dokoko

A high level opponent would drop the jack from JT (obligatory falsecard) and also from JTx (to give you a losing option). Therefore you should play for the drop against him. No idea whether this applies when playing a bot.

Rebid 2NT - what else?

Why do you expect more than 50% by just doing routine things? True, you can expect to outscore those who have accidents in routine auctions on one hand in three. Perhaps just bidding slam is enough for most of the MPs in some clubs. But, as several posters pointed out, to earn a top you must either take risks (e.g. bash out 6NT) or use better tools (and master them) to reach the best contract. BTW, at IMPs you would probably have pushed the board.

There are pros and cons with each style. With a partner of your choice agree on whatever you are both happy with. With a random partner, however, you should accept the implications of the agreed system because it's more fun (and usually more rewarding) being on the same wavelength. When playing with a robot you may do as you like.

The notion of economic or expensive two-suiters isn't common in English bridge language. I know the terms as the "Forum D" system which is commonly taught to beginners and intermediates in Germany was derived from French Standard. In English bridge language a bid showing a "bicolor cher" is called a "reverse bid" or simply "reverse". The player involved is said to "reverse the usual order" of the suits. When the term was created it was not uncommon to bid two suits in economical order disregarding relative length. Today this is still done with 65-distribution (in some systems also holding 54/45 in the minors). After partner's raise (your second sequence) a new suit bid by partner doesn't describe a two-suiter (pas de bicolor ni cher ni économique) but is some sort of game try. After a new suit bid by responder (or a 1NT response) - whether competitive or not - a new suit by opener on 2-level shows a strong two-suiter (bicolor cher) if responder's bid was below 2 of the opened suit and opener's rebid is above 2 of the opened suit. To force the auction beyond two of opener's suit is a sign of strength by the player who forces not the player forced. BTW the word "overbid" means that you bid more than you have, bidding after opponent's opening is called "overcall".

Strange things are going on here. What do I know about the players at the table? Without further info I will raise to 3nt and expect partner to have forgotten the system.

I haven't studied the verdict in this case in detail. I did, however, study the arguments given by the court that cancelled the ban of the "German doctors". In short the court argued that the procedure that led to the ban had been faulty. Therefore it was immaterial whether the players were guilty (the court guessed they were), because without proper procedure the ban couldn't stand. The WBF, who was first to ban the players, by it's own regulations had no right to ban them as they were no members (only the national federations are). The committee established by the DBV (German bridge federation) investigated the available evidence. This committee found the doctors guilty of cheating (by proper procedure) but then erred when it took over the WBF's ban without adressing the question whether the penalty was adequate. It has often been said that courts and judges know too little about bridge to understand cheating matters. In the German case, the truth is that bridge players know too little about jurisdiction (or forget about their knowledge when bridge is concerned) - even though many of them are lawyers themselves (at least in Germany). What we - especially the people in charge - should learn from such verdicts is that we should procede carefully and follow proper procedure when confronted with cheating, because otherwise it will be the cheaters who win.

On a high trump lead by West, South wins as follows: Win ♦J with the queen and play three rounds of hearts, ruffing with ♦7. A. West overruffs. Take his spade return in dummy, ruff another heart high, finesse in trumps and cash out for 12 tricks. If instead he returns a club, take in hand, reach dummy in spades and continue as above. If instead he returns a trump, take in dummy as high as necessary, ruff a heart and cash out. B. West discards a spade. Play small to ♠K and play the ♠10 to jack and ace. ---- If West ruffs and returns a club, take in hand, cash the second club and play three rounds of trump squeezing East in the majors. ---- If West ruffs and returns a trump, win in hand, draw the last trump and play three rounds of clubs, finessing the king and ruffing the third. Again East is squeezed. ---- If West discards, play a small trump towards dummy. West must split and you take with ♦A. Now play three rounds of clubs, finessing the king, discarding a spade on the second and ruffing the third. Ruff a heart high and play a spade to make ♦8 en passant. C. West discards a club. Play ♠A and small to ♠K. Play two rounds of clubs, finessing the king and discarding a spade from dummy and play a spade. ---- If West discards, ruff small, ruff a heart high and ruff a club. West can take the last trick. ---- If West ruffs high and returns a trump, win in dummy, ruff the last heart and take the last tricks in dummy. ---- If West ruffs high and returns a club, ruff in dummy, ruff the last heart and finesse in trumps. This line obviously doesn't work when East leads a trump as it involves dummy's ♦A8x sitting over West's ♦JTx (or similar) later. Remains to show that there is no other winning line against East's trump lead and that NS succeed on the lead of any side suit.

