pbleighton

Ron - "There are a number of schemes over a NT. One fairly unknown one, (in US), is SOAP - system over artificial pre emption 2C = H, resp bids 2D with no fit and 4S 2D = S resp bids 2H with no fit and 4S 2H/S = 4 cards in that suit and a longer m 2NT = 5/5 ms x = pens" What suit length does 2C/2D promise? What is the minimum normal hcp for these bids?

Looking at defenses to 1NT, the responses seem to fall into 3 categories: 1) Penalty double 2) 6 card suits (or a great 5) 3) hands with two 4 card suits Against a weak NT, it seems to me that something is missing - decent, but not great, 5 card majors. Game is not out of the question vs a weak NT, but it is almost certainly in a major, if it exists. Posters in other threads have made the point that the weak NT is rarely doubled successfully for penalties. So use double to show 6 card suits, as in DONT. Then: 2C shows clubs and another 2D shows hearts and spades 2H/2S shows a decent 5 card suit or better, and better values than normal in NT interference (perhaps 14+ hcp). I doubt that this particular scheme will work, but how do people think about a more constructive approach to overcalling a weak NT?

1) 6 spades. 2 aces more than partner has a right to expect, but not good enough for 7 (sigh). 2) GSF? 7 diamonds. If not GSF, what is it?

1) Will the event be one night only? How long will it run. 2) How do we watch it?

1) I'm a pig. I bid 6 clubs. 2) Yikes!

Luis: interesting points: Parameters to answer your questions are: 1) System - forcing club with limited openings vs "natural" - 10-12 range makes 1NT rebid very wide ranging - or makes 1C/1D opened with 2 sometimes to differentiate 1NNT rebids. 2) IMPS vs MPs - don't care much about big penalties when doubled - it's only a bottom! Still, weak NT better NV. Playing natural, mostly MPs with one partner, we play 11-14 all vuls. Watching it carefully - convinced it's a winner NV - not sure Vul - down 1 =100, down 2 = 200, as opposed to NV where down 1 or 2 not doubled can be a top score. Playing Precision (openers 11-15), IMPs, just started playing 10-12 NV, 14-16 Vul. Love 10-12 range.

I have started playing 11-14 NT (with SA, LOBs, including almost all 5M332 hands) with one partner, mostly due to things I have read in this Forum. I like it a lot - it is preemptive and solves a lot of rebid problems. However, rereading this post brings up a question: Yzerman writes: "There is DISTINCT advantage in major suit raise structures when playing 1m-1M-2M as 15-17 hands (15-17 dummy points)." We play that a NT rebid by opener shows 15-17 points - if opener has 11-14 balanced he would have opned 1NT. However, what do you do after opening hands like the following after 1D-P-1H-P-?: Qxx-AJxx-AJxxx-x (14 dummy points) or Qx-AJxx-AJxxx-xx (we would open this, many wouldn't) Is your point that the minimum hand with support for responder's major after 1m-1M will always have 2 points for shortness, and you don't open with less than 13 hcp (I'm guessing this is it), or do you advocate suppressing support for partner's major with dead minimum openers?

"Playing a spade to the queen is a common deceptive play that I have succesfully executed sometimes, is hard for a defender to realize you are starting your weakest suit, they will probably switch to hearts and then you knock down the cA and if they play another heart you win and claim... " Very clever, Luis! Would you do this at matchpoints?

Now, now boys..... :)

What does everyone think about stretching just a bit and reversing into 2 spades?

Not playing Voidwood, Kickback, etc.: 1D 2D Inverted Minors (holy cow!) 3D Min, but with 4 diamonds 3S Cue 4H Cue 5C will probably push auction past 5D, so 6D No guts, no glory Interesting to see how this will be bid with better methods.

Ben writes "You can use Jacoby on hands with a good suit of your own, but only where you have slam ambitions. This is not the hand for it. How do you play 1H-3NT? As a heart fit or not?" Thanks for your response, but I don't fully understand your response. 1) With the hand shown, why bother with hearts with the spade support you have? If you show hearts with 1S-2H, what is the likely auction which will tell you that partner has 5 hearts and 5 (not 6) spades? Apart from the low probability of the hand, how do you find out that hearts is a better fit? 2) I don't understand the relevance of your above quote. If my partner bid 3NT over 1H, I would assume 16-18 balanced, 2 hearts, and 3 spades. What am I missing? I am intrigued by "fit-jumps". Do they replace WJS and/or Bergen raises? Do they show 4+ trump support and are GF? What length/strength suit do they show? How often do they occur?

Ben writes" S - ATxxx, H - AJT9x, D - xx, C - x is "not strong enough IMHO for a jacoby 2NT" Why not? My understanding of the requirements is that the responder's hand be: 1) Strong enough to force to game 2) Four plus trumps 3) No interest in the other major One less trump and I would investigate hearts, but not with 5 trumps to the A10. Do you not think this is a GF hand, or do you reserve J2NT for stronger-than-minimum GF hands? I ask as someone who has actually played a J2NT sequence a grand total of 5 times, and reached small slam once (successfully!), so I am quite interested in your reply.

