Wackojack

It seems fairly fashionable to open 1NT with a 5 card major with a 5332 distribution and not fashionable to use 5 card stayman. With this combination, sometimes you miss a good major suit fit and find yourself in the wrong contract. Of course if you do play 5 card stayman you lose the ability when weak to alight in 2 diamonds or best major. Presumably it is felt that the trade off for this inability is too great. Opening 1NT with a 5 card major does get you over awkward rebid problems if you open with the major, but some solve this by rebidding 5 card majors or by manufacturing a minor suit rebid on 3 cards. Again there is a trade off on the least of evils. Although I would welcome views on this, I am really looking for hard data that clearly shows that the fashionable view is the best (or not as the case may be). Or am I asking for the impossible?

This seems like a good idea to me. I notice that mikeh in his pinned primer on reverse bidding in the B/I section suggests this is part of the Ingberman convention. Is this so? I have often wondered what the precise differences between Ingberman and Lebensohl were.

I notice that some 7♦ ers have wrong sided the contract for a spade lead. If you eschew the finesse, what are your chances? If you try and ruff 2 clubs you cant get back to your hand unless Hearts split 3-3. If you draw all trumps then you need hearts 3-3 or J to come down. If you ruff 1♣ you also have squeeze possibilities. This now looks like perhaps about 60% odds on. (Any mathmaticians?) Other lines look worse. 7♦by east looks a whole lot better. At MP I would want to be in 6NT by east.

Your post raises the issue of whether or not your charges have taken on board Ingberman or Lebensohl conventions to show weakness. The strength of partner's 3♦ bid depends on this and plays a part in how many spades your bid of 3♠ promises. This might be useful in setting out the issues: http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/18177-a-primer-on-reverse-bidding/

Thats silly

[hv=pc=n&s=sq6hakj876432d7c9&w=skj9853h9dj642ck5&n=sa72hq5dkqt83ca32&e=st4htda95cqjt8764]399|300[/hv] 4♥ 4♠ dbl pass 5♥ all pass I am amazed how many posters went for 4♥. We were not playing Namyats. I was sitting north and was highly critical of my partner's 4♥ opening bid. Take away 2 of the small hearts and make them clubs and 4♥ is still an obvious opening bid. I persuaded my partner that 4♥ was not a good bid but he went for the alternative of 1♣. I told him that I did not like that opening bid either and was not sure this was legal with only 10HCP. He reaction was "Christ......a lot of old men who want to spoil the game" Well it appears that it is legal. I personally think that opening 1♥ and rebidding 4♥ or higher if you have to, reasonably describes the hand. My penalty double and partners retreat to 5♥ just illustrates that partner "knew" that opening 4♥was wrong. There is no doubt in my mind that had partner opened 1♥ and with intervention from west that we would have got to 6♥. So we had to be content with +480 not even getting the +800 penalty that was available.

Why did your partner leave in disgust? Because he was ignorant stupid and rude. The issue as to whether or not the double of 3♣ was for penalties is contentious. Even here there is a measure of agreement that the double does show spades and hearts and a shortage in diamonds and probably (possibly) some tricks in clubs. Your partner had a completely different type of hand and a pass stands out as obvious.

If you can decipher the 2010 EBU Orange book, opening this hand 1C is permitted : 10 B 4 Strong openings are often described as ‘Extended Rule of 25’ which means the minimum allowed is any of: a) subject to proper disclosure, a hand that contains as a minimum the normal highcard strength associated with a one-level opening and at least eight clear cut tricks, or B) any hand meeting the Rule of 25 or c) any hand of at least 16 HCPs Examples: ª A K Q J x x x x © x x ¨ x x § x does count as 8 clear-cut tricks. ª A K Q x x x x x © x x ¨ x x § x does not. 10 OVERALL RULES FOR AGREEMENTS 45 Clear-cut tricks are clarified as tricks expected to make opposite a void in partner’s hand and the second best suit break. Further examples: AKQxxxxx (7 CCT), KQJxxxx (5), AQJ98xx (5), KQJTx (3), KQJTxxx (6), AKT9xxxxx (8), KJTxxx (2) 10

You are dealt this hand nv v v playing a strong club system [hv=pc=n&n=sq6hakj876432d7c9]133|100[/hv]. Do you open it 1♣ or 1♥? Had you been playing Namyats would you have opened it 4♣? Or would you open it with any other bid?

