vang

fearless 1S ;-)

http://www.worldbridge.org/tourn/shanghai....tin/bul1306.htm On board 84 from semifinal USA - SAF, Weinstein could have made his 5NT by penalizing a card wrongly played by Cope. Ignoring the stakes, Weinstein choose the fair play way. Bravo!

2D, i want to write with plus. i think 2D will make more often than 1NT (simulation please ;-). at MP it's probably okay to risk 1NT. i don't care it may be easier for opps to bid now, they both passed already, right?

also marshall miles in 'competitive bidding for 21 century'.

for me i was close (dbl/2h) but in the end i choose dbl. i hope 2H doubled will go for -1100 ;-)

do not count, use pattern recognition. just know by heart the distribution table (4333, 4432, 5332 etc) and after each trick visualize possible distributions. i think this is recommended explained better in some books (anyone?).

on this, my personal pref is for 2H (forcing one round). i'll balance with Rosenberg's cards anyway despite xxx in diamonds (he had two AK).

drinking and then posting here is allowed? ;-)

Great, thanks!

I don't know how it's supposed to be done. In this case, the AC got the full board and story with hesitation from start. One of them, professional in US, said that he'll bid 4♠ at teams in red anyway (on the basis that partner is competing, but has to have some extra playability, either the 6th card in spade or some diamond support), so hesitation doesn't matter.

I still think I may make a case for 4♠. But I won't do it since it's really not "my board" and I was curious about the following appeal problem: The other player hand was AJ98x Jxx Q10x xx At the table, 3♠ was bid after hesitation (accepted by all players). 4♠ was made but the TD decided that 4♠ might be influenced by hesitation and adjusted the score to +170. The appeal jury decided with 3-0 that 4♠ it's OK and restored table result. Oppinions?

how about AJ9xxx xxx xx xx (and many other weak hands)? yes, i see it's not a 100% game. i understand this is an easy and disciplined pass _by the book_ but i'll still look at my hand, listen to the whole auction, thinking i may miss a game in red at teams and then bid.

[hv=s=sq10xhxxxxdakxxxca]133|100|Teams (IMP) Vulnerable against not 1♦ - 1♥ - 1♠ - 2♣ 2♠ - 3♣ - 3♠ - pass ? 1♠ promisses at least 5 cards 3♠ is competitive [/hv] more about NS agreements: a direct 2♠ (instead of 1♠) was NOT available as weak with 6 cards. over 3♣, both 3♦ and 3♥ would be (semi)natural game tries (forcing to at least 3♠).

i'll vote for pass and i don't think it's close... i like methods explained by whereagles

i'm a fan of Italy but i didn't like their start, so i hope someone will stop them. Poland i hope ;-)

i'm not sure if there is a definitive reference for SAYC, but cf http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Bidding-Say...y/dp/1897106033 NMF IS in SAYC.

pass and hope they won't make too many in plus.

I completely agree with JMC. from his reasons, #1 is a major annoyance for me (clearing score also clear movie history). As a side note, I tend to not like people who came at the table and say first "reset score" instead of "hello all" or something. Be polite first, worry about score later.

after i voted "clear opener", i have checked KNR evaluator and learnt that pass is NOT absurd. this hand equals a "good 11" (faaar from 1NT) and pass is ok if you don't open light. http://www.gg.caltech.edu/~jeff/knr.cgi

to my mind, the best start for an expert partnership is 'Bridge World Standard' (www.bridgeworld.com). if I have to start a new 2/1 partnership, i'll start from there. unfortunately, the system is probably too far from Acol, still probably worth for competitive auctions. besides this, the easiest point to start in any (semi)natural is the full structure after our 1NT opening (including competition).

1 or 2 depending on style, with myself i'll choose 2♥ i don't see how an initial pass can help to recover 'a fitting 3NT'...

4♥. followed by double over 4♠. i don't have great quality in hearts, but i don't see how an initial double will help me to get my 6-3/6-2 fit. nothing hidden ;-)

3♦ for now. I hate the unexpected 3NT rebid by part... he has no 4 card major and is stronger than immediate 2NT overcall? I'm not sure how to continue, I'm not too worried by grand but on which small slam to play, 6♠ or 6NT.

me too. 3♦ second choice (with that spade Q in diamonds).

[hv=d=s&v=b&n=sk32h843d1075ca743&w=s8hadakq86ckq10962&e=s764h9762d9432cj8&s=saqj1095hkqj105djc5]399|300|Scoring: IMP bidding at the table: 1♠ - X - 2♠ - p 4♠ - 4NT - X - 5♦ p - p - X - all pass [/hv] NS got a poor result on this one.