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You and I must be reading different articles. The one I see on pp. 26-28 doesn't cover any of these situations and doesn't contain the sentence you quote at all. Indeed, the sentence you ascribe (incorrectly, it appears) to Mel is nonsense. There are dozens of different uses for a fragment bid. Sometimes you'll end up in NT; sometimes you won't. The article I see mainly (though not exclusively) covers situations where the OPPONENTS have bid one or more suits. That rule is simple. If the opponents have bid one suit, a cue-bid of their suit ASKS for a stop. If the opponents have bid two suits, a bid of one of their suits generally SHOWS a stop. Mel only has one example where the opponents have not bid, and that's a very basic fourth-suit forcing scenario 1D 1H 2C 2S(4sf) And even here, Mel is not quite accurate. 2S is not merely used to ask for a NT stop. Partner's first duty is actually to show 3-card H support here, not a NT stop. Probably partner doesn't have 3-card H support on this auction (if he did, he'd have a stiff spade), so failing that, yes, he will bid 2NT with a stop. But Mel's assertion that you'd bid NT with a stop here is just plain wrong. You would NOT bid 3NT instead of 2S with AJxx AKxxx Jxx x You'd make the same 2S bid, and then if partner rebid one of the minors, then you'd bid 3NT yourself. The scenarios the OP provided are very different than the basic ones in Mel's article. Cheers, Mike

Unlike others, I don't think 3H white v. white is so bad with a six-loser hand, although personally, with 7/4, I'd probably open 4H. I think it's really close. Make your spades xx and your clubs Kxxx, and it's a no-brainer for 4H. No, I think the key mistake here was your partner's. If you open 3H, I don't see why partner should settle for 4H. Your partner knows you don't have solid hearts, so you probably have something outside. Why can't you have the Kd or diamond shortness? That's not too much to ask, and it probably won't hurt to go to the 5 level to find out. If I were your partner, I would bid 5D to ask about diamonds. After a preempt below game, a jump in a new suit is a control-ask in that suit (you can just make a non-jump bid to show a good hand with that suit -- any bid is forcing at least one round). After a preempt at the game level, any bid of a new suit is a control-ask. It's pretty unlikely you have three small diamonds (though possible). So the risk is there but not that bad. You would bid 5H with no control, 5S with second round control, and 5NT with first round control. Here, you'd bid 5NT. Since you wouldn't preempt 3H with a suit headed by the Jack (at least, I hope you wouldn't), I'd then bid 7H. Yes, it goes down on a club ruff if South makes a Lightner double, but that's unfortunate. 7H is where I would want to be. If you open 4H, your partner has a choice. He can bid 6H and put the opponents to a guess, or he can bid 5D to ask about a diamond control just like over 3H. At MPs, I would be tempted to blast to 6H and put the opponents to a guess. At IMPs, I'm using science (5D). Cheers, Mike

I think you are taking bids as artificial that are actually perfectly natural. 1♥ 1♠ 2♣ 2NT 3♦ Game force, but ought to show something like 0544 with concern about spades. If responder has weak spades, 5m or 4h on a 5-2 might be a lot better than 3NT. How else is opener supposed to show this sort of hand? There's no need to show or ask for a stop in diamonds. Partner already said he had one by bidding 2NT. 1♥ 1♠ 2♣ 2♠ 3♦ This is an odd auction that probably should never happen. If opener wasn't good enough to jump shift at his second turn, then how is he good enough to force game now, when responder hasn't shown anything more than the minimum he did the first time? And if opener has short spades, then responder's second bid has made things worse, not better. 1♣ 1♠ 2♣ 2♥ Natural, F1-10PH+ 3♦ This one is a matter of agreement. It could either be a hand with great clubs that wants a stop for NT, or else it could be a 15 or so 6/4 or 6/5 minor hand. With no prior agreement, I would think the latter. 1♣ 1♥ 2♣ 2♦ 2♠ The standard meaning for 2♦ here is artificial "third suit forcing" (game force with five hearts). I would take 2♠ here as a fragment, not asking for a spade stop. Since there are still two suits that we haven't really bid yet (spades and diamonds), you generally show your hand, not ask partner about his. 1♣ 1♠ 2♥ 2♠ 3♦ I would take this as a strong 0445. How else would you bid that hand? 2♠ just shows 5 spades. It doesn't deny side minor suit support. Our best spot could easily be in 5 or 6 of a minor. If you just wanted a stop for NT, you could just make the pedestrian 3C rebid. Partner will likely bid NT with a stop now. 1♣ 1♠ 2♦ 2♠ 3♥ I would take this as a fragment. Something like 1345. Again, who is to say that our best spot isn't in a minor suit? Responder MUST bid 2♠ with 5 of them, even if he has 4 clubs, so this looks like simple patterning out to me. As before, if you are interested in a heart stop for 3NT, you could just make the pedestrian 3C rebid. Partner will probably bid NT with a stop now. Fourth suit asking would occur on an auction like: 1♠ 2♣ 2♦ 3♣ 3♥ On this auction, it's clear that: 1. We don't belong in diamonds (opener doesn't have 5 - he'd have rebid 3♦; responder doesn't have 4 - he'd have raised). 2. We don't belong in hearts (opener doesn't have 4 - he'd have bid 2♥; responder doesn't have 4 -- he'd have bid 2♥ (yes, I know that's fsf, but opener can raise the fourth suit)). We could belong in spades, clubs, or NT. The only bid to really help us find out is 3♥. Responder will bid 3NT with a stop; 3♠ with a doubleton spade and no heart stop; and 4♣ if all he has is a pile of clubs. Cheers, Mike

