coyot

I'd still stick with negative double, showing 4 hearts with under-reverse strength. In this position, I have all the space I need to bid: 1) Weak balanced without stopper (pass) 2) Weak balanced with stopper (1NT) 3) Long clubs (2♣) 4) 4 diamonds (2♦) 5) Heart reverse (2♥). Of course, having the agreement with partner, I could happily pass as we would still find the heart suit if he has 4 of them - so this double could then be natural strong (15+ 4441 or 18-19 balanced, both times with 4 good spades).

I see two possible lines. The inferior one first. 1NT-2♥ 2♠-3♥ 4♥-4♠ 5♣-6♥ After transfer, I don't bother with clubs as I am looking for 4-4 major suit to play a game with the spades being used as discards (If partner fails to support either suit, he'll bid 3NT and perhaps 4♣ then would be still considered natural or semi. When I hear about the heart support, 4♠ must be a cuebid, because we don't want to play 4♠ on trumps 6-2 - that sounds like 4 discards into heart contract. After 5♣ there is the shot in the dark - partner could have red suits reversed. My favourite is bidding 54 via stayman. 1NT-2♣ 2♥-4♦ shortness confirming trumps and showing slam try. I'm fairly sure that partner would respond with 4♠ now (good values) and I could bid 5♦ (showing interest and void). With the ace in hearts, he bids 7, with the ace in diamonds he bids 6). Possibly after acceptance of the transfer, 2♠ could be used if forcing... and if partner bids 3♣, I'll happily bid 5♦ right now again - but run the risk of finding scattered diamond values and poor hearts and going down.

I would certainly feel that by opening the hand 1♠ the action already got out of control. Lead-directing... partner will lead his doubleton king, more often than not losing a natural trick Value-showing - we might end up in a bad 3NT or miss a good game in another suit, because partner thinks that his spade void is a liability rather than an asset. I'll gladly pass and wait what happens. On many hands, I'll be able to sell the spades later on reopen, or at least find out what partner has.

I like my odds in 6 clubs the best - partner should be able to ruff one or two hearts and possibly develop a spade or two for discards. I would probably close my eyes and bid 6♣ straight away :P - and hope that partner with Qx-Axx-Kxx-Axxxx would bid 7 :)

A pres co chces utahat 3NT? Ctyri trefovy, srdce, karo, porad ti tri zdvihy chybi, barvy se nebudou uplne dobre delit a predevsim si nezahrajes zadnej impas - a skoro to vypada, ze bys rad mel ty zdvihy shora. Pokud ma partner AKxxx v pikach a AKQx v trefech a trefy jsou 3-2, splnis 5 trefu stejne snadno jako 3NT (srdce, karo, 3 piky a bud dva snapy, nebo jeden snap a pata pika). Nenapada me moc rozloh (v kontextu drazby, kde ma zasahujici zcela urcite vetsinu chybejicich bodu), kde 3NT pujdou a 5 trefu nepujde.

Je pravda, ze kdyz na tu drazbu koukam, rikam si, ze je divny, ze jsem s garantovanym devitifitem pasoval na 2♥ - to si asi zaslouzilo 3♠ rovnou :P. Ale jinak nejsem takovy optimista - cekam, ze do pikoveho zavazku souperi vynesou piku, dobre, vezmu v ruce, snapnu srdci, ale zpatky se nejspis hned nedostanu - dalsi trumfnuti - takze si nejspis snapnu jen dve srdce a zbydou mi tri dalsi, od kterejch si budu muset hrat sam... takze ta obrana nebude nijak uzasne rentabilni...

Tak premyslim, jestli partner z mych 4♣ bude schopen odvodit srdcovy fit a pikovou kratkost :) - cekam, ze LHO jeste rekne 4♠ a ja pak reknu 5♥ - a chci, aby partner vedel, ze ty trefy mam fakt hezky... I kdyz, opacna moznost, rict nejdriv 4♥ a pak 5♣ ukazuje neco podobneho... ale preci jen mi ta prvni varianta prijde silnejsi - a ja chci udelat lehky slamovy pokus :o.

Ech, Mirone, nevim, kde beres jistotu, ze zahajitel nema srdcovy trilist. Pokud bude mit 5431 s karovejma hodnotama, klidne muze na 2♥ reversovat s plnym fitem. Jo, myslim, ze jsme je hrali jako non-forcing. :-) tu partii jsem si pak vybavil...

