Liversidge

My mistake. I should have said we play Acol Weak NO Trump.

On my Lebensohl cribsheet a direct Cuebid Stayman is only for gamegoing hands with a stop, because otherwise if partner does not have four card support you end up in 3NT with possibly just 23 HCP. I will discuss the meaning of the double with my partner, thanks.

My partner and I are slowly adding new conventions to our system. We have looked at Lebensohl but put it on the backburner for now as it is rather complicated and doesn't come up often, and we have enough to be getting on with. Today we had this hand (I was South): [hv=pc=n&s=s7hk972da964ck653&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=1n2s]133|200[/hv] What options are there? I assume a double is reserved for a hand where you expect to score better by penalising rather than for takeout, and any other bid seems like a stab in the dark that could go badly wrong, but we have 22-24 points between us. Would you bid 3♥, or would you pass? (My cribsheet on Lebensohl says that with an invitational hand with a 4 card major but no stop I should pass.)

You are right. It must have been 2 off. It was I was reeling a bit at the end of the game - after it had gone so wrong and partner was asking why I had bid. It took a few more hands to regain my composure. I just made five spades and ♦Ace.

You are right. It must have been 2 off. It was I was reeling a bit at the end of the game - after it had gone so wrong and partner was asking why I had bid. It took a few more hands to regain my composure. I just made five spades and ♦Ace.

:rolleyes: The hand is now corrected. I was hoping you would look in this morning!

Still suffering from a late night, Helene!

Apologies everyone who has relpied. It was late last night when I did the OP. My spades were not quite as strong as I showed as we could not have gone 3 off with six solid spades. The hand was: [hv=pc=n&s=sajt974hq97d7cj97&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=1n2dp2sppp]133|200[/hv] My partner had just five diamonds (♦AQJT5), not six as I posted, but that shouldn't affect my decision as his overcall showed 5+ diamonds. I estimated that with seven spades in the other three hands it was reasonable to assume partner would have 1.5 spades giving an 7.5 card spade fit and reasonable to assume that partner had 5.5 diamonds giving a 6.5 card diamond fit. I hadn't thought of the points Cyberyeti made that my bid should be reserved to show 12+ HCP and 5+ spades as otherwise there is no way of showing such holding.

We play landy.

Oops! Got my terminology wrong. Thanks for that.

Tonight (both sides playing Acol & Weak No Trump) I had this hand: [hv=pc=n&s=sakj974ht97d7cj97&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=1n2dp]133|200[/hv] I bid 2 spades which went three off. I could not get across often enough to establish partner's diamonds. Partner said I should always trust partner and pass his weak takeout. Is he right? No matter how much I think about it my instinct tells me it was a good bid that went wrong on the night. Are there any circumstances when you can take out partner's takeout of 1NT. Partner had ♦ AQJ982, ♠Q8 and nothing else, though I can't remember his exact holding in the other suits). West had ♦KT54.

[hv=pc=n&s=skj4hdkj43caqj864&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1np]133|200[/hv] We play Acol and the weak No Trump. In Acol a 3♣ response shows a very distributive hand with good clubs and slam potential, asking partner to cue bid for controls. This hand has only 15 HCP. I have added 3 points for the void (I would add 5 points if the void was in dummy), which makes 18 points plus 12-14 in partner's hand, making 30 -32 points, putting it in possible slam range. Should I bid 3NT or bid 3♣ asking partner to cue bid? And if he responds 3♥ which shows a wasted heart value in a club contract but a little comfort for a No Trump contract, should I settle for 3NT and cross fingers and toes, or just bid 5♣ directly, as further cue bidding seems pointless?

Is there a good source that deals with natural Acol responses after interference when you don’t have a fit and your hand is not suitable for a No Trump response. I can find lots of stuff on negative doubles or cue bidding which work with certain holdings, but what about a hand like this one?: [hv=pc=n&s=s86hjt7dkq8653ck9&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1s2h]133|200[/hv] I would have been ready to respond 2♦ without the overcall, but should I now bid 3♦ anyway, or does the overcall change things? I am using this as an example, and there is probably a straightforward answer (maybe more than one if you include special systems for dealing with interference), but are there any general natural principles that apply when the overcall pushes you to a higher level response.

