LBengtsson

I was going to say the same. you got there first, mikeh :)

1. same as nullve 2. 5♣ though agree 3NT may be better. 3. same as nullve 4. same as nullve 5. same as nullve 6. yes, what are the agreements? lol! 3♥ if says mixed raise 7-10 high points 4♥ support. other than that 4♥ Landy game try. (my new convention)

I want to make as good a descriptive bid as possible therefore weak 2♦. tell partner what you have not got - any defence except maybe the ♦A. there are 24 cards unaccounted in the major suits. the probability that the opponents have a fit in one major suit is very high. by bidding you might take away some gadgets such as splinters, bergen raises and jacoby 2NT so it makes it more difficult for the opps. to judge their potential contract. partner could possibly raise you in ♦ to make matters even more difficult. passing and trying to introduce the suits later gives the opps. space. in a competitive auction you might be able to introduce ♣ later. partner will be in no doubt what sort of hand you have. I open 2♦, maybe 3♦ if the suit was better. you are telling the truth first bid.

yeah random hands, boring hands, average hands happen all the time in bridge. the only crazy thing (on this hand) is that pairs bid slam missing ♥A + ♦AK and some pairs did not make 12 tricks on the ♥10 lead. so the hand is random but the results are not. I guess, especially with players playing at less than advanced/expert level, even random boards generate strange results.

that would have not changed the auction after 3♥. partner has bid 4♠ on 4045 shape is my guess. we need to know about ♦K and ♣Q. that we cannot do so sadly I bid 6♠ only.

what is 'Landy slam try' nige1? guess at final contract and hope to make? I have never heard of this...

It's a big hand. A very big hand. lol! So X

both robots have akvavit hangover lol! the west robot defense play is also crazy...

LOL And it stopped you reaching 6♥ contract that only can be made by looking at the robots cards :)

interesting relay. as you have already set up GF with 1♠ I guess 4♣ keeps all options open. 4♠ looks like signoff. the 8 card fit in ♠ can be better than the 9 card fit in ♣ but you need partner to have ♠KQxx for slam in ♠ to look possible. if the major suits were reversed ♠akt6 ♥a653 I would be more confident with possible ♠ slam. at the moment I am looking at possible ♦ losers except if partner has ♦A or K, and I want to protect ♦K on opening lead if we reach 5♣/6♣ contract. I see your problem with relay as now west hand has artificially bid ♠ as GF and contract in ♠ may be from wrong side of the table. have you facility to end in 4♠ or 6♠ contract after 4♣ bid? I do not know final contract at this stage as 6♣+4♠ Inv+ is not defined. could partner have ♠J872 ♥Q ♦AK ♣AQJt98 for his bid? the weakness in west ♠ suit stops me trying for slam in ♠.

I guess it all depends what sort of partner you have: regular, experienced or not. have you discussed what X or alternate 4♦ mean here, or X followed by 4♦, or X followed by 4NT? can you pass easily and partner balances? (does that make it any easier? I think not.) I would have gone with X the same as you followed by 4♦ (extra values) after 4♣ but I am sure that is not the right bid. 4NT probably is if partner sees it as quantitative 4NT not rkcb. Good hand to post. I doubt there is a easy solution and it is just guess where best place to be. partner could have several different hand types. pre-empts sometimes work and you are fixed. this hand looks like one.

I would start with 2♣ as responder, if a partner has 4♦ then good chance he will show it second round. when partner bids 2♥ however I now bid 2Nt to keep bidding open and show my balanced shape but not point count. bidding 2♦ then 3♣ to me show definite 5♦ and 4♣: if west now bid ♦s as preference he will probably see any ♥ bid by you as stiff/void not support. best contact maybe no trumps with ♠K protected.

thats how I play 2♣ after opps X. some values but not enough to XX. warns partner we have bad fit in ♠ also. and hand is good being 1255 as you have ♦ to run to also if 2♣ gets X/ed.

if would be good to see all the auction as 4441 hands as responder are difficult to bid in precision. impossible negative 1♦ and then jump or other way to show this hand? agree with cyberyeti than like blackwood or any conventional bid, if you use it and then cannot find a good bid after any partner's response you should not use convention in first place. here kickback did not help. cuebid is better.

It was not a good game of football to watch for both teams, from a neutral Swede. On lighter note, why are Australia in Eurovision song contest? :) Like England they are not European also. me think that red cards should be given not to players but to countries lol!

