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Pass is the percentage action over 3S. In order for X to be right, partner would need either 5/5 in the minors or 6 diamonds, so that you have a 9-fit. Possible, but not likely. If you have a 4/4 heart fit, partner is likely to be balanced or semi-balanced, in which case he doesn't have a 15-17 NT, so you don't have a game (plus the trump are apt to break badly). If partner has 1444 and a halfway decent hand, he might find a X. I agree with Mike H. that if the overcall were 3H and your 4-card major were spades, X stands out. There's a big difference between a good shot at the 3-level and having to go to the 4-level. If partner reopens with 4D, WTP? 5D, of course. Partner is playing you for around 7 HCP on this auction; you have 10 really good ones, three-card trump support, and no spade wastage. If it makes exactly 10 tricks, well, I've gotten poor results before :) Cheers, Mike

What you seem to be saying is that in your opinions, psyching has the appearance of impropriety, so that TDs shouldn't do it if they are playing. Where I (and I think Gordon, too) disagree with you is in your implication that psyching has the appearance of impropriety. Why do you think that? Cheers, Mike

OK, so let's look at the bidding here: Pass: Fine. 1S is OK if you play a big club system, but a little much in standard in 1-2 seats. 1C: Obvious enough 2S: Underbid. North has a 6-loser hand with 14 prime HCP and a singleton in one of the opponents' strong suits. 3S seems rather obvious here. 3D: Fine at MPs, assuming you play standard (3+ cards) game tries. At IMPs, I would bid 4S, but not everyone would. After 3D, 4S seems obvious for North here. Cheers, Mike

There are two commonly used methods: 1. Wolff Signoffs: After 2NT, 3 of responder's original major is slam-going with 6+, and 3 of the other major just shows 5-4. 3C and 3D have special meanings. 3D first - that is GF and checkback to see if opener has 3-card support for responder's major or 4 cards in the other major. Some like to show 4OM first; others like to show 3 in the bid major first. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but either will work. 3NT shows neither 4OM nor 3 in the bid major. 3C is a puppet demanding opener bid 3D. Now: 1. Responder can pass if he just wants to play 3D. Perhaps responder bid 1D over 1C and now just wants to sign off in 3D. 2. Responder can bid 3 of his original major to sign off there. 3. Responder can bid 3 of the other major to indicate a hand that is slam-going in the other minor. That is: Axxx xx x AQJxxx After 1D - 1S - 2NT, responder can bid 3H to show a hand with slam interest in clubs. 4. Responder can bid 3NT to show a hand with mild slam interest in opener's minor 5. Responder can bid 4C to show a hand with strong slam interest in opener's minor. 2. Transfers Every suit transfers to the next higher suit. 3S shows clubs, but opener generally bids 3NT over 3S. You can pretty much intuit all the meanings. For example, you check for 3 of responder's major by transferring back into responder's major and then bidding 3NT: 1D 1S 2NT 3H(transfer) 3S 3NT This shows 5H and a game-going hand. I strongly prefer Wolff signoffs; they make a lot more intuitive sense to me. But that's just me. Cheers, Mike

I don't think I want to be in 4H. In fact, I don't think I want to be in hearts at all. I want to be in clubs, and in IMPs, I want to be in 5 of them. How to get there is tougher. This hand is WAY too good for a 15-17 1NT opener. There are all kinds of 7-8 counts that partner will pass where you make 3NT easily. I would open 1D, and now it really depends on whether the East hand bids spades over 1H. If he does, then you are likely to get to 5C. If the opponents are silent, however, then if you rebid 2NT, you're apt to end up in 3H (MPs) or 4H (IMPs), and if you rebid 2C, you're likely to play it there unless partner gives you a courtesy raise. Cheers, Mike

I think it's a pretty clear pass, but that's just me.

I would X. 3S is OK, too, but it is more this hand: x Ax Jxx AKQJTxx where you just really want to play 3NT or 4 of the minor, unless partner happens to have a decent hand. Your hand is really too strong for 3S. If partner has an awful hand and bids 4C, which is likely, you are left with a guess. And what if partner has the AH and a stiff spade? Or club support and a spade void but no HCP? Both are possible, and with either, you have 6C. I would start with X, but either way, you get to 3NT by West.

GIB plays minor suit stayman, a type of 4 suit transfers, and 2nt may or may not have a 4 card major. Not that uncommon.