£66 on Amazon!! :o

I play Acol. With one partner we have just started playing negative doubles, with the other less experienced partner we don't play it. I have good (though varied!) references on the negative double, except for what to do if the bidding goes `♦ - (2♣), and I can't find a lot on what responder's requirements are in terms of suit length after an overcall when not playing negative doubles. First of all, using the negative double, I understand that I need a minimum of 6 HCP to double if my bid would have been at the 1 level, and 8 HCP if it would have been at the 2 level. I can't find any guidance on when the bidding goes 1♦ - (2♣), when a negative double shows just one major. I assume that you don't bid the negative double here unless you have a backstop response if partner bids the major you don't have, but shouldn't I also need a bit more than 8 HCP as I may well have to rebid at the 3 level? Secondly, if playing with the partner who does not use the negative double, I assume that after 1♦ - (2♣) a bid of 2♠ requires 5 spades and 10+ HCP, but for any other sequence where opener's partner's bid is at the 2 level after an overcall, can the response be in a 4 card suit? For example, 1♠ - (2♦) - 2♥. With my more experienced partner I would make a negative double with 10+ HCP. If I can bid hearts with four cards, why is the negative double a superior bid? What additional information does it give partner?

I think you might be referring to the hand I showed in my first post, though the discussion had moved on (or at least I thought it had) to one a bit later, with this hand in response to Helene's posting, which is why I hadn't shown two ♥Q's: [hv=pc=n&s=s9hkj643dakjc7653&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1h2c2s]133|200[/hv] . I had already accepted the advice that I should just rebid 3♥ with my first hand. When Bill said he would bid 3♦ on the second hand it made sense to me. I thought my hearts were too weak to rebid them at the 3 level, and I had no stop in clubs for a 2NT bid. Bidding 3♦ lied about my diamond length but showed my five hearts, and I thought it hinted at no stop in clubs. If partner had three hearts he could show three card support, or rebid his spades with six good ones, or bid 3NT with a good club stop. While not perfect I thought 3♦ was better than the alternatives.

I play Acol. I dare not pass - partner might have something like this and be rather unimpressed! [hv=pc=n&n=sakt85haq5dqt75c9]133|100[/hv]

Obvious when you stand back, think about it logically, and are not hidebound by the rules you learned as a beginner - that bidding a second suit shows 5+ in the first suit and 4+ in the second, if bid at the 2 level. " Rules are for the guidance of wise men and for the obedience of......" B-)

Makes sense1| Thanks

I am a NB so not sure if I have worked this out right, but if I exhaust my hearts and clubs, pitching the opps in with my last club, then if they play a club or heart I can ruff and discard a losing diamond, and if either opponent wins the club and leads a diamond I think I make two diamond tricks (is it a frozen suit?) I have probably missed a trick! ;)

He and his partner are very good. Regularly come in the top two at our club. They are the ones who very rarely miss a biddable slam.

So would you bid 2NT on this hand, even though it is unbalanced and no stop in clubs? [hv=pc=n&s=s9hkj643dakjc7653&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1h2c2s]133|200[/hv]

We had this auction last night. We got very high very quickly. What should my next bid have been? [hv=pc=n&s=sj7hqj7542dak5cj2&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1h2c2sp]133|200[/hv]

The opening bid was in first seat. Afrer the game, when we realised what opener held, we expressed surprise, and opener smiled and said he liked to be awkward every now and then. His partner said nothing and we didn't challenge as we had never come across this before. It was only later that we discussed it among ourselves. If we had asked after the game opener's partner admitted that opener occasionally make such a bid, would we have been justified in saying that it should have alerted to the effect that it might show unexpected strength?

We play at an EBU registered club with a mix of player levels. everyone plays Acol. My partner and I are relatively inexperienced. Noone uses convention cards. Last night an experienced player opened 3 clubs (his partner said nothing) and my partner overcalled 3 hearts, which went two off. The opening bidder turned out to have seven clubs to AQJ and an outside Ace and King (in separate suits), 14 HCP, which surpirsed us. Opener's partner led her singleton ♣K which opener overtook and then played the ♣Q. Later on opener played the outside Queen, and my partner finessed the other opponent for a King, assuming (wrongly) that opener could not have it. As it turned out, our opponents could probably have made 3NT due to a lucky distribution of other cards, so the bid got what it deserved. My question is, regardless of how sensible (or silly)the bid was or the outcome, is such a bid legal if the opponents play that it might have opening points, but don't say anything? My partner felt that she would only have been one off if she had been misled into going for the finesse. I assume that if opener's partner was as surprised as us then it was a permissible psyche.