Maureen - an very non-expert stab: 1S 2NT Jacoby 2NT, GF, 4+ spades 3H heart s/t or void Responder huddles - on the one hand, short in a suit where I have cards, on the other, 10+ trumps and a short suit vs a different short suit. Feeling lucky, so: 4C - suppress heart ace, shows club control Dealer now happy 4NT RKC - 2 aces+ enough trumps to find the trump queen (useful lie courtesy of Roland) 7S feeling lucky

1) Although I make my name and email available, I can understand those who don't wish to do so (I am 48, FWIW). 2) However, I don't think that people should be allowed to designate their skill level as "Private". I will play with anyone, but I know there are a lot of stronger players who only want to partner with Advanced and Expert players. Better to let them know up front that I am an Intermediate (optimistically), than to have them play a hand or two, then leave.

1) Ben writes: "So that leaves us with 5 of a suit (same quess involved at the six level, although you are fairly certain you have at LEAST a 4-3 heart fit)" Fairly certain? Doesn't partner guarantee 4 - or is this not a negative double? 2) I would have assumed a negative double, showing hearts, then gone to 5 hearts (with my heart in my mouth ;D), because my spade void makes partner's heart holding likely to be 5, if it is at least 4. Double is the other possibility. With the partners I have played with, 4NT is Blackwood (it would be for me, too - Occam's razor is a useful tool for the ignorant!).

A good partner remembers that bridge is just a game.

Most will open 1D, unless the clubs are much stronger, or unless you have a hand which is strong enough to reverse. The reason you would bid 1D with a minimum opener is your rebid - if you open 1C you can't show your diamonds.

"I sit south, hold: S: AKXX H: XX D: AJ9XX C: AC I opened 1d, pd 1h, i rebid 1s, pd 1n, i leap to 3n. question: what is the scope of 1n in this sequence? I think my 1s is at most semi forcing, pd keep bidding, so his hand should be 8-10, so i bid 3n. but it turned out that his hand is: S: QXX H: JXXX D: QT C: QXXX i think pd should pass my 1s. any comments?" My two cents: 1) With this hand, I agree with you . Game is very unlikely, P has 3 card support with an honor, so 1S is a decent place to play. 2) The 1NT rebid normally shows 7 points (and your partner's hand is only worth 6, IMO), but if he held: S: XX H: KXXX D: QT C: QXXX he should rebid 1NT.

Two quite practical matters: 1) Assuming I play a relay system only after a strong one club opening, how often, in practice, will the opps interfere high/early enough so that the relay can't be used. 30%, 50%, 70%? 2) Full relays get the bidding pretty high. Can they be used effectively after a negative response to 1 club? Bottom line: If you play 1000 hands, in how many of them will you play a full relay after a strong club?

Both vul, matchpoints, my partner bid 1H, overcalled 1S. I held: AQ10x-A109xx-Kxx-x We were playing very basic Standard American, with straight Blackwood, no control-showing cue-bids. I looked at my hand, and said to myself that in spite of 13 hcp, this was worth a slam try. This was my partner's first time playing ftf duplicate, and he was playing a bit spooked (so, did I my first time a couple of months ago!), so I knew I would have to take the initiative. I went to 4NT, planning to go to 6H if partner showed 2 aces (hoping for more than a minimum as well as the two aces), which he did. Partner had a minimum, contract was down one, and it might have made with a good guess (think it was a diamond finesse, but it was late last night). Questions: What would you have done: 1) Under the actual circumstances of partner and bidding system 2) Playing a more sophisticated version of SA 3) Playing "standard" 2/1 4) Playing 2/1 with all the gadgets you want

"I have a bid... probably 3NT" ...and a bottle of rum!!!

"However, the most probable result of opening is a minor partial... small loss at MP" Not if the auction goes P-1H-P-2H - then it's a bottom :'(

After (1S)-P-(2S)-P-(P)-?, or something else that requires showing a suit at the 3 level, what do you need for that? After (1H)-P-(2H)-P-(P)-?, and you have AJxx-xx-Kxx-Qxxx, do you double, bid 2S, or pass? Generally, would you balance at the 2 level with an OK but not great 4 card suit?

One partner and I are now playing Standard American using weak NT and LOBs (open almost all 11s, and 10s with a reasonable 6 card suit or other good reason to open). We are struggling a bit with invitational ranges. From other threads I started, I got the input that invitational bids should still start at 11/a good 10 when using LOBs, the same as when using sound opening bids. This means an invitational bid can now be 3 hcp below GF, and not 2. In the sequence 1S - P - 3S - P - ?, what is your recommendation for the minimum hand to accept the invitation? In the sequence 1S - P - 2C - P - 2S - P - ?, what sort of hands should responder pass with that he wouldn't pass with if using sound opening bids (our criteria for rebids is that the suit can play at the 4 level opposite 3 small). And yes - we do play that a 2/1 responder can pass a rebid of opener's suit, or a raise of responder's suit, so we don't call it SAYC ;D! BTW, because we are using weak NT (11-14), a non-jump rebid of NT by the opener shows 15-17 hcp. Therefore with minimum 5332s with a 5 card major we open 1NT, unless we are comfortable rebidding the suit.