EricK

Nothing was alerted. After 1X-1NT-Dbl-?, partner will just consider it as a normal 1NT opening, with garbage stayman and transfers. Pass is not conventional or anything, but RDbl would be considered as penalty. (I know, not the best stuff, but that's what we played) With ♠AK I'd probably not even bid 1NT... :D If this had been online and you had been asked the range of your 1NT what would you have said? 15-17? 16-18? If, as you say, you wouldn't have opened a hand which falls in your stated range, but would if it falls outside then IMO you are on rather dodgy ground. Even if the 1NT is not a psyche, I would say that the 2♦ bid may be. Everyone knows that a 1NT overcall may be made on a weak hand with a long suit into which you rescue yourself. That is a gross distortion of what you actually have. Eric

You could also look at Roman Jump overcalls which use the cue bid and the next two bids to show all 5-5. The cue-bid shows the suits either side of opener's suit, and the other bids show the two suits above opener's and the two suit's below opener's respectively: So eg over 1♣ 2♣ = ♦ & ♠ 2♦ = ♦ & ♥ 2♥ = ♥ & ♠ or over 1♥ 2♥ = ♦ & ♠ 2♠ = ♠ & ♣ 2NT = ♣ & ♦ Since you sometimes bid one of the suits, this puts more pressure on opps. Eric

The other reason to pass is that your experienced LHO may be trying a psychic redouble. i.e. hoping to persuade your beginner partner to rescue. Since your partner has succesfully passed this test, it would be a shame to fall for the con yourself. Eric

A couple of questions: What system do you play over (1Z) 1NT (X)? i.e. Did your partner's pass show or deny anything? Would you have rescued yourself if your spade suit had been AK instead of Ax? Eric

If they don't report the psyche, how is it to be determined whether they have a history of such actions?

In SAYC 2♣ is GF except on balanced hands when it only forcing to 2NT. Positive suit responses should show a good suit (2 of the top 3 honours). 2NT response should show scattered values and a desire to declare NT, so tenaces etc. You don't necessarily need 8 points to make a positive response. Qx KQTxxx xxx xx is a positive response of 2♥. In general, you should be more willing to give a positive in a major than in a minor because of the extra room taken up. All other hands should go through 2♦ which gives opener maximum room to clarify his hand type. You are GF exceot in the single sequence 2♣ 2♦ 2NT. You should play exactly the same methods over 2♣ 2♦ 2NT as you do over a 2NT opening but all your ranges will be adjusted by a couple of points. Eric

In chess, you spring a surprise variation on me and I have a chance of working out my best counter. In bridge, if you spring a surprise on us, we each have to come up with a counter and hope it is the same one. That is the difference. Obviously, a well-practised pair should have generic methods to deal with anything they may come across. But what if it is a pick-up partnership? Should they be denied the chance to compete? Eric

How do you know what the lesson he needs to learn is? Maybe he needs to learn to pre-empt to the limit of his hand the first time, and this contract is actually making. IMO This isn't a FP situation. You don't know whether partner really expected to make 4♥. 4D would be natural. Eric

Why do you think a beginner will be more likely cope opposite an unusual bid of yours than an expert would, or more likely to cope opposite an unusual bid of yours than opposite a standard bid? There are certain "bad" bids which one can make with a beginner partner. But this isn't one of them. I also don't understand the double of 4♣. But now you have got to pass and hope they go down. There doesn't look to be a decent contract your way, but there is some hope that you can take 4 tricks in defence. Eric

Again, if you don't open 1M on balanced hands you don't have this problem. You can simply play 1NT as 100% forcing over 1S, and use Kaplan inversion over 1H. Eric

It is not enough to look at the gains and losses when you open 1NT with a 5cM, you must also look at the gains (definitely these exist!) and losses (are there any?) when you open 1M without a balanced hand. Eric

After 1D (2S) P (4S) I bid 4NT (two-suited hand) and take out 5C into 5D to show this sort of hand. Eric

Indeed. Balancing after 1x (P) P is completely different from balancing after 2x (P) P. In the former case, you know that opener's partner is very weak, and can usually deduce that your partner has some points. In the latter case, opener's partner could have a strong misfitting hand, so there are no guarantees that partner has anything. Of course, this is also why second hand should have bid 2NT on his strong hand. Eric

I haven't looked at the maths in Ben's post so I won't comment on that. But I will say that when I first saw the problem I assumed that immediately ruffing the diamond was the beginner's play (it seems so obvious), and drawing trumps (with a gain in certain squeeze endings, but a loss in other, simpler, positions) was the expert's play. Eric

With a semi forcing 1NT you can also miss the best part score when responder has a weak hand with a long suit. Eric