You are likely correct re the diamonds, although it is possible that the 1NT opener has a stiff honor. But why would partner pass with 2/2 in the reds rather than correcting back to 3H?

I will assume West's X is negative. If it's penalty (unlikely in an expert game), then 3D makes no sense whatsoever. If it's negative, however, you can be pretty sure that the opponents have at least an 8-card club fit, maybe a 9-card club fit. East likely has 5 C to bid over 2S, and West has at least 3 and quite possibly 4. To the folks who said "Well, if North had a few diamonds, he'd have bid 2NT": Poppycock. What if North is 6142? You think North is going to bid 2NT over the X only to discover that your suit is clubs and go for a telephone number? Of course not. He's going to show his spades or else pass, depending on the strength of his suit and his hand. Partner is going to bid 2NT over the X only with GOOD support for BOTH minors (that is 4/4 in the minors). Otherwise, he'll just pass and hope opener didn't open 1NT with a five-card H suit. Do you really think partner is 6124? No way - the opponents have at least 8 clubs. 7123? Possibly, but I highly doubt it. You almost certainly have an 8-fit in a red suit. You might have a double 8-fit. You might have a 9-fit in D. The question is whether you want to defend 3C or bid 3 over 3. I think it's close. To a great extent, it depends on how many H partner has. If he has 0-1, then you are probably just fine defending (especially at IMPs). You might well take the first 5 tricks with Ah and four ruffs. If he has 2H, you likely are better off in 3 of a red suit. I have no problem whatsoever with either pass or 3D here. Just sayin ... Cheers, mike

The Tom Lehrer song you are thinking of is "Be Prepared" (the motto of the Boy Scouts: Be prepared! That's the Boy Scouts' marching song, Be prepared! As through life you march along. Be prepared to hold your liquor pretty well, Don't write naughty words on walls if you can't spell. Be prepared! To hide that pack of cigarettes, Don't make book if you cannot cover bets. Keep those reefers hidden where you're sure that they will not be found And be careful not to smoke them when the scoutmaster's around For he only will insist that they be shared. Be Prepared! Be prepared! That's the boy scouts' solemn creed, Be prepared! And be clean in word and deed. Don't solicit for your sister, that's not nice, Unless you get a good percentage of her price. Be prepared! And be careful not to do Your good deeds when there's no one watching you. If you're looking for adventure of a new and different kind, And you come across a girl scout who is similarly inclined, Don't be nervous, don't be flustered, don't be scared. Be prepared! Cheers, Mike

This is a matter of partnership agreement on reopening bids. "Standard expert" in the USA is definitely NOT what GIB plays. GIB plays that a reopening 2H bid is 15-21 or so. In modern American practice, that is garbage. 2H ought to show (A) 6+ hearts, (B) 11-16 or so (it's a pretty wide-ranging bid, but does NOT show extras), and © a hand that does not want to play 2cX. X shows a hand with either (A) 1-2 (sometimes a void, if you are 544 in the other suits) of the opponents' suit and unspecified strength or (B) 3+ of the opponents' suit and a rock-crusher. You have an 18 HCP 3631 hand. Yes, the hand needs to be downgraded for the stiff Kc. But your hand would make a fine dummy in S or D, if that's what partner has. Imagine something like: Kxxxxx x Qx xxxx You belong in spades. How are you going to get there if you bid 2H? Your hand is also very good on defense vs. 2CX if partner passes. So I would start with a X, despite the sixth heart, because you will "like" whatever partner does. You can pass 2S, raise 3S to game, bid 2H over 2D, raise 3D to 4D, pass 2H, raise 2NT to 3NT, pass 2C, and so on. If you bid 2H, there are a lot of things partner can do that, upon seeing his hand. you won't "like" at all. Here, partner is probably going to bid 2D. Now you bid 2H. This shows a decent hand (not a rock-crusher, because you're still at the two-level) with (most likely) 6 hearts. I would bid 3H with partner's hand, and you can now raise to 4H. Cheers, Mike

