pbleighton

"Given the rarity of a natural / preemptive weak 2 in clubs, I finding it surprising that there is a standard definition for the bid.... " Standard is as Standard does B) Anyone who uses 2C as weak is very likely to be an aggressive preempter. This does NOT make the 2C bid on this deal a psyche. Peter

3NT. I want to be in game with this hand. I want the lead coming around to me. Pd should be able to stop spades, and between the two of us we can probably stop hearts. Making 5C seems against the odds, and if we can make it we can probably make 3NT. Peter

"4♠ doesn't seem such a bad contract (and looks to be where you land after 3♣, as well)." Agree. Peter

Scared bridge wins some of the time. Peter

3D. I love the weak 2 club opening :P Peter

Double or 2C are both fine. I would probably double, but it's close. 2NT with a good hand and 5-4 is wrong. 3D was fine as a response, as would have been 3C. 4D was dreadful. Peter

1NT-2S in SAYC is weak and forces 3C, which is pass or correct to 3D. I wouldn't trust a pickup pd to know this, so I would transfer to hearts. Peter

"As far as remembering cards, don't think of it that way. If you are 100% dedicated to building a mental image of the unseen hands, you'll make a lot less errors." Well, I'm about 67.84% dedicated... B) Seriously, thanks for the advice. I try to figure out what suits my pd is likely to have from the bidding, and make some effort to use the play to enhance or confirm it. It's not counting, but it's better than nothing, and I'm (slowly) getting better at it. Peter

"You have to count, count count" Or don't, as the case may be ;) Peter

Caution: non-technical post follows: I started playing bridge 3 years ago. Things went fine for a couple of years, I progressed well, became a somewhat above average club player, then I started to (shock! horror!) plateau. I'm improving, but pretty gradually. This was difficult for me to accept. I'm successsful in an intellectually challenging field, have exceptional math ability, SO WHY CAN'T MY 50 YEAR OLD BRAIN REMEMBER HOW MANY DIAMONDS EAST HAS PLAYED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Grrrrrrr....... ;) I know what I have to do to get substantially better fairly quickly. I have to learn how to count out hands. The problem is, I don't want to expend the effort. I have a reasonable count when I declare, and usually have a rough idea when I defend, but if it comes down to having two winning cards left, and having to discard one, I'll get it wrong 25-30% of the time. This obviously has other ramifications for my (quite mediocre) defense. My declarer play has its limits, as well. I struggled with this for months. I began to enjoy bridge a lot less. I finally realized that 1. I wasn't motivated to learn how to count out hands. 2. I'm not really all that interested in playing defense. 3. While I'm a reasonable player now, and think I will improve, I will never be a strong A player, much less play at a national level (moaaaaannn). Not gonna happen. I'm a good bidder for my overall bridge level, and remain quite interested in bidding systems, but my card play skills are permanently limited by my decaying memory cells and my lack of motivation. I took a month off, then started playing again, but just online (no tournaments). As it happens, my primary partner came to a similar realization at the same time, so it worked out well. We are playing regularly again, with considerably less intense attitudes, and considerably more enjoyment. I will probably start up again with my other two pds, so I can have the privilege of playing three quite different bidding systems, which is the part of the game which really interests me. I post this to: 1. Inquire as to anyone else who has gone through a similar process, and 2. If anyone is going or will go through this micro-crisis, to let them know that there can be life after bridge ambition. Peter

3NT is OK, but 3S is better. Peter

"Reaching 6S with heavy preempting in your face is fine." Agree. I think reaching 7 even without interference is tough using standard methods, unless you are very good or very aggressive. After 1D-1S-4H, does East's hand look like slam to you? I don't think 1D-1S-4S does any better. Strong clubbers would have a better shot: 1C-1NT-2C(Stayman)-2S- WOW! Pd has at least 8 points and at least 2 diamonds. A simple 4NT would tell you what you need to know, or you can use whatever more sophisticated methods you have available. Peter

Pass at these colors. At equal vul, it would be very close. Peter

"Not for me, thankyouverymuch. 2♥ is sticking your neck out without creating any problem whatsoever to the opponents." Agree completely. I bid 3H without hesitation on this hand. Peter

4S. Because I envy Meckwell. Peter

The beauty of Forum bidding is that I can say with confidence that 6H is overly optimistic, given pd's pass over 5C. Peter

"Says who? Preempting is exercising judgement, not bidding as high as you can." Preempting is exercising judgement in how high you can bid. Peter

"North should have bid 1♠ iso 2♣, but problem arise after the 2♣ bid: You play SAYC but as a lot of people play it: a 2/1 bid does not promise a rebid!! How do you interprete the 3♣ bid here, considering that partner first passed? You could also have passed the 2♣. Does this make the 3♣ bid highly invitational? After the 2/1 South has enough points for 3NT. Should he bid someting else then 3♣, eg 3D?" 3C is highly invitational in this auction. South should have rebid 2D, which is forcing, or just bid 3NT, and damn the stoppers. But the real problem is that if North had bid 1S, the auction would have gone 1H-1S-2C-3C-3NT. Peter

"BTW, with my pard we respond to pard's 2C overcall as if hehad opened a Precision 2C (e.g. 2M inv Nonforcing, 2D Staymanic relay). Any opinion on this ?" Interesting. How does it work for you? How do you show a good hand with a 5cM? Peter

"...the casino is next door" No, it's right here :P Peter

"Granted I see these types of 2club overcalls all the time on BBO. Is this really a standard overcall in this situation?" I don't know if there is a "BBO Standard" for anything. That said, I would pass when vul (as in this hand), but bid 2C when not. Peter

"I'd appreciate it if someone could check the Encyclopedia of Bridge and see what it has to say" The definition of Fast Arrival, from my 6th edition: "The idea that the faster a contract is reached, the weaker the hand that places the contract; and, conversely, the slower the approach, the stronger the suggestion that a higher contract may be appropriate." Peter

Your pd should have passed. This is especially true since you were playing Precision, and he knew you were limited to 15 hcp. Peter

We don't have an eight card fit. 3NT. If I was xxx instead of 10xxx in clubs, I would consider 4H. Peter

"can a passed hand force to game" Oops - missed that it was a passed hand. My bad. Peter