silvr bull

1) 2♣ 2) Double. Partner needs only ♥QJxxx to have a good play for 4♥. 3) 4♣, but my coin toss could have flipped to pass just as easily. Bidding to the 4 level feels so unilateral. Aside from our risk in 4♣, there is also the danger that I could push the opps into a make-able 4♠. Funny coincidence. I had this South hand on BBO yesterday. Very similar hand pattern, but my ♥s were strong enough to give me another choice. 3♠ was down one. [hv=pc=n&s=s6hakq9dk8ckj7543&w=sqjt74hj54dj62cq2&n=skht72dqt9753c986&e=sa98532h863da4cat&d=e&v=e&b=6&a=1s2c2spp3h3sppp]399|300[/hv]

I like 1♣ in 1st or 2nd, and 3♣ in 3rd vul or 4th. In 3rd not vul, I would guess 4♣.

When I reason like this, partner will decide that I must be short in ♥s, but I didn't reopen with a double, so my ♠ suit is likely 6 long, and his Qxx Jxx AQxxx Kx is too good for a raise to only 3♠, so 4♠ he will say. Did I mention the 5-1 ♠ break? :rolleyes: I will try double to reopen, and prepare to defend that call in the following ATB inquest. :D

After a few disasters with cooperative doubles, I needed a little more clarity in the intentions of partner and myself. The result of that is a KISS rule that says if partner has never bid (or only said pass), then all doubles below 3NT are 100% takeout. Conversely, if partner has bid anything other than pass, then all doubles (except clear negative or responsive situations) below 3NT are 100% penalty. While not perfect, that KISS rule does prevent misunderstandings about what partner meant when he said double.

I think there are two reasons that the higher level argues for a different action. The first is very simple. If you call (or overcall) with 1NT, partner holding 8 or 9 points can invite with 2NT. Overcalling with 2NT takes that invitational sequence away from partner, so with 8 or 9 points, he must decide to pass 2NT or bid 3NT. If partner bids 3NT with a good 8 HCP, thinking we may have 17 (or even 18), West can have enough strength to double, and turn a small gain or loss into a larger loss. Second, West may not be silent. He could easily raise to 3H or 4H with suitable hands. If partner holds something like KTxxx x Axx JTxx and West chirps 4H after our 2NT overcall, it will be difficult for North to bid 4S, because our 2NT overcall does not suggest a S fit. This situation is even worse for the people who want to pass the South hand. After South passes and West raises to 3H or 4H, it would be impossible for North to ride to the rescue. My guess is that if this South hand was dealt 1,000 times, that N-S would make 4S more often than they would make 3NT. I also guess that North is likely to have either a 4 card S suit or a 5 card minor more often than not, so there is likely to be a safe harbor for N-S after a double, but NT will be safe only if North has his share of the points. I confess. I was South, and I did double at the table. Unfortunately, this was not one of the hands where N-S would do well, and the people who passed scored better then me this time. :unsure:

An experienced partner and I disagree about the best action with this hand. The format is IMPs in BBO with random opps. What do you prefer? [hv=pc=n&s=saj85hkq3dk52cq85&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=2h]133|200[/hv]