The problem with these sorts of systems is that they solve a problem that doesn't exist with some hands and cause more problems than they solve with others. The 2C opener will almost always have one of two sorts of hands: 1. The big, balanced hand 2. A big one-suiter With #1, there is little need for responder to show his suit right away unless he has a very good hand. Indeed, you generally want responder to bid 2D with almost all hands. That way, using Kokish relays, you can describe within one HCP all hands up to 27 HCP, AND you have your system over 2NT available. If responder starts making other bids with tepid hands, your bidding will suffer. If opener has #1, then it's fine for responder not to bid 2D with either an impossibly weak hand (double negative) or else a hand that is likely to produce slam over a 22-23 HCP balanced hand. Otherwise, it's best if he bids 2D. With #2, you will almost always want to play in opener's suit, not responder's suit. If responder starts making these transfer bids, opener is going to have to show his suit on the 3 level, which robs you of vital bidding space. The only time your system can really gain is if opener has a semi-balanced sort of hand with secondary support for responder's suit. These sorts of hands are far less common than #1 or #2. Cheers, Mike

I think your agreement is the most common "standard expert" one here in the USA. You laid out the H sequence. The S sequence is similar, with XX being the "transfer" to 1NT (it could be a three-card spade limit raise, too). You do NOT need XX for penalty. You just pass the double and then double when the bidding comes back around to you. Cheers, Mike

First, stop worrying about what the opponents are going to do. The first one didn't overcall; the second one will need to bid over a 2NT call; you have the master suit, and you are going to bid to 4S no matter what they do. Second, a temporzing bid is silly with this hand. It will give partner an absolutely wrong idea of what you have. Finally, the trouble with 4S comes when partner has a good hand. What if he has: Kxxxx A Axx AJxx You will play an easy grand in 4S. There isn't a lot of risk in bidding 2NT. You will then show a minimum at every opportunity. Your partner isn't going to go hog-wild unless he has a rock-crusher. This ties in with Jeff Meckstroth's advice to me some 35 years ago: at your first turn, when faced with having to overbid slightly or underbid slightly, always choose the overbid. It's easy enough to slow things down later on. It's NOT easy to speed them up. (Of course, it helps when you can play them like Jeff does :). Cheers, Mike

1. North can pass 1HX; he can bid 1S; he can bid 1NT. I don't have a strong preference. Any of those bids could work out well. 2. Assuming N/S play support doubles, S might try 3NT at his second call. On the other hand, West has shown the black suits, and South only has Ax in clubs. Maybe a 5/2 H game is better. 2C isn't unreasonable at all. 3. No, North can't pass 2S, because 2C ought to be 4SF. That is a GF. 4. With only 10X in H and Kxx in clubs, I would bid 2NT with the North hand, after which South will bid 3NT. Cheers, Mike

It's not much of a GF, in that it has 8 losers. The fifth and sixth trump and the Js are waste; the Jh is probably waste; the Qc may well be waste. Still, you don't want to stop below 4S. In standard, it's a bit strong for a 4S bid (I don't want to miss slam when partner has a great hand), so I would overbid just slightly with 2NT Jacoby and then try as hard as I can to put the brakes on after that. Cheers, Mike

First one is tough, but the start isn't hard. You know South has at least 5 spades and that North (for his double) has all 5 hearts and very little else. So you have to make two spade tricks, and the only way to do that is to lead up to the second spade. Win the D; A of spades; club up; spade. If North ruffs (not best), it's very easy (play it out). Assuming he pitches a club, then win the Ks; club up; D ruff. Now you have to play a club and hope that North has the Jc. If so, he's going to be endplayed. Second one is VERY easy. Beginner level. You have a heart loser (hopefully no more than one) and a spade loser. Where is your spade loser going? Ah - you can ruff it. OK, should you risk leading up to the Jh to account for QTxx on your left? No, because RHO might win and give LHO a D ruff. So AH, KH, and now play off winners (including ruffing the third spade). Easy peasy. Third one is basically a guess for the Kc. Flip a coin. You can't try to establish the fifth club for a second chance, because you will be too short of trump if the K is fourth and will lose control before you can establish your diamond trick.

It's a matter of playing strength, not HCP. Quite obviously: x QJT9x QJT9xx x with 6 HCP (a fine overcall at any vulnerability) is a lot better than QJ AJxx KJxxx Jx which is basically a pile of junk. Cheers, Mike

It all depends on the opening bid and your hand. You should lean heavily toward 1NT if the opening bid is in a minor suit. It conveys your hand very accurately in one bid. Sure, LHO could X, but that will be pretty rare, and even if he does, partner might have a long suit to run out to safely. If the opening bid is in a major suit, then: (A) A decent holding in the opponent's suit favors 1NT (KTx, for example - maybe partner will produce the J); something like Axx favors X. (B) Possession of Secondary honors in the opponents' suit favors 1NT © Four cards in the other major favors X: 3 favors 1NT.

