Onedown

The NEW FIRESIDE SESSIONS will begin soon but we need assistants. These Interactive Mentoring/Bidding Sessions have proved very popular on OKB and OneDown is now bringing them to BridgeBase. However, they cannot run without capable and willing assistants. You are a volunteer but will receive renumeration for your assistance in some private mentoring from OneDown. Requirements: - Have a home phone or cell and reside in either Canada or USA. - You are a people person. good wth Groups, and can organize and manage people - Are a Novice to Intermediate Player - Are somewhat computer lterate, good typing skills, and willing to learn simple software supplied by Onedown - Fluent in writing and speaking English - Are available 1 or 2 times a week for at least 2 1/2 hours per session and are extremely reliable. Classes will either be run around noon EST or early evenings EST. - Have a microphone with headset and webcam (optional) and are familiar with either Skype and MSN If you think you can be an assistant for New Fiireside then please contact me at: firesidebridge@gmail.com thank you OneDown

Hello All: My name is Onedown, and if you are a past member of OKB you may remember me from WAY BACK, but you surely would remember Fireside Chats with Kaltica and myself. I am happy to announce that I will be presenting NEW FIRESIDE forums which will be absolutey FREE FOR ALL. These were very popular on OKB and helped 1000s of Novice and Intermediate players improve their game and have fun doing it. You get a chance to bid and then watch others bid with expert analysis after each hand and plenty of interaction. We are looking at twice a week, early afternoon or evenings EST time and announcements of when and where will be posted here and in the Main and Relaxed Bridge Club Lobby. I am also looking for 2-3 assistants to help me in each forum. If you are interested please email me at: firesidebridge@gmail.com or leave a chat message for me on the site. thankyou OneDown

The NEW FIRESIDE SESSIONS will begin soon but we need assistants. These Interactive Mentoring/Bidding Sessions have proved very popular on OKB and OneDown is now bringing them to BridgeBase. However, they cannot run without capable and willing assistants. You are a volunteer but will receive renumeration for your assistance in some private mentoring from OneDown. Requirements: - Have a home phone or cell and reside in either Canada or USA. - You are a people person. good wth Groups, and can organize and manage people - Are a Novice to Intermediate Player - Are somewhat computer lterate, good typing skills, and willing to learn simple software supplied by Onedown - Fluent in writing and speaking English - Are available 1 or 2 times a week for at least 2 1/2 hours per session and are extremely reliable. Classes will either be run around noon EST or early evenings EST. - Have a microphone with headset and webcam (optional) and are familiar with either Skype and MSN If you think you can be an assistant for New Fiireside then please contact me at: firesidebridge@gmail.com thank you OneDown

Hello All: My name is Onedown, and if you are a past member of OKB you may remember me from WAY BACK, but you surely would remember Fireside Chats with Kaltica and myself. I am happy to announce that I will be presenting NEW FIRESIDE forums which will be absolutey FREE FOR ALL. These were very popular on OKB and helped 1000s of Novice and Intermediate players improve their game and have fun doing it. You get a chance to bid and then watch others bid with expert analysis after each hand and plenty of interaction. We are looking at twice a week, early afternoon or evenings EST time and announcements of when and where will be posted here and in the Main and Relaxed Bridge Club Lobby. I am also looking for 2-3 assistants to help me in each forum. If you are interested please email me at: firesidebridge@gmail.com or leave a chat message for me on the site. thankyou OneDown

Obvioulsy there was no agreement. 4D he bid naturally, as I cannot consider any other call over my 3H bid, unless he ventures 3NT. Silly though with the 5-5 hand opposite my jump! Whether arguing about 2H or 3H does have merit and the best bid for this hand is obviously 2NT foregoing your Qx of ds...then it goes 3D-3S and is up to pard if he wants to venture game or slam in spades...

This would apply to 2/1 or SAYC. You Hold: QJx AKTxxxx Qx KQ - a soft 17 Opps dont interfere and in 1st seat you open 1H, Pard bids 1S...YOUR CALL? I opted for 3Hs due to my support in spades...P now bids 4D..with nothing to cue and now to get to some spot..I bid 4H...Pard raises to 5H all float and down 4.. Pards hand was AT9xx void AKJTx xxx - P chewed me out of course as he reminded me my values were soft for my 17 and 2Hs is a better rebid due to my defunct H suit missing the J or Q.

