pbleighton

One of my pds relayed the following to me, that many world-class players "never allow their opponents to play below 2NT". Allowing for poetic exaggeration, is this true, and would you recommend this approach to someone at my level (strong intermediate, above average club player)? I think that this would mean that after 1D-P-1NT-P-P-?, you would double with Qxxx-xxx-xx-xxx, and bid 2S with Qxxxx-xxx-x-xxx, well under the "king below" standard which most people (including me) seem to use as the criterion for balancing. How aggressive should you be after (say) 1D-P-1NT-P-P-? and 1H-P-2H-P-P-?, NV/Vul and IMPs and MPs? I am an aggressive bidder, and would like to "push the envelope" on balancing, but I don't want to be stupid. Peter

Playing against a 15-17 NT, what is the best way to defend against 1NT-P-P-?, and P-1NT-P-P-? (if different). Assume you play DONT (or something similar) in the direct seat, for the purposes of the discussion. 1) Should you play DONT in the balancing seat as well, or should you do something else? 2) What sort of hands would you balance with, which you would pass with in the direct seat? 3) How much difference does vulnerability and scoring make? Peter

In 2/1, respond 1NT forcing, and rebid clubs. After 1D, you can only bid 1NT natural. In SAYC, I would bid 2C with the hand you showed. Yes, you might get in trouble and owe partner an apology, but the hand has a lot of playing strength. Peter

"Hehe, Ben, I read that article too and was thinking to play 14-16. But there is another problem, with 12-13hcp balanced hand, esp. short diamond, if you have to open this hand, then 1d is the only choice. one reason i like precision is that you can avoid opening short suit. I really hate to open 1d with 2 or 3 cards and min hand. so after thought for a while, i gave up and go back to 13-15nt. with 12hcp balanced hand, i simply pass. now i can raise pd's d opening happily, esp. in competition." Do you then open all 5C4M hands 2C, no matter how bad the club suit? If so, how much trouble does this cause you? If you go with 2C guaranteeing 6 cards, then you can play any NT range you wnat, since 1D will be super-nebulous. BTW, looking at ccs from the Bermuda Bowl, I noticed some Precision pairs were using 2D as weak, and opening 1D with a void. What do folks think of this? Peter

Can anyone detail these, or give a link? Also, if you have played them, how do they compare to Stayman/transfers, and would they work well with a weak or mini notrump? Peter

I think it should be whatever flavor of Blackwood you are playing, though it would clearly be an unusual hand for 4NT to be a good bid. Certainly this would be true with a pickup pd. I will be interested to read the rationales for those who disagree. Pd has 5+ spades, so you are unlikely to have more than an 8 card fit (and maybe not even that) in either of your two suits. Peter

"Where is that free Beer ? Still waiting Mike" It's cyberbeer, and you're already drunk :)

With one pd, she will probably have 6 - 5D. With my other pd, - he won't have 6 - if he did he would bid 3D - 3D. Peter

Question on board 3 for all who don't choose 4S: If you have a reasonable chance at slam (AQxxx xx xxx Qxx was given as example), wouldn't your pd have jumped? Peter

1. all vulnerable (pairs) 1093 AJ9754 42 A4 pass - pass - 1D - 1H pass - 1NT - 2D - ? Pass. You are likely down one, and quite possibly two. NV I would bid 2H in a flash. 2. all vulnerable (teams) 9 AQJ8 AK942 AK3 What do you open? Assuming SA or 2/1, 1D. 2C is tempting, but where do you go if pd doesn't have 4 hearts or a spade stopper? 3. we vulnerable, they not (teams) K543 AK94 A6 AK7 3D - Dbl - pass - 3S pass - ? 4S. Peter

To each his own - I'd grant the undo personally, but it is perfectly reasonable not to. Peter

Luis - Did you play this in matchpoints as well as imps, and if so how did it work? Would you recommend this for a 10-12 NT range? Peter

Luis - Assuming a 12-14 range and no invitational bids, how much do you need to go to game? Peter

Off hand, can anyone tell me the relatively frequency of Two suited patterns 5521 hands 3.1739% 5330 hands 0.8952% 6511 hands 0.7053% 6520 hands 0.6511% Three suited patterns 4441 hands 2.9932% 5440 hands 1.2433% Peter

1) Sounds very interesting NV - do you plan to play this vul? 2) How will you handle "natural" 3C bids too weak for your 2C Moscito opener? Peter