After p-p-1♠-4♥ it's not so easy for EW.

IMHO opener cannot force except with a cuebid. With the right yarborough i might pass any natural bid.

I guess winstonm talked of North not knowing about opps' fit.

Where do I find such a partner who raises to 4♠ on Kxx/x/Kxxx/xxxx? BTW if partner has your example minimum 4♥ may even make.

In the sequence given - as in many others - the meaning of a dbl doesn't change when you're a passed hand (obviously the initial pass limits your strength). It's only when a dbl by an unpassed hand would show opening strength that you can (and should) lower the requirements. In other situations - especially when responding to partner's 3rd hand opening - keep your bids up to strength as partner may have entered lightly.

After those criss-cross responses, 2nt (if available) and 3m are to play. Everything else is forcing to game and tends to show stopper. Just a normal structure after a minor raise. BTW I like to play 1m-3m as very weak (warns opener not to bid 3nt with 18-19) and use the criss-cross bids to show about 7-9 with 5cd-support. 1m-2m shows 10+, opener bids 2nt or 3m with a min or shows a stopper with 14 (gd 13) or more. Responder can then try to sign-off with 2nt or 3m, everything else forces to game. 1m-2nt would be natural. All these responses deny a 4cd major (else respond 1M). Not quite complicated, but you may add splinter rebids or other gadgets if you so please.

Very generous on your part to share your universal wisdom with us mortals.

To understand the concept of Restricted Choice, you should first address the concept of False Carding. In bridge you see other players' actions and deduce their holding to form a picture of the actual hand and play accordingly. The other players (try to) do the same. So you might design your actions to cater for opponent's expected conclusion (and reaction). A player who doesn't falsecard will always play "forced" cards in the sense that his holding dictates his play (usually lowest if can't win the trick, perhaps signalling if he/she knows about it). But when you suspect your opponent to be able to falsecard, you should mentally place yourself in his seat. Would you play the queen from QJ or not? Always? Sometimes? Why? Would your opponent do the same? The math of Restricted Choice comes in once you have answered these questions. You might conclude that you have no idea how the opponent would act. Then you should fall back on standard handling of the situation. But if you think your opponent would act in some predictable way, you may (try to) improve on standard and exploit an eventual weakness. This is an important aspect at higher levels. When doing so, you should estimate what you win if you're right and what you lose if you're wrong to conclude whether you should take the risk.

Seems most of you missed an important point (or forgot to mention it). - If you need a 3-2 break and the 10 is an honest card, the Q has to be with East and you should play for the drop. - If you survive a 4-1 break and there is even a small chance of a false card, finessing is clear. So you should first decide whether you need a 3-2 break or not. One additional note: There is even a "restricted choice" aspect in the situation. If RHO can read you for your actual trump position, he might play the queen from QT.

I like to play transfers over opp's overcalls as this enables us to bid more often when we see reason to do so. Interesting material can be found on Glen Ashton's site. IMO an unbid minor is more important than a second 3cd raise on 2-level but that might be a matter of taste.

This in fact a dilemma. Your problem is that you cannot test both hearts and clubs without giving up some options. - If you start on hearts, defenders may force you to take a decision in the suit without knowing the club position. - If you test clubs first, you may go down even if hearts behave. A dilemma/trilemma is not just a situation where you have a certain number of options; it is necessary that every option involves a possible damage. Solving a dilemma means to find a way to "have your cake and eat it", not just to guess right or find the percentage play. An example (not applicable here) would be a so-called "Discovery Play" where you play to get more info before deciding how to attack the critical suit.

Being quite familiar with mathematics I object: - Above all, bridge is about people and their minds (that involves psychology). - Then it's about logic and technique. - Math (in the sense of numbers and calculations) is only a minor aspect.

Move this to "intermediate" pls. Discussion is far from expert level.

