miamijd

I suspect I would be with my Canadian attorney counterpart and lead a low heart (another losing lead for me). A trump, a low heart, or the Ad could be right. Much of it depends on how many diamonds dummy has. If dummy has 0-1 D (something like 2515), then a trump is probably best. If dummy has two diamonds (say 2425), then it's probably right to start a heart and rely on partner to provide a surprise overruff on the third round of diamonds. If dummy has three diamonds, then the Ad lead could strike gold. And no -- no one defending 2S will find the defense you suggest -- no one at all. Come on. Ad, low d (asking for a club). At MP, after your X, what North in his right mind is going to lead a small club and hope you have the AT, rather than leading the Q?

I wonder what sort of Norths you know then :unsure: North has a 5-trick hand. You want him to overbid the hand by 4 tricks vulnerable. That deserves to get hammered. Personally, I almost always play South or East, so I would not be among the Norths you know :D

I don't see where either E or W did anything so horribly wrong here. Sure, West might have bid 4S rather than 5C, but 5C is fine. Yes, East might have corrected back to 5S, but I think passing is OK, too. Yes, your partner probably has six spades. With 5125, he might X. But it's not guaranteed. You can be sure he has at least 5 clubs. You were unlucky in that your N/S opponents jammed the auction, whereas other N/S pairs may not have done so. Not every North would have bid over 1S. The hand is not good enough cardwise for 2H and not good enough trickwise for 3H vulnerable. So many Norths might have passed, in which case you get 1S 1NT (f) 3C 3D 3S 4S Or something like that.

The overarching trouble here is with your 2NT bid. Above a 15-17 1NT call, you just can't afford to have three-point ranges. It leaves responder guessing as to what to do. You need two-point ranges, which is why Kokish was invented. If you play 20-22, then the auction should go as my Canadian attorney counterpart suggested: 2NT 3H 3S 3NT 4C 4D 4C ought to show 4-5 clubs (probably 5), 3-4 spades (you would pass 3NT with 2 spades), and a maximum (otherwise, you'd just settle for four spades). Now responder can cue-bid the diamond control to show a max, and now you should get to 6C. with 2NT 20-22 here is that responder then isn't good enough to bid 4C over 3S to suggest a slammish hand with a second suit. He has to settle for 3NT It's a lot easier if you play 20-21 2NT and 22-23 2C then 2NT. Then responder can make a 4C bid here: 2C 2D 2NT 3H 3S 4C And now I think getting to 6C is pretty pedestrian. Cheers Mike

1h is fine with this hand. If it goes all pass, you likely don’t have a game That would be my choice 2c is OK too. I would follow with 2NT (I play Puppet here). Opening 2NT is not good, because it gains nothing. If partner can respond to 2nt, he likely can respond to 1h. OTOH, when you have 2 suits, 2NT can be a slam killer.

As I have stated on this board more than once, Jeff Meckstroth's advice to me 35 years ago was excellent. On opening bid, when faced with a decision whether to make a slight overbid or a slight underbid, always -- always -- choose the overbid. That is -- often upgrade, never downgrade. The reasons is that it's very easy to make minimum rebids from then on. It's much harder if you have to play "catch up." If you play a standard 20-21 2NT opener, open 2C and rebid 2NT. WTP? Cheers, Mike

Thanks for the clarification.

As others have noted, you can do anything you like vs three GIBbots. I'll tell you what I have found to be the best strategy in a minute. In person, at least here in the USA, you can't have more than a 5-point range (14-18, for example) or else you forfeit the right to play any sort of conventional responses (even Stayman) over the bid. In practice, a range of more than 3 HCP is not manageable. Playing with three GIBbots, here is what I have found to be effective: 1. Open all 5332 15-16 hands with a five card major 1NT 2. Upgrade 17-count 5332 5M hands to 18 (open 1M) 3. Open all 2452 and most 2425 15-16 hands 1NT (with a decent 17 you do better just to reverse) 4. At IMPs, open all 14 balanced hands (even with a 5 card major) 1NT. At MPs, NV, do the same. At MPs V, open only decent 14 counts 1NT and don't do so with a 5 card major. This is the opposite of real life, where you open 14 mostly NV at MPs and not at IMPs 5. Especially in MPs, open most 15-16 4441 hands with a stiff minor 1NT (you can't do this in ACBL-land unless the stiff minor is an A, K, or Q). With 17, don't do this; you'll miss loads of good games. 6. Especially in MPs, open 15-16 hands with 43 in the majors and 51 in the minors 1NT. Don't ever do this in real bridge :) On 5 and 6, GIB will "know" you can't have a stiff and will play you for two cards. If you can manage to avoid playing that suit for most of the hand, GIB will almost always err in discarding at the end (because it will think you have 2 cards in your stiff minor). Very handy at MPs (not as vital in IMPs). Good luck :) Cheers, Mike

