimistic? Yes, but...I see an 8-loser raise with 10 Support Points and Good ♦.

Unfortunate how the auction developed. I too prefer a fit jump 3♦ for North. Adding slightly to what Phil and Cyberyeti have already said, if not playing fit jumps I would prefer the auction to develop as: 1♣ - 1♠ - 2♦ - 2♠ 2N (18-19) - 4♠ - 5♣ - Pass 6♣ - All Pass The natural 2♦ freebid adds to south's hand. 5♣ should be on 7-8 losers. South has 4-losers and expects North to have 9 minor suit cards.

Found some applicable past conversation: 3NT Opening To add to what Hog said (Some call 3N for a solid Major the Kantar 3N) I'd add: 1) Acol 3N - 7222/6322 solid/semisolid suit 16-21 HCP and 2-3 side suits stopped. 2) Weak 4m preempt - useful when playing Namyats. Did have a conversation about Gambling 3N with a local GLM who allowed that conventions range from frequent/full of advantage/unhelpful to the opponents to infrequent/helpful to the opponents/usually wrong-siding the contract. He suggested gambling 3N as a prime example of the latter. He prefers weak 4m preempt.

wdp JIBBERISH

Rainer, well thought through as always! One thought - I would lead a small ♠ first, as I might need the 9 to lead toward later. We are missing the AQ876... If the ♠10 holds, I play a ♦ to the Ace and repeat the ♠ hook. If RHO shows out I can use ♣ with abandon.

1N Would suspect many would rebid 2♦ but that might likley tip off EW to their possible 9+ card ♠ fit. Can they make game in ♠? Too early to tell but my ♦ rebid would help them diagnose working values in the round suits. I like 1N if for no other reason it casts my actual ♠ length in partner's hand (and his in mine). For all I know LHO will be less bullish about exploring game and less likely to lead a ♠. If partner is very very broke I might just be where we need to be.

One treatment to consider: Support doubles through 2♥ and RHO preempts through 3♥. I play this with an area GLM and has been very useful judging competitive bidding (think raise by LHO).

With most partners I: 1) Open 1♦ in most all cases 2) Raise to 2M with a 3-card fit in M (we play fit-asks to check back) 3) Rebid 2♣ on all hands no fitting M, except, 4) Rebid 1♠ over 1♥ on 3 (HJx+) with appropriate 13-15 hand (or 1N with [x / Hxx] Hxxx HHxxx over 1M - singleton in M) My 1♣-1N-2♣ rebid strongly implies 6. Exception would be say 987, 3, Qxxx, AKQJx (rare).

Thanks Phil. Wasn't thinking deeply enough - I presumed partners double was based on values in the majors. Does seem that a side A and 3 diamonds with East can sink this one...unless pard holds the ♦10/J.

Thanks - meant to say responder. Fixed.

I think I am reading responder's bids slightly differently. 3♣ is natural, showing extras. 4♠ is picture - denying controls in the red suits but extra length or strength in ♠. I suspect partnerholds something like AKJxxx(x)-a-b-AKxx. If so the question comes down to whether we can hold trumps to one loser. That seems to be a touch more than 42% (1/2 of 84% plus the stiff trump queen on side). Marshall Miles used to say that bid any slam that is at worst on a finesse. This one is worse than that. If partner has a black 4-loser, shame on him or her for not opening 2♣. Partner should not be, say, AKQxxx xx x AKxx.<-- Not relevant. With a black 6=5 or 7=5, I would expect partner to rebid 4♣ over 3♦, not 4♠. So I pass, but it is close. Edited to correct errors - Steve Misread auction and responded to nonexistent post. After 4th suit, jump to game in ♠ must be weak (fast arrival). No way my covers are enough for safety even at 5 level. (Thanks Aguahombre)

Something I play with one partner in a Precision context: 1♠ = 4+ cards 8 - 12 HCP 1N = Natural, not forcing. 8-11 HCP 2♣ = All GF. Asks AK Controls (Beta). [Opening 1M PROMISES 3 controls so response scale is 3,4,5.....] 2M = 8-12 We roll 3 card limit raises into this bid, so Opener must act with game interest opposite a max. 2♦, 2♥OM, 3♣ = Constructive Freebids 8-12 HCP and 5+ Cards - NONFORCING 3♦ = Constructive 4-card raise (Bergen) 2N = 11-12 Balanced, Natural Nonforcing(usually 2-card fit). 3N = 13-15 Balanced, Natural Nonforcing (usually 2-card fit). 3M = Limit Raise 4+ Cards. 4M = 2-way raise - 13-14 HCP w/4 trumps balanced or preempt Constructive Freebids cause us to use Negative/Positive doubles (all GF Responder hands go through double when they overcall).

...what 7 tricks are we going to take to make passing worth while? While it's possible partner might be strong enough to give us 7 defensive tricks (1 in trumps and 6 outside?), I'm not sure it's likely - partner rates to be closer to 10 than 15 HCP and I have only 3 sure defensive tricks...I think the possibilities suggest we bid our game and forget defending.

I see 2 additional benefits: 1) An immediate game force is established, leaving great room for strain and shape exploration, and 2) Declaring from the 8-11 side is drastically reduced, increasing the likelihood the stronger hand will declare. There is a downside - We have lost MPs when RHO can double the artificial 1♥ call for a lead...

