pbleighton

West is entirely in the clear. East, if anyone. I think the given auction is fairly reasonable, if timid. Peter

4H. Peter

3S. Peter

"Followup to 1♣ is not that hard: 1D = negative or 4441 1♥ = 5+♥ 1♠ = 5+♠ 1NT = balanced 8 - 11 2♣ = 5+♣ 2D = 5+D 2♥/♠ = 4 - 7 with long suit 2NT = balanced 12+ 3x = Semisolid 7-card suit with nothing on the side" I would change 1D to negative only and 3x to 4441 GF short in the bid suit. Peter

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea, only time would tell whether it would catch on... but I'd much rather the 2♦ opener was moved to 2♥" This would confuse ACBL players, who can't play it. My recollection is that Rigal's book advocates 2C as 6, or exceptionally as a very strong 5, with 1D = 2+ and NT = 14-16. Berkowitz' Precision Today pushes the same approach. What about asking bids ;) Peter

For me, the 1m-2NT invitaional response comes up pretty frequently. It prevents the opps from finding a major suit fit, and discloses little defensive information. Peter

Sorry, but I don't like it. You left out the reason people play 2C as having 5 - to clean up the 1D opener. If you disallow 5C4S in 2C, but allow 5C4H, your 1D opener is still nebulous, AND you don't know if 2C is 6. Peter (who plays 2C as 6)

Pass. Pd has made some sort of amorphous (to me) slam try, and I have no more than I promised. Realistically, 5H probabably means something specific to pd, but: 1) I don't know what it is (raise to slam with good trump support is the only thing I can think of), and 2) My hand stinks. Peter

1) 3H was an overbid. You are suggesting slam, when game is very dubious opposite a minimum. 2) 4S. Pd is as likely to have a singleton diamond as the king. You have already ovebid. Put on the brakes now. If pd has a big hand he will continue. Peter

3H. They probably can't make 4S, but they very likely can make 2. 3C is appealing, but a little much. I might bid it at teams. Peter

5C. It could be wrong, but make them guess. And you might make it. Peter

"I think that 4♠ is the more simple bid, but you all open 1♠ or use other conventions?" I play Namyats with one partner, but this hand isn't quite good enough for it, as you pointed out, so I would open 1S, but 4S is OK too. Peter

4S, unless you enjoy being robbed. Peter

A very experienced player at my club told me that systems with more than one forcing opening bid were illegal. I thought of the example of Benji Acol, and she said well, perhaps more than one at the one level was banned. I later thought of Magic Diamond and Fantoni-Nunes, and realized that internationally at least this was wrong. My question is, is it (or was it at some time in the past) true in the ACBL, or is this player (who is a strong Flight A player and plays her own homemade strong club system) just totally wrong? Peter

"1/. should I have raised 3 hearts (which you answered) 2/. should p with that hand just bid 4 hearts after my x" Yes and yes. You could have also bid 3H yourself, rather than double. Peter

"This "I'm a victim" - "black and white" mentality in a game full of shades of gray is what annoys me. I think the Eagles said it best: "Get Over It."" Yup. Peter

"After all, for most of us it's only a game..." "This isn’t the first time this comment has been made and it really gets me going! Its an all too easy excuse for poor play, poor alerting, poor td’ing. I don’t believe it ruins the entire match but it does cause frustration, should we not expect more and use these occasions to educate people? If everyone took that attitude, taken to the extreme we wouldn’t be playing bridge for much longer." Two suggestions: 1) Why take this attitude to the extreme? 2) Chill. Speaking for myself, I find my enjoyment of the game FAR more frequently diminished by those who take the game too seriously than by those who don't take it very seriously at all. I would rather deal with "what the heck" than with people who use any excuse to call the director, who berate their partners, and who generally don't have any clue that bridge really IS just a game. Peter

1) What do you bid and why? 3D, because of the self-sufficient suit. 3S is close. If my hearts and spades were reversed, I would bid 3H. As it is, pd is very unlikely to have 5 spades, so I show my big suit instead. If my hand was a bit stronger, I would bid 4D, GF. 2) Would 2NT by east have been a one round force instead of 2S? No. 3A) Is 2S game force? No. 3B) If yes, what do you respond with AKXX=AXXXX=XX=XX 3C) If no, is 3D game force now by W? No. 4) What hand type do you think 3C should show by W? 4sf to game, asking for a club stopper for 3NT. Peter

"I'm not sure whether it is because they don't want to go against their agreements, or just because it is their belief that passing is unlikely to be the winning action." It's both. 1) You have no idea what the 2C hand is like - it is unlimited. 2) Because of 1), you really can never have a hand where the chances of going down in game (that you know) is much more than 50%. 3) If you have a hand where you can somehow determine that it is 51% that any game goes down, you should still bid. Partnership trust has value. Peter

Agree with Pass. Not vul, I would open 3C like a shot. Peter

"Just because an action isn't considered normal, it doesn't make it illegal." Ye, I would assume it was a bad bid, not cheating. Peter

I agree with Richard, except to add that I would overcall 4D favorable. Peter

Three little words: Third seat favorable. 2S easy, in spite of 5332. Peter

"I'm wondering if the time isn't ripe for a more "middle of the road" team to come along, aggressive in spots, conservative in spots, that could dominate bridge close to the degree of The Blue Team? This would swing the course of bridge back the other way to a more "Centrist" position." I doubt it. Do you have any candidate pairs/teams? I don't think that world class pairs bid aggressively because it's enjoyable for them (though it is fun - and that is MY (very non-world class) reason for doing so). They bid aggressively because it works. They bid aggressively because if they didn't, their opponents would make too few mistakes. Peter

" East bids 4s we could assume 1) EW are novices and do not know how to bid. 2) EW have private understandings that the opp are entitled to know. These understandings may be based on implicit agreements rather than explicit system discussions from a long past history of this bid." I disagree. East has a huge hand, it is IMPs, he doesn't want to miss game. It's a tough call, but at IMPs I would probably bid 4S with a pickup partner. Peter