2C is the textbook response. Then you bid 3S next round to show the strong hand. If you play Gitelman-style responses (where all 2/1 responses over 1M show legit 5-card suits), then you bid 3NT with this hand showing a balanced hand with 3-card support and 16-18. Honestly, this 6-loser, 3-card support hand isn't nearly as good as it might appear. If partner doesn't have better-than-minimum hand, 3NT is likely your best spot (particularly at MPs). Cheers, Mike

On some hands, that might work, but not this one. When East can't beat the Queen after the opening lead of the Jack, his signal ought to be count. Since he's raised spades, an even number means four. That makes things pretty simple for West. Cheers, Mike

I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and Mikeh stated something Jeff told me back in the mid-80s. When opening a hand, if you have a choice between a slight underbid and a slight overbid, make the overbid every time. In other words, often upgrade; never downgrade. It makes things much easier on subsequent rounds (you just keep showing a minimum, rather than feeling like you have to catch up). This doesn't necessarily apply so much in later rounds, where there can be good reasons to downgrade your hand, but when opening the bidding, it's a really sound approach. With 15 or 16 balanced, generally open 1NT even with a five-card major. It's almost always right to do this at IMPs (where the suit has to play two tricks better) and generally right in MPs (even though the suit only has to play one trick better there). With 17 high balanced with a 5-card major, it's generally right to upgrade to 18 and open 1M. You'll miss too many good games if you open these hands 1NT (e.g., partner has 7-8 high and four-card support). Cheers, Mike

Discards are different than following suit. UDCA is generally for following suit. Personally, I like odd-even discards against both suit and NT. But if I'm forced to choose between upside down and standard discards, I would pick upside down. Your first discard is normally going to be attitude, and I'd rather throw a low card from a suit I'm interested in than a high one. From a suit I'm not interested in, it's not likely to matter much. Reverse Smith is very useful vs. NT (but that's for following suit at trick 2).

UDA: When you want partner to lead a suit, you generally don't want to have a waste 9s and 10s. Conversely, when you don't want partner to lead a suit, you typically don't care which spot card you throw. UDC: With four cards in a suit, you may need to guard against declarer's or dummy's length, so you might not be able to afford second high. Third high may not be clear to partner (and if you don't care if it's clear to partner, then why show count at all there). This is less likely to be a problem when you have only three cards in a suit. With two, it probably won't matter much, although you might not want to have to throw the 10 from Tx. Cheers, Mike

2S range finder or clubs; 2NT diamonds; and 3C puppet is pretty common. If that's what you play, you have to give up the 5/5 minor invite hand. Not much of a sacrifice. I played that for quite awhile before I switched to 3C puppet, and I think it came up once in about 10 years. Just not worth wasting a bid for. So 3D GF minors ought to fit the bill given the rest of your system. Cheers, Mike

Natural is 100% standard, for a few reasons: 1. You are behind the player with a four-card major, so if you have something like AJT8xx or even AKJTx with a decent hand, you are well-positioned. 2. You want that suit led. 3. It's pretty easy to show a two-suited hand when the opponents have bid the other suits. X would be 4/4 or 4/5 (5 in the minor); 2NT would be 5/5. If you play sandwich NT, then 1NT is 5/5 and 2NT is 6/5 or better. The natural 2M overcall in this situation doesn't come up very often, but when it does, it's good to have. Cheers, Mike

