EricK

How strong does your 2C have to be? If you need say a good ten or eleven points, then you have to worry what to do after 1D 1NT. Eric

What you do is reasonable, although if you open a lot of them 2NT, then you are not really playing a 20-21 range. You might consider playing a 21-22 range instead. If you have a balanced 20 point hand and partner passes your 1 level opening then it is unlikley you were making game, and even 2NT may be too high. Eric

1NT seems fine to me. It is almost risk free with the club singleton. I wonder if the same opening bid would have been made if the singleton had been in a major. In that case there is a big risk of partner transferring into (or bidding) a weak 5 card major. Eric

two quibbles 1) IMPs is all about making games and slams, MPs is all about beating par. 2) There is a slight constructive advantage in mking 1S NF. When partner doesn't pass your 1S bid, you know he has more than a dead minimum responding hand. This will be of some help on a small number of hands. For what it is worth, I would only pass the 1S bid on a hand like Qxx Jxxx x Qxxxx Eric

If the bidding were to start 1S 2D, then nothing much would make me stop short of slam as opener. If the bidding started 2C, then nothing much would make me stop short of slam as responder. A fairly straightforward sequence would be something like 1S 2D 3S 4C 4H 4S 5C 5S 6S 3S sets trumps, 4C is a cue bid, 4H is a cue bid, 4S denies diamond control, 5S denies Heart control. If they open the bidding with 1D, then I can foresee something like (1D) X 3NT 6S Eric

My guess at GIB's "reasoning" is that if you place West with long hearts, then any finesse through East is better than a finesse throught West. Since the Spade finesse can be taken through East, but the Diamond finesse can't then GIB goes for the spade finesse. He correctly cashes two diamonds first in case the Queen is dropping. Eric

What do you mean by "a double dummy line" in this context? Obviously if GIB knew the location of the cards (which is what I understand by double dummy) it would simply finesse the Diamond Queen. I suspect that if you gave West Qx in spades then GIB would go down i.e. definitely not take a double dummy line. Eric

I gave this problem to GIB. It's line was Heart King Club finesse losing take Heart return cash second club ending in hand cash third heart discarding spade take diamond Ace diamond King run spade Jack claim So GIB doesn't run the clubs! Whether this line is technically any good, I can't say. But it does have the benefit of working. Eric

2H is not forcing. It shows an excellent hand (in terms of playing strength and distribution), but it isn't forcing. It is unlikely that you will have a hand that doesn't open with a strong bid but then wants to force to the three level opposite a partner who has denied a reasonable hand, and with LHO having shown a good hand. Eric

If I had simply agreed to play 2/1GF without much further discussion, then I would bid 2D. I would hope to have an auction like 1H 2D 2H 2S etc where I have shown GF strength 5+ diamonds, 4+spades. i.e. what I have got. To answer your follow up question, I would do the same with only 5 diamonds. MAFIA responses, as suggested by hrothgar, also work, but IMO they need farily complex follow-ups to avoid mishaps, so I wouldn't use them except in an established partnership following much discussion. Eric

If partner had opened a weak NT I would have passed without giving it a second thought. I don't think the club fit (which may only be 8 cards) is enough to change my bid. Eric

I agree with this. Another possibility is for opener to rebid 1NT. Then the bidding may go 1D 1H 1NT 4NT 6D 6NT Eric

Would 4NT on the second round have been natural? IMO it should be, in which case 2S was probably a mistake. However, pick-up partners hate interpreting 4NT as natural. Unfortunately, 4NT on the third round would undoubtedly be taken as RKB for hearts (again it is probably best to play it as natural - if you want to RKB you can cue-bid clubs first). I'll bid 4D. But I don't much like it. I have somehow managed to suggest I have a singleton club! Who was it who said that balanced hands should be bid as balanced hands?! As an aside, does anyone still play the Baron 2NT response to 1x, showing 16+ balanced? It seems to have gone out of fashion, but when I played it, it seemed to lead to good results and I never missed not having a natural 2NT response. Eric

Does anyone know how Jack does this? It's not double-dummy, as it gives different answers for e.g. HQ and HJ (as ideally it should). It can't just "play the hands itself" as it uses this method to decide what to do ;) (I suppose a dumbed down version of Jack could play out the hands... analysis seems too quick for even this though). Andy It does a double dummy analysis, but then applies a deduction to cards which are not the "correct" lead from that suit (as defined in your convention card set-up). So if you had a suit of 865 and had set it to lead MUD, then it would give a higher mark to a lead of the six than to either of the others, even if double dummy there was no difference between the leads. Eric

Last night I held this hand ATxx KJxxx T Kxx The opposition bidding went 1NT 2C; 2D 2NT; 3NT (weak NT, 2C promised a 4 card major) I led the fourth best heart. Not a success as dummy had A987 and declarer had the Queen. A spade would have given us the first 5 tricks. partner had the King, opponent's spades were 2-2. Eric

