Wackojack

[hv=d=w&v=n&s=sk10hdakqj9842c742]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] After 2 passes RHO opens 1♣ and you overcall 3NT

Yes Tony, that is why your earlier statement "Playing in a 4-4 fit is technically superior to any 5-3 fit, this is why it is imperative to avoid immediate support, especially if partner opens 1♥ and you have a 4 card spade suit and 3 card heart support" is wrong. Playing in a 4-4 fit is not technically superior to ANY 5-3 fit. In fact many 5-3 fits play better than 4-4 fits. And so it is not imperative to avoid immediate support. Indeed it is a good idea always to give immediate support with 3 if it qualifies as a raise to 2.

Don't suppose this cuts much "ice" with the propogandists who are saying that the world is now cooling. Has the graph been "massaged" for the sake of appearance? Looks to me like the world is still warming after all. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pres...r20091208b.html

Talking yesterday to some friends who play bridge including 2 that take bridge lessons on BBO. I was asked why I insisted that you should respond 1 over 1 with 5 HCP when they had been taught that 6 was needed. This surprised me and so looked at some of the beginners bridge books and the summary of sayc and sure enough they all said 6HCP. It took me to show them BBO Adv where 5HCP was OK. Also at home just looked at a basics class on the EBU (English Bridge Union) magazine where it was mentioned that 6HCP was the min 1 over 1 response. What also caught my eye in this article was about "jumping above the rebid barrier" Seemingly another way of including a reverse or a jump rebid. This said "Do not jump or go above the rebid barrier unless you have a strong hand (16+ points" That seems to encourage a fault that so many beginners have in overbidding as opener and underbidding as responder. Why are beginners taught in this way? Just a small aknowledgement: Many in UK are taught Benji Acol which incudes fairly light opening, and a strong non forcing 2club and game forcing 2 diamonds. And perhaps crucially in old fashoined Benji a 2NT opening bid of 19-20. This perhaps might be a reason for forcing the 1 over 1 response to 6HCP. But why sayc?

For quite a few months now I have been playing regularly in the 25cent, 25 min robot match points tourneys. I feel quite enthusiatic about it because you play most hands, it does not commit you for too long, and it is an opportunity to sharpen your match point declarer skills. Over the months I have put all the results on spreadsheet to view my progress. After 48 8 board tourneys (20 hours - thats frightening) my overall average is 55.28% and 15 tourney moving average is 55.01%. I am getting the impression that the field is progressively getting tougher. I would be interested to find out what % the real whiz kids are averaging.

We had no agreement except that we play nmf. Playing on-line one does not expect to formulate detailed agreements of the type that one might do with a regular f2f partner. So as Codo has eloquently put it -KISS.

[hv=d=s&v=e&n=sk852hq9853d102ck10&w=sq1093ha6d73cqj632&e=s6hj74dkqj96ca875&s=saj74hk102da854c94]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv] I was sitting South and rebid 1NT which was passed out. -150. :rolleyes: When I first started posting on this forum I played Acol weak no trump. Way back then in 2005 it would not have occurred to me to have rebid anything but 1♠. Then I read this post: http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=7310&st=0 Check-back? I had heard of it but wtp rebidding 1♠. xyz? Whats that? In my desire to improve, I learnt 5 card majors strong notrump and the various ways of playing check-back, albeit recognising that 4-4 major fits can be lost by playing this way. A rationalisation was that you would be no worse off than with acol 12-14 when you has a weakish hand with a 4-4 spade fit opposite a 12-14 no trump. Against that a 15-17 no trump opposite 5-7 would miss a 4-4 major suit fit, and Acol weak no trump would not. New resolution: I will always rebid 1♠ unless 4333 Justin-like lol!. Comparing the responses in this post with the 2005 posts, it is interesting to see that opinions are fairly evenly divided and that Justin, Mike on one side and Hog on the other have not changed their views.

Playing 2/1 15-17NT and nmf. You open 1♦, partner responds 1♥. What do you rebid? [hv=d=w&v=e&s=saj74hk102da854c94]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Supplementary questions: 1. Swap the clubs and hearts around. Would you change your rebid? 2. Swap the 9♣ and A♦ . Would you change your rebid?

