LBengtsson

gib idea of safety play :)

yes, defense was not correct but this is a excellent hand to show card reading. thanks for posting, mike.

agree. partner will know what sort of hand you have here. strong but not quite reverse with 6-4 shape. his 1Nt could be somewhere between 5-10 points. on personal level I do not think 3♦ should be forcing here: having some checkback by way of 2♣/2♦ after 1NT solves problem of other hands here.

only a amateur would come up with other bid than X. only problem is whether to bid 2NT or 3NT (or 3 ♥ or 4♥ or 3♦?) after partner bids 2♥ 90% of time. but let partner bid first in response to X

I do not prefer, David. I just do not want to give partner a bad guess if the opps compete further. 2♦ is a honest bid. X is a good bid but is a little deceit, no ♠ suit. If the north go 3♣ after wests X and partner bids 3♠ you then have to bid 4♦. that is overstatement of values.

Garbage! even if you do not bid ♥ you should support ♦ with 2♦. to deny 4 card support for your partners suit with a A and a K in the other suits is just anti-bridge. yes, partner could have just 3♦ with 2/1 but you take one bad result against the good results of showing support. partner could have a v. good hand. passing and expecting partner to balance as opener could be missed if opps raise to 3♣. your ♣K looks in good place when south bids 2♣. its a bidders game!

those values are very weak for reverse. I expect (17 good)18-19 here as partner has not bid a major suit.

yes, I have heard this also but its dangerous. however the robot went berserk bidding instead. forget about 55% rebate: think you should get 100% rebate of your money when robot does garbage bidding like this :angry:

agree. cannot imagine the ops have enough points/distribution to make life difficult with a 3♦/4♦ raise. as long as partner knows that 2♥ is unlimited not a negative freebid.

agree. 3nt shows desire to play 3nt. if partner now bids 4♥ then pass. if partner instead bids 4♣/4♦ then just bid 4♥. if south has extra values then he can bid 3♠ in reply to partner's 3♥ instead of 3nt. double on first round is wrong bid for south as others have said. either bid 1nt (borderline) or pass and wait for partner to balance if possible

that is how I would play this. going down -2 opposed to -1 is not much difference at teams. have to try to make the contract. if not in 6nt then other opps will be in 6♣-1 on ♦ lead (maybe 6♣X-1 if lightner double used). adding to winstonm comment: if rho has 12 unknown cards after opening lead, it possibly tells us that ♠ and ♥ suit will not break favorably also. playing east for (4504 distribution) seems best plan except if there is something better...

with so many cards missing from the major suits, and knowing that even if partner has a few of the opponents trumps (should they end in a major suit) they are under declarer and subject to finesses, it's either 3♣ or 4♣ for me. 3♣ probably makes it too easy for the opponents to bid again, and partner is not likely to raise ♣s. so at this vulnerability I bid 4♣.

3154 awkward, yes jillybean! as I said a few posts back, especially if 3154 with 5m4m. it would be good to have 1♦ - 1M/1NT - 2♣ as forcing here to save space but we all know it aint. (not for me.) so, I agree with many others that only option is 1♦ - 1♥ -3♣

what system are you playing with your partner? and have you any agreements in place?

I think both 1♣ or 5♣ can be right here white/red with one vulnerable opp already passed. though I am more on side of 5♣ slightly as winstonm says as hand has little defense. yes, you pre-empt partner but you are showing the hand you have exactly by rule of 2 & 3

thanks for your reply, Stephen. that covers all bases imo. yes, there is a big difference having ♣ suit AKJxxxxx and Qxxxxxxx or similar. I didnt think along these lines so a 2♣ response is clearly right here. suit quality and length making adjustment for lack of usual 12+ high card points gf response.

that is interesting way of bidding however if opener has big hand opposite a 2♣gf could there be a bidding accident also? whats the difference between 1♠ - 2♣ - (opener rebid) - 5♣ and 1♠ - 1NT (force) - (opener rebid) - 5♣? and what if opponents intervene over 1♠ - 2♣ and bid up to 4/5 level themselves in ♥/♦. does it not make it difficult for partner to know what hand you have? I know you are 2/1 expert, Stephen, but I go with 1NT forcing route because less chance partner will misinterpret 5♣ after, especially if opps bid 4♥.

2♦ - X (13-15 or BIG) - 3♥ pass or correct...however I still think that north/south can end in minor suit slam, more chance 6♣ as cyberyeti say

even if partner has ♦A you probably have a ♥ loser along with 2♠. partner did not say 3♠ after 3♥ so that hint at no ♦ control also. so I would play in boring 4♣ contract here. but I like better X instead of 2♣ overcall though a 3♦ reply by partner would make life difficult...

3♣ is not optimistic with this hand. 12 points and two-and-a-half controls. your partner have not an easy bid but he can keep bidding low with 2♥ false reverse. you bid 2♣ on second round, not 1♥ so you are not going to have 4♥ here. your partner ♣A is valuable card opposite your suit. 2♥ as a bid allows you to describe hand more. the false reverse is either gf or one round force depending on your agreements. that said on the actual bidding, I would have bid 3Nt after your partner bid 3♣ as all other commentators have said.

constructive bidding always wins against guesswork. in the long game. sometimes - this is obvious - the opponents can benefit from your bidding, but you should not be scared to use your methods as discussed with your partner. what a partnership need is a structured way of how they bid with different auctions and different hand shapes. look at meckwell relay precision. one of the worlds greatest bridge partnerships use many asking and relay bids to define hand shape and controls. if that means you end in good contract opposed to bad one, then that is where you need to be. even if the opponents have a picture of both hands shape/point count.

9 card suit you bid 5♥ and then let partner make the next decision. that stops them exploring slam in constructive way. there is no other bid. 6♥ is mad. pass is just non competing.

the asking bids should clarify what responder has: a minimum hand or much more. if I have 17+ points and opener bids only to game I bid on. there can be confusion when stiffs and voids are shown as reply to CABs except if you use relay to show these instead of aces/kings. the problem hands lie in the range of about c.11-14 where there is definite game and possible slam. however opener is almost always boss except if you have hand of strength like his. some judgement is needed I agree with that.

pass by gib north then balancing jump overcall of 4♥ by gib south!!! lol. robots have funny bidding methods. I have never seen balancing jump overcall of 4♥ in 4th seat before.

5431/4441 and 5440 shape do not bid well after a 2♣ opening, especially if longer suits are minor. this is what you are seeing now when responder is weak. is a 2♣ opening still a gf whatever garbage responder has? that is why there are so many comments about opening 1♠ on this hand, and why it is right action. big thing to realise is when you have so many high card points, the other hands will have so many fewer points and usually a weak hand. if I had a dollar for every time I opened 2♣ and found partner with <6hcp I would have quite a few dollars extra in my bank. lol. most players say that any 22+ hand should be opened 2♣ but that is not right as you have found out. strange thing also is that hands play better with similar number of points each opposite each other opposed to one big hand opposite a weak hand. with a big hand you have to play away from it on many times during play so you are leading away from strength.