Double !

To the best of my knowledge, Vinge trump signals are acbl GGC-legal. However, I am under the impression that Prism Signals (author: John Sheehan- darn good player) are seen as being encrypted and as not being acbl-legal. DHL

The first hand also presented a defensive problem. Fwiw: I was the diamond bidder on both hands. On the first hand I held ♠ void, ♥ Ax, ♦ AKJTxxxx, ♣ J9x. When my partner led a low diamond, I played the Ace (not the usual Ten), and Han ruffed. When he led a heart toward dummy, I won with the ace and tried figure out where two more tricks were coming from. I played my partner for the Club Ace and shifted to the Jack of Clubs. I had hoped that that, along with play of the diamond Ace at trick 1, might get partner to return a spade. Alas, P returned a second club. Admittedly, it was difficult for my partner to envision declarer with 5 spades along with length in hearts. My question is: do people agree with my choice of plays, or is there a better way to suggest that partner shift to a spade from Qxxx? as always, TIA and best wishes: DHL

AREND: I don't know the answers, and I don't care. You and Han just came in 30th overall in the LM pairs: I think that's awesome. It is the most grueling 3 days I can imagine. I will say that the first hand is one reason why I prefer to play 1NT - 2C- 2Y (not your major) - 3m as a weak 4-6 but, as usual, I'm in the minority. On the second hand, you might risk 2C followed by 2H (pass or correct), or you might be disciplined and pass 1NT. Can't criticize either action. Again, pal, well done you guys! DHL

could be wrong, but I believe the second option is the way Meckwell plays or played it, with 2 D being minimult. DHL:

HOG: I think that what I wrote clearly suggests to a sensible person that I might have misread the bidding. I clearly missed the fact that the partnership was play nfb (which we used to play back in the 70s). I acknowledge and apologize for posting when I had totally misunderstood the bidding (as is evident by the reference to partner having redoubled). Bad eyes. So, I made a mistake, something no one else on this forum has ever done. LIVE WITH IT! If you were referring to me or anything I wrote as being "trite" or "supercilious": Thank you for the compliment. I appreciate it. My wife would definitely agree with the supercilious part. :) ;) DHL

I have not looked at the actual hand yet. I voted "not possible" but am reconsidering. Is it possible that opener is 5-6 in the black suits with holes in clubs and is hoping to hear if responder also has something in clubs instead of jamming the auction by bidding 4S to start with? (lol: reminds me of years ago when I held 5116, opened a club, partner responded a spade, and I couldn't decide which red suit to splinter in.) Anyway, this is the only type of hand I can think of. If opener is always opening 5-6 black suited hands with 1S, then please forget the above. DHL

I think your question is fine. My personal feeling is that 1) why do you wish to incorporate the precision (or polish) 2C opening into your system (what do you expect to gain), and 2) could you be opening 2C with an outside 4-card major? I had the opportunity and pleasure to meet and talk to Adam Zmudzinski, a very famous Polish star player, last summer in Nashville, during the NABCs. It worked out that he and his team were staying at the same place as me and my wife. We got to talking about systems including precision and wj. During our discussions, he shared with me that he felt that the 2C opener was the weakest part of both systems. I've always felt the same way about the precision 2C opener. I played a lot of Precision for several years back starting in 1970 and was forever trying to come up with a way to at least eliminate the possibility of the 2C opener having a 4-card major without total reversion to a really nebulous 1 diamond opener. My point is, in my opinion, you might wish to consider trying to incorporate something other than the Precision 2C opener into your system, but I think it's great that you are trying to be innovative. Right On, Bro. DHL

Agree with senior Hog. You can't sit the XX if you trying to visualize the hands: just use the theoretic 4414 as a template, You ain't gettin' any diamond tricks. don't be surprised if you make 2S. DHL

Csaba: my condolences and support to the person who passed 1SXX. Partner should never have had the type of hand you just described. If the re-doubler had 5-5 in the red suits, why the H--- is he making a redouble? Just to show 10+ points? Obsolete, and a bad idea, imo. When you have a 2-suiter, especially with a good hand. don't waste time making a redouble. Start bidding your suits. I don't believe that this is a non-standard idea. And, if you happen to be playing fit bids, how nice. When one redbl's, whether or not one plays that it denies a fit, a redouble tends to show a more balanced hand in order to permit partner to co-operate in the doubling of the opponents process. DHL