A few months ago I made a post questioning the value the response of 3 major to 1NT to show a singleton in that suit, 3 in the other major and 5-4 in the minors. My reservation then was that it would occur so rarely and not really worth giving up the strong response. I will call this the "expert standard" for reference. The posted replies partly persuaded me that this method was one that I should adopt with those partners who liked it. 2nd thoughts now though. Why?: 1. If the opponents have a fit in the singleton suit, it is easy for them to find a sacrifice just by doubling the singleton bid. 2. When partnering GIB, I discovered that it shows the same hand by transferring to the 5 card minor and then bidding the a singleton major. e.g. 1NT-2S-3C-3H. Thus not wasting the 1NT-3H response. Maybe swings and roundabouts here as "expert standard" 1NT -3C and 1NT -3D bids to show 5-5 in the minors with less than and at least GF may be better definition than the GIB way. What has occurred to me is that the seeming weakness with the "expert standard" could easily be cured by reversing the major suit responses. Thus 1NT-3S shows the fragment, not the singleton. Now if opps have a heart fit, a double of 3S to show hearts and suggest a sacrifice is very dangerous since it is not really an option for the partner of the doubler to to leave the double should he not have heart support. Any comments?

Denmark. Everything is allowed here at teams. In club games the local club can make its own restrictions if it likes. But in national team tournaments there are no restrictions. I have had the pleasure of playing 2-way forcing pass with OleBerg (0-8 or 16+) in a (very strong) club game. For instance. Once in a while people do show up with their own home brew. I'd be very interested in the details of the OleBerg ambiguous (0-8 / 16+) forcing pass system. 30 years ago I devised a 0-7 / 17+ FP system and have been playing it sucessfully ever since with Wacko Jacko when we get the chance (I now live with a Greek on her island!). Thanks. Keith Henson

Yes, if you play 1NT-2♥-2♠-3♠ as game forcing slam interest, this is possible. This is my agreement most of my f2f partners. (1NT-3♠ invitational) Unfortunately we were playing the "fashionable" 1NT-3♠ = 1445 or 1454, so 1NT-2♥-2♠-3♠ is no longer an option as it is invite only. Incidentally I assumed my partner's bid of 3♣ was a 4 card suit and did not recognise it as a creative way of setting the trump suit so that cue bids could be made below the 4♠ level. Yes perhaps I should have cued 5♦ over 4♠. About 2 months ago in a post I questioned the value of the 1NT- 3M bid to show a singleton with 4 in the other major, calculating that this may never come up in my bridge playing life. Nevertheless I have adopted this method with one on-line partner as it is "BBO Advanced" and immediately its shortcomings are exposed compared with the simpler methods I use with my f2f partners.

[hv=d=w&v=e&w=sa7hqj96dk62caq97&e=skq10985hak5d98ck4]266|100|Scoring: IMP 1nt-2♥ 2♠- 3♣ 3NT- 4♠ [/hv] This hand came up on BBO yesterday. We were playing Texas, normal transfers and 3M 3154 as per BBO Adv. I held the opening 1NT hand. We had no agreement on what 3♦ would mean after 3♣ but normally I would like it to mean agreeing spades and a control. Why didnt we bid the slam?

The purpose of my thinking aloud was to learn how to rebid after the 3M response and not to be contentious. I note that Ken's and Hanoi's rebids differ in important ways. That's the bits of Ken's posts that I understand. Sorry Ken, the language is English but for me it still needs translation. So to focus on Hanoi's schedule - thanks for that. Over 3H: 3S, 3NT, 4H, 4Nt and 5m seem to fit logically and intuitively. That's important as (sobering thought) I probably won't ever use all these responses in my lifetime, even if I play this convention with a few partners. The responses of 4C and 4D seem to make sense and have implications. Taking 4D first listed as showing 3+ diamonds and exactly 2 clubs. Is responder now obliged to bid 4S if 3145 in case opener has 3 diamonds only? Conversely if 3154 and max, would responder next cue 4H telling partner he has 5 card support? Next 4C listed as showing 3+ clubs. If 3154 would responder bid 4S for the same reasons? OTOH would opener with 4423 EVER with risk a bid of 4C in case there is only a 7 card fit in clubs? If this be so, then 4C would also show at least 3 diamonds. Then responder with say 4333, could show a 5 card diamond suit by next bidding 4D. So if in say 2 years time it comes up that i have a game hand with 5134 opposite a 1NT opening and the bidding goes 1NT-3H-4D i will remember that this shows exactly 2 clubs and possibly only 3 diamonds. :unsure:

I was focussing on the very low frequency just to emphasise that this method should be very much superior to other older methods in order for it to be well worth while. Thinking aloud: Lets say as suggested that 4NT = pick better minor. This takes care of 3-3 in minors. 4H can take care of 4-4. What about 4-3? Does it go into the 4NT or the 4H bag? Next 4-2. Presumably you have no choice but to bid your 4 card minor guaranteeing the fit. Now for 3-2. This looks like dangerous territory. Here it is odds on that you wont find an 8 card minor fit, so you are under pressure to play in 3NT if you have a double stop in hearts, or play in the moysian if you have 4 spades. Does this mean that if you are 4432 or 4423 and do not have a double stop in hearts that you are obliged to bid 3S to enable you to play in the Quote "strain that makes sense"? Maybe a 5-2 minor fit at the 5 level will play better than a 4-3 fit at the 4 level. Of couse you might have opened 1NT with a 5 card spade suit. Does that mean that you always jump to 4S to show this? Also after 1NT-3S, does that mean you are under pressure to bid 4H with 4423 and not a double stop in spades?

