Endymion77

Tough one. I would treat the South hand as 23-24 balanced and would open 2♣ and rebid 2NT but North can't see 13 tricks.

I think the standard in balancing seat is: 1NT - 11-14 X, then 1NT - 15-17 2NT - 18-19 X, then 2NT - 20-21 With 22+ you have to cuebid at some point.

4♠ at teams, we have 7 losers against an opening hand and a good fit

North can't pass this out. After North doubles which is obvious, it's more interesting if South should sit or bid 4♠ but with AKxx spades and virtually no defense outside I think South bids.

I would prefer x 10xxxx AKxx Kxx but your hand is fine. It's a nice minimum splinter in my book, the 5th trump is often quite useful. Slam is almost a laydown opposite the right balanced 13 count (xxx AKxxx Qxx Ax).

What's your 2NT rebid range? With an ace, a singleton and a 6 carder, I think North can make a simple 3♥ transfer to see if South can superaccept. If that's a mild slam invitation, I think you might be pushing a bit if 2NT is 22-23 balanced but looking at South's nice 24 count, it's not clear.

2♠. 2♦ might create unnecessary confusion and I hate 2NT.

> Either player doubling 4♠ would be takeout. Really?? Auction should go Pass by South, penalty double by North and that's it.

I wouldn't pass 1♦, I would pass 2NT (so I would bid like you did I guess). Some play that 2NT can have 4 hearts but I personally don't like it - if I have a fit, I raise. It might be an idea to play 1♦ - 1♥ - 3♥ as a distributional heart raise and 1♦ - 1♥ - 2♠ as a balanced heart raise (essentially the 2NT rebid but with 4 hearts) which leaves room for a game try and occasionally you might even get to 3NT despite the 4-4 heart fit at MPs if you think it's right.

3♠ seems about right

I would've raised to 4♠ immediately over the double, but I'll pass now. I don't think it makes and improving -130 (or +50) to -100 isn't worth the hassle.

2♥ of course, who are we preempting if we bid 3♥? Responder, who already passed, opener, who already bid this hand and knows his partner doesn't have much, or partner, who might've been forced to balance with only 4 hearts if he also had some length in diamonds.

I don't play weak NT but I think you can downgrade this hand. I certainly might open it 1♦ playing strong NT. It's got the worst possible shape, AKQ spades don't have their full value (AKQx is much better) and the spots are bad (if diamonds were 1098x or clubs were J10x, the hand is significantly better).

If you play 1♠ non-forcing, then you have a cue or a jump shift (which is usually a fit jump) as forcing. Of course, even though 1♠ is non-forcing it doesn't mean that overcaller would drop it with an opening hand (even a light opening hand).

Right, if 1♠ is 10+ then I guess it won't hurt much to rebid 2NT with 13 balanced. But then you're stuck with a lot of hands that need to pass 1♥ and really shouldn't which was my point.

I wouldn't dare to bid 1♠ if I know my partner would be forced to jump to 2NT with 13 balanced in response :)

Depends if 1♠ is forcing or not.

Ruff in hand. Draw one round of trump: 1) if both follow, cash ♣A, duck a club. Win the return, ruff the last low club with the Q, and draw trump; 2) if diamonds are 4-0, you need clubs to break 4-2 so cash AK clubs, ruff a low club with the Q and draw trump.

Well you know that your partner couldn't make a move over 1♣ and you're still trying for game so I guess 4.5-5 losers would be the minimum hand - where a good fit and a cover card (the most you can expect) might produce game. Against the example hand I gave, xxx J10xxx xx Qxx makes 4H a laydown.

AKxx KQx x AKxxx or so

1NT

1 - Pass 2 - Double

In Bulgaria, most people play some sort of Precision with strong NT. A minority play what is called "natural" which is 5 card majors/strong NT and close to SAYC but 2♣ is usually an artificial game force. I'm not sure what's so natural about it. :) You can of course find the occasional pair that plays a forcing pass system, Blue Club or something with weak NT/4 card majors but the above two systems cover at least 95% of the bridge population.

I play it as an opening hand with a good 6+ card suit, no extras (11-14 or so). Basically to play against a passed hand and preempting opps a little if they want to balance.

1♠ is an overcall with some preemptive quality so you should strive to make it with any excuse. Sometimes, you can make something but you simply can't bid it. In the long run, reopening 1NT with 12-14 balanced just because you might be able to make it when 1♠ also makes simply won't be profitable. It's much more important to be able to show the 18-19 hand without going too high than to worry about defending 1♠ when points are evenly divided and opps have no fit.