There's no good way to show 5m 4M vs. a weak NT. Against a strong NT, I play Woolsey (some call it Multi-Landy), where double shows that, but Woolsey is not good over a weak NT, where it's important to have X show cards. I would X with this hand, since I probably have a better hand than opener (I have a truly great 14) and also have a good lead vs. 1NTX. Contrary to what another poster said, I don't have a poor suit (I have a decent one), and three Aces doesn't suggest defending (last time I checked, Aces take tricks on offense, too). I play "system on" after the X, so that partner bids as if I, not opener, opened 1NT. Yes, that often puts the 1NT bidder's partner on opening lead, which is not always what you want, but it also lets you bid with a lot more accuracy. You don't have to worry about partner bidding 2H with four of them, for example (he'll bid 2C Stayman if he wants to find out about majors). Cheers, mike

If you want to reach major suit slams, you need a bid that says "I have 4 or more trump and a hand worth a game force." Every decent bidding system will have such a bid. If hers doesn't, then it's about time she learned such a bid. Jacoby 2NT is a very simple convention. Also, RKC is a very simple convention that even a beginner should be able to learn very quickly. Both of those are more important than splinters (which are also useful, but require more judgment). You could bid 4D (splinter) with this hand, but I think it's just a bit too good for that. The bidding might go: 1S 2NT(1) 3NT(2) 4D(3) 4NT 5S(4) 5NT(5) 6H(6) 7S(7) (1) Jacoby 2NT (2) 15-17 or so (generally a six-loser hand) (3) cue-bid (note that your friend should learn to cue-bid up the line and second-round controls are fine (the idea is to pinpoint a two-loser suit) (4) 2 with Q - if your friend doesn't know RKC, she should learn that (5) Specific Kings (much better than #K) (6) Kh (7) Six spades; three hearts; three diamonds (either AKQ or A and two ruffs); one club Not a hard grand to reach. Cheers, mike

Lots of stuff going on here. Probably you play ACOL, which I am not at all familiar with; I'll assume a standard 2/1 system. 1. 1H and 1S look normal enough, provided that you don't play WJS. 2. West has a tough call at his first turn. I like 1NT. The fact W has 19, rather than 18, is offset by the fact that his major suit holdings aren't worth their full weight. If you X, you will have a very difficult time on the next round (3C overstaes the offensive strength of the hand). The other alternative, a really heavy 2C bid, isn't nearly as insane as it looks, but every now and then, you'll miss a good game. 3. After the X, North needs to bid something. If his partner has a long spade suit, his hand is enormous. The best action is a support XX. If you don't play support X and XX's, start playing them. They are essential to accurate bidding. If I didn't have a support double available here, I'd bid 2S. 4. Given the actual bidding, East's 2D call is fine. It's close to a 3D bid, but I think 2D followed by 3D on the next round shows the hand properly. 5. South can't do anything over 2D. He showed his hand with 1S. 2S here would show a better hand. 6. West is now stuck. This is why you don't X on round 1. Yes, West can bid 3C, but that overstates his hand. If East is broke (quite likely), he may be in negative score (maybe Xed) territory. If East has a little something, E-W will likely get too high. Conversely, passing 2D risks missing game if East has the right cards. This is why a 1NT call on the first round is a bit better. Now East can invite a NT game, which W is happy to accept. The Qc is in the slot, so .... Cheers, Mike

s Not sure I agree with you at MPs vulnerable or IMPs non-vul. The only time I'd consider a balance with hand 2 is non-vul at MPs, where you can be a little free-wheeling. Over a 1M opener, the 1NT balance range has to include 15 and for spades, probably 16, too. If you balance with 10, you are putting a lot of strain on the 1NT bid. If partner has a good 10-count or halfway decent 11, you'll end up in 2NT or some other contract that, when you are vul at MPs, often: (A) goes -200 or (B) goes -100 when the opponents couldn't make more than 7 tricks in their major. Non-vul at IMPs I don't think it's going to make a whole lot of difference overall. Often, balancing and passing will not affect which side goes plus. When there is a difference, I think it's about as likely that you'll go from plus to minus by balancing as from minus to plus. The only thing I see that makes a big difference is when opener has some huge offensive hand that wasn't really suitable for a 2C opener. Now you will give up a game instead of a partial. Not likely, but it is about the only thing that doesn't have a mirror image. Cheers, mike