I notice that the response of 3♥/♠ showing a singleton in the suit with 54 in the minors is becoming (or has become) an "expert standard" I still need convincing of its efficacy and if the frequency of it coming up makes it worthwhile. The probabilty of a 5431 distribution is 12.9%. So the probability of 3154, 3145, 1354 or 1345 is 2.15%. I do not have to hand the probabilities of having this distribution as a game going hand opposite a 1NT opening bid, but my estimation is that if you play 50 serious hands of bridge per week the 1NT-3M with this distribution and the required strength will come up about once per year. So with this rarity the convention has to be pretty good over its rivals. I have yet to find the continuations and foresee problems over the uncertainty of which way round the 54. Questions: After say 1NT-3♥ 1. When do you rebid 4♥? 2. When do you rebid 4♣? 3. When do you rebid 4♦? 4. How do you settle for a 4-3 major suit game? Presumably a rebid of 3♠ would be showing a 5 card suit.

[hv=d=e&v=n&n=s6ha1087dq10632ck72&s=skj98752h65dacaq3]133|200|Scoring: IMP W N E S - - 1♦ 1♠ p 1NT p 4♠ p p p [/hv] 9♦ led, small in dummy, to Jack and Ace. That's careless, I thought. Before the Jack came up, it was Plan A - I needed to play East for AQ or AQx. Now it looks like I can get a losing heart away and make the contract provided I limit my spade losers to 3. So on to Plan B. I played a small club to dummy's King and noticed that East dropped the Jack. Hmm! Another extravagant card. Do I now revert to Plan A? No probably a doubleton, so I will press on with Plan B. Accordingly I Played Q♦ covered with the King which I ruffed and west followed suit with the 8. Next I played a heart to the Ace and then my promoted 10♦ (by courtesy of East) and discarded a heart. West ruffed with the 4 and returnd a club and horror! East ruffed. Now I am down and could have made it with Plan A as East held ♠AQ3. Also on refection, plan B doesn't give me much more than Plan A. Yes I can pick up Qx with west but the attendant risk of a ruff might override this advantage. I could imagine that East was Hideous Hog at the computer gloating to all the kibbers about his Grosvenor Coup.

Yes the 5 - my mistake. Strange because I remembered the 5, but when I wrote the post, I looked at the Lin files to check and by accident at the play on the other table. There Slothy led K and Aisha followed with the 2 from J532. They play UDCA and Slothy continued with the Q. Silly me!

My understanding as a Limey is: From KQ109(x): Lead the King. Partner will unblock with the Jack if he has it. From KQ9xx: By agreement, lead the Queen. Then normally: If partner does not have the Jack or the 10, he will discourage. If partner has the 10 and not the Jack, he will play it. If partner has the Jack and not the 10, he will encourage if possible. If partner has the Jack and the 10, he will play the Jack. I have read this somewhere and seen it in action as an opponent but not had an opportunity to use it myself. Also if partner can see that declarer must have A10 doubleton, he could pretend he has both the ace and the Jack. I can see the merit in leading Q from KQ109(x) if you don't lead lead Q from KQ9xx I happened to be Bill's partner, when I led King from KQ109 against 1NT and seeing Bill's 2 (std carding) and 2 small in dummy I promptly switched. Luckily it didn't cost. Vive la difference!

Agree with those that say that west must NEVER pull a double of 4S. 3C is a well defined bid compared with the initial double, so the final decision should be east's. Having said that, east's decision looks close to me. Unless north is known to be a crackpot, he is bidding to make 4S so has to have extreme distribution. Are there any nasty surprises for north in 4S? Yes the K♠ offside. Will this surprise be fatal to declarer? Possibly. Nevertheless, on balance I vote for 5C since this gives you 2 chances of being right againt one chance of being wrong.