You are quite right, except if you are playing against GIB, in which case the right play is to lead low out of hand, not Ace. GIB will almost never duck the King on the first round (it will duck if you play Ace first), so if GIB doesn't fly King, play low from dummy and hope the King is doubleton. Cheers, Mike

The OP said nothing fancy, and the first response talked about Moscito and a subsequent responder talked about a X denying 4 spades. Oy. Playing standard GIB-style 2/1, North has a choice at his first bid of three not-so-great calls: X (you are short one spade) 2H (you are short one diamond) 2C (you are probably short two clubs, not just one) Personally, I think either X or 2H are OK. If North makes a negative double: 1D (1H) X 2S 3C 3D 3H 3NT 4D and now you are going to get to 6D, 6S, or 6NT, all of which are excellent spots (6NT is probably the best MP spot). If North bids 2H (probably my call): 1D (1H) 2H 2S 3C(1) 3H 3S 4H(2) 4S(3) 5H(4) 6C(5) 7D(6) (1) game force hand; club control (2) keycard for H (3) 0/3 (4) King ask (5) Kc (6) South thinks North has 4 diamonds, so the H goes on the Kc, and the 4th spade gets ruffed 7D is a decent spot. Not 100%, but well over 50%. In the auction given, the 2D bid sent the auction off the rails. When N shows 10+, you have to force to game as South. You cannot make a bid North can pass. 2D there is non-forcing and shows 11-13 or so (maybe an awful 14). With South's great 14, he needs to bid 2S. Now you have a shot at slam. Cheers, Mike

Interesting auction. Without previous discussion, I would take 2NT as natural, probably a 5-count, maybe a really bad 6-count that decided not to invite game (that is especially possible if your partner has a tendency to open some goodish 19 counts with 2NT, a treatment I don't like but many do). It doesn't foreclose opener from bidding 3NT if he has something like: QJx QJx AKQxxx A This should do OK opposite T9xx Kx xx QTxxx The other possibility on this specific auction is that responder is showing a club suit and secondary diamond support. That's playable, too, but without prior discussion, I wouldn't take 2NT that way here. Finally, someone asked: What is the std treatment for 1NT - - 2M - - 2NT? Without prior discussion, I would take that as natural, a good 6 to a bad 8. Cheers, Mike

I didn't mention this before, because the OP said nothing fancy but there is an easy way to get to a good spot here My favorite convention-- good-bad 2NT. Playing this treatment, 3d immediately would show an invite hand. 2nt followed by 3d over partner's 3c bid would show a game force, as partner doesn't show D with his X. I think you're good enough for the latter sequence. Now partner probably bids 3s with his hand. You bid 4c and you'll end up in 5 of a minor Incidentally, without good-bad, I agree with Stephen that 3d shows extras here. You would pass with a minimum. But I evaluate this hand as worth a GF. I don't think Stephen thinks it is. It's close I disagree with Stephen about 1c. (1s). X. (P). 2d. Standard is that this sequence does not show extras because otherwise you are stuck with something like xx AK Qxxx. Kxxxx I don't want to have to rebid 2c on this and I think opening 1d is an abomination Cheers Mike

This isn't easy. Yes, 3D is an underbid. 3S or 4D is better. But after 3S, your partner is likely to bid 4H, and then what? How do you know if partner holds the hand he actually had or if he holds: xx KQxxxx Jxx xx ? There's just no way to tell. On the other hand, if you bid 4D, what if partner has: QJx Qxxx xxx Kxx ? Now 3NT is the right spot; 5C will probably go set on the likely 3-1 split. I think I probably bid 3S at South's second turn and pass North's 3NT or 4H rebid , thus ending up in the wrong spot. It's just "one of those hands."

