dcvetkov

[hv=s=sakqj10xhqxdqjxxcx]133|100|[/hv] partner you Pass 1♠ 1NT ?? 1Nt is not forcing on passed hand. What is your rebid? Do you have some order of preference between 2♦, 2♠, 2NT, 3♠ or something else and which one will work out most of the time? Scoring is MP, if that will affect yhour decision, non vull all

Nobody psyches it because the default is penalty. I have found, in my very limited experience, that doubles work best going against the field. If everybody else plays the X here as penalty, then nobody will psyche (or even push) 1♥. Therefore, you don't need to play it as penalty, you can play it as responsive. With one partnership, we've taken this to the extreme of playing Fishbein, so that X's of opening 2 and 3 bids is penalty. Works great! People are so used to not getting penalty doubled for their pre-emptive openings that they open all sorts of crazy crap pre-emptively. Of course, these aren't expert fields. Must be a term for it, where the field being one way protects you from having to do the same. I have serious doubts that Fishbain penalty for 2 and 3 level works so great. One of the reasons is the frequency, how often are you dealt KQ109 in trhe opener's suit? Besides, partner can always reopen in the last seat with the right hand, and vulnerability willl be right probably less then 50% of the time, and also they can get into more higher or inferior contract like 3NT where you can dbl for lead in opener suit. I admit sometimes you will hit a winner with 800 when your side cant make a game, but I would not hold my breath for these hands. The reason negative, responsive , reopening and other doubles are so popular it that the hands suitable for these bids come much more often, and they cover large variety of hands. Just my 2 cents

yupp I may forget this rule with AKQ,Txxxx;AK,xxx on lead against 3 NT but not with much less... Depends on the bidding :) I had an unlucky evening years ago when I led twice a short suit instead of my 4 card unbid one, it turned out that both times we had 4-5 fit and I scored a big zero. Ever since then this ones become a no brainer. well, I disagree that this rule should be followed blindly. When you have one jack in your hand and zero chances of getting in,, leading from 10xxx is almost pointless, unless you can reasonably deduct that partner has length of 4 or more in the same suit. I agree is easier in post mortem with 4th always if the lead did not work, but as always you got to use your brain and all available information. In MP, if you have yarborough, there are overtricks to consider, so if you think contract is likely making, passive lead may be better, like 10 from 109x in favour of low from 10xxx.

Recently, I finished a great book by Alan Trustcot,, its called New York Times -, Bridge book, anegdotes, stories etc... its fun and interesting read to the non-bridge player also, from the beginning of Culbertson era to present days. There is separate chapter for a cheating and there are couple of subtle mentioning of improper play on high stakes championships several times through the book. ( Countries like Indonesia, England, italy, Austria are mentioned) It was interesting to me that, member of the famous Blue team were implicated, like Beladonna, Forguet, and some people I forget. There were questioned, but as in famous Reese scandal, it was poorly handled by WBF, and they were aquitted with some request like never to play together again. Beladonna retired soon after. I guess I was hoping to start a discussion on the following lines.. - How much great Blue team success is attributed to unfair advantage, by your opinion - Do you beleive there can be cheating ( or is there) on a high tournament scene, or screens virtually eliminated cheating ( great innovation I must say, I forgot the inventor, he is also mentioned in the book) - Cheating in online bridge ( ok, we all know this, maybe this can be ignored :) )

Ditto.... I agree with this If parther makes another move, out hand looks good enough for slam and will play well opposite something like 3-1-6-3 AKx x AKQxxx xxx AQx x AK109xx Kxx Axx x AKQxxx KQx

Because it is sad to loose first 5 tricks when you have 11 (or 12) in diamonds, what is the correct meaning or 3♠, I don't know. Losing first 5 tricks? In which suit? Partner would not bid 2NT with nothing in spades, the unbid suit and we have the jack as a bonus. Yes, 3NT can go down, but not with losing the first 5 tricks, that is very unlikely.

I dont really see why we should bid anything else then 3NT. Yes we have nice couple of aces and kings, but 3NT is bidding what we have and it should show 2-5-2-4 distribution and its probably the best contract. Partner can make one more try with a big hand, like AKx, x AKxxxx Kxx 3♠ I believe can be one of the two mentioned above - Still probe for 3NT, doubt - Slam try agreeing diamonds, Cue bid Not sure which one makes more sense or its more frequent.

14 HCP + for 2/1? I guess one have to wait a lot of time to get the lucky number 14... and what does he do with 13, or good 12? 1NT forcing? Invitational jumps? Which reminds me of one of the disadvantages of light 1st and 2nd openings.... Responder never knows when to take you seriously or he should assume 11 with the opener always ... In this case he will have a lot of awkward hands in the 12-13 range with a no good rebid. 1NT with 13?? grrr, I know I am not in that camp

I trhink you have to consider overtricks in MP. Both spade and diamonds are dangerous and likely to blow a trick. Queen of clubs also, its too likely to hit K10x in dummy, so heart looks most passive and it may work out fine. in IMP, queen of clubs offers best chance to set the contract, it needs one decent card from partner, but also need to find him with length, and something tells me opener is loaded in minors. So I think I will try 8 of spades. Heart may work out but we need to find partner with a lot of goodies in ♥. Better to hope he has 4 or 5 decent spades and we have what looks like 1 entry. Partner is marked with 8-10 points.