I like Fantunes where this awkward 4441 with 12-13 points is opened 1NT. maybe Acol should use it also...

if 3♥ is not an invite but based on length of ♥ suit then partner has something. we're white vulnerability to compete. but what I dont want to do is push them to 4♥ though I have a strong hand over opening bidder and they are probably down. partner only need turn up with ♠Axxxx or ♠Qxxxx/♦Qx and zilch for 4♠ contract to be possible. bidding 3♠ here suggest greater length and 6♦/5♠ though at Bermuda Bowl level I would have michaels/ghestem type bid on my CC to show this hand. so here I feel 2♦ followed by X is best, though I would like to know what the opps 2♥ bid show, and whether they have option to bid forcing 1NT followed by 2♥. so my bid 2♦ then X hope for good result lol!

a ♠ is not too obvious. lol! think I would go along the line of ♦K merrimac coup as others have said. even at matchpoints the aims of defenders is to get contract down, not to think about how many overtricks can be given away at trick one. after winning ♥A, trick two ♠ return is fantasy guess; ♥9 is sensible; ♦K is also guess but spectator applaud play. no applause for Lars on this hand...

Think that jillybeans CRO convention would be good here...:) though I have not tested all responses Posted 2021-April-06, 15:07 4♣ "CRO" is a very popular club treatment here in Aotearoa, so much so that 4♣ is used almost exclusively for Ace asking. After 4♣ 4♦ 1/4 Aces 4♥ 3/0 Aces 4♠ 2 Aces same Colour 4NT 2 Aces same Rank (Major/Minor) 5♣ 2 Aces - opposite (major & minor) 5D 2 Aces, 1 King 5H 2 Aces, 2 Kings and so on I'm playing with a few people who are interested to learn 2/1, I don't want to change all of their systems and CRO is something they seem to want to hold on to. While I don't like CRO it may be because cue bidding is virtually non existent and players will jump to 4♣ and leave partner in the dark as to where they are going. Another problem here is I think people may have included the #King response into 4♣ Ace ask, where some play #King ask as another step. If I can introduce cue bidding, does it matter so much if we use CRO or RKC responses? ( As I write this I think I know the answer, after CRO we still do not know about the K,Q trump and are at the 5 level.)

I find Jacoby 2NT and splinters are overused when there is another sensible bid available: 2♣. why waste bidding space with 2/1 :) its a good suit, the bidding is already forcing to game, and usually, but not every time, the 2/1 responder is in charge. if partner has 3 card ♣ support with Qxx even Jxx you might wish to be in a ♣ slam as opposed to a ♠ slam to protect the ♦Kx on the opening lead. the chances of reaching a ♣ slam are gone if you splinter or bid 2NT here.

the only reason why I do not bid 2♦ - my bid - is if partner has 1444 shape and prefer to bid 1♦ - 1♠ - 2♣ to 1♦ - 1♠ - 1NT. other than that I see no reason not to bid 2♦ as other posters have said

difficult. 3♥ looks good bid. partner should know that if you had a 6♥ bagger with your 1NT bid then you would have bid it after his 2♣ other than preference to 2♠. or alternative, you might have opened 2♥ weak vul. I think, by inference, 3♥ in this sequence shows control, good fit for ♦ and a bit more than minimum 1NT response. Slam needs specific cards and luck I feel but partner might prefer 5♦to 4♠ with good 5044/5134 shape. If I had good 6♠ card suit as opener I would rebid it, not bid 2♣ btw.

agree with pilowsky. great idea, Jurgen. and thanks for joining the forum.

if you have an ace and a king opposite any normal 2♣ (opposed to distributional) opener you should always think in the slam zone except if partner rebids 2nt or you find bad fit. partner to open 2♣ should guarantee minimum of 8.5 tricks in hand alone, and you with a ace and a king have 1.5. if you don not have 12 tricks, then you will have 11 and at worst 10 so you can make small enquiry above 3nt and still land in a makeable contract

the worst that may happen if we X again is that we end in 3♦ and go for -2. the chance of that being 3♦X-2 is less than 5% imo. east is weak weak. if west is trap passing with a good hand and north has nothing then I still think they will bid 3♥ here other than X 3♦ bid by us. south is in balance seat with extra values: X again is only way to show this. passing may be best as helene_t indicates if partner is terrible 3343 shape, but 3352 shape is 15.5% and 3343 is 10.5% so I take chance here.