vinchy

3♦, or pass, depending on how weak 3♣ was (ask)

I would not have followed the same bidding pattern, but why not 4♠ after partner's 3♠? There's no way he will pass, and in this situation it communicates what partner needed to know.

(Not so familiar with MPs) 4♥ or 3♦, depending on how I read my partner and opponents on the day For most cases, I would want to be in 4♥ even with a 4-3 fit. Unless the feel is that partner has a poor 4 heart + poor and long club suit

3♠

[hv=pc=n&n=shaj842dkq82ck975&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=p1s2h2s3c4s]133|200[/hv]

[hv=pc=n&s=s6hdjt875432cqj62&n=saqt753ht9dcakt75&d=w&v=e&b=16&a=p1s2hpp2s4h7cppdppp]266|200[/hv] Tell me if I'm wrong, but this is the hand I would expect from an author. Everything breaks.

Seeing as it is meant to be somewhat challenging (with a prize involved), I will venture 7♣ is the answer OP is looking for. :)

I would interpret (and if sitting N, bid) the double as a beg-partner-not-to-pass bid.

Is there too little value of 3d as a preempt to justify this? In my current system, this would certainly be a preempt. I would only play this as strong after (1S) P (P) as mentioned. As for hand strength, I would consider the N-S hands to be of ideal strength, for their purposes. (S as a strong diamond hand, N with sufficient support) As N I would definitely go to 3NT.

Most people at my level, including my current partner, would probably concede, I wouldn't. There is that small chance, and even if it gains nothing, it makes the opponents more wary of my play in subsequent hands.

You don't really read that well, I do like your sharing but in this case if all you want to tell me is not to bother trying or finding new ways of bidding, I don't think I am learning much. Yes I do know RKCB, but always curious if there are other ways of showing it, perhaps at an earlier round of bidding.

Looks great, will spend some time checking it out (when I do have sufficient).

In any live game or tournament, I believe that there is always signals from your opponent that could give away indicators of their hand strength, how much they like it, and such. Bridge may not be poker, but given that these signals are ever-present, would you try and factor this into your bidding decisions, and perhaps also your playing decisions? Also, if playing against weaker opponents, would you at all consider bidding "higher than should be making", and simply outplay your opponents and hope for bad defense? So far, I can say, I try. B-) Playing mechanically with no regards for these human factors would make of us robots.

This is quite good. A signoff from North, and then just ambition from South. I do know it's very far-fetched but does nobody here have a device for: 1) Showing first-round controls of all suits, early 2) Showing a singleton Ace (or two) 3) Asking for the Queen of hearts To think of such things would be better than accepting that there is limited bids for such a task with due consideration given to the less-than-optimal HCP and distributional concerns, I believe that is how the game develops.

If you are not "playing seriously enough" to have any ideas of bids that could (with whatever remote possibility) describe this hand, then don't post in this thread, let someone else do it. I was hoping to find players who would avoid the standard bidding - I am not saying that is how everyone here should play, just fishing for devices that could help in the describing the hands in this particular set. Yep, I am definitely going nowhere in this game by simply trying to find out about different bidding styles - (note, not just mikeh's style and philosophy of bridge). Should stick to the bread and butter.

I am more interested in finding out about bidding styles and intermediate bids that would be able to describe N-S hands with the greatest accuracy. Starting with South's hand, I think anyone holding such a hand should be considering and showing more than just a game and it would be silly to signoff in 4H without being able to describe his holding and to find the right support that would make a slam possible. Also, although the sacrifice on 7s may sound ludicrous considering that the success of 7H is wild in the first place, it is not that unlikely that E will be able to show some strength, possibly by bidding in the first seat, and considering the vulnerability later, W might respect the opponent's ability to make slam by overcalling. Yes, this was aided by the hand diagrams later but I believe that the possibilities of communication that all four seats will be able to make in regards to the hand are well worth considering.

[hv=pc=n&s=sahaj9732daj643ca&w=sqt85hqtd875cq832&n=s9762hk65dqct7654&e=skj43h84dkt92ckj9&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=p]399|300[/hv] How will you and your partner reach 7H? Or settle for a more comfortable 6H? Additionally, if sitting EW, do you think you will be able to find the profitable sacrifice at 7S?

We play the conventional HSGT too, but expand its range to other situations, such as after gameforce and for NT attempt. I think (during the tournament) the xxx in clubs put me off for 2NT, the other table made 1NT+2 (if I am not wrong) though. :o

1NT seems about right now. Thanks. I might even be wrong about what we agree 1NT to be. Should have thought more carefully.

We agree on most "odd" 3rd level bids to be taken as HSGT. Used in other situations too, and this was also one of them. Partner did not have any trouble understanding that and his response was right. In the moment (a tournament) I could not think of any intermediate bids and went straight for the game try. Would 2♥ be more common/acceptable?

1NT would be 6-9 HCP, non-forcing, after pass. The 1 spades bid shows 5 spades.

Was agreed

How would you bid after (1) [hv=pc=n&s=sk8hkq32dat32c832&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=1d]133|200[/hv] (2) [hv=pc=n&s=sk8hkq32dat32c832&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=1dpp1sp]133|200[/hv] This is how bidding went. [hv=pc=n&s=sk8hkq32dat32c832&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=1dpp1sp3cp3sp4sppp]133|200[/hv] 3♣ was a help suit game try, intending to play in 3NT. Partner's response denied a stopper in clubs, I got ambitious anyway and went to 4♠. Should I have gone? Partner went on to go down 1, but it was clear that he misplayed a trick taking trumps. (perhaps opponents misdefended slightly, but that one mistake cost us 720) Who would you say is at fault? Me or partner? (perhaps for your information, 1♠ overcall would show at least 10 HCP and 5.0 winners. And the xx (32) in each suit could be inaccurate but I believe that is academic.)