IMO any method not including follow-ups is incomplete. One of the best methods vs. a nebulous 1m opening is to ignore the fact that opener might be short in his "suit" and act as over a natural opening. This has the advantage of retaining your defined follow-ups including raises, cuebids etc. It isn't easy to improve on that. When you redefine a bid, you have to look at how to bid hands that used the bid in the past. This is easy for a cuebid or Unusual NT (just bid one of your suits naturally), but not so easy for a responsive cuebid: (1♦)dbl-2♦ suggests both majors; how do you bid such a hand if 2♦ is defined as natural here? If virtually all bids of opp's "suit" become natural, how do you bid without cuebids? Even a takeout double must be reconsidered. If your double only suggests the majors how can you bid reasonable minor contracts lacking a major fit? How do you bid hands with 43 in the majors and 51 in the minors? IMO you need to address the concept of "Replacement Cuebids". For example, you might play (1♣)1♥-2♣ as natural and (1♣)1♥-1NT as one-round force, asking about the strength of the overcall. You should also plan how to act when responder takes part in the auction; this is a real possibility. You should have clear rules to determine whether a bid of an opponent's suit is natural or a cuebid. Even if you decided to act as over a natural 1m opening you may bid opener's suit naturally once responder has delivered a suit to cuebid. There are sensible concepts available on the web (you may search for "Grunt Defense" on bridgewinners.com or look into the material on bridgematters.com). I like to play a method I call "partial transfers" when advancing partner's overcall. When partner overcalls a natural opening bid, the cuebid and higher bids are transfers to the next suit where the transfer to partner's suit is an inv+ raise. When partner overcalls a nebulous opening bid, the transfers start at 1NT. Vs. a nebulous 1♦ we use a 1NT overcall to show hands with a 4cd major and a longer minor (any combination). Other bids (including 2♦) are as over a natural 1♦, dbl suggesting short ♦. We pass with long diamonds or a strong NT This method is also playable over 1♣, but we try to improve on that as follows: (1♣)dbl guarantees 3+ clubs and shows [a] takeout of diamonds strong NT [c] natural clubs [d] any strong hand with 3+ clubs - advancer may ask with 1♦ or bid naturally. (1♣)1♦ is a limited takeout of clubs (nonforcing) - later club bids are cues. (1♣)1NT is a strong hand with short clubs (usually takeout) - advancer may ask with 2♣ (forcing to 2NT) or bid 2♦♥♠ nonforcing. (1♣)2♦ is a good overcall. Other bids are unchanged. As suggested by Kungsgeten, over 1♣ you can obviously play system on. I am not sure, however, whether this is a good idea. There is good reason why overcalls and follow-up are not the same as openings and follow-up. I would prefer partner to lead my minor after (1♣)1♥(1♠)-(2♠)-(4♠) when my overcall is on ♥xxxx. Defensive bidding should cater for the possibiity that I might make only one bid. When responder passes, this usually suggests length in the bid minor. Therefore I think you should reopen as over a natural opening.

After 1♦-1M opener doesn't need a natural 1NT bid. There is a simple structure using transfers: 1♦-1M 1♠ = nat 1NT = 4+♣ 2♣ = 6+♦ 2♦ = {over 1♥} minimum with 5+♦&3♥ NF, {over 1♠} minimum with 5♦+4♥ NF 2♥ over 1♠ = Reverse 2M = nat, may be 3 cards if spades 2NT = 16/17+ with 6+♦&3-cd-support 3♦ = natural, denies 3-cd support With an intermediate hand, you may show 3-card support after transferring to a minor or repeat your diamonds after showing a black suit and still be able to stop on 2-level frequently. With a strong hand you may jump on your second turn if shapely, or rebid strongly after your transfer or 1♦-1♥;1♠. You may instead use a 1NT rebid to show longer ♣, if that's a possibility in your system (it isn't in ours). --- The 1NT response to 1♦ suggests ♣ length (otherwise raise ♦ or bid a major). Opener should not pass with a short major and may rebid a 3-card ♣ suit.

If partner passes 4♦, get yourself a new partner.

I judge: N to blame 50% for getting to high because 4♣ is an overbid, but: S to blame 100% for getting to high because he has no reason to go past 4♠ when neither partner has a ♥-control. (please don't argue my arithmetic) If you exchange ♠A and ♠3, North has his bid and they go down in 6♠