Ken: i think that you might be mistaken. in the Roman Club system (almost as complex as glen's ETM TOPS), a 1 club opener showed one of three types of hands: a balanced 4432 or 4333 12-16 hcp, a balanced 21 to 26 hcp, or a strong two bid. in the Neapolitan club (precursor to Blue Team Club system and, one might say, Precision), a one club opening simply showed any hand with 17+ hcp, and the responses were usually showing the number of controls that responder held. an opening of 1nt showed a balanced hand in the 12 - 16 pt range. the 2C opener showed less than 17, at least 5 clubs, often with a second suit, or a 6-card, 1-suited hand. my sources are 1) "Contract Bridge Summary" by Albert Morehead, 1963, and "The Complete Italian System of Winning Bridge" by Edgar Kaplan, 1959. I never knew that Goren had written a similar book two years prior. But, then again, he seemed to have something to do with a lot of books that came out, either writing or endorsing. DHL

Thanks for comment and don't read em if you don't like em Wayne: You deserve some apologies. Every person who chooses to post or ask a question in this forum has the right to do so. And, everyone else has the right to read it or to not read it, to respond or to not respond. No one, however, has the right to insult any other member of this forum! Do that on BBO and it's considered to be Abuse. What might have seemed like a pointless question or posting to some likely seemed important to the poster (sceptic) at the time, and he did nothing more than seek some advice. If you don't have anything helpful or constructive to say ("if you can't say something nice"), then don't say anything. DHL

What is the difference between passing now and then bidding 3S when partner re-opens, and making a support X now, assuming that that is what a double would mean? (It's not clear that it should be a support dbl. It could be a hand that wants to play in 3NT if P has a heart stopper.) What the difference between partner bidding 2S immediately as opposed to making a neg X/ 2H and then bidding spades. Why do I ask all these questions that interests no one? If it's a support double, I suggest that the second method shows a minimum that wouldn't accept a game try, and that the first sequence shows a hand that would accept some kind of game try. Why reverse the meanings? Because, just because 2S was F-1, that doesn't mean P must have a hand that would necessarily re-open. P might have had a decent 6 card spade suit and little else. If the system doesn't permit 2S/2H competitive with such a hand, then that seems to be a flaw. At least, by differentiating the strength of your hand, partner has some idea whether or not you'd accept a game try. Does this make any sense? I doubt it, but it's just a suggestion and permitted me to (figuratively), open my big mouth and get in trouble as a result. DHL

they're Vul and we're not? I pass, even though I suspect that the opening lead might be unfortunate. Hope P doesn't lead something like the D-K from Kx. If we have a game, then I expect at least +500, a nice score to get. What's the minimum that P can have for the neg X? Hope P doesn't neg X on junk: I need P to have at least 1 entry. Another reason I pass is that I have no other bid that begins to accurately describe my hand,....2NT?....The least lie?... I think we should be able to beat this contract for a minimum of +200. DHL BTW: I agree with Ken's recommendation of the lead out of turn, but lead the jack it playing coded 9s & 10s. Just a suggestion.

Important question: How many tricks is the north hand (the club suit hand) likely to be taking in 3NT. As it's match points, that's an important issue because I suspect that at least half of the field is likely to play in 3NT, not 4H. Once you figure out how many tricks the hand makes in NT, that should be at least a partial guide to how to play the hand in hearts. DHL.

Forever sticking in my minority point of view, I tend to agree with the position that 3M now shows a GF hand with a 4-card major. I haven't decided whether or not it better to bid the major that you don't have to permit opener to play the hand should opener have 4 or 5 in that major, or just to bid the hand naturally, to bid the major that you do have. The reason I prefer 3M to show a 4-cd major is that I like to play 2C followed by 3m as showing a weak 4-6 (yes, perhaps more of a match point treatment). Yes, I know this is not the current mainstream method, especially playing 4-suit Xfers with pre-acceptance but I just happen to prefer it. But, there's something about the given bidding and agreements seems unclear to me. If 1NT - p - 2S is a relay to 3C which responder then either passes or corrects to 3D, how good a hand does the 3D bid show? A sign-off, forcing, what? At this point in the bidding, opener doesn't have a clue about which minor suit responder has. In fact, the failure to show diamonds would sort of imply a club suit, don't ya think? And, what is the partnership agreement about the meaning of Stayman followed by 3m by responder? DHL

