silvr bull

A month ago, partner and I played in BBO and an opp I will call ID:TenT came to our table. We could tell right away that he must know his stuff because his profile showed that he already had a few hundred logons to BBO. I extended my normal friendly greeting to the opps before play, and told them we open 12-14 NT. Partner opened 1♦, I bid 1♠, and partner bid 1NT, which he alerted as 15-17. As I was bidding 2♣, and alerting it as Stayman, ID:TenT typed these messages into the chat box: ID:TenT how can it be 15-17 after 1S lol ID:TenT omg and now stayman??? ID:TenT lol ID:TenT clwons {sic} ID:TenT with his experienced few hundred logons had no patience with us lesser players, so he wasted little time in leaving our table, but he did give us and his partner a parting gift by bidding 7NT as he left. I repeatedly asked the replacement opps to request an Undo, but they all simply abandoned the hand instead, so we were trapped at that monstrosity for many minutes until two unsuspecting robots finished the play.

IMPs. Random BBO opponents. [hv=pc=n&s=saq5hqt87dqj7543c&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=pp1c2h]133|200[/hv] Note: We open 12-14 NT, so North could have a balanced 15+ HCP, or ♣s with almost any strength of hand.

I agree with this, and add that partner could have wasted ♥ values too. If I bid 7♣ and partner has KQJT KQ QJx AQJx, partner may not see the wisdom in my action.

I will take my chances with a negative double. I would hate to pass and then have partner pass with a minimum like KJxx x KQxxxx Kx.

So many questions! :rolleyes: My suggestion is to not wait to accumulate lots of different things to discuss in general, but to post fewer things (more often) with specifics, preferably with hands (either from actual play or made up to illustrate the point). Yes! The jump to 3NT is defined! Unfortunately, the definition is different with different players. :unsure: This is a subject you need to discuss with your partner to reach agreement that works best for both of you. FWIW, my preference is in any game force auction, a jump to game shows a weak minimum with no slam interest, because that jump takes away bid space that may be needed to explore the potential for slam. This is yet another situation which you must discuss with your partner, so do not assume that your partner will interpret your intent based on things you saw elsewhere. I have KISS rules for situations like this to clarify what some bids mean. My rule for Gerber is that if partner's last bid was 1NT or 2NT, then my jump to 4C will ALWAYS be Gerber. If, however, partner's last bid was not 1NT or 2NT (so it would be a suit or 3NT), then 4C is NEVER Gerber. Your KISS rule may be different, but discussing your KISS rules with your partner in advance will be good for your game and will improve your score. Have fun, and good luck!

There is lots of space between 2♥ and 5♥, so partner can "ask" about a ♣ control by making strong que bids. I would treat the jump to 5♥ as asking about ♥s. I would expect North's jump to 5♥ to be a hand like AKQJx Jxxxx void AQJ. Granted that does not leave many high card points for the opps to bid, but that limitation does not seem to influence the BBO opps I play against. :D If I was South and I had ♥Axxx or ♥Kxxx, I would bid 6♥. If I had ♥AKxx, I would bid 7♥!

I doubt that you can pick up the ♥ suit with only one loser, so I would plan for two ♥ and the ♦A to the defense. At trick 3, I lead the ♣Q in hopes of trapping the stiff J in East. If the ♣J is stiff in East, and if East also has the ♦A, then I can claim 10 tricks.

North would bid 3♥ with xxx xxxx xx xxxx, so he must do something better with his good supporting hand. I would try 3NT with the North hand.

4♠. I am not willing to let them play 3NT, so it is better to preempt that first. If LHO doubles 4♠, there is a small possibility that RHO might try 5♥ with x Qxxx Kxxx Qxxx, and I will pass quickly. If LHO bids 5m and RHO passes, I will pass too, out of concern that 6m will probably make. If LHO bids 4NT and RHO bids 5m, I will bid 5♥ and let partner decide about 6M if they bid 6m. If I was willing for LHO to play 3NT and my only choice was between 3♥ or 3♠ I would bid 3♠ to remove that que bid LHO would want to show a strong hand. If I did let LHO play 3NT, I prefer a top ♠ lead from KQ8xxx in hopes the ♠J drops (stiff in dummy, or ♠AJ doubleton in LHO) and partner might have a minor suit entry. I would begin the ♠ unblock at trick 1.

Part of my bidding philosophy is that I want to limit my hand at my earliest opportunity. Until I can limit my hand, partner will be worried about how many extras I might hold, and that concern about extras can cause partner to be too aggressive. The easiest way to limit my hand here is to pass first, and I would do so without regret. With a better but similar hand (such as Kx ATxx Q KJxxxx) that I would open, I will be happy to rebid 3C. Playing 5 card majors, the club suit is always suspect of being less than 4, so I look for opportunities to rebid a longer club suit.

If I held the South hand and bid that sequence, I would have something like x Kxxx xx AJTxxx. I would describe the 3♣ bid as forward going but non forcing, with at least a tolerance for opener to bid 3♦.

That's pretty funny. :) Our jump que treatment does not come up often, but it is very useful when it does appear. We haven't got to the wrong spot with it yet, though we find too many other ways to do that on many other deals. :rolleyes: You will not get an argument from me if you say that other treatments for the jump que are more efficient or frequent, but this method has the advantage of KISS for us where any jump que below 3NT asks for a stop. With my example hand, I would bid 3♠ after RHO opened 1♠. As I get older, simple and consistent KISS rules are increasingly valuable to me. So, how would you handle my example hand above? After partner opens 1♥ and RHO overcalls 1♠, your objective is to tell partner that you have a solid 6 or 7 card suit that needs only a stopper to have a good play for 3NT. And you need to do that before your LHO raises to 3♠, then P P back to you. If partner has the right stuff for a slam, he will know how to bid something more constructive than 3NT after my descriptive jump que, but if he has a minimum opener with a ♠ stop, how else will you convince him to bid 3NT after your LHO bids 3♠?

