Douglas43

Thanks to all, very interesting. I'd never played (or played against) Smolen but there's an article on the BridgeBum site for anyone else out there in that situation and wants to know more: Smolen Bridge Convention - Bidding and Responses (bridgebum.com)

Hi Pilowsky As a pretty useless (and colour-blind) cricketer, I always used to draw some comfort from that, until I found out that Ian Botham is colour-blind. [For readers from non-cricketing countries, Sir Ian Botham was a match winner at international level both with the bat and in the field, his catching was outstanding] On the serious issue though; Some packs of cards use black for spades, grey for clubs, red for hearts and [i think] orange for diamonds. But mainly what matters for me is having big, clear, symbols because I pretty much ignore colour as a cue, I always start by looking for shapes, then try to make out colour as a backup..

OK. It does of course also depend on the agreed meaning of oppo's redouble. Assuming redouble is for blood and not SOS, I'm relying on partner to take out. Can I be making a penalty pass under the bidder and after a "strength and tolerance" bid on my right?

Yes, it does depend on agreement. We play all second suits as natural 4+ cards and FG and would rebid hearts (4♥ over 3NT) when we have 5-5. But as long as you have suitable agreements, Stayman should be fine as above.

Yes, it does depend on agreement. We play all second suits as natural 4+ cards and FG and would rebid hearts (4♥ over 3NT) when we have 5-5. But as long as you have suitable agreements, Stayman should be fine as above.

Hi Zelandakh, plenty of good points there, I'll do my best to reply: On opening very light at the one level, that would (as I understand it) be a genuine pysch as opposed to just light. My convention card indicates that third hand openings may be down to 9 hcp. Personally I prefer not to make outright pysches, and remember I am writing here for our local improvers; While I appreciate that you don't rate West's bid, EW have a current NGS rating as a pair of 62.63, which (at my standard anyway) makes them tough opponents, and they are friends of mine! If South had passed the negative double of 2C, I would have to bid 2H and pray. If he redoubles I can pass, which cannot be to play. Once again, your comments much appreciated

Might there be a route through a natural transfer sequence, if responder's second bid of 3♥ is FG and preference to 3♠ by opener is maximum on the principle of fast arrival? 1NT - 2♥ 2♠ - 3♥ 3♠- 4♣ 4♦ - 4 ♥ now I think opener with a maximum and knowledge of partner's club and heart controls is worth a 5♣ cue bid and you are heading to 6S?

I have a similar problem with an old laptop running Windows XP and Chrome. It gets me as far as the login page and seems to want to let me in, but then stalls. If a yellow box Vu-graph pops up clicking on it gets me in, but otherwise, no dice. There is a pinned discussion in this forum "I can't log in to BBO" - you might like to re-post to that?

With an unknown partner / no detailed agreement, yes. With an experienced / strong partner, probably not (no 2H bid)

If opening a weak NT, I would rebid 1NT=15-17. If we have a heart fit, we'll find it by checkback. Worst case outcome is partner bids 2S with 5 of them.

I stand corrected Nigel, You make a fair point about younger learners and my advice is age-specific. Please ignore it if you are a reader under 30. I learned as a teenager memorised all sort of gadgets really easily. Our university team included pairs playing Precision with all the whirly bits, Vienna Club, Schenken Club and a Strong Diamond system. Following a successful teaching programme by another person on the Island we have plenty of adults who are taking up bridge or returning to it at middle age and upwards. For them I would definitely recommend not over-complicating matters. The memory just doesn't seem to work the same way...

I agree with the possum. Many of these are not methods for inexperienced pairs. Landy is the simplest. If you want to play something more comprehensive with a regular partner, Astro is fine. There is a good description on the Bridgebum website here: Astro Bridge Convention - Bidding and Responses (bridgebum.com)

Astro is a step up from Landy in frequency and is reasonably easy to learn and play. As noted by other correspondents it has its limitations

Thanks nige1, Steve and mikeh, it's good to get extra comments and different views. I'm going to do a few of these as part of an initiative to work with local improvers, so I know they will appreciate seeing other perspectives. Do please keep an eye out for future posts and chip in. The opening gives North a choice of double or overcall 2C, either of which could be right on the day. Without it he has the world's easiest 1C opening and a tranquil sequence of 1C-1D-1S-1NT (or just 1C -1NT). As to whether 1D is good bridge, remember this is matchpointed pairs!

I chose pass too. Which is probably why AR is a world-class player and I'm not.