Well put Rainer. Last I looked ♠Axxx ♥Axx ♦Axx ♣Axx appears to be 8 losers but is not: there are 4 Aces more than 0 queens, we adjust 4/2 = 2 losers, so 8-2 = 6 losers total. I see the quoted hand having 5.5 losers.

Something perhaps like this in precision: [hv=d=w&v=n&b=12&a=ppp1cp2dp2np3cp3dp4sp4np5sp7d]133|100[/hv] or this in 2/1: [hv=d=w&v=n&b=12&a=ppp2cp2dp2np3sp3np4sp5hp5np7dppp]133|100[/hv]

Rule of 2 says 3♠. Would consider 4♠ white vs red.

Couldn't say it better MrAce! I like your approach with 2M jumps as fit-showing.

Agree Rogerclee outline. Have found 1♣-1♥ usually leads to the 17-19 or 18-20 1NT auction with full NT structure (we do not play 3♣ over opener's 1NT response as puppet as we do NOT bit NT after 1♣ with 5 card majors). Opener's bids are otherwise natural. If you play alpha/suit ask (we don't) we recommend opener's 2♥ response be that a. Have found bidding by past hand (1♥ = ♥s and 1N = 8-11 balanced) often leads to memory error. Sigh. You should deecide whether to keep the 1♥ artificial game force on here. This structure does avoid wrong-siding contracts somewhat(partner won't bid naturally unless they hold 12 HCP). You will rarely have the 8 HCP hand declaring. As for 3-level partner and I play WJS hands 3-7 HCP with 7+ cards. Have not agreed to value of transfers because these bids occur so infrequently. 4-level bids are super positives (4441, one under shortness promising 4+ controls). Extremely infrequent. Over 2♥ 12-13 HCP we play 2N as Stayman (3♣=both majors, 3♦=♥, 3♥=♠, and 3♠=none/3N=none with 5-card minor). Over 2N 14+ we play 3♣ italian transfer stayman 14-16 or 17+; 3♦ through 3N(=♣) are alpha/SAB. 4♣ is gerber (or beta if you prefer) and 4♦ is HCP ask in 1 point steps.

I like Negative doubles over (3-level) interference to our 1NT opening bids and overcalls. Some are less comfortable playing them at the 2-level but they are imminently workable. I would double with this hand. Bidding a Lebensohl 3N is not available here - the inference that responder has no Heart stopper is not active as responder did not have 2N available to "go slow".

Following on suggestions from Walter Johnson, partner and I open 1N with 14-15 and 5332 w/5-card major all the time. With 16+ we always open 1♣ and rebid the Major. We are reluctant to open our strongish 2N hands with 5332. Opening 1NT with a 5-card major solves the rebid problem in 2/1 GF (playing forcing NT there is some risk partner drops us in our 2nd suit when game or NT pays better). In Precision, the 1♣ opening bid solves that problem for us. With a suitable response structure to 1♣-1♦-1M we can bid better than our opponents who open a 15-17 1N. I'll leave it to others to debate whether to open 2N with 5332 (major). I don't have strong feelings. I just don't like reveailing this pattern via Puppet Stayman because it helps the defense too much.

A lot of good advice already posted here already! Let me add I found Kantar's Advanced book on Defense incredibly enlightening. The focus is on principlles and skills and less on problems per se. 1) Active vs Passive Defense and which situations call for which approach. 1b) active and passive opening leads 2) Counting HCP 3) Counting Declarer's Shape 4) Counting Declarer's Tricks 5) The 4 kinds of dummies and what to do against them (When declarer in a trump contract has a long suit missing 1 or 2 honors in dummy and plays on a third suit, when in lead the 4th suit asap. That long suit is either already established or partner's honors will be finessed. Conversely sittong on declarer's left if partner returns a trump instead of attacking the 4th suit. partner controls the long suit!). 6) Signalling 7) What was NOT bid by partner or the opponents... ...and more! Don't get discouraged. I am amused by the ACBL convention card - where about 17% of the space is dedicated to defense. Defense matters more than 50%! It's fair to say that all this counting and thinking takes practice. Expect things to be blurry and expect some (additional) errors as you practice your counting and analysis skills at the table. If you are a good card watcher then play with a partner who will signal with intent. If you can count HCPs with accuracy, then estimate declarer's shape. Was the auction strong? Attack!! Was it tentative? Let declarer do the heavy lifting. You will get the hang of it.

Agree postings by Chris and others. I would add that South is strong enough to bid game even opposite a real 3♦ response (assuming 8 losers). The question to think about is what hands can North have to make 3N a useful choice. I think we play 3N only after a 3♠ or 3N response to Ogust. Even 3♠ is iffy.

Would seem the negative double expresses doubt about ♥ stoppers. 1N-2♥-3♠ can be bid on 5 cards...perhaps the stopper distinction is useful - I wouldn't mind playing in a 5-2 fit when we don't stop ♥.

Dummy showed up with ♠853 ♥6 ♦AQJx ♣Qxxxx I had assumed no redouble because they were playing some sort of rescue. Partner knows I'm broke.