I now cannot compete tonight, but we are both free tommorow evening. Can we squeeze in either just before or just after Gnasher? His times are 19:00-22:00 UK. Thanks

Sorry for the late alert. We will be availble to bid after 19:00 onward UK time on wed 3rd Nov. So would be grateful for a host.

Opening 1♠ is automatic in our system. 1♠ 3♥ 3 card support good hearts limit Plus 3♠ min 4♥ good 6 card suit 4♠ no interest pass

I recklessly drove the auction to 6♣ because I could not resist using the system toys that were available after having taken the trouble to learn them. 1♦ 10-13 bal 2♣ relay 2♥ 4 2NT relay 3♣ 4 4♣ minorwood 4♠ 2-Q 6♣ pass

The system is to open all 5332 hands 1NT in the range 14-16. I was close to doing this with the North but instead decided to show 5 hearts by responding 2D. We would open this 1H with 10-16. So the bidding went: 1♥ 1♠ 2♦ 3♦ 4♠ Partners raise to 3♦ encouraged me to show extra strength by jumping to 4♠. Partner (who's system it is) told me off for not opening 1NT

Partner opened 1NT, then 1NT 2♥ 2♠ 3♦ 4♣ 4♦ 4♠ pass not sure we really knew what we were doing with the last 3 bids. Except that neither of us cued hearts so 4♠ had to be a stopping point

Thanks paul 19:30 UK we hope to be ready

My partner, Flycycle having very recently moved to Athens has no landline as is therefore dependent on an internet cafe to do this challenge. He is able to use the windows version of BBO there. He can do Monday 20 Sept from 9pm onwards say midnight at latest Athens time which is 19:00- 22:00 BST. Anyone available at that time?

@jdonn I still equate the given quote to "if you're a slow overweight runner and you know it, you better have the latest in sneaker technology!" -------------------- "Ah, but what if you have poor/undeveloped bidding judgment and know it?!...then you better have a well-defined system." - bd71 Unqote Just lose weight instead. That will make you a better runner. People seem to prefer "having" which is no solution rather than "doing". True you need decent trainers to minimise the chance of injury if you an are overweight. Then healthy eating and lifestyle and intellegent training may make you into an athlete. How does this equate to bridge? Start thinking

Saddam Hussein was in fact imposed on the Iraqi people by outsiders. Saddam was a CIA agent in his 20's and then In 1959, Saddam Hussein took part in an attempt to assasinate Abdul-Kharim Qassim who was one of the most popular rulers of Iraq. That attempt failed and Hussein escaped. However, orchestrated by the CIA on 8th of February 1963 officers of the Baath Party overthrew his government and killed Qassim after a phony trial. The CIA did not like Qassim because like Hugo Chavez today, he promised the oil revenue would have to be returned to the Iraqi people.

Ambiguous forcing pass 0-7 or 17+ has the advantage that it enables all 8-16 hands to be reasonably descriptively. After a FP, a 1 club response is also 0-7 or 17+. Then 1D =0-7 and all other bids 17+. Both hands 0-7 then the bidding goes Pass-1C-1D-Pass.

Astonished to find we are in the upper group. Reasons: The system my partner has devised isn't fully worked out. Notwithstanding, only the basic structure I can remember well My partner has vitually no experience in competitive bridge. And imo we didn't bid well. My partner, moved house this weekend with his family from Samos to Athens and is not likely to get a land line for a month. He says that he will try to do Round 3 from an internet cafe.

Playing my partner's strong club system: 1♣ 2♣ 2♦ 2♠ 3♠ 4♦ 4N 5♦ 6♠ 1♣ = 17+ 2♣ = 8+GF, 5+♣ & possible 4M 2♦ = do you have a 4 card M? 2♠ = yes ♠ 3♠ = 4+♠ support 4♦ = control denying ♣ control 4NT = 0314 5♦ = 1 could be K♠ (then ♦Kx or x) OR A♦) either way: 6♠ Still by no means certain but ruff heart and diamond losers in dummy or establish clubs looks like a good bet.

B) mental block

Was I the only one who failed to double 1H? That will teach me........

Of course 7C is lovely and flamboyent but should it score 3 more than 6N? 1/3 of the time when clubs split 4-1 or 5-0, 7 clubs will go off whereas 6NT is a laydown and will likely score about 67%. By that reckoning 6N should score about the same as 7clubs.