It is badly expressed, but I don't believe he making a corellation. I think what he is trying to say is that from the choice of the lead it is likely that East has 3 cards at most (because people rarely lead a short minor against 3NT), so as long as you can hold up the club it doesn't matter if East has the ♦K. Does that make moer sense? Eric

I disagree. If you can bid 1M-2m NON-forcing, it's a much bigger gain. Using relays to investigate full distribution is still a better slamapproach as well... I am not saying that a precision 2/1 GF is better than relaying. I am saying that a Precision + 2/1 GF is better than SA + 2/1 GF. Eric C'mmon, Precision with 2/1 gf is better than relay. Why retreat Eric?:) I also wasn't saying that Precision with relaying is better than Precision with 2/1. So I had no position to retreat from! Now if you want my honest opinion... I'll have to think about it a bit longer. Eric

I wouldn't do it playing 2/1 (or whatever) in a pick-up partnership. But I think It would be part of a system I would like to play: Polish Club style, but with all weak balanced hands (including 5332s) going into 1♣. I would also reverse the 1S and 1NT responses to 1H, so that opener's rebid after 1H 1S or 1S 1NT is always meaningful. (1H 1S 1NT = Flannery type hand). There is a potential loss on all hands which are exactly 5332, but a potential gain on all other hands with a 5CM. eg 1H 2D 2NT = 5H & 4C, 1H 2D 3C = 5H & 5C etc Eric

As in, in contrast to invitational or forcing. It doesn't mean partner is barred from the bidding. Neither does any other signoff bid. Oh, wait, now somebody's going to post about 7NT. Gee, maybe I should throw that in as well. There was point to your post, but damned if I can find it. There is a difference between a sign off bid and a non-forcing bid. Sign off bids are non-forcing, but non-forcing bids are not necessarily sign offs. eg 1NT 3NT. The 1NT bid is non-forcing (partner can act if he wants), but the 3NT bid is a sign-off (partner must pass). Another way of putting it is that a non forcing bid says "this is the limit of my hand" but a sign off syas "this is the limit of our hands". Eric

I agree with this. The most descriptive single bid is to bid the 5cM. But... What is better, to show in two bids a balanced hand outside your NT range, or to show in two bids an unbalanced (5-4+) hand. Isn't one of the major advantages of bidding balanced hands as balanced hands that when you don't have a balanced hand partner will know about it? That applies equally well to 5332 hands inside your NT range, 5332 hands outside your NT range and (to bring in another oft quoted hand) 4234 (etc) hands outside your NT range. Eric

What would you open if each hand were an Ace lighter? Eric Playing a weak NT I would open that. Playing a strong NT you are forced to open 1M. I don't see the point of the question EricK. If the balanced hand falls outside your NT range you are forced to open something else. The point of the question is that if you are playing a forcing 1NT response, then you can't show the balanced hand as a balanced hand. So is the priority to show the balanced nature of your hand (which you can do by opening 1♣ or your better minor and rebidding 1NT or raising partner's ♠ bid) or to show the spade suit? Eric

What would you open if each hand were an Ace lighter? Eric

This is one of bridge's perennial questions. My answer is that they should all be opened 1NT. The principle to use is "Balanced hands should be bid as balanced hands" Eric

I like to use Pass followed by support to differentiate between defensive hands and offensive hands. So 1H (X) 2NT would like something like AJx KQxx xxxx xx and 1H (X) P .... 3H would look like AJx xxxx Qxxx Kx In competitive situations it is often important to let partner know if your hand is defensive or not so as to prevent him from bidding on. I agree that Natural 1NT and 2NT are not so much needed here. I like 1NT = transfer to ♣, 2♣ transfer to ♦ etc, but I keep 2NT as a forcing raise on offensive hands. The trouble with 2NT on a weak 5-5 is that the hand might be a complete misfit, and you get to play at the 3 level doubled. The trouble with 2NT on a strong 5-5 is that the hand may be a complete misfit and you get to play the hand rather than double the opps (who were in a forcing situation until you kindly took them out of it). I like Fit jump to the 3 and 4 levels. Redouble strongly implies no fit (0-1 cards in partner's suit). Either a similar hand to doubler, or strong 1 or 2 suited (subsequent bid hopes to clarify). Pass followed by a X is for take out, usually with exactly a doubleton in partner's suit. The whole method is geared towards trying to declare when it is right to, and to defend (possibly doubled) when that is right. Eric

I disagree. If you can bid 1M-2m NON-forcing, it's a much bigger gain. Using relays to investigate full distribution is still a better slamapproach as well... I am not saying that a precision 2/1 GF is better than relaying. I am saying that a Precision + 2/1 GF is better than SA + 2/1 GF. Eric