I gave this problem to the computer program Jack, and got it to analyse 1000 deals consistent with the auction. The results were that HQ was best, followed by the S10. This was true whether 1NT was 12-14 or 15-17. So I have voted for the Heart Queen, but it is not really my vote, it's Jack's! I couldn't decide between these two leads. I would probably have lead the heart. because the pay off is bigger when it is right. Eric

Assuming this hand starts with 2C 1S 2C 2H 2NT 4NT 6NT seems OK You don't always have to mention your 8 card major fits Eric

Have you missed Jx from the second list. (modified) I see Fred has just posted the same thing. Eric

I am a simple soul. I think that this should mean the same as 1NT 2D 2H 3D in an uncontested auction. Why should we let the opps disrupt our constructive bidding? So for me this is Hearts and Diamonds game forcing. Since I am prepared not to able to play in 3D if the opps don't bid, I am willing to give up that opportunity when they do. Eric

Firstly, I would like to say that I am not an expert in 2/1, so my opinion may not count for much. Secondly, I am not a big fan of fast arrival before partner has limited his hand. Thirdly, I believe that after 1M 2m, opener shouldn't bid above 2M with a minimum. So... 1) 1S-2C-2NT. I like this to be 15-17 (with 18-19 rebid 3NT; with 12-14 rebid 2S). However, I think that "standard" is to have 3NT be 15-17, so 1NT is 12-14 OR 18-19. 2) 1S-2C-2D-2NT. I think this is simply showing something like 2-3-3-5. I don't think it necessarily shows much slam interest. The difference between 2NT and 3NT is that 3NT says "I really believe this is the place to play", so no real slam interest and strong hearts (eg KQJ). 2NT offers partner the chance to bid 3C with a singleton heart, or to rebid his spades etc, etc. 3) 1S-2C-3C. I think this should show extras. 4) 1S-2C-4C. Almost slam forcing! Asks partner to cuebid. 5) 1S-2C-2D-3D. Just bidding out shape. Maybe wants to see if opener can bid 3NT repeat spades or support clubs before committing to diamonds. 6) 1S-2C-2D-4D. Very strong, probably 6 clubs and 5 diamonds (or 4 very good diamonds). Eric

Cue-bidding is a complex topic. If you play Italian style cue-bids where bypassing a suit denies a control in it, then this hand is easy: 4C showed Clubs but NOT Spades, hence 4D showed Diamonds AND Spades (opener would sign off if he knew both partners lack Spade control). So you can now check on Aces and bid the slam. If you play a more flexible style then you really need to plan your auctions (which involves putting yourself into partner's shoes). Here, I would say to myself as responder "We are clearly well into the slam zone and the 5 level should be safe opposite partner's jump response. Even if I cue-bid 4C, partner still won't know quite how slam-suitable I am, so I can't give her a chance to stop in 4H." If you had got this far, then I think you would have found the 5H bid. Eric

May I start a subthread here? Who would pass the East hand after 1NT (P)? It seems automatic (to me) to try and rescue with 2C. Here it mightn't be good because NS have a game, but how often (in general) do they bid games against a strong NT? Eric

Most people who play maximal doubles would treat double as penalty and 3H as a non-specific game try. There is a good case for making 3H a help-suit game try in Hearts and double as a help-suit game try in Clubs. Of course, if the bidding goes 1S (2C) 2S (3C), you can now play double as penalty (unless you can think of another meaning for it eg balanced game try, or game invitiational with weak trumps or whatever takes your fancy) The point is that if they are bidding sensibly you rarely have a penalty double (there will likely be at least 17 total trumps). Eric

My philosophy isn't really concerned with right-siding 1NT contracts (nor I suspect is The_Hog's). If the bidding starts 1C 1D 1S, then partner will know at least 9 of my cards and will be well placed to get us to a decent spot. If it starts 1C 1D 1NT he will know my strength and shape and will again be well placed to get us to a decent spot (just as if I had opened 1NT). He won't always be able to get us to the best spot, but no method can do that at the part-score level. If we are in the game or slam zone, partner will be able to get us the best spot practically 100% of the time. Playing the other style, if the bidding starts 1C 1D 1S, partner knows 7 of my cards, and doesn't know if I am balanced or not. If he has a spade fit we are doing fine, if not he is guessing much of the time. This might hold true even at the game level. eg 1C 1H 1S 2D! 2H ... partner has bid FSF and we have shown delayed Heart support. What is our hand? If it could range from a 4333 hand to a 4315 hand (maybe even a 4306 hand) how is partner going to work out what to do? Eric

But that is my point! My Null Hypothesis would be that either shape/strength information is more important or locating 4-4 major fits is more important. You seem to be saying that if you happen to hold 15-17 then shape/strength is more important, if 12-14 then 4-4 fits are more important. (and presumably vice versa whenever you play a weak NT). You may be right, but I would like to see some reasons. If locating 4-4 fits was more important then I would expect you to play a system like: 1 S/H/D 5+ 1C 1+ 1NT 19-21 balanced and in response to 1C 1 H/S 5+ 1D at least one 4 card major etc etc. Then you would hardly miss any 5-3 or 4-4 major fits. Eric