Douglas43

It's harder to evaluate opposite 2♥ that might be a five card suit. Even if partner has five they can normally find another bid. I'm going to assume partner has 6 or 7 anyway and evaluate my hand opposite a weak two. KQxxxx and out gives us 9 tricks on top. 3♥ at pairs, 4♥ at teams. As this is the novice and beginner forum I'll add: bidding 2H with only a five card suit is definitely not standard, I would recommend a six card suit.

Quite like playing 3NT=16-18. Allows more dialogue on the 13-15 hands.

So nothing to do with Putin copying Hitler's playbook for nibbling at territory? He knows NATO in Europe is a defensive alliance and there's no way a 30-country alliance would launch an attack on Russia (as opposed to defend its members against attack). But if you were a small country bordering Russia, would you (a) think let's join Nato now before we're attacked, or (b) I'll sit here and hope for the best, that Mr Putin seems like a decent chap.

Just dawned on me that BS means Brown Sticker. That's a relief. I've seen plenty of the other sort of bs conventions over the years.

I'm with the 4NT bidders. Over 4 of a suit, wanting to bid 4NT to play seems like a low-frequency occurrence compared to having a two-suiter

Once upon a time I opened 1♣ with Qx. 4♣ on my left, 6♣ from partner. We had an agreement that 5♣ would be pick a suit, so I decided that 6♣ must be exposing a psyche...

I would have expected 6♠ to include a void, with no exclusion available.

I suppose it is a hazard of 5cm / strong NT that you may be stuck bidding 2♥ with a weak hand that has 4 hearts, 3 diamonds, no spade stop and inadequate club support. But why on earth would bidding 2♣ not promise another bid?

Anyone who uses 4NT with xx in opponents' suit and a void in a side suit deserves no better imo. Let me guess, robot led a diamond and they made 12?

If in any doubt about the meaning of other bids, I'd bid 2♦. FWIW our agreement on 2NT is an aceless 8-10 with at least Jxx or Qx in each suit, so I wouldn't use 2NT on this.

The free daylong robot tournaments (look under "competitive" and "daylong tournaments") are also a good feature. You can look at the results the next day and see what happened. Today (14 Feb) is "just declare"

My worry is that unless the angel also whispers in my partner's ear that it's only an 8 card fit, we might well get too high

Two level overcalls, vulnerable, on a flat hand with an empty suit, are very unlikely to pay dividends. And next time when it would be right for advancer to compete, they will be guessing whether to bid or not.

Putting aside the 1NT opening and looking at responder's situation. If the psyching responder has 1 or 2 spades, the most likely holding for opener is 3 or 4 spades. That means one of the defending side is quite likely to have a take-out double, which their partner can cheerfully pass for a chunky penalty (or force a run-out to a higher level). If responder consistently hits shortage in opener's hand, that's another matter.

Given that opener has bad diamonds, good controls outside, a decent 4 card major (and three cards in the other major), there are many ways opener's choice can go wrong. You just were unlucky.

Thank you, a logical use for the 4♣ bid

Thanks, that's a really interesting defence, surprised I hadn't come across it. And it keeps a penalty double which is handy in the UK. Copied below for other lazy readers like me. HELLO 2 Relay to 2 . Confirm a diamond overcall by passing, or convert the forced diamond response to a major to show a major/minor two-suiter. Advancer uses 3C asking intervener to pass or correct (improvement update in 2nd printing). 2 TRANSFER overcall to HEARTS 2 BOTH MAJORS. Achieves transfer effect when Advancer chooses spades.2 SPADES. A natural, space-consuming overcall. 2 NTTRANSFER overcall to CLUBS 3 BOTH MINORS. Achieves transfer effect when the Advancer chooses diamonds 3 BOTH MAJORS. Massive playing strength. The forced transfer eliminates the risk of a pass of 2 hearts (both majors) by Advancer. DBLPENALTY. Most often based on tricks from a good suit. Occasionally a very strong, balanced hand.

Just out of curiosity, what is the HELLO convention please?

I would prefer to respond 2♥ as it's more descriptive than bidding a minor. I know 2♥ normally shows five, but where's the harm? If partner raises we can always go back to spades. 1♠-2♥-3♥-3♠ should be forcing in Acol, but with a rusty partner I'd prefer 4♦ or 4♠ over 3♥.

Hi Shugart, coincidentally a similar question was raised quite recently in a different BBO forum, although the poster just said "weak NT" without specifying the range. Weak 1NT - BBO Discussion Forums (bridgebase.com) Views were split, partly i.m.o. because discussion branched out into the "mini" no-trump of say 9-12. In the UK where 12-14 is a really popular range, pairs playing anything other than transfers are rare as hens' teeth. The only real differences from common practice in North America are (a) "garbage Stayman" is standard (it was referenced in print in the late 1940's by S J Simon and was taken for granted when I learned in the 1970's) and (b) Smolen is seldom played. When it was referred to in BBO forums, I had to look it up.

Thanks for those comments. I was focussing on the rule of 15 aspect, but yes, I would open the West hand myself.

You are in fourth seat. Left-hand opponent, partner and right-hand opponent all pass. You have a borderline opening bid. Do you bid or do you pass? This hand from a BBO instant tournament is an example of that decision: [hv=pc=n&s=sqhk64dqt832caj87&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=ppp]133|200[/hv] Help is at hand in the form of the "Pearson Count" or "rule of 15". You add up your high card points and your number of spades. If they reach 15 you open, if not, you pass the hand out. In this case you have 12 hcp and only 1 spade, so a Pearson Count of 13, and a definite pass. The rule of 15 works on the principle that when both sides have about the same number of points, the side with the spades can play the hand a level lower than the side without. And where your hand does not meet the rule of 15, it's usually the opponents who have the spades. In bridge no method is infallible and sometimes you will get a lousy score, but I think I average over 60% by following the rule of 15, which is a good return for doing nothing. The excellent BridgeBum website (run by Jeff Tang from North America) describes this in more detail: Pearson Points (Rule of 15) - Bridge Hand Evaluation When Bidding (bridgebum.com) On this hand about 80 out of 373 players passed, and they scored 84%. About 20 made 2♦ for a better score. The remaining 270-odd got a minus score. Actually partner had the spades, but it didn't help much. The full hand: [hv=pc=n&s=sqhk64dqt832caj87&w=st987hajt72dkck54&n=saj432h853d965cq9&e=sk65hq9daj74ct632&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=pppp]399|300[/hv]

Alternatively, with a mangy spade suit and an awkward rebid, you might open 1NT. I'd probably go for 1♠ myself, but wouldn't fault 1NT.

I think that's the reaction of many strong NT players to the idea of 12-14. They expect it to be a lot riskier than 15-17, but getting doubled for a bad score is actually very rare. It does have a useful pre-emptive effect, but the minimum standard (particularly vulnerable) is higher than for opening one of a minor on a mangy 11 count and a 3 card suit. My advice would be, don't get so carried away with the the pre-empt effect that you don't give yourself the best opportunity on constructive hands. I don't play a mini no-trump because 12-14 allows you to use the common 12-14, 15-17, 18-19 hcp brackets, those who open 10-12 might have a different perspective.

Yes the "siding" effects of transfers are less important with weak NT, but the constructive value makes them worthwhile i.m.o.. Take this sequence from a simultaneous pairs on Tuesday where I opened a weak NT including a 5 card heart suit: 1NT-2♥* - 2♠-3♦-3♥ "I've got five of these pard" -4♥ Without transfers we'd be in a hopeless 3NT on the natural club lead