I pass both and say WTP? On #1, you don't have a game; partner would have found some sort of bid with 13+ (your hand is really only worth about 11). So what is the best chance to go plus? Pass and hope to beat 3H. On #2, you very likely don't have game, either. The best hand partner could have is 14 with some hearts, which might possibly make 3NT, but that is the only upside to bidding. If partner doesn't have that hand (and chances are very great that he doesn't), you'll do far better to pass. Cheers, Mike

A lot of interesting comments on this thread, several of which make no sense to me: 1. I don't see why anyone would open 1S as South unless they played a big club. The suits are awful. Put the AK in hearts instead of diamonds and give me a couple of intermediate spots in spades, and it's a different story. 2. I don't see why one would open 2H in third seat as North. That's a great way to miss a game. If partner fits you in either major, you actually have a good hand. Just open 1H in third seat and hope partner doesn't bid 2D. 3. I can't see why South would bid only 3H. He has a big hand given the bidding, and his side has at least 10 trump (well, they should). Don't you want to bid 4H over 4C? Sure you do. So bid it now. 4. I would X 4C as North in MPs, but I can understand the pass, I guess. Cheers, Mike

They do? What robots are you talking about? Certainly not the GIB bots, who are mediocre declarers, poor defenders, and downright AWFUL bidders.

Back to the OP's question. As pointed out above, your choices are pretty much (A) 3D (game force); (B) 2NT then 3D (drop); © 2NT then 3NT (showing a spade stop); and (D) 3NT, denying a spade stop. I tend to prefer slight overbids to slight underbids, so I would eliminate (B). As between the other bids, I would go with 3D. Partner can bid 3NT with a spade stop or ask for a partial stop with 3S (with a full stop, you probably bid 2NT and then 3NT). © is a lie that may work out; (D) you may regret if partner has something like Jxx in spades (or even Kxx and decides that one stop isn't enough). But this one is a coin flip. Cheers, Mike

I will assume you are playing a standard 2/1 system (if you play ACOL, I can't help you; if you play SAYC, please do yourself a favor and learn 2/1). I will also assume you don't have 3 hearts (if you do, then 2C is right, because you have a game force hand). The answer depends on whether you think your hand is worth a game force. After a 1H opener, some 12 HCP hands with 5c and 4s are; some aren't. For example: A. Axxx Qx xx KQJTx B. QJxx J QJx KQxxx I think every expert player would force game on A and, for that matter on most 12 HCP hands opposite a first or second seat opener. B is an extreme case, but it is an example of a hand that probably isn't good enough to force game opposite a 1H opener. I would bid 2C on A. Show your hand. Game force with a club suit. Hey -- that's what you have! Bidding 1S just confuses things. If you bid clubs later, that will be a game force, and now partner will think you have five spades and 4+ clubs. Or you might lose the club suit altogether. If you bid 2C, you will still be time to bid the spades later, and that will show your hand nicely. And sometimes, partner will have a hand like: x AKxxx Axxx Axx and now you will be able to reach a very nice club slam that probably would have eluded you had you responded 1S. Or perhaps partner will have Jx AKJxx xxx Axx And now you will get to 4H (after partner raises clubs, you bid 3S, partner bids 4C, and you bid 4H) instead of to an awful 3NT contract. On the other hand, if you have a hand like B that is NOT worth a game force, you need to start with 1S, because a 2C bid is a game force and your hand isn't quite that good.

It's entirely a matter of partnership agreement, and Adam presented some good pros and cons for both choices. I will provide another one. 1NT slows down the bidding. Partner is going to pass with a balanced 10-count. 1S does not; partner will bid 2NT with most balanced 10-counts (unless you play XYZ, which has its own pluses and minuses, but then you still get to 2NT eventually). Cheers, Mike