"I am not a programmer so I have NO IDEA if this is feasible but... How hard would it be to develop a small program that generates an alert with explanation and suggested defenses." Hard. What you and Ron are suggesting is doable, but requires a ton of work to make happen in a complex, highly functional system such as BBO. The hypertext card would almost certainly have to be created by a BBO program, because you would essentially be using a pair's card as a data source for program operations, not just to display, so it would have to follow a highly standardized format. BTW, I think it is a gereat idea, if Uday and Fred ever get around to it. Peter (who is a programmer due to sins in a past life)

lenze writes: "On the subject of undisciplined pre-empts, I can only say this. Against good opponents, they may give you a tactical advantage. Against poor opponents, who will be in the wrong spot 60% of the time or more, you are throwing away your natural advantage. From my experience, when I make a weird pre-empt against a weak pair, I more than likely push them to a game they would have never bid on their own, and which I can NOT defeat." As a relatively new player (and improving, thanks in part to reading this Forum) who plays at an average club level, I will say that very aggressive preempting when not vulnerable has worked very well for me. Our opponents at our club are mostly below average to above average players, with a few poor and excellent players - median masterpoints about 400. NV, 1st seat, we will open a weak 2 with almost any 5 card suit 3-9 hcp - thanks ABCL. 2nd seat, we want some suit quality, 6-9 hcp, and no 4 card major side suit. We open complete garbage at the 3 level NV, 1st seat with a 6 card suit - 2nd seat too as long as our hcp are low enough :) We are also very aggressive on weak jump overcalls NV, doing this on 5 cards at the 2 level routinely. We have been doing this for about 5 months, about 50 boards a week. Our experience is: 1) When pd passes, we have only played doubled twice, once for a top, and once for a bottom. 2) Our major problem has been preempting ourselves, and we have adjusted 2nd seat openings accordingly, which has cut down on the problem substantially. 3) This is effective against all levels of players, in my experience. It is more effective against average and poor players. Stronger players tend to double more and pass and overcall less. However, we push all sorts of players into inferior contracts. 4) Thus far, against club competition, aggressive preempts and jump overcalls have been a substantial winner for us. So have light openings at the 1 level, BTW. 5) Ron is absolutely right on the need to be on the same page as your pd. I have another pd, typically conservative ACBL player, who expects me to "have my bid" - so I do. If I tried this s**t with her, it would be a disaster :) Peter

luke warm writes: "i play 14-17 in 4th seat, 10-13 the rest of the time.. i like this just fine" How do your results compare vu versus not vul? Peter

Luis - I played an 11-14 NT for a while , and have switched to 14-16 for systemic reasons. I have been thinking about extending the range up or down a point or half a point. Questions: 1) As responder, when inviting and going to game, are you "with-the-panel" - i.e. 8 invites and 10 accepts? If so, do you find yourself overbidding? If not, do you miss games others find? 2) Do you use some sort of extended Stayman to help you on this? Peter

"Correct me if I'm wrong - this is BEGINNER nad Intermediate string??? PLEASE all you EXPERTS please don't bring EXPERT comments here" Disagree - please comment all you want - any beginner/intermediate who reads the Forum regularly quickly learns that all of you guys disagree like crazy, and we bring a salt shaker along whenever we log in ;D

Free writes: "4. A new suit on 2-level below the opener's suit is also NF. Example: 1S-2D-2H isn't forcing. And even support of responder: 1S-2H-3H or 1H-2D-3D isn't forcing. Responder has no upper limit, opener shows minimal hand in these sequences." 1) So with GF values and hearts the bidding would go 1S-2D-3H? 2) I understand 1S-2H-3H as NF - it just invites to game in hearts, and you would go to 4H with GF values. I have always had a problem, though, with 1H-2D-3D. This must include some GF hands, or else what do you do with (say) 3514 and 2515 GF (but not huge) shapes. The responder then has a difficult choice when he has not quite GF values. Just guess? Peter

I have read that ACOL makes some sequences (such as 1H:2D, 2H) non-forcing (for the reponder's rebid) which are forcing in SAYC, in order to accomodate somewhat lower strength requirements for 2/1 responses. Questions: 1) Would this appoach also work with light openers, say a decent 10 opener versus a decent 10 2/1? 2) In the NF sequence 1H:2D, 2H, would 2H deny GF values, and specifically be weak (and playing 4 card majors, will be 5 cards frequently). This would mean that with GF values you jump to 3H. Correct? 3) When I play SAYC, the 2/1 responder is forced through 2NT, i.e. 1H:2D, 2NT is NF (with 14-16 NT this would always be <= 13). This would also be NF? 4) What other sequences are not forcing? Peter

In ACBL land, I play it as a straight weak two in diamonds. How weak depends on seat and vulnerablity: 1) Vul 1st seat - ok 6 card suit, 6-9 hcp 2) Vul 2nd seat - good 6 card suit, no 4 card major side suit, 6-9 hcp 3) NV 1st and 3rd seats - any 5 card suit, 3-9 hcp 4) NV 2nd seat - good 5 card suit or ok 6 card suit, no 4 card major side suit, 6-9 hcp 5) Vul 3rd seat - ok 5 card suit or any 6 card suit, 3-9 hcp Peter

"If I play a regional in Boston I can play Superchart stuff, but if I play a regional in Connecticut, I have to play GCC stuff?" Actually it's even weirder than that. Connecticut is in District 25. Regionals are governed by one body, sectionals by another. Go figure. Peter

In my state (Connecticut) sectionals are GCC. The TD at my club is somewhat flexible, and would let me play the Multi (for example), but he said there is no chance I could play any Mid Chart stuff in a sectional, even if I played in the A flight. Peter