My partner and I bid a perversion of Kaplan Sheinwold, and we open a 12-14 1NT. With a 15-17 HCP balanced hand, we open our better minor and rebid 1NT. In doing this, we have had several problem hands that are difficult for responder when the opening bid is 1♦. For example, what is the best bid for responder with xx xxx Kxx KJxxx after partner opens 1♦? Pass is out of the question, and the hand is not close to being strong enough to respond 2♣. We also bid inverted minors, so a raise to 2♦ is not possible, even if the hand was 4-4 in the minors. 1NT is the only alternative, but it has obvious defects. Another problem hand is one that is almost good enough to respond 2♣ after partner opens 1♦, such as xxx AQx xx KJTxx. If you think my example hands are too obvious and easy, then feel free to craft your own examples where responder's hand is too good for a 1NT bid, but not good enough for a 2♣ or a strong 2♦ call after a 1♦ open. The point is that we run into problems when the opening bid is 1♦ and responder does not have a 4 card major. The solution I am trying to define is to open all balanced 15-17 point hands (that the field will open 1NT) with 1♣, even if opener has only a doubleton ♣ (which we would alert). If opener subsequently bids 1NT (or jumps to 2NT), then the message is to ignore the 1♣ bid because it was only part of the sequence to show a strong 1NT. The advantage I see by doing this is to allow responder to bid 1♦ on a wide range of hands (without a 4 card major), including my examples above. Essentially, 1♦ could be used as the equivalent of a forcing 1NT response to a 1M open. That enables opener to rebid 1NT with the strong balanced hand so the contract will be played from the same side as the field which opens a strong 1NT. The obvious confusion about the true distribution of the minor suits at the one level would be quickly resolved by subsequent bids. An interesting sidelight is that a 1♦ open would never be a balanced hand, so it would begin distributional sequences which include a ♦ suit. My questions are (1) does anyone else see value in this approach, and (2) do you know of bid systems that use this style? Thanks!

I picked up the hand below and partner opened 2NT. I wasn't sure how best to invite a minor suit slam, so I jumped to 4NT and partner bid 6 and made it by guessing the ♥ finesse (missing the A & Q). All's swell that ends swell. :rolleyes: ♠K9 ♥6 ♦AKT54 ♣T9832 But 6♣ would not have needed any guesses on this hand, and 6♦ could be the best spot on other hands. Does anyone have a tool for inviting a choice of minor suit slams after partner opens 2NT? Note that I cannot simply force to a choice of a minor suit at the slam level because partner could be 4-4-2-3 with only one honor in clubs. I could have an even stronger hand (like K9 void AKT54 T98632, for example) that makes it more imperative to invite slam in a minor. The only sequence I can see is for me to bid 3♠ (relay to 4♣ because we bid transfers after 2NT), and then jump to 5♦ (because 4♦ would be non forcing with something weak like six small ♦s and not much else). Then partner can sign off in 5NT with no fit for either minor, or pass 5♦ with a weak preference for ♦, or bid 6 of either minor with a good fit. Anyone have a better approach?

Playing at IMPS, we are vul but they are not ♠64 ♥QT542 ♦K975 ♣76 [p] p [p] 1♦ [1♠] ?

Here is the continuation: We are vul vs, they not. IMPs. The opponents are silent. ♠K ♥K ♦K987653 ♣K875 1♦ - 1♠ 2♦ - 3♥ (We had not discussed the meaning of this jump) ??? Does opener now bid 3NT, 4♣, 4♦, or something else?

You are playing with a good partner at Imps on BBO, and you pick up the hand below as dealer, Vulnerable against non vul opponents: ♠K ♥K ♦K987653 ♣K875

:rolleyes: You got me there! My example hand (cleverly crafted for clarity and simplicity to illustrate the point) never comes up, so my Silver convention is useless, and it is much better to use a jump to 4NT the way you and your partner have defined it. :D You do have a clearly defined better meaning for a jump to 4NT that you will share with us along with a few example hands, don't you? :rolleyes: Now that we know there is never a time when you might care if there are trump losers, humor me as I ask about other situations that also cannot ever happen. Suppose your partner opens a weak two in a suit you hold three small, along with enough aces, kings, and other stuff to consider bidding six or seven. The opponents can cooperate by your RHO bidding anything from pass up through 3S. Now you have the simple task of deciding how many trump losers you have so you will then know how high to bid. How do you do that? Or maybe your partner bids a weak jump overcall, or opens a three level preempt in your small doubleton, and your RHO bids anything from pass up through 3S. How do you know how many trump losers to expect? Sorry for pressing the point, because none of those situations could ever happen either. Here is one that can happen, and did with me a few days ago. Partner held Void, AKQT9 Txx KQxxx. He opened 1H, I bid 2C, he raised to 3C (setting up a slam try sequence), and I bid 3D. The opponents found their pass cards with no difficulty. Assuming that my 3D showed the DA, partner needed to know only whether or not I also held the CA. If he could have bid 4S as exclusion Blackwood, that would have solved this problem, but we had not discussed that possibility, so partner had to guess how high to bid. Since 4D would have been Kickback and we have no clearly defined alternative meaning for a jump to 4NT, using that jump as Silver to ask for trump honors would have worked well for us. :D