Bridge is a bidder's game. Yeah, the suit stinks, but you have an opening hand and the spade suit. Get it there and fight. Cheers, Mike

:) What's a couple of clubs between friends? I meant to show 4 clubs, but my keyboard got carried away. Cheers, Mike

First off, opening 4h with this hand is nutty. 7-card OK suit; K and Q outside for defense. Insanity. 3H is possible, but I think 1H is a lot better. Rebidding 4H isn't as insane as it looks. You have a 5 1/2-loser hand, and if partner lays down something like KJxx Jx xxx AJxx (a typical minimum), you will generally make game easily enough. You probably would bid 4D with a heart moose. I think I probably settle for 3H here, but it's close. East's bid of 4NT is unwise. He only has one key. He has three probably worthless Jacks and the KQx of diamonds, which is also dead waste. I think pass is probably prudent here. West is probably slightly better of settling for 3H; East probably should pass 4H; and part of it is bad luck (that's why people preempt). Cheers, mike

I think your analysis is flawed. You don't have to give up much of anything. The only "loss" from Garbage Stayman is that you'll play 3H instead of 2H when you have 5H and 4S and partner has 3H, 2-3S, and a hand that can't accept the invite. A very, very small price. No system handles every hand perfectly. Garbage Stayman comes up from time to time and confers great benefits when it does. What do you lose? Virtually nothing. On the 5S 4H hands, you really do lose nothing, as your bidding is unaffected. You can still bid 2C followed by 2S if you like, as Garbage Stayman only occupies the 2H rebid after 2D, NOT the 2S rebid. On the 5H 4S hands, you transfer to hearts and then bid 2S. Yes, you'll get to 3H instead of 2H where partner specifically has 3H and 2-3 spades and can't accept the invite. Not a big deal. Cheers, Mike

This structure is useful only if a weak two of a major bid is doubled by the next player. Now you can play transfer responses, with the suit transferred to either being a suit OR a lead with support for the opener's suit. For example, partner opens 2S, next hand doubles, and you have: Jxx xx AQJ xxxxx There's a very good chance that LHO is going to declare 4H. But instead of bidding 3S, now you can bid 3C - transfer to diamonds - suggesting a diamond lead. If the opponents pass, you'll just bid 3S over partner's 3D bid, no harm done. If LHO bids 4H, then partner leads a diamond, and now you have a good shot to set. If you don't show the diamond lead, partner might have AKxxxx xx xxx xx and now if he lays down a spade honor and spades are 3-1, the opponents will likely make, as dummy is likely to have 4 clubs to declarer's two, and there goes declarer's third-round diamond loser. Cheers, mike

If you often open 5-card suits with a weak 2 (not something I like, but many do), there is a version of Ogust that is a little like this only better, I think. 3C is a five-card suit; after that, a 3D bid asks how good (H is bad, spades is medium, 3NT is good). 3D, 3H, and 3S are six-card suits, in order, bad, medium, and good. Otherwise, there are several playable treatments. Feature, Ogust, and asking for shortness with a good hand all generally work OK. Cheers, mike

Stephen: As you know, you have to balance the gains from breaking the 22-27 hands into 2-point (instead of 3-point) ranges against the losses from not having your 2NT system available for 26-27 hands. The 22-25 hands come up over 40 times more often than the 26+ hands. So I focus on the 22-25 hands, and there, the two-point range is a lot easier to handle when investigating slam. But maybe your experience is different. Cheers, Mike

I hope you would bid 2C with that hand, not 2D. Cheers, Mike

Playing standard 2/1, pass is your only call, and it's not even close. If you don't like losing hearts in this sort of situation, then play something like BART. Cheers, Mike

Bridge is a bidder's game. You don't win by sitting there and making life easy for the opponents. If your hand justifies making a bid, bid. Always open 13 HCP -- period. I would say open 99.5% of 12 HCP hands; the only time I would pass is if I had something like: QJx QJ QJxx Kxxx Three Aces and a Jack? That's almost a 1NT opener. Make the J the Q and I probably open a 15-17 NT. Cheers, Mike