♥[hv=d=e&v=e&s=sj852haj1062dj10cq10]133|100|Scoring: IMP E S W N 2♠ p p 3♠ p 4♥ p 4♠ dbl p p 5♦ p ? [/hv] You are playing Lebensohl and Leaping Michaels. Questions: 1. Would you bid 4♥ after partner's cue bid of 3♠ which you take to be asking for a stop? 2. When partner bids 4♠, what kind of hand is he showing? 3. Would you raise to 6♦? 4. How would you show partner a powerful 0175 shape?

Its God wot dun it. Divine retribution for all those unbelievers in global warming. Like Sodom or Noahs flood.

[hv=d=w&v=b&n=skq10xxhqxxdaxxcjx&w=saxha10xxdkxxckxxx&e=s9xxxhjxxdjxxcaxx&s=sjxhkxxdq10xxcq10xx]399|300|Scoring: IMP 1NT (2♠) p p dble p ? [/hv] With my strong no trump partners, I do play take-out doubles, but have doubts that this is a good idea over a weak no trump. Where I am in England, 80% play 12-14 no trump and I have not encountered double for take out of 12-14 no trump at club level or in tournaments. I believe you are skating on very thin ice if you play exclusively take-out doubles after a natural overcall of a 12-14 no trump. Take the above unremarkable 20/20 deal: So with your max 14 count and your doubleton, you double 2♠ for take-out. Now instead of a likely -110, you are looking -670 if partner passes or -800 if partner bids. Even after this auction when (on a different deal) you are lucky enough to find an 8 card fit and total tricks =16. Then if opps can make 9 tricks you will be 2 tricks short in your 3 level contract. Not very comfortable, especially when you are vulnerable. Strong no trumpers are normally fortunate in that most overcalls are conventional, and a double after the overcall has a different meaning. I assume this is because to safely overcall a strong no trump you need a more distributional hand than over a weak no trump. Thus with 2 suiters or long suits 8 card or better fits become more likely, thus tipping the balance in favour of a take out double. Overcalls over a weak no trump are more likely to be natural. Over a natural 2♣ or 2♦ overcall, the take-out double is very much less risky since even without an 8 card fit you should be able to scramble to a respectable 2M contract with 7 cards. After a natural 2♥ overcall a take-out double should at the very least guarantee a 4 card spade suit. However, I remain sceptical and will not try to persuade my weak no trump partners to deviate from leb plus penalty doubles.

For a B/I this looks like a tough hand to bid. I don't think that South made a terrible bid, more like he did not have the necessary bidding tools. I strongly suspect that most B/I's as South would either bid 3NT or launch into 4NT as some kind of Blackwood. Those that do the latter will land on their feet but it could be very wrong if North opened 1♦ with a weak balanced hand. The bidding tool required here is the cue bid in the overcalled suit (3♥) showing a limit raise in diamonds or better, but not ruling out 3NT. Even so this gives North a problem. 4♦ would suggest a minimum opener. 5♦ gets over the strength of the diamond suit but omits to show 2 important features that South might need to know to bid 6, namely the singleton heart and the 4 card club suit headed by the king. The best bid for North I believe is 4♥. This bid only makes sense if it shows a singleton or void in hearts and confirms diamonds as trumps. Now South with Axx can see that there a no heart losers and so now can feel sufficiently confident to key card 4NT (0314) North responds 5♠ showing ♦AKQ. Now South can be confident of a fill in clubs or spades or both for the small slam.. As for the grand, even if South bids 5NT asking for kings and South shows 1 which must be clubs, there may still be a loser somewhere. So be content with 6♦. So I would recommend: 1♦- (2♥)-3♥-p 4♥- p- 4NT-p 5♠-p-6♦

The level of skill required to survive has gone up a level, because of the developments in competitive bidding. Call it poker skills if you like. (Certainly not whist skills) Those that can't cope just grumble.

At the my local club (UK) evenings, normally at least 4 pairs at 15-20 tables are playing the multi. Interestingly some of them are old fashioned steam acol players who when young in the 70's took to retaining strong major suit 2's when weak 2's became the vogue, and instead opted for the multi. (Rather than the more popular Benji) I have never heard of any complaints about its use and players just get on with it. It does not take too much working out to conclude that the multi is less of a weapon than the weak 2 in the major. Quote;"The use of 2♠ is often semi-psychic, and opener fields the psych by failing to bid 4♥. Is this 100% ethical?" If in 2nd seat you choose to pass and the bidding goes: 2♦-p-2♠-p-3♥-p-p then surely it does not take too much to work out that this is the same as 2♥-p-3♥-p-p. The problem it gives to the defence is the same. Most of us have learned that a 2♣ response to 1NT is not a psyche when you find out that she does not have clubs. In the same way after a multi bid, 4th seat must know that 2♠ means I have support for hearts and says nothing about spades.