Prdlacky, Zdendo :o Rek jsem 3 srdce, ale VUBEC sem nechtel hrat 3NT. Jestli ma partner eso nebo damu v srdcich, mam v te partii velmi slusnou sanci splnit pet trefu. Reseni je snadne - jestli me pamet neklame, partner mel: Axxxx-xxx-K-AKQx, rekl na 3♥ 3♠ a nasledne zapasoval moje 4♣ za 130. Kdyby mel misto karoveho krale srdcovou damu, z donuceni rekne 3NT a ja skocim na 5 trefu, do kterych je sance na vysoky zdvih v kazde barve a pak modleni na 8 trefovych stychu nebo vypracovani jedne z nasich barev.

Pasuju... Souperi vypadaji, ze nemaji nejak uzasny fit srdcovy (btw, jsou u nich 2♥ forcing nebo ne? To je dost zasadni informace). Muj ma velmi pravdepodobne piky se srdcema - v tom pripade je v te partii vsechno blbe umistene a 4♠ se asi nevyplati. A jestli srdce nema, maji jich souperi prinejmensim 10, ale dost mozna i 11-12 a akorat je vyzenu do slamu.

Weak 2 is out of question, partners get mad at me when they lead their K from Kx against any contract :P. 1♠ could be considered, but I really dislike my values and will rather pass and see what happens. If my partner has some strength, perhaps my queens will gain more value. If LHO opens the bidding, I have a good reopen.

[hv=d=n&v=n&s=sqhkxda10xxxxcxxxx]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Hrajete SA 2/1 GF... Drazba pocinaje severem: 1♠-p-1NT*-2♥ 3♣-p-? 1NT semiforcing (muze byt trilisty fit v sile na vyzvu, takze lze pasovat pouze s osklivym minimem zahajeni, kdyz nechcete hrat ani 3 piky.). Co budete drazit? (Zadne specialni dohody nejsou).

Pass and pass. On the first hand, we're not too likely to have anything better than 2 minor 8-card fits (if partner is 5134) - that against estimated 9card heart suit of opponents gives something like 18-19 tricks, definitely not 20. Let's put it this way - if partner has spade or heart ace, the odds of beating 4♥ are pretty good. And if he does not have it, we would need just about everything in minors to work - and in that case, we can still defeat 4♥ 1-3 times. Especially considering the MP, the double might be a bit more aggressive, so let's hope it'll work :). On the second hand, I'd like to know more... How many losers does the 2♠ promise? What does 4♥ from opponents mean? (Weak 5card? Do they have any strong bids available?). If I'm reasonably sure that they have 10+ hearts together, I'd try 5♦, as my partner is likely to have something like AQxxxx-void-Kxx(x)-xxx. 5♦ should go just made (or one down if opps have their game). If 4♥ is "to play based on strength", I'd probably pass unless I'm sure that partner has to have a good hand (meaning he'll cash ace of spades, give me ruff, get in with diamond king and give me another ruff :)).

coyot je Viktor ;). Tahle partie je dobra ukazka toho, jak je dobre mit aspon hrube partnerske dohody ohledne sily listu... Obecne ve sledu pas-2blok-? jsou k dispozici hlasky: 1) pas 2) 3 v barve 3) 3 v barve bloku 4) konecny zavazek 5) kontra. Ja osobne bych to videl tak, ze s 12-13HCP klidne pasuju, nez abych se cpal na treti stupen. Na cuebid se v tomhle pripade necitim, davaje dva pikove zdvihy. Jaka by ale mela byt sila listu na kontra? Respektive, s cim bych mel skakat na ctyri srdce? Jake rozmezi (zdvihove/silove) byste na takove ctyri srdce od partnera cekali? Cim dal tim vic o tom premyslim, tak si rikam, ze je to na 4H rovnou opravdu zbytecne hezka karta, nemel jsem se bat priblokovani soupere.

[hv=d=s&s=sxhkqxxdkxcaj10xxx]133|100|Scoring: IMP 1♣-pass-1♦-2♠ pass-pass-x-pass[/hv] Co myslite, ze Vas partner na tohle kontra ma? Hrajete Walshe, takze s 5♦ a 4♥ odpovidajici dava prednost ♦ v pripade, ze ma na GF, kdykoliv jindy 1♦ vylucuje drahy ctyrlist.

[hv=d=n&v=n&s=sxxhakqxxxxxdkxca]133|100|Scoring: IMP Drazba pass - 2♠ destruktivka[/hv] Jak budete drazit? Ja to u stolu zazdil (aspon se na tom shodli vsichni ostatni kolem stolu)... Tak schvalne, jestli se nekdo z vas nachyta a zazdi to taky...