It works great but not on the web client as it cannot find a defined target. I am no techie, but it may be due to Flash. And yes, the latest version 4, is easy to work with, especially the editor. You can actually copy/paate with your mouse..lol

For all you teachers out there, there is a macro program that has been used by Teachers on OKbridge for years. It is called OKscript and available from the web..just do a search for OKscript, download and read all the instructions...The tutorial is a must. Its shows up originally as a nice icon on your desktop. Its saves you from constant typing during a class/lecture or even during normal play when you need to alert a bid> Important - There is a target - this tells the program where to send your prescripted chat. The target for Bridgbase is: Base Once you learn the program simply insert Base as the target. If you need help, you can email me at: msb4pa@gmail.com

QTxx QJx Axxx xx No matter if 2/1 or Sayc, Pard opens 1H and you bid 1S...Pard now jumps to 3 Clubs, natural jump shift. Question is 3Hs forcing here OR do we use theory of fast arrival and bid 4Hs.. My take on this is since I have no other call, and could be bidding 1S on some 5-6 point minimum 3Hs can be passed?...

what did you read and research to give you this misguided view? How should I know...60 years on this planet and buzzing through the 60s years I have trouble remembering what century this is!

Straube hits the nail on the head...1S with 5, 1H can be 4..and if all time MP player Barry Crane had succsess with it, then why not? I agree allowing patterns to be shown is the way to go, but so is HCP size....so 2/1 sometimes takes the "extra values" bids a bit too far...again the reverses.. With the club/spade hand, I play with pards, we open a club here and over 1d or 1H a spade bid now shows 4 VERY good spades or 5 spades...subsequently if P pushes on, 2S on my next bid patterns my hand.

I would pass gas 1st then pass...nothing to think about..

2S - Pard just bid your void which devalues your hand signficantly..Opening 4S is also a possibility but I dont like this missing both the Q and T of s..

The OPPs bidding..no one preempted! 1S overcall followed by 2S support by advancer--opps have defensive values, unless the 2s bidder is a bit pyscho as too many points in the deck. But the 4s bid tells me he has something! Partner iis making a free 2 H bid based on shape and I may have a semi-solid h suit thrown in with a new club bid at the 4 level. Pard could have any shape, 1-5-3-4, 0-6-4-3, 1-7-1-4...or whatever... I like X..that should tell P my H holding is not that I yi yi and I can cash diamonds..If pard now bids 5C I bid 5D, and leave 5 or 6hs up to him...if pard bids 5Hs I will have to flip a coin and probably give him 6...we HOPE he isnt bidding on x QJTxxxxx xx AKx

I have been recently FORCED to play 2/1 at a club game and now on Bbase. I screamed and kicked all the way and still do not feel comfortable when playing with a new partner and they say 2/1 p? Sure, but do you have 1/2 an hour to discuss all the gadgets??? I profile myself as an Expert due to teaching so long, winning some ACBL events in the last millineum and basically being a strong and solid player. But I also have my flaws and senior moments. I am TOLD by "some" 2/1 players., that in a 2/1 GF auction there are no such things as a reverse or high level reverse. I also realized when I started writing this I wanted to make a statement about 2/1, I will get to the reverses later. I have played bridge for almost 50 years, rubber money bridge, teaching SAYC and applications such as opening 4 card H suits. What I see over and over again is that many think that 2/1 is a superior system to Standard American, Goren and SAYC. This is like saying being a Christian is better than being a Buddist, Muslim or Jew. From what I have read and researched, 2/1 was actually introduced for one reason. The ACBL at that time was losing players and needed something that would draw more people. It was a well know fact that the little old ladies were much more comfy with opening 5 card majors. The system was developed (was it Ron Hardy?) incorporating plenty of gadgets (the same gadgets can be applied to SAYC) using the forcing NT and 2/1 game forcing bids. This alleviated playing in 1NT (which is the ultimate contract at MPs) and found many playing in 3-3 minor fits at the 2 level. These are just a couple of flaws of 2/1 but every system has flaws and bridge is not perfect. Bridge is a partnership game, a game of back and forth captaincy and takes more than the ability to blindly follow a system. In todays world, people would rather learn system than basics. This is the ONE reason many players get stuck at their level, they never learned basics. Bridge takes creativity, logic and intuition so when it comes to reverses I am of the opinion those that say there is no such thing in a GF auction need to re-adjuet their thinking and stop being so myopic. 1. An auction such as 1d-p-2c-p-2h...I see this as a full reverse...if not then there was ample opportunity for opener to make other calls to limit his hand and the 2H bid may get the contract much too high. 2. I held KT8xx x Jx AKQxx...1S-p-2d---my hand is NOT worth a 3C bid...I bid 2S here as a better lie with a bad spade suit..pard now bids 3S...--I bid 4S and not 4C..p bids RKC and once I bid 5Hs he signs off in 5S..slam is on a spade hook as dummy has J9x of spades and we make 6..a 50% slam. SO all you 2/1 officianados, I welcome all criticsm and comments but no tomatoes please...

