pbleighton

ZERO grounds for an appeal. The TD was plain wrong, unless the EW card limited preempts to <11 hcp, which I gather it didn't. Preempts with 11 hcp aren't my cup of tea (I'd rather open at the 1 level, and with this hand would open 1D with any pd), but they are commonplace. A lot of players don't like to open at the one level with 11 hcp, especially in the minors. The TD fell into the trap of "Player opened Y and explained it as Y, I would open X with this hand, therefore the explanation is wrong and a penalty applies". I admire directors for the work they do, but this was a terrible ruling. It's also an unsportsmanlike director call by the opps. The double was also terrible. Peter

"There was a Canadian* called Fred, Who was asked what he did in bed, He said 'It doesnt involve sheep, As i count cards in my sleep, And i cant get 52 out of my head!!!'" Very uncharitable and inaccurate. Fred lives in Nevada, not Utah. Peter

Somewhat off topic... There once was a young man named Slothel Who worked in a smelly French brothel When he finished his work He started to jerk And his mouth went dripping and frothel Peter

I play a similar system which opens very light in the majors. We also open *almost* all 8-bad 11 counts with a six card major 2M. If we have an empty suit NV or near empty vul, then we treat it as a 5 card suit and open 1M. 1M-1NT-2M and 1H-1S-2H guarantee a decent 11 or more. In the first seat NV, we may open 2M below 8 if it's *just right*, but pd assumes 8-11 in his responses, and it's the opener's fault if he opens with 6 and we wind up too high. This has worked out well for us so far. Opening fairly bad 6 card suit 2M has pluses and minuses, and the ability for a 2M rebid to guarantee a normal opening bid is a huge plus. Peter

RHO preempts (say 3C) in the first seat. Your hand is too good for 3S. Which hands do you bid 4S with, and which do you double and then bid spades? 4S directly sets trump, so you (presumably) wouldn't do it with 5, but what other considerations are there? Is there any difference in strength, either minimum or maximum? Peter

"I like to have conversations with myself" Working on your "strong club"? Peter

1H. Peter

"HOWEVER, the risk of bidding 2/3♠ and luring opps into a making 4♥ is rather high, so you should pass and hope opps won't move above partscore. If they do end up bidding, then you might try 4♠." Agree. I would have bid 2S the first time, though. Peter

A good 3S opener, or maybe a little better. Peter

"This is an issue of captaincy. If you splinter you make opener captain so I strongly disagree with splinter. I want to be captain not opener. Of course many players just make random bids of conventions and do not understand the principle of captaincy." This is quite silly. The "principle of captaincy" doesn't tell you which bid is better. This is a judgment call: which feature of the hand do you want to emphasize, the six card suit, or the splinter. This determines which hand you want to be captain. 2H and 4D are both reasonable, unless you play splinters as only minimum GF hands (I don't). Finding pd with 3 hearts (which he would need to raise) when you have 6 is a lot less likely than finding pd with some diamond losers he'd like to dump. If you bid 2H and he bids 3D (not unlikely, given your singleton), you can't splinter. That's the basis of my judgment, but judgments vary :) "would like to know the percentage of 3S and 4D advocates here, very different evaluations for this hand behind, i would say." Not so much, I think. Both show significant slam interest, but allow the final contract to be 4S. Both bids are reasonable, IMO. 4D conveys more information, but 3S allows a potential cue bid of the CA at the 4 level. Peter

I would have bid 4D in the first round. 3S is right in the given auction, unless 4D would show a splinter. Peter

3C. Peter

North's double was crazy. All blame to him. Peter

None of the above ;) I think 4H is best, with 5C very close. 4C is too weak for 10 hcp. Pd for his bid is short in spades, so 3NT is out. Peter

With the DJ, I would bid 2NT. Peter

To the extent that there is blame, it is all North. What system and agreements are you playing? What do the 2NT and 3C bids mean? 2NT looks shaky to me, but if you play that 2S would promise 6, then it better than 2D. Does 3C show a reasonable 6 card suit and a decent hand? If it does, then 4C or 5C is better than 3NT. We've all been burned at the 5 level, however, so I don't think 3NT is terrible, particularly with an aceless minimum. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a lot of company in 3NT. I think 6C is very difficult to bid in standard methods. The stars are in alignment. 26 hcp and a 6-2 fit isn't the stuff percentage slams are made of, IMO. Peter

3H for me too. Peter

"I pass at both matchpoints (obvious imo) and IMPs (also clear)." Agree, except that it isn't that clear to me red at IMPs. There are days when I would bid 4H. Pd should have an excellent hand for a direct seat 3H call red, and my hand *could* be golden. I would always pass at matchpoints. Peter

"i'd be surprised if partner isn't 4162 or 4261... 7S" After 1D-1S-2NT in SAYC? What am I missing? Peter

6S. 34-35 hcp and a balanced versus a semibalanced hand, the grand is unlikely. Peter

Open 1S, if your pd will understand (most would), and 4S if she won't. Don't pass, whatever your agreements. Peter

5D. Even at matchpoints, I don't want to play 3NT with this hand (though it could be right), and slam is unlikely. Peter

Not sure where this one belongs, but: A partner and I are playing Precision, with 2/1 GF after 1M. We are trying to decide the best use of jump shifts after 1M. He doesn't like weak, I don't like Bergen. He suggests strong or invitational with 6+. To me, if you play 2/1 GF, then strong isn't that useful (comments?). Leaving invitational. What do you think of it? It seems that it can patch a hole after, say, 1S-1NT-3C, if you don't play WJS then 3C must be weak. What trump support should it show/deny? Should 1H-2S be treated differently? What you you play them as? Peter

"If you bid anything, I think you are showing no trust of pd." Agree completely. Also, 3C was fine. Peter

Chamaco: I played 14-16 for a while. IMO it is a strong NT, so treat it like 15-17. Against a strong NT, I like Meckwell better than DONT. Peter