jtfanclub

I got called last week for failure to alert on.... P (P) P (1♦) X showing a 10 count or so and diamonds...which it would for most beginners I know. I got out of it by pointing out that this time there was no damage, but I don't like regulations that require beginners to alert natural, intuitive bids.

I don't enjoy playing Standard American. I find it a giant pain in the ass for an auction to have meaning A for one partner and meaning B for another partner and have them both be right. Everybody has their own opinion of what Standard American is, and they ain't changing. I consider it grotesque to read what I consider to be very ordinary bidding questions here and get a wide variety of answers, each of which considers their answers to be Standard American. I prefer to play my system because it's simple, easy to learn, and cuts down on confusion. Lots of people who insist that their meaning of of an auction is Standard in Standard American will happily assign some other meaning to it if what you're playing is not Standard American. I understand why this is, and I respect that. If I can write up a two page system that a person can read, sit down with me, and play and have fewer bidding misunderstandings the first time we play it together than if we both play "Standard American", well, why shouldn't we play my system? If I don't like SA, and I don't want to play SA with regular partners because I don't find it to be fun, why is this a problem? Why do you think this makes me stuck up, or imposing, or whatever? Maybe the question should be asked "at what point in one's bridge life, without any kind of verifiable performance success, is one convinced that their version of Standard American is the only system and then impose on every one of his friends?" In my own defense, with about half my regular partners I've played their favorite system instead. And with a number of people I play Standard American because, well, they're good people and I like spending time with them whether it's playing Bridge or Go Fish. As far as I'm concerned, everybody who plays "Standard American" above a certain level IS playing their own custom system, with this part they liked from one person and this other part they've liked from some other person and some parts that just make sense to them and finally some parts that are just what their club does. And what I find is that the difference between playing my custom system and their custom system is that they won't write down what their system is ("it's just standard"), and they won't make changes to it (because it's standard). And they expect you to know it perfectly, because it's Standard American. Of course, real experts do write down what they're actually playing, with dozens or sometimes hundreds of pages of notes, and they do make changes to it to fit their temperments. But at that point, it's really a custom system, and no longer Standard American. Whether it's my custom system, or my partner's, or a joint effort, or a bridge writer's, I'm going to enjoy it a lot more than a partner who has no references for what his bids mean or how he evaluates hands. And I honestly can't imagine why I should apologize for that.

Not sure why this is a change. We've been negotiating with the Taliban for about a year now. Basically it comes down to if they'll stop protecting Al Qaeda and other international terrorist types, we'll stop blowing up their weddings- I mean, fighting their troops.

I agree with the Supreme Court ruling, but I think the jury ruling was nonsense. No, the FDA approving a label doesn't shield the drug company from liability. In this case, though, the label was more than adequate. Maybe if it was being self-administered the label should be longer, but this was something that was given in a hospital. They should know what intra-arterial means and what they should do to prevent it. Besides, when was the last time a doctor actually read a label? Edit: PS http://news.yahoo.com/comics/090301/cx_fra...fqgaSrxKRQP_b4F

I'll be there in a couple of weeks- just looking for a partner for an evening, at the local club, assuming there is a local club. Never played bridge in Europe before, and I only speak a smattering of German. Send me a PM.

So what would 2♠ have meant, then, after you made a 2♦ call? I play that as a suprising forwardgoing move, and I don't know anybody offhand who doesn't. Partner has a clear and obvious way to invite game. Why would he use 2NT, if it meant the same thing but a lot less clear? I think you're right, X followed by 2♥ makes more sense with 5-5. Maybe he's 4-6. Maybe he's used to using X followed by 2♥ as a powerhouse and he's forgotten that as a passed hand he doesn't need the powerhouse bid any more. But I think 2NT can't be a diamond bid. Even if partner woke up and realized that he had an opening count and more, 2♠ is just too obvious to use 2NT for the same sort of hand.