A weak 2H tells your story best. Six good hearts; a decent offensive hand; short of an opening 1-bid. So that would be my choice playing a standard system; I wouldn't think of doing anything else. If I didn't have weak 2s available, then I would need to pick between 1H and 3H. 1H is OK if I don't have 2H available; in third seat, partner knows I can be light. 3H has the advantage of making it difficult for the opponents to enter the auction and find their spade fit, but if partner bids 5H over 4S I'm not going to be happy. I personally almost never open 3 of a major on a six-bagger (3 of a minor is a very different story), so I would probably bid 1H. But I have no problem with 3H at this vulnerability with a stiff spade. Pass shouldn't even be a consideration. When your hand justifies a bid, you bid. You don't win at bridge by sitting idle and making life easy for the opponents. Cheers, mike

I haven't played a club game in almost 20 years, but the less of the director I saw in a club game, the better. I don't know that I would have called the director, especially since the one at your club seems a bit dimwitted. Tournament is another matter. Director gets called, and I would appeal the ruling if it didn't go my way, because it's obvious that the defenders should get to designate which card gets played. Cheers, Mike

With the bidding system the OP gave, I would remove to 3D except non-vul at MPs. NV at MPs, it depends what the field is playing. At IMPs or IMP pairs, it's very clear to play 3D, not 1NT. The key in IMPs is to go plus, and I am pretty certain you're more likely to make 3D than you are 1NT. At MPs, it's much more complicated and depends on: *Whether other pairs play weak or strong NT (your weak NT might preempt the opponents from finding a spade fit if it's their hand) *Whether other pairs play 2S as the prelude to diamonds (2S is easy to X) *Whether you are vul or not (you don't want to be -200) If in MPs and everyone in the room were playing the same bidding system (not likely), I think I would transfer to diamonds if vul and pass if NV. Cheers, Mike

MP pairs? Then bad play, as I would expect most pairs to be in 6S or 6NT. IMP pairs? Then on a club lead, you only have 11 tricks if North has Jxxx of spades, so you probably should duck the club lead to set up numerous squeeze possibilities in a three-card ending with East having a spade, a heart, and a club, and West having KTx of spades. Making the contract is more important than making the uptrick at IMP pairs. Cheers, Mike

Why would you open 1NT with a 5224 17 count rather than 1S? There are no good reasons I can think of to do that, and a lot of bad ones: 1. You may well belong in a 5-3 spade fit 2. You may belong in clubs 3. The hand does not pose any rebid problems 4. If you open 1NT, you're going to miss LOTS of spade games when partner passes with 7-8 and spade support. Mike

The hand is a lot harder to bid than it appears. North has a pretty clear pass. The trouble with opening 1S is that you have no source of tricks. If partner doesn't fit you and you end up in NT, you're going to want to hide under the table. And of course the trouble with 2S is that partner will pass with a lot of hands that will score up an easy game in hearts. If North passes and South opens 1S, North doesn't have an easy time showing this hand. 4D is one option, but you're really more interested in partner's hearts than his diamonds. Even if partner has Axx in diamonds, you still likely go set if he has KQJxx Axx Axx KQ, and that's a rock-crusher. No, you need to find out about your partner's heart holding. Using standard methods, there's no good way to do this. If I had it available, I'd like to bid 2NT over 1S, showing a very unbalanced game forcing hand (even opposite a light opener) with 4+ spades. Now I think we untangle this hand just fine. I find 2NT as a natural invite totally useless opposite a third seat opener, so this treatment makes more sense to me. But it's highly non-standard. Cheers, Mike

I play the Kh at trick one and go set as the cards lie. I won't go into it here, but the only heart layout where your play really matters a lot is the actual one, with South having Qx. Otherwise, your play at trick one doesn't matter that much (maybe a little, not that much in terms of making or going down). If the hearts are Qx with South, you have to hope North has the Kd, and you have a guess for the Ac. If you think North has the Ac, then fly King at trick one, and now South can choose between unblocking and setting the J up as a second stop or else playing low and blocking the suit. 100% to make here. If you think South has the Ac, then play low at trick one and play low from hand no matter what South plays. I would play King for a few reasons: 1. I think it's more likely that the overcaller has the Ac. 2. If I play K and North has the Ac but the D hook is wrong, I will still win if North doesn't unblock. Not likely, but could happen. 3. Even if I guess South for the Ac and am correct, it's still not 100% by any means at all. I play low and let South win regardless of what he plays. But now if South shifts to a spade, I am probably dead if North has the Ks. And if he doesn't have the Ac, he likely has Ks and Kd. So King for me - and down I go. What else is new? :) Cheers, mike