PhantomSac - you posted 2 comments but both in the same vein...If in Australia you ALL play this as forcing, then of course you are going to bid 1S with a flat 18/19...you KNOW P cannot pass! However, if you had some flat 18-19 and 4S you should also have sufficient gadgets to jump to 2nt and find a 4-4 fit or play in Hs... FYI-- the pard I was playing with was Australian so I was totally screwed without knowing it..:).... The easy solution is you and pard must agree if as a passed hand you can pass openers new suit rebid at the 1 level..regardless of Responders HCP..

this is turning out to be a real interesting problem/debate..50% are for non forcing so far, others vary from giving hand layouts, to asking sys-its sayc or 2/1..or saying in the land down under it is forcing.. My real answer is...there is no real answer--Y'all answer based on what your perception of bridge is here and there is no clear cut rule. It is just one of those bridge "things" akin to "who shot JFK"?

of course some will say it is forcing..that is the problem..:)

Quite honestly this post may make me look like a putz and I am sure someone has asked the question I am posing before, somewhere out there. Having played and taught for almost 50 years I think I may have a Bridge 101 question that I can find no answer for on any google search on: Responder is a "passed hand", what is forcing here? You hold a fairly flat 7 HCP hand and as dealer with T9x KT986 JTx Kx..the auction proceeds: p-p-1C-p-1H-p-1S... Pard has opened a club and rebid 1S...is 1S forcing..what type of hand can p have that he rebids on the one level, not pushing you! I passed and P ?? and says he tht 1S forcing and I stated..."I am a passed hand"!.nothing more was discussed. The question in my mind was what HCP value can pard have for a simple 1s bid knowing I am a passed hand? Surely he cannot be better than 17 or flat with 15-17. Is he distributional and could not find a jump bid to prod me on? I came up with a flat 0 of answers why I shd bid on...The board was not a disaster, but of course pard had a flat 18 and I mean flat, decided 1S was better than a jump to 2NT especially holding AJX of Hs.... We know his bid was wrong---please rate my pass as to wrong or right

thanks to both posters here....I do want to clarify that I do understand it is a high level reverse, so unquestionably I was brain dead in asking the question now that I review it. Of course I should bid 4Hs...not 3Hs.. My hand was Qx Q9x Qxxxx AJx This hand is handled MUCH better in 2/1 due to it being a 1NT forcing call...

Strictly a question The auction goes 1H-p-2D-p-3C-p-3H Is 3Hs a minimal hand in SAYC? It would show extra values in 2/1. BUT since 2D is not game forcing, wdnt this show a minimal hand in SAYC?

Hog--why make that statement-----I DON'T know we have the majority of hearts do I--lol

with my soft values the only bid I see here is 3S ---I can conceive the Opps can make game in Hearts, Diamonds or Clubs as my defensive values are questionable, but it would take an aggressive bidder to bid over 3S when we are holding at least 1/2 the deck in HCP. I pass if they bid 4Hs and if they get to a minor game I pass and bemoan my fate...

I am often asked this in classes and have written a lot about it. Initially the problem with any 15-17 "balanced hand" with 5 in the majors is your rebid problem. Since we want to get most bids off our chest in in 2 bids, a hand description bid of 1NT looks reasonable here---your spade suit is shoddy--- On the other hand, give yourself 16-17 and a decent spade suit, then a 1S opener can always be followed by 2NT or 3NT dependent on partners response if gives a 1NT response or a 2/1.

Hi-- This is OneDown, well known Internet Bridge Teacher/author Some of you have attended my free Q&A forums on BridgeBase. I am polling Beginner/Novice to Intermediate players if they would be interested in participating in Play and Learn Tourneys for a small fee. The initial idea is to play 10 boards and then attend an after session/live/interactive of all the boards played in a teaching room, conducted by Onedown. The cost would be somewhere between $1 and $2 per player. Additionally, prizes will be awarded based on the consistency of the events. These events will be slated to run Thurs/Fri for now and if enough interest an initial free trial period will be offered over the next 30-60 days. Let me know