nadroj

given 1) your p didn't xfer to clubs originally and 2) your p freely bid to 3C, then i believe your double was at the very least understandable... given the same auction, and if you had the same hand 100 times, i'd expect you to come out the imp winner in the long run ... you had every reason to expect 4 tricks in hand, given rho's bidding, and your pard's bidding doesn't come close to suggesting a total bust... i wouldn't be surprised if he showed up with both black kings

heart king, trump a spade, club ace, trump a club, diamond to ace, trump a club, trump a spade, trump last club give up 2 diamonds at end

what's the problem? inquiry did exactly the right thing... as far as his partner knew he had 2 or more diamonds, period... and as someone else pointed out, very few of us have failed to respond 1S to our pard's 1H opening holding a stiff spade... sometimes :D ... but the point is, our pard has every right to expect a "natural and forcing" bid, and we shouldn't moan loudly (or publicly) when she jumps to 4S

.. for someone in the baton rouge, la area as a regular partner (live and/or online)

i agree with almost all of wotan's list... serious 3nt is a great tool, as is 2nt showing the 13-15 balanced range instead of the jacoby treatment (over 1M)... i hate gerber, love nmf or checkback... i much prefer either minor suit rkc or kickback to using 4nt as rkc all the time, but then i like exclusion and not everyone does i've grown fond of kokish lately, but it's easy to misuse... and i think lebensohl is a must for anyone... to me, udca with 2/4 leads are musts also