PhilKing

You need a meta rule here: "When partner moves over 3NT a regression to 4NT is to play unless irrational."

I assume the simulation rates a small club as terrible?

I like the auction for the reasons Rainer made, even though his example hand is crackers.

I would not bid 2NT on the first hands unless I am playing full relay 2/1 - I think it's too strong. Maybe I should bid 2NT anyway, since it cleans up 3D. And I already admitted I am bidding it on the second, because I think the downside is small and the upsides several. If I'm 4-6, I'm generally bidding 2NT on hands where it's a) Very unlikely we can make 6♣ b) There's a pretty high chance that it is right to play 3NT from my side. But I probably don't bid 2NT enough. All the rest can sort itself out with the extra space we gain (the way I really play it, the auction starts 1h-2c-2d(various)-2H-relay, but 2NT is fine).

My bad. Just felt I had to encourage him not to go beyond "maybe".

See above. Your post is long, but i have tried to cover everything.

I said typically - not "it promises Axx". However, you do seem to be obsessed with getting to 3NT in an auction that just does not call for it. All your example hands for 3♦ look like 2NT bids to me, clearly with ♠Qxx but also Qx. 2NT is a broad church, and I have plenty of room to explore where appropriate. On your example hands, I now bid 3♣, he bids 3♦ and we go from there. They are trivially solved. 3♦ suggests a very suit-oriented hand over which, of all things, I bid 4♣ with three key cards in his suits. Once in a while 3NT will be the best spot, but the vast majority of the time we belong in five or six clubs.

I play a delayed overcall of 2♣ showing five diamonds and four (or five) clubs and a good hand (what else can it sensibly show?). This hand fits the bill! I don't like doubling 1NT (take-out of hearts) with only Jxx of spades - after all partner never has five decent spades, let alone six. If I double he will bid 2♠ with a 4441 shape, for instance, which is unlikely to be a success. I understand your reluctance to double 2♥. It seems obvious to double and "everyone" does it, but my impression is that it turns out badly as often as not. After all, what is partner to do on a 3433 hand with modest hearts? He bids 2♠ - marv! What on earth was partner's rationale for not overcalling? I assume he was the worst player in the room - after all he had no clue what you had untill he saw the hand record. :(

I prefer 3♠ to show three to an honour here - typically Axx. I don't think partner ever really has Qxx here, since he had a forcing 2NT available. For me 3♦ shows a suit-oriented hand, so I only want to get no trumps back in the game when a) I have enough in spades to bid it myself or b) when I need partner to have say Qx to make the prospect better than playing in a suit. As bid, the hand is an advert for an encouraging 4NT.

Responder has 5M and 4-5m where opener completes the transfer to show fit. You play cues here, which I think understates the case for exploring a better fit and the advantage of showing a second suit for slam purposes in general. You can have your cake and eat it after completing the transfer to show fit with a mixture of shortages and second suits via puppet.

I don't think lebensohl after a 4th seat double is optimal. If you have a normal take-out double, considering the absence of a raise, partner usually has three or more cards in their suit with his honours sitting over the suit. Partner's most common hand type is balanced with about 3.5 hearts and say 8-11 points, which is what I believe 2NT should show. I agree your example hand just shrugs and bids 3NT and I like the 14-17 range. But you can double and bid 3NT to bring spades back in to play with three or four of them playing my way without worrying about wrong-siding 3NT.

It's home grown, but the concept is simple. If in minor suit auctions your method is to use 4NT as encouraging rather than ace asking, you can designate 5m+1 as RKCB. The concept of the weaker hand bidding beyond 5m with a key card response is a little trickier, but is possible in defined auctions. The same principle applies in major-suit cue auctions where you have by-passed 4NT. It's common in auctions where we come in over a preempt. Sand wedge covers all GSF issues as well.

You would probably like Segalwood (by Oliver Segal): 5C 0-1 or 3 5D 1.5 or 3.5 5H/S as per rkcb Trump queen and maybe bid kings count as half subject to certain rules.

Spade (both). There could still be time for hearts, but I'm not feeling in a rush to lead them. Quick plug for Winning No Trump Leads by Bird and Anthias, which is well worth a look. All the problems are computer simulated, which is not everyones cup of tea. As I recall, there is not a single hand in the book where it was right to lead from any four card suit headed by the king without the queen or ace, even when the auction was unlimited. DD analysis probably overrates passive leads somewhat, though. Time to fire up the simulator, Pokey!

The point is (and it's one known to anyone who switched to 1430 whilst awake) that zero is a) less common and b) less relevant. Kickback has gained us at least one extra step, but it is still the 1 key card response that benefits more than the zero. But go with the old memory thing if that floats your boat.

Really? I tend to hold 1 key card more often than zero even when I play kickback ...

They're not savages, you know. Oh, wait ...

I play it, and my partner plays it as well. ;)

This. Local officials know best imo.

It will never happen.

I've been playing it as 7-9 with 5 trumps for 23 years, and it's come up twice.

Shock.

I would bid Four Spades over Three Diamonds. For me this is void showing but not RKCB. Perfect! If partner has AKxx xxx Kxx xxx, that's just too bad - I was never getting to 3NT.

I would lose five, six or seven tricks on your example hand, but I probably need to brush up my declarer play. The way I play it, you can never transfer to 3m with a blizzard, so you should bid Three Clubs, and partner continues with a perfecto. Admittedly I will miss it opposite Qxx KJx Qxxx AKx, but no answer is gilt edged here, but against a weak team I don't feel the need to push.

He has to tell you what the bid means, not what he has. He can bid 2NT on any hand he wants - that's the rule. It's basically mostly covered by law 40 (a couple of other laws may sometimes apply as well), which you can find by googling the laws of contract bridge. If it's any consolation, he will score far more own goals than goals playing like this.