JSilver

My favorite convention in a new partenrship is ASBAF (all strange bids are forcing).

Wathcing a vugraph once, I saw one of the commentators (I forget whom) say, "If I had 10 secods to fill out a convention card, I would write on it '4♣ is never Gerber."

Bid softly and carry a Big Club.--Teddy Roosevelt Alternative: Bid sofltly and carry a sharp axe.

I believe Willie Dixon is responsible for that lyric.

An IMP saved is an IMP got.---Thomas Fielding

Ben Franklin: A little overbidding may breed mischief...for want of a jack, a contract was lost; for want of a contract, a match was lost; for want of a match, a championship was lost. A benevolent player should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his partner in countenance. Never leave for the next round a bid you can make right now. They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. (This may have nothing to do with bridge, but it bears repeatiing.)

Different bids for different kids.--Sly Stone

Psyching is the last resort of the incompetent.--Isaac Asimov

Is an intelligent bidder likely to be much more than a large-scale manufacturer of misunderstanding?--Phillip Roth

The most beautiful bridge in the world…. so pure, so resolute, so regular that here, finally, bidding architecture seems to laugh.--Le Corbusier, kibitzing Meckstroth-Rodwell

I sorted, I counted, I bid slam--Caesar

This makes good sense to me. Funny, I also thought we were red and was going to bid 4, but if white, I'll play the partial. In other words, it's a close decison.

At any rate, it seems to me that 2♠ makes for a smoother auction than 3♦. Keeping the auction at the 2-level gives partner room to bid out his shape. 3♦ will get partner thinking about slam but leave him with no clear way to proceed. 4♣ now seems ambiguous and gives up on 3NT.

OK, 2♠ doesn't promise 6. but when he later raises ♦, doesn't it imply 6?

Well, I suppose that depends on how obvious the claim is. But I was after clarity, not speed.

How about 1♠-2♦-2♠ (showiing a 6th and conserving space) 3♣-3♦-3♥ (0-3-5-5) 4♦, (nonforcing, realizing the spade honors are wasted) 5♦?

When applicable, players elucidate their claims by clicking on cards in the order they intend to play them. That would remove ambiguity and ease claiming among players who don't share a language.

Thanks, Uday. :)

The latest update has expanded the BBO window horizontally, so it takes up about three-quarters of my desktop. I preferred the size before, which was closer to half the desktop. Is there any way to revert to that size?

I thought of another book I'd like to recommend. I'm not sure of the precise title. (It's in a box somewhere, since I moved my residence.) Anyway, it's on preemptive bidding, written by Ron Anderson and Sabine Zenkel (now Auken). Oh, yeah--Preempts from A to Z! :rolleyes: The authors' main point is that, regardless of whether your partnership plays disciplined or undisciplined preempts, it's important to know what bids mean and how to follow them up. They explore a number of situations and various conventions for preemptive bids and defenses against them. Another fairly thorough treatment of a topic seldom elaborated in the run of bidding texts.

You're right. I overlooked that. Nice that dummy has the 9♥. But I don't see where the 9th trick comes from in 3NT. Could someone enlighten me?

Pleasure? I hate opening 2♣. It's often a real challenge to identify the best contract. The hand in question is a case in point, I suppose. Having to open a variety of strong hands 2♣ is the price you pay to play weak twos. I'm willing to pay it, but it gives me no pleasure.

Agree, 5♦. Making or not, it rates to give us a good result.

It would be nice to know what card East played at trick 1. If it was the ten, then West led a suit headed by QJ. Perhaps he thought it looked more promising than his other 4-card suit. It's even conceivable that West is 4-4-4-1. He might have ♠Kxxx, say, and hopes to use the ♠K as an entry to cash diamond tricks once they're established. I suppose players tend to lead a major, but how strong is that tendency? Surely there are other considerations.

Nice falsecard. Partner did his job. I had some sympathy for declarer until he started levelling accusations.