I have a suggestion that is going to be shot down out of the sky as soon as it posts, but: Don't let your opp's takeout doubles change the basic structure of your bidding system. In other words, except for some additional options that the double gives you, ignore the danged thing and just bid as you would have without the double. Yes, I usually prefer that 1NT by resp remain forcing one round as it would be w/o the dbl, 2 level bids are as if no dbl had occurred (or you can use transfer responses to alleviate that issue). So, if you normally play 4H as splinter, why change? If it's a fit raise, you can actually devise a simple distinction between a fit raise with 3 versus 4-card support. If a bid at the 2-level is still forcing one round, then it's available to show a shape raise should partner next bid 4S. Old fashioned? Perhaps. But, the only thing you lose is being able to play in 1NT (chances are it ain't staying there, anyway), and one can resolve that issue & play in 1NT if one plays that a XX shows a hand that normally would have bid 1NT F-1 without the dbl, sort of a negative redbl. [Just some weird, non-mainstream ideas.] Getting back to the issue at hand: If 4H is splinter, then half of your hand is likely wasted. I'm all for trying to describe my hand in as few bids as possible so, therefore, I expect the 4H hand to have values in both minors, making slam unlikely. DHL

another vote for double. Sure there might be more bidding by the opps. 1st double = takeout, 2nd dbl = takeout, 3rd dbl = business. I have a problem with 3H in that P might interpret it as asking for a heart stopper. If I dbl first, Partner should have a relatively good idea of my hand, and will now be able to be part of the decision-making process should the opps compete. Don't ask me where I've been, because I don't know!!!! DHL

2NT DHL

It's hands like this that make playing reverse flannery responses to 1m look more and more attractive to me. At least I don't have to worry about missing a 4-4 heart fit. Oh, well, I guess you give up something to gain something. DHL

i agree with 2NT. Gives P the most options for his/her next bid, and I suspect that NT should be played from my side. DHL

For me, the meaning depends on vulnerability. Since I strongly prefer to play 13-16 not vul 1NT overcalls, this double would probably suggest a shape-oriented takeout X if my P prefers sound initial dbls. (I prefer the weaker 1NT overcall because it takes pressure of a hand that might normally have to pass because not good enough for 15-17 NT overcall.) If vulnerable, the likelihood of this dbl is reduced. I'm not sure what it would mean because the opps have already shared a lot of info, so balancing in now is just asking for minus 200 or worse. I already denied having a hand worth a Michaels bid, so..........yo no se. DHL

I believe this to be a good idea just on general principals. There have been far too few bridge-related murders lately! (Oh, where is Don Von Elsner when we need him the most?!) And, if investigators ask who the culprit is, as is customary and accepted practice in Bridge, blame partner (none of this apportion the blame debate! Be definitive!) It sounds like P has a long broken club suit with shape and is concerned about entries at NT. 4♦ seems like a reasonable slam try: gives partner the chance to Q 4♥. The idea that any bid past game commits the partnership until another plausible game is bid seems to make sense. Questions: 1) what would 4NT after P's 4♣ mean? & 2) what does 4NT by the 3NT bidder mean after having first Q-bidding 4♦ over 4♣ and getting a response? (hopefully something other than pass) RKC for clubs, or something else? DHL

No matter what I do, I always seem to get into trouble. For the record, I was the east hand, and my periodic partner and I had not discussed this situation. Rightly or wrongly, he was showing a heart stopper after my non-pre-accept 3D response, searching for the best game. This is one way to play it, I guess. On this hand, I didn't really know what 3H meant, so I chose what I thought was the safest game contract. Shoot me (but please use a silencer. My wife hates loud noises.) To play 3H as showing shortness with slam interest seems to be the way many play this sequence. There is another possible meaning to 3H that is more matchpoint oriented. The prerequisite is that the partnership is playing that Stayman followed by 3 of a minor shows a weak 4-6. If so, then the meaning of 3M after transfering to diamonds might show 4 of the M, or 4 of the OM with GF or better values. Perhaps no one plays the weak 4-6 method any more. DHL

OK, since hannie is looking forward to the next part of this discussion, let me first ask this question. Assuming that the bidding has gone 1S - p - 2H - p so far, does a rebid of 3 diamonds show at least a sound opener if not extra values? Or could it be made with a sketchy, ragged minimum 5-5? Does a 2 Spade rebid promise a 6+ card suit or at least a very strong 5-bagger? (And, just for good luck, does a 2NT rebid show extras?) again, TIA DHL bidding is so much fun

I think this is not such a clear cut pass because of possession of a rebid as well as trick-taking potential. None-the-less, I passed the hand at the table, and the bidding continued 3 spades by my expert lho followed by 4 Hearts by my Partner. Do you take any action over 4 Hearts after rho passes? TIA DHL