I don't like the argument that because I didn't mention it to the director immediately, it shouldn't be a factor in the final decision. First off, the director may have asked several dozen questions of the offended people and then asked for a quick reason for the offenders to explain themselves. The player in question might have several arguments available (all of which would be true) and just chose the one most likely to sway the director. Giving a bunch of reasons all at once sounds like excuse manufacturing. Secondly, the person may have just realized it subconsciously. If there had been no delay and no UI, I would have realized something was wrong, but it's very likely that I would not have realized it was that my partner passed the 1 club until I analyzed it later. I'd just know that something going on was impossible. Thirdly, saying "My partner is such an idiot that I'm lucky if he remembers Stayman. Of course if I'm given a choice between partner forgot and some almost-impossible combination of hands I'm going to choose the moron option" might not be the most politically correct thing to say, considering that you still have to finish the game with the person in question. This would especially be true if the guy who forgot the transfer was a client and the guy who was trying to ensure that he'd play the hand was getting paid for the privilege.

Not possible- he's a passed hand. It must be that he's 5-5 in Hearts and clubs, and he was hoping for the 2/3* shot that you'd pick one of his suits at the 2 level, rather than bid Michaels and be assured of being at the 3 level. What else could it mean? *OK, not really 2/3, but you know what I mean.

Agreed on both. In some case one table 1, because I know the opponents, I'll just call the director. Double shots like this simply shouldn't happen. On table 2, I might have called the director to reserve my rights, but I would be very unhappy if my opponent was forced to bid something they didn't want to bid because of a nervous habit.

I don't think you can/should get to 6NT if North is the one doing the exploring. South can see he has all the critical intermediates, so if North gives the option then certainly South should go there. But if South had almost the same hand: [hv=s=skj2hkqj7dk7cak43]133|100|[/hv] Now I'd rather be in 6♥- it's more likely to make, and it's more likely to make an overtrick if they don't find the spade lead (draw trump, pitch a spade on the club, run your winners and crossruff the hand out).

If you're worried about room and strain, why not open 1♥? The only real advantage of 3♥ is that it shuts the opponents out of the bidding, and if you're not worried about that, why not just start nice and low? Maybe you'll talk them into doubling 4♥. I think this is a 1♥ or a 4♥ hand, but not a 3♥ hand white vs. red. Partner will never guess I have this much playing strength.

I am? Ok, here goes. LHO has the 9. RHO had the King RHO did not have the Q, or he would have played it. LHO did not have the A, or he would not have underled it? So LHO started wtih AK8. How did I do? You can see the 8. LHO must have the Q, T, and 9, right? But he wouldn't lead diamonds if that's all he had. So it must be one of: QT95 AK AQT9 K5 AQT95 K If it was the middle one, surely RHO would return a diamond. So RHO must have either AK or K stiff. Edit: I keep thinking about the lead back of the king of clubs. Is he trying to establish an entry to partner? It is possible that his partner has QT9xxx so an entry would do the trick, but in that case if he has AK he should lead the second diamond before establishing an entry. That would mean the K♣ only makes sense as an entry maker if he has the stiff king of diamonds. The other possibility is that he's given up on the set and working on making sure they get 3 tricks. Give him, say... Jxx xxx AK KQxxx Now you could have the other red queen (his partner only has 2 points): AQ3 AT8 QJ432 A9 and have 4 spades, 4 hearts, 2 diamonds, and a club if he cashed the second diamond. Playing the king of clubs before cashing the second diamond holds it to 10 tricks.

I think I misunderstood a comment in there, sorry. Never mind.

Curious. With one point, white vs. red, and partner opening 2♠, I would have guessed that 3♠ was automatic. Maybe even 4♠.

OK, so, changing this just a hair... Your partner is a client. He's a money bridge player, plays the spots off the cards but refuses to play anything fancier than Jacoby 2NT. Doesn't even know what Lebensohl is. If you are absolutely certain that this is not Lebensohl, would you pass or bid 3NT?