In doing research on using Kickback to ask for aces, I could not find any examples of a jump to 4NT after a minor or H is agreed to be trump. I like using that jump to 4NT to ask about the trump suit holding. Suppose you pick up this hand and partner opens 1C (or reverse your minors and partner opens 1D, or reverse the round suits and partner opens 1H). A void AKxxxxx xxxxx There is nothing you need to know except how many of the top three trump honors does partner have. Kickback 4D would ask for aces when C are trump, or 4H if D are trump, or 4S if H are trump, so a jump to 4NT can be used to ask for trump honors. 4NT would also ask about trump honors immediately after a weak 2D or 2H, or an opening preempt of 3C or 3D or 3H (since 4S would be Kickback for H). The responses (with either C or D or H as agreed trump) would be 5C=0 (or 1 if opener has only a 3 card suit), 5D=1, 5H=AQ or KQ, 5S=A&K with no extra length, 5NT=A&K with more length than shown in the earlier bidding, and 6C=3. Edit to add: When S are the agreed trump suit, 4NT asks for aces, but a jump to 5C could ask for trump honors, with responses similar to the above. I also searched online for a bridge convention called Silver, but I could not find any. Until someone shows me that this is all old stuff that was well known before, I am calling my "new" convention Silver. :D

I chose to reopen with a rebid of my strong six card ♥ suit instead of the weaker 5 card ♦ suit because I thought there was a good chance that I would have an opportunity to bid 3♦ later over either 2♠ or 3♣. If partner holds 2 small ♥ and 3 small ♦, I want him to take me back to ♥. There is also the possibility after I reopen that LHO will bid ♠ and RHO will raise to game. At equal vul, I am not prepared to bid 5♦, so partner would be on lead against 4♠. If partner has ♦Ax, I do not want to encourage him to lead that suit. Anyway, the high spirits continue with partner jumping to 3NT. What should I do now? [hv=pc=n&e=s87hakj984dqj872c&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=p1h2cpp2hp3np]133|200[/hv]

Partner and I had several misunderstandings on this deal, and the post mortem reflects continuing style disagreements. I will present this in several "installments" to focus on each decision point. Here is the first. Do you reopen this auction (playing with a good partner against random BBO opponents)? If yes, what reopening bid do you prefer? [hv=pc=n&e=s87hakj984dqj872c&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=p1h2cpp]133|200[/hv]

Playing IMPs with a good partner against random BBO opponents who are silent throughout this auction, how would you bid the north and south hands? [hv=pc=n&s=shaq9763dt8caqj74&n=sakqj964hjda7ct86&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=p]266|200[/hv] Edit after the 4th reply (Kenberg) below to add that my partner and I do play strong jump shifts, so north can bid 2♠ over 1♥. Is that the best way for north to begin this hand description? If a SJS is the right start, what would be the best continuation after south bids 3♣?

Thanks for the info on how to insert a spoiler. I will put the full hand in one below. Happy holidays to all!

I will take a shot in the dark. At the table, The ♥A would be irresistible as the odds on safest lead I can do, but that would not make much of a problem here. I will go with the ♣Q to not set up a pitch for declarer when dummy has the ♥Kx and declarer is void in ♥.

I tried 4NT in hopes partner would interpret it to be Blackwood. Chapter 3 is short and sweet. Instead of showing aces, he called a natural 6♣. I gave a brief thought to 7NT, but then I took the low road and settled for 7♦. It had a little challenge in the play (the other three BBO pairs who got to 7 were all down one), but is not worth another cycle for comments here. That ends my book, but I will include an epilogue. Suppose you got to 7NT, perhaps on the auction shown below, and had an opening lead of the ♥Q (with north playing the ♥8). Plan the play. [hv=pc=n&w=s8h43daj764cak872&e=saq7hak62dkqt3cq5&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=1d4s4np6cp7n]266|200[/hv] Can someone tell me how to insert a spoiler message? Until I can do that, the most help I will offer for now is that north is void in ♦.