[hv=d=e&v=e&s=sxhxxxdkxxcakqxxx]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Mate domluveneho Cappelettiho, East zahajil slabym bezem. Pripominam, ze Capelletti funguje takto: x - trestne, melo by slibovat nejmene stejne bodu, jako je horni hranice NT soupere. 2♣- nejaka 6barva, partner vicemene povinne drazi 2♦, leda ze by mel nejakou vlastni 6barvu. 2♦ - 44+ na drahych 2M - 5 v drahe a 4+ v levne 2NT 55 na levnych. (Pripadnou dalsi drazbu dodam, az se nekdo ozve se stejnou hlaskou, jaka padla u naseho stolu.)

Bidding 4♠ takes much more guts than doubling it with a 20HCP hand :huh: Or, is it "guts" or just "lack of thinking"? Partner failed to come up with a takeout, so he is in the (8)9-11 HCP range, he could still have up to bad 15 HCP (give him 2 spades, 3 hearts and 44 in minors and he simply does not have a good bid). 3♠ would be about right - it has decent chances to make against many of the possible hands and does not commit us to a very phantom sacrifice (in the case of a few working tenaces in partner's hand, also given the chance to play this hand on crossruffs as defenders.

Doubled michaels is the best thing that can happen to you, especially if partner is able to jump-raise your known suit, leaving opps in the dark about the other suit. Plus, partner with 2 spades and 3 clubs could bid 2♠, or not? Why go to 3rd level with 8 trumps if we can stay on 2nd level on 7? Especially following the no-double no-trouble principle. Agree with that - having a two suiter opps don't know about might help me make 2♠ doubled. I don't think this big money is endangered by Michaels. The 5-5 shape gives better playing strength than any 6331. If you want to bid 4♠ over 4♥, you expect partner to have 4 spades, don't you? And don't you think that he would bid 4♠ against 5-5 as well? (Because he either supports your second suit or can contribute two ruffs of it). The only advantage of 2♠ would be keeping the 5card in clubs hidden from the opponents, but, then, preempting on a bare 6th queen in red is no big deal...

In the Michaels camp. We play this as spades + any, weak or strong. 2♠ would be criminal if partner has 5 clubs to Jack and 0-2 spades. The sixth spade is good to compensate for lack of middle values in the otherwise promised 5-5. Sure, if we have no good fit, I've just warned the opponents about the bad splits... but: If we have spade 9-10fit, a quick 4♠ from partner will leave the opps in the dark. They might have 10 diamonds and be afraid to bid them. (Yes, happenned to me recently as a victim - I could not determine which minor the Michaels overcalled had and missed a cold slam, fearing my Kx was under tenace). If we have clubs, we might find a good sacrifice on cross-ruffs.

Agree with the system that shows good doubleton aka ruffing power. If you manage to hit partner's empty side suit, this might be two extra tricks to make the game contract while everyone else plays in 2M+2. I don't worry about giving too much information to opponents (which might help them to defeat my partscore) if it allows me to bid good game contracts.

But that's not the point of this thread :). Following a correct strategy and exercising judgement is a GENERAL rule that you should follow - and it is assumed here.

Ridiculously slow? Hmm, played behind screens once and we were having problems with the 8minute limit per board only when opps bid a few slams that were almost impossible to make. So it might be a bit slower when it comes down to interrogating opponents about what their bids exactly mean... but, then, I enjoyed it anyway because screens somehow encourage people to provide full disclosure more willingly. I certainly like Sigi's idea and I don't think it would be any hard to implement.

This hand could take 3♥ from north. Diamond void in the short trump hand indicates that it would even be possible to make 4♥ on Moysian fit. The club suit looks pretty nice and has two side entries that would be available even after drawing trump. South cannot IMHO bid more than 2♥ - outside hearts, the values are scatterred and of doubtful usefulness. After hearing 3♥, no doubt about accepting, though.

Looks like keylime suffers from the problem of bashing a convention he does not know how to use properly :). Or did he just try to come up with as long list as possible? I happen to use about 70% of what he denounces above - and I don't seem to suffer from most of the problems. A few examples: Two-suiter overcalls - these are NOT mandatory. If I don't think our side could either defend their contract or bid something constructive, I don't use them. Same for Bergen's preemptive raises - if the hand seems to have no chance for making the contract, I simply don't bid it. 2/1 can be made with good 6card suits and 10HCP - it requires only a slight modification For most of the other conventions, I could come up with similar description... If you learn how and when to employ those conventions properly, you'll find most of them much less bad...