Gilithin

If they are from France or Germany it would also be wise to assume they play Benji, although they will use a different name for it and will likely not understand the British term.

Is it? What would be a 2NT rebid in the auction 1X - 2Y -- 2NT and how would Responder continue with a balanced minimum? My experience is that it is actually easier to know what bids mean in 2/1, Acol, SEF/Forum D or Precision than SAYC due to the contradictory statements within the SAYC definition document that make the system all but unworkable without further defining certain agreements.

You provide an accurate membership list and we'll be happy to do the cross-checking. There are a few confirmed shooters but in most cases the membership status of the perpetrator is impossible to uncover without NRA cooperation.

You can find details on the Baron 3♣ convention in many Acol resources for bidding after a 2NT opening. Really it just means that both players bid 4 card suits up the line until either 3NT is reached or a fit is found. A slightly more refined version is to play Skip Baron, in which Responder bids the cheapest 4 card suit that they do not hold and Opener bids suits they do hold, again up to 3NT. That avoids one of the biggest drawbacks of Baron - wrongsiding. Typically there is a corrollary that bidding a new suit at the 4 level is a slam try agreeing the last suit shown. If playing Skip Baron, this changes to a major suit shown for cases where Responder showed 2 or more suits: 1♣ (Precision) - 2NT (nat) -- 3♣ (Baron) - 3♠ (4♦+4♥) -- 4♣ (slam try agreeing ♥). You do not have to play it that way though - as long as you agree what any unusual calls mean you cannot really go wrong in this type of 4 card up-the-line method.

For the reasons Justin laid out 13 years ago, forcing 2♥ to promise a 6th heart is just hopelessly inefficient.

Can you understand German? Forum D is essentially an exact copy of SEF so you can use the DBV resources if that is an option for you. In truth though, you might find that whilst SEF/Forum D specify that the system works a certain way, many locals actually play a sort of mash-up between the real system and Standard American. For example, in SEF the sequence 1M - 2m -- 2NT shows 15-17 and 5M(332) distribution but a very large proportion of French and German club players bid it instead with 12-14. So you are probably best off finding out what the local standard is and working from there rather than the fully correct version.

I think the best way of viewing this Double is the same way as a cue bid - partner wants to play game but is not sure yet as to where. They might have a flexible hand with heart tolerance, as suggested previously, but they might equally have a one-suiter with extras and no stopper, or a minor 2-suiter. Our job is to describe our hand - as we do not have a stop, the call that does that is 4♦. It is not like it gives up on 4♥, with the flexible hand type partner can continue 4♥ as choice of game. Passing the Double seems like a very eccentric decision even at Favourable.

Feral hogs are a nice attempt at a distraction. Some conservatives will obviously try anything to distract. The simple reality is that a lot of Americans are being shot. A lot of American children are being shot. In around half the states it is easier to buy a gun than a car or even a Bible. And it is much easier to buy a gun and shoot someone than to get an abortion, a divorce or even to vote. Let's not lose sight of the farm for the pigs. Any politician who thinks that fighting <0.1% voter fraud is more important than taking simple and easy steps to save lives does not deserve your vote. If enough Americans are consequential on this, eventually it will result in something changing.

The analogy being that Red State laws make the shooters + terrorists happy and the school children unhappy?

Putin is actually a Libra.

3♥ FNJ if that is in our toolbox, or X planning on bidding 3♦ over partner's expected 3♣.

This one seems more likely.

It just means bidding 2♣ and passing the response. The problem is that Garbage Stayman is used interchangeably both for this and for Crawling Stayman - bidding 2♣ and following with a natural non-forcing call (most often 2♥) showing 2 places to play.

Michael, you conveniently failed to mention that the opponent was 3rd seat at favourable. Most pairs play extremely wide-ranging overcalls in this sort of situation. Rather than complaining about the overcall, you would do better discussing with partner about dealing with competitive situations. This is not a psyche, it is a bidding error from your side that led to a poor result.

Playing standard, you can bid Exit Stayman with 4+♦, 3+♥ and 3+♠. Playing Puppet you can bid Exit Stayman with 5+♦, 2+♥ and 2+♠. It is more or less a wash but if anything the edge is with Puppet here. A Puppet scheme is surely not the solution to the OP though, who specifically mentions not wanting to introduce any new devices.

Surely after Landy and 2♥, 3♣ and 3♦ are the basic game tries - which type to use is a question I do not ever remember seeing discussed though. Bidding 3♥ rather than 2♠ or 3m just feels wrong here.

Why? After WWII, the US provided support to (West) Germany despite a significant portion of the country being occupied by Communist forces and all without Stalin being assassinated. I would assume that after the current conflict reaches a non-hot phase, presumably with an occupation of significant portions of South and East Ukraine, it would still be possible for a similar plan to be used for the rest of the country whether Putin is in power or otherwise.

Both of the other Dutch pairs are playing a 2NT response to 1♠ as "mixed raise+". In my world, that includes a GF raise but perhaps you know better.

Except that there are plenty of studies highlighting the dangers of processed meats. So while taking additional salt may or may not be a risk factor (a single study is not conclusive evidence in itself) bacon is surely not the best suggestion regardless.

You are proving the point of choosing Responder's bids based on Opener's hand. I specifically wrote the original opening hand for the section you are quoting, so Opener holds ♠AKx. Spades break 3-1 and without an entry to Dummy 3NT only gets the 8 tricks you started with. Meanwhile Dummy is worth 3 tricks to the rest of the field playing in 4♠. Finally, a Yarborough with a 6 card major is not such an unlikely hand opposite 28+ balanced.

By default: After 1NT - (P) - 2♣ - (2♠), X shows 4♥, Pass denies 4♥. After 1NT - (P) - 2♣ - (2♥), X shows 4♥, 2♠ shows 4♠, Pass shows neither. After 1NT - (P) - 2♣ - (2♦), 2♥ shows 4♥, 2♠ shows 4♠, X shows good diamonds, Pass shows none of these. After 1NT - (P) - 2♣ - (X), there are various systems. For example (simple): 2♥ shows 4♥, 2♠ shows 4♠, 2♦ shows good diamonds, XX shows good clubs, Pass shows none of these; or (complex): 2♥ shows 4♥ without a ♣ stop, 2♠ shows 4♠ without a ♣ stop, 2♦ shows good diamonds, , Pass shows a ♣ stop with Responder's XX being a re-ask, Pass shows none of these. This one needs some discussion with a regular partner.

So you pass on the aforementioned Yarborough with 6 spades? Now on the original opening hand you take 8 tricks in 3NT while the field is making 4♠+1. Congratulations! Passing on a hand valuable in spades but useless in NT is also a really bad idea.

According to your auction, Opener only bids 4♠ with 3+ spades. So that would appear not to be an option. You do not say what Opener bids with only 2 spades but I would assume it is 4NT. As per the previous post, this just seems like a really bad idea. But perhaps your previous descriptions were just incorrect. Or, as every DD bidder knows, "When I use a bid it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."

Are you also impressed when Responder has a Yarborough with 6 spades opposite ♠xx ♥AKQ ♦AKQJ ♣AKQJ and has to play 5♠-1? Only accepting a transfer at the 4 level with 3 card support just seems like a really bad idea. It's great when you can see both hands though...

Without Kokish North can find out about ♥xxx, ♣A and ♦Q trivially. With Kokish it seems to me to be much more difficult as South will not raise immediately. I do not really understand why you think it is an advantage here.