tobycurtis

Totally agree with daffydoc. Either some people are just too brain-dead to notice their partner has done absolutely nothing special at all, or they're trying to be courteous with a pick-up partner. Either way, seems unnecessary to me. But if I don't like what I see in the chat, I just don't look at it.

Thanks all! Very quick, clear, logical replies!

Hi all, Here's the situation: 1x - (P) - P - (Double) 1NT - (P) - ? In other words, partner has opened 1 of a suit. You are very weak and can't come up with a response. LHO doubles in the balancing seat. Then partner chimes in again with 1NT, promising 18-19 HCP and a balanced hand. Now it's back to you. The question is, what's on, if anything? Does anyone play Jacoby transfers or Stayman in this situation? What's "standard"? (May not be relevant, but in my specific hand, you have 5 spades to the 10, balanced hand with 1 HCP.) Thanks! Toby

Hi all, So my main question is -- is it forcing when you bid a new suit after partner's cuebid raise of your first suit? Here's the hand in question: [hv=pc=n&s=sakjt7hdakt862c97&d=n&v=e&b=9&a=p1c1dp2cp2sp]133|200[/hv] I was South, and I was under the impression that my 2♠ bid was forcing. Partner was a GIB and passed, and game was missed. I'm pretty sure the new suit is forcing, but if not...how do explore for slam? Thanks, Toby

I'm wondering whether a double here would be purely penalty, or whether it could have a lead-directing meaning. Dummy's double is suggestive of hearts, so ideally our double would be suggesting a heart lead?? Is that asking too much? :rolleyes:

Another way: click Export deal, Hand editor, and then just click the Left arrow button multiple times to backtrack on the auction you had. Then re-enter any auction you like, and click GIB to see how it would've turned out.

I had no idea there were so many people who bypass a 4-card spade suit rebid on balanced hands. Are there methods built in for finding 4-4 spade fits after a start of 1♣/♦ - 1♥; 1NT - ? Even if 1♠ isn't 100% forcing, I wouldn't dream of passing with this almost-invitational hand. I don't know that partner has more clubs than spades, so I'm not gambling on 2♣/3♣ at matchpoints. I guess 1NT isn't so bad, but if partner does keep the auction alive, I don't want to be the one who has hinted at a diamond stopper, and I don't particularly want to be the declarer either. So I bid 2♠.

Exactly what I was thinking. When the queen of diamonds is onside, they split and 3NT makes, I'm sure the conversation would've been: W: I'm sure glad you took an optimistic view and jumped to 3D, partner. E: Thank you.

Interesting. Sounds like what in Japan (maybe other places too, I don't know) is called Jacoby 3NT...a 4-card GF raise showing less HCP than a Jacoby 2NT. Thanks to everyone who shared their ideas and insight. Truly invaluable.

Hi all, In auctions that start with a 1H or 1S opening bid, what are the most standard/common/recommended uses of a 3NT response? Here is what comes to mind: 1) 13-15 HCP, balanced with no fit 2) 13-15 HCP, balanced, 3-card support, choice of games 3) Jacoby 3NT -- not really sure how this is defined, is this the same as #2? Any others? What is best in your opinion? Thanks! Toby

Fixed! As of today? Thanks a million to those working behind the scenes to solve these bugs.

Below is an e-mail I sent to support@bridgebase.com at the end of June to which I still have received no reply. I thought I'd try asking here in the forums. Any thoughts? Hi, I am a regular BBO user on a Mac computer with Firefox. I haven't changed any of my settings or software recently but all of a sudden, starting about two weeks ago, when some of my Japanese friends try to chat with me in Japanese, the characters don't display correctly -- the Japanese comes out as garbled mush. The BBO menus themselves appear in Japanese, and when I type something in Japanese, I can read it correctly. Any idea what might be causing this or how to fix it? Thanks in advance, Toby

Hi everybody, Just wondering if articles/videos etc. that have been posted on the main BBO page after logging in (I think the section is called "Today on BBO" or something like that) are still available in some archive somewhere? Specifically I'm looking for a video that was up very recently about a man who was trying to introduce newcomers to the game of bridge. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Toby

Wow, thanks all. Very very useful information, and food for thought. Will be chatting with partner tomorrow about this :)

Hi all. I've been reading up on "Four-suit transfers", i.e. the sequence 1NT-2♠ showing 6 clubs, and 1NT-2NT showing 6 diamonds (generally speaking). I like being able to transfer to the minor suits, but I also really like the simplicity of inviting a 3NT game with the sequence 1NT-2NT. Obviously can't have it both ways. Because the traditional invitational meaning of 1NT-2NT has been taken away using these transfers, supposedly you can start with Stayman and then rebid 2NT whatever the response, to achieve the same meaning (as in 1NT-2♣-2x-2NT). I don't really like the sound of pretending you have a four-card major, with the risk of opponent's interference messing things up, responder not being able to fix the short-term lie, and opener getting confused. Do most people use these four-suit transfers? How do most people deal with these issues? And finally, I could have sworn I read about this alternative somewhere, but now, cannot find any references to it -- when you have either 6-card minor as responder opposite a 1NT opener, bid 2♠. Opener must rebid 3♣, and responder will correct to 3♦ if necessary, which opener must? should? pass. Did I make this up?? It sounds pretty good to me...you get to keep 1NT-2NT for a basic 3NT invitation. Thanks for your input!!

Thanks a lot. I will look into the GIB CC. I did know about the hovering over a bid to get an explanation -- in my hand from above, the explanation for North's 4♥ was one of those vague ones like "11- total points" or something like that...don't remember exactly what, but it didn't say anything about hearts. So I'm guessing that bid is a GIB "bug"...

Hi all, first time posting, still rather new to BBO, so bear with me. The auction: http://tinyurl.com/8nkjtt9 I am certainly guilty of overaggressive bidding here but after dummy came down, I just could not figure out what North's 4H bid was supposed to mean. During the bidding, I guessed it was a cuebid of some sort and went to slam. Woops. (Not that this is necessarily related but) is there a GIB convention card of some sort? And on another unrelated note, what are GIB's defensive carding conventions? Are these explained in a thread somewhere, or another place entirely? Thanks for your help/input.