On your 1NT (3x) situation: You lose a lot of precision in this sort of auction. All you can do is try to land on your feet. If you don't have a hand that has a chance for game, you are better off just passing and defending. It's pretty standard to play negative (card-showing) doubles here. Yes, this bid gets a bit overworked, but that's about all you can do if you don't have a 3NT call (I would want some semblance of a stopper for that) or a 3x or 4x (game force) bid in your hand. For your second auction: 3S does NOT deny three card support. 3S generally shows four-card support. You have to agree on what X shows here: is it penalties or is it a max with three spades. If it's penalties, then 3S could be a max with three spades. With a minimum to minimum plus hand with three spades, you will pass. I don't see the problem here with a 6/4 invite. Just bid 3S. You have at least an eight-card fit. Cheers, mike

Stephen Tu has it right, although I don't require 16+ HCP for this bid. Something like: xx xx AKQxxxx Ax looks just fine to me. But what if the opponents lead hearts, you say? Well: 1. The opponents haven't bid hearts. Maybe partner has a few including a high card. 2. LHO may not have a H lead. Maybe he has a club lead. 3. If he does lead H, maybe partner has 3 and the spade A and H are 4-4. 4. I only really have two defensive tricks against a heart contract. If I go set, maybe the opponents actually have us outgunned. Especially in IMPs, 3NT is the %age bid on a hand like this. Sure, maybe you go set, but would you rather be declarer making a game unless the opponents guess right or would you rather be a defender on a guess that loses 10 if its wrong? Cheers, Mike

That is correct. It's also why GIB will almost always fly with the Ace if you lead toward the KJ. It "knows" you will make the right play. If it doesn't fly Ace, play its partner for the Ace. Cheers, Mike

Al's line is better, and it's pretty easy to analyze. When do the lines differ in their results? 1. If the third diamond is ruffed, then Al's line is better unless West has both club honors (in which case both lines go -1). 2. If the third diamond honor lives, your line is better only if West has both club honors. In #2, the lines are equal if the club honors are split, because Al gets to take two C hooks, but you only get one (so you lose two C tricks and a spade; Al loses one C trick and 2 spades). Likewise, the lines are equal if East has both C honors, because Al will get a second chance to throw a spade on the third diamond (he wins when East splits his C honors, goes back with a trump, and plays a D honor since he doesn't need the second C hook any more). Considering just the diamonds, I think case 2 is ever so slightly more likely than case 1. BUT - case 2 only wins if West has both club honors, whereas case 1 wins UNLESS West has both club honors. West is not at all likely to have both club honors, because on the bidding, a lead from KQ(xxx) is a lot more attractive than one from 2-4 of dummy's suit. Thus, 1 will gain almost all the time when the third diamond is ruffed. 2 generally won't gain vs. 1 even if the third diamond lives. Go with Al's line -- #1. Cheers, Mike

A few thoughts: 1. North should bid 4D Texas. Two reasons. First, North has a 7-loser hand. That ought to make game far more often than not opposite a 1NT opener (indeed, I would wager it would make 5 as often as it would go set). As Grant Baze used to say, "With 6-4, bid more." Second, if you want to keep the opponents out of a 4S contract (whether a make or, more likely, a good sacrifice), which do you think is going to do that better? A 2D bid, which gives them room to come in on the 2-level? Or a 4D bid, which makes them bid at the 4-level when you could have anything from a preemptive hand to one that is borderline slammish? 2. After a 2D transfer, "standard expert" is that: X shows diamonds (primarily lead-directing, but West is entitled to bid 3D over 2H if he has a little something) 2H is a STRONG takeout. I say strong, because with a minimum takeout double, you just pass 2D, X for takeout if responder passes the 2H response, and remain silent if the opponents try for or bid game (no point bidding here, and this way you hide the fact that you have most of the stuff) 3H isn't a bid you see very often, but logically, it is probably a strong Michaels hand with spades and a minor. I think any of three strategies are fine with East's hand: 1. X diamonds and then bid spades later 2. Bid 3H as a Michaels bid (hope partner will understand) 3. Bid 2H and then correct clubs to diamonds Any of them ought to work out fine. Cheers, mike I don't mind