This is the first in an occasional series that I plan to post for players from the Isle of Man, looking at hands that came up in club bridge. Unless otherwise explained, bidding will be based on Acol (weak NT and 4 card majors) Is K106, 863, AK86, 763 worth an opening bid? Generally the answer would be "no" but in third position after two passes it might be, as we see from West's bid in the hand below. In this hand (Douglas Bridge Club 27/1/21, board 14) East dealt at love all, and passed, South passed too. West opened 1 Diamond and the competitive bidding proceeded as shown in the diagram below. The final result was that West played in 3♦ – 1, NS+50 [hv=pc=n&s=sa43hj94dj943cq82&w=skt6h863dak86c763&n=sj852hak7dqckjt54&e=sq97hqt52dt752ca9&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=pp1d2cd3cpp3dppp]399|300[/hv] The board was played at 8 tables. At six tables West passed; three of those North-Souths made 1NTwith overtrick(s) and the other three played in 2♣ (=, +1 and+2). One other West opened (choosing 1NT) and played there for -50. I would draw attention to four reasons why a light opening bid in third position on this hand was worthwhile: It indicates a good lead for partner. This is important because the best hand at the table is probably on your left, and you will often finish up defending;East-West are not vulnerable. Even if the contract had gone two down, minus 100 would still have been above average (five NS pairs made 110 or more), but -200 for two off vulnerable would be a zero.West can cope with partner's reply. If East bids a new suit, West can pass.NS were a strong pair who could be expected to get a good score if left to their own devices. The full hand, including the play can be found here: https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=nt|Douglas43 has sent you a hand. |st%7C%7Cpn%7Cmanxjohn%2CDouglas43%2CTadhg64%2Cfatbunny1%7Cmd%7C4SA43HJ94DJ943CQ82%2CSKT6H863DAK86C763%2CSJ852HAK7DQCKJT54%2CSQ97HQT52DT752CA9%7Csv%7Co%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard 14%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C1D%7Cmb%7C2C%7Cmb%7CD%7Cmb%7C3C%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C3D%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CC8%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CC9%7Cpc%7CCQ%7Cpc%7CC6%7Cpc%7CC5%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CDA%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CD2%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CHK%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CH5%7Cpc%7CH9%7Cpc%7CH6%7Cpc%7CH7%7Cpc%7CHQ%7Cpc%7CHJ%7Cpc%7CH8%7Cpc%7CHT%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CC7%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CS7%7Cpc%7CSA%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CS5%7Cpc%7CS4%7Cpc%7CST%7Cpc%7CSJ%7Cpc%7CSQ%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CD6%7Cpc%7CCT%7Cpc%7CDK%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CD7%7Cpc%7CD9%7Cpc%7CSK%7Cpc%7CCJ%7Cpc%7CS9%7Cpc%7CC2%7Cpc%7CD8%7Cpc%7CCK%7Cpc%7CDT%7Cpc%7CDJ%7C&v3b=web&v3v=5.6.22

Could you check please Zelandkh? I don't read the EBU system notes the same way. I think the first para says "bid up the line" and the second deals with a situation where showing the minor would have to be at the two level (e.g. partner opens 1H and you have four spades and five clubs): 2.3.1 Choice of suit With two 5-card or longer suits, bid the higher ranking if you intend to showboth suits in the most economical way. With two 4-card suits, bid the cheaper,i.e. the one which takes up least bidding space. If partner declines anopportunity to bid your other 4-card suit, you can safely ignore it and rebid inno trumps. With suits of unequal length, bid the longer first unless the hand is too weak torespond at the two level. Show a 4-card major at the one level in preference toa longer minor at the two level with fewer than 13 HCP. To bid the longerminor and then the 4-card major is called a Responder’s reverse and is forcingto game. For what it's worth I usually bid up the line, but look at suit quality for opening lead purposes, so might prefer to respond 1H on say KQxx ahead of diamonds of Jxxxx (somebody has the spades and it's not me). But there is no single "right" answer

Please ignore my comment below, I misread the auction. Sorry. I would lead SA. I agree with mikeh it's pretty much a guess and anything could be costly. Subject to partner's overcalls being reasonably sound, this may be OK (although if dummy has QJx, small spade is better). I'd have preferred 4S instead of 2D though, despite responder's 1NT. We have 10+ card fit and I'd like to tell partner a.s.a.p.

Weak NT anybody? If partner has five hearts he'll have started a transfer shutting out 2C, and if not he's still got the opportunity for a balancing double.

If it is an EBU event self-alerting on BBO is required even when it does not apply in face to face bridge: extract follows from the EBU's Sky Blue Book 2021 Sky-Blue Book (ebu.co.uk) ["BB" refers to the "Blue Book" which covers face to face bridge] "1.2 Alerting and announcing (BB 4, WB 1.3) EBU online games on BBO use ‘self-alerting’ – players alert their own calls, not their partner’s.This section assumes that alerting and explaining is using ‘self-alerting’ and the chat facilities,as provided by BBO and RealBridge. EBU events on RealBridge with ‘partner-alerting’ followthe face-to-face alerting and announcing procedures in the EBU Blue Book. 1.2.1 What to alertA player should alert any call that would be alerted or announced (by partner), as defined inBB 4 – so that includes NT opening ranges, transfers, Stayman and opening two-bids, as well asmore obviously conventional calls. Opening bids which are unexpected are alerted – including(potential) canapé and ‘always unbalanced’.Above 3NT, the rules in BB 4.B.4 do not apply for alerting bids and passes: bids and passesabove 3NT should continue to be alerted if artificial or unexpected...." [emphasis added] It seems only fair and sporting to self-alert, I'd be surprised if other governing bodies ruled differently

... and multiple sessions of the English Bridge Union Lockdown League which is a national team of 4 competition based on 8 board matches against human opponents, but which is evidently not counted for this purpose for reasons which are quite beyond me (and t.b.h. I don't much care)

Assuming 2C is strong and artificial, there are several possible schemes of responses. This is what I was brought up with and would assume to be in use if I sat down opposite a partner for a casual game: 2D is negative 0-7 (and over 2C-2D-2H/S 2NT is a second negative, showing a terrible hand) Any other suit bid is 8+ hcp and natural, should be a reasonable suit 2NT is a scruffy flattish 8-10 With my regular partner I play 2D as more of a relay and a very good quality suit is required for a positive (roughly AKJ1098) Control showing responses also used to be fashionable The Kokish convention by opener is also popular these days (2C-2D-2H is a relay) But there isn't really a "right" answer, just agree something and go with it

Some people play non-leaping Michaels, in which 4C over 3D would show clubs and a major. But I don't and would bid 4S like mikeh

If you were telling me off there Pilowsky, you did it with such grace and style that I couldn't possibly take offence. And yes, I probably was wandering off-topic

I am not sure that starting "False" is a very polite way to respond to another post, but putting that to one side; during the past two months I have played and completed every weekly free instant tournament, and most of the daily free tournaments. To the best of my recollection I have completed every one. I have played and completed 14 this month so far.