My partnership agreement is that a jump que below 3NT asks partner to bid 3NT with a stopper in their suit. I might have xx xx Kx AKQJxxx, or a variation around that theme.

I pass with relief that I am not declarer at 3♦. I would have bid 2♦ over 1♥.

I would double 1♥, with the partnership agreement that if I then correct 2♣ to 2♦ I show longer ♦s, but not extra values.

South could have started with AKQxxxx 7652 A x, and we must win 3 ♥ tricks plus the ♣A to beat this contract. South expects West to have 4 ♥ (including the ace), and East to have a singleton, but he doesn't know which card East has as a stiff ♥. After pulling both trump with the ♠Q, South leads the ♥5 to see what card West will play. South may know that many opps, including all of the ones who responded to this BBO forum poll, will rise with an honor if they started with ♥AQJ4, and South can be sure to make 2 ♥ tricks whenever South does play an honor. But consider South's problem when I play the ♥4 first instead. South doesn't know that I cannot respond to this poll (because I get an Internal Server Error), so he assumes that I did not start with ♥AQJ4. The two most likely alternatives are that I played the ♥4 from AQ94 or from AJ94. With either of those two possibilities, South will do best to rise with the ♥K to smother East's stiff ♥quack. Then our 4 defensive tricks are automatic. South could also play the ♥8 first to finesse against my "known" ♥9, but that will not let us defeat 4♠. After East recovers from the shock of winning that trick with his singleton ♥9, he will lead a ♦ which South will ruff, and then South will shift his focus to the ♣K for his 10th trick.

Strange. I tried to vote, but I get an "internal server error" and my vote (to show only two hands) is not recorded. Maybe I need more posts to be permitted to have an opinion. :D

I bid 4♥. I can hope that partner holds something like xxx AQxx Qx Kxxx, and he passed 1♠ because of the ♠ and ♦ weaknesses. I also prefer an immediate take out double of 3♠ to tell my story quickly, and then let partner make the hard decisions. I have a KISS rule I discuss with partners that says if partner has bid anything (other than pass), then any double (except obvious negative or responsive situations) below 3NT is for penalty. Conversely, if partner has not bid anything other than pass, then any double below 3NT is 100% take out. That rule is obviously not the way many other people play, but it does give us clarity in otherwise ambiguous situations like this.

I pass. If S has a C void, we may not have enough to beat 6D.

I prefer to open this 1♦. The opps or partner must have ♥s, and it is easy for one of them to bid over 1♦. If I get another opportunity to bid after opening 1♦, the opps cannot preempt me out of showing the ♠ suit. If I open 1♠ instead, then there is too much risk that the hand may be passed out, or the opps might preempt in ♣ or ♥ high enough to make it impossible to show the ♦ suit. I have had too much bad luck with opening a two suited hand 2♣, so I just don't do that anymore. Imagine opening this 2♣, and hearing partner respond 3♣, or double on your left and 4 or 5♣ on your right! This could easily be our slam hand in ♦, and opening 1♦ will make it much easier to find it.

This is the most recent hand we had with "inverted" trouble. [hv=pc=n&s=s9hak32da3caqj542&w=sajt7hjt86dqt96c7&n=skq52h94dk2ckt986&e=s8643hq75dj8754c3&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=pp1cp1sp2hp3dp3nppp]399|300[/hv] Perhaps the posters here who prefer to show a 4 card major first can tell me where we went wrong on this deal. My preference is for North to immediately raise to 2♣. That will set up a forcing sequence to 3NT at least, and it will alert opener that we might want to think about a ♣ slam. After an immediate raise to 2♣, I would bid 2♥ to show my ♥ suit, and North would bid 2♠ to show his ♠ suit and complete the description of his hand. I would then have no difficulty with getting to 6♣. My KISS philosophy from playing money bridge is to bid my best suit first, and then my next best. Avoiding disasters by keeping things simple is an increasingly attractive approach for me as I get older. It is true that if we have a 4-4 major fit, then we will confirm that at the 3 level, which is comparable to a major limit raise with the added benefit of knowing about a very good minor suit fit. That may not offer the most efficient use of bid space compared to a cryptic and difficult to remember sequence with an artificial 4th suit forcing bid that may (or may not) indirectly imply support for opener's minor, but the strong benefit of an immediate 2m raise is that it makes the path to 6m (or to 6M in a 4-4 fit) much easier to travel.

duplicate - ignore

My partner and I are having a heated "discussion" about whether immediately raising opener's minor denies holding a 4 card major. We play a version of Kaplan Sheinwold with a weak NT and 5 card majors, so responder is expected to bid a 4 card major in preference to bidding the other minor, even though the minor may be a better suit. He insists, however, that it is an absolute requirement that responder bid a 4 card major before he shows support for opener's minor. He further insists that bidding a major after responder has immediately raised opener's minor does not promise a 4 card suit, but only a stopper in search of 3NT. My view is that with a good hand and five card support for opener's minor, it is better to immediately raise the minor (even with a good 4 card major) as a way to at least suggest a possible slam try sequence, and as a force to at least 3NT. Then both opener and responder can use the two level to bid their 4 card majors in search of the best strain. If no major fit is found, then the three level can be used for que bids to help decide if 3NT or a higher level minor contract is better. What is your preference when you bid inverted minors? When you raise opener's 1♣ to 2♣, can you also have a 4 card major that you will bid later, or does your immediate minor raise deny holding a 4 card major?

This works for me too. I have a KISS rule that if a suit bid is forcing (2♥ in this case), then a jump by a single level in that suit (3♥ here) is a splinter, so 4♥ to play would be my bid.