I agree that I would have bid 1♥, primarily to allow partner to redefine his hand without the game force of 2♦. I think, however, that an immediate 2♦ has the advantage of a simple auction that quickly moves toward finding the right level of slam. Chapter two - the opponents are silent, except for a pesky 4♠ call on my right. The hand with an updated auction is below. What action should I take over 4♠? [hv=pc=n&e=saq7hak62dkqt3cq5&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=1d4s]133|200[/hv]

Playing with a good partner against random BBO opponents, I held the hand below. Partner dealt and opened 1♦. We play 12-14 1NT, so partner likely has a 4+♦ suit and he may well have a balanced hand that the field would have opened with a strong 1NT. We also bid inverted minors, so a 2♦ call with my hand would be a game force. Chapter 1 - how should I plan to bid this hand if the opponents stay silent? (BTW, if you don't like this problem, come back to look again later. I will add the chapter two problem tomorrow, and the later chapters get much more interesting :rolleyes: ) [hv=pc=n&e=saq7hak62dkqt3cq5&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=1d]133|200[/hv]

How do you guys and gals interpret an immediate jump que bid? For example, your RHO opens 1♥ and you jump to 3♥? What message does that give to partner? How about if you jump to 3♥ in the reopening seat after LHO opens 1♥ and then pass pass to you? Is the meaning the same if RHO opens a weak two bid and you jump to 4 of that suit? The hand below spurred this question. Playing with a good partner against random BBO opponents, I picked up a solid 8 card ♦ suit. It would have been great if I could have jumped to 3♥ to tell partner to bid 3NT with a ♥ stopper, but I did not have that agreement. The best I could do was a jump to 4♦. :( [hv=pc=n&w=skjh9dakqjt982cq3&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=1h]133|200[/hv]

Playing with a random BBO partner and opponents, I has good fortune with the hand below. My view was that it would be very difficult to find out if an unknown partner had the two red kings or better that would make the slam an almost sure bet, and even if partner did not have the ♥A or K the opponents might guess wrong and lead a ♠. In retrospect, I am not sure I could have explored this hand properly with my best partner. How should this hand be bid even if east did not have the useless ♠K? [hv=pc=n&s=saj843h7652dj2cq9&w=sh94daq86cakj8764&n=sq962hqt83d97ct53&e=skt75hakjdkt543c2&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=p1cp1dp6dp7dppp]399|300[/hv] I also note that if partner had the ♠A instead of the ♥A, this story might not have had a happy ending. That just reinforces my view that it is better to be a lot lucky than a little good. :rolleyes:

This is a good description of what seems like the best use of double to me. Granted that using a double as a virtual command to lead that suit is likely to get the best results when one can do that, but it is also a relatively infrequent holding to have in this situation. My guess is that there will be more frequent opportunities to use the double as a simple preference that partner is free to ignore when he has a better alternative. Even so, I do not think the double was well chosen by west. My biggest complaint about the double with QTxx is that it could cause a disaster on some hands if partner holds the Ace of that suit, and leading that ace eliminates one of declarer's problems. FWIW, my preference is that problems like this opening lead question are better presented without also showing the other hand. After seeing both hands, it is immediately clear that a ♣ lead will be better on this hand than a ♥ lead. After seeing that result, it becomes difficult to be fully objective in commenting on the opening lead. I think the east hand opening lead would have made a great poll, with the full hand and results added perhaps a day later after each reader had a chance to make his "at the table" decision. I am sure now that a ♣ lead is best, but in a poll with only the east hand and the auction known, I would have been less confident of that.

Hey! I resemble that remark. :D East West are indeed vulnerable. I have corrected the original error in the hand above.