What a bunch of crap. :D As I've said before and will say again - by having a reverse show no extras, rebids can show length, meaning we will get to our 6/2 fits with plenty of room to find out slam interest or not. :) Reversing without full values will to more disasters and will outweigh the gains ( small, the biggest benefits I think its getting to 4-4 spade fit which may be missed) . Often partners will get to 5 level with no idea where they are going and whether they have enough values for slam, like other people said. And what do you do when you have a real reverse? Same bid, and we'll catch up later? Jump? BTW, Mike Lawrence in his book and CD, not recommends, but demands reverses and 3 level bid to show full values for such bids.... In that regard, rebid of the opener's major does not promises 6, just says " I have no other convenient rebid at this time"' Inconvenient? Maybe. but will lead to more consistent contracts.

North has a game values opposite takeout double with a assumed diamond shortness, even if it is a underhog double in 4th seat.... So North should take the blame, South really can not do more. AS how to get there, starting with 2♦ cuebid seems best, but the usual treatment is that South should bid his 4 card major, so it can get complicated... or very hard to get to 5♣.

Countdown to better bridge Great book by Hugh Kelsey Clearly explained concepts, forcing you to think and count, count, and then count some more. I got it from library , probably its a rare find

To all the ones who said that this is GF, how do you bid the 18-19 balanced hands, which should just invite? Do you fake a reverse? Do you have a special treatment to show this? Playing it as GF, I dont see a lot of appeal. Presumably then it should be 19-20 hcp, but with most 20 balanced you would open 2NT. Also, most of my partners will stretch to respond light to bid 1 of major with reasonable hand, which means with less then 5 points. Then you need to add Wollf or some sort of checkback agreement to be able to sign off at 3 level. I think more interesting are the follow ups after 2NT 1) What does rebidding responder major at 3 level show? 2) What does rebidding responder major at 4 level show? 3) What does bidding a new major by resonder at 3 level show? 4) What does returing to opener minor show? 5) 3♣? Checkback Stayman or relay to 3♦? Thanks

2S is better by a good margin. Descriptive bid, and partner will be well placed to make decision for partscores. He may not expect this much, but I would not worry about missing a close game. We should do fine with 140 or 170 here

Is this really rule? Word always I thought does not exist in bridge;) I can think of two exceptions, at least 1). Forcing game. when u have 4 reasonably strongish trumps, and a side 4 or 5 card suit, forcing game would take a precedence over singleton lead. Essentially you are hoping to take control of the hand, and leading singleton and shortening your trumps generally helps declarer. of course, bidding has to be taken into consideration. 2) When you are fully loaded, like 15 HP, and opponents are in game ( you have couple of aces or Kings) , usually you can forget about ruffs, even if you have Axx in trumps. Chances partner will get in are almost zero, and your lead can help declarer if partner has something like Qxxx or Jxxx. Make passive lead. However when you have yarborough, like usual, it pays to lead singleton, even when u have no control in trumps. Chances are partner will get the lead once or twice, so its reasonable to expect he has the ace of your suit led, or can get in trumps, A or K. You may even score 2 ruffs or more. My 2 cents

Pass I agree with Justin here. Partner will stretch to bid game on a lot of marginal hands and we know where is the king of clubs. Seems 3NT is more likely to make then 4H, but we can not bid NT with those diamonds.

Ok lets try again;) Maybe I was doing it half asleep Does this hand qualify for this auction? 1S - 2 C 4S AKQJxx Qxx xx xx or AKQJxxx Qx xx xx Solid or semisolid spades, no controls in unbid suits, no slam interest. less then 3 clubs.

What is 4♠ over 2♣ Non existant. Does 4S over 2C really not exist? What about fast arrival, no first or second control in the unbid suit, and semi solid spades. I think some 6-3-2-2 or 7-2-2-2 minimal opening may fit KQJ10xx Qxx Ax xx Reponder is warned to proceed toward slam with caution. It does consume a lot of space, but descriptive, just wondering.

Despite the adverse effects of vulnerability and 4 card major, I suspect quite a few players would make a weak 2 bid, which has a lot of appeal in third seat. LHO is marked with a good hand, and they are almost cold for game.

I agree that partner pass is not forcing. I dont think I agree however that pass is so clear cut. That hand had some flaws, both offensively and defensively, like spades are breaking 2-2 probably, which is bad, and too many heart which mean not many heart tricks cashing, but you hate opponents stealing. However, we have nice intermediates and opponents are outgunned in MP. I think in MP we have to protect out +140 with dbl. 4H is unlikely to make due to our flat hand, and minimum, but we can bet +50 will be a poor score, and while 100 may not seem that much, it may be difference between 20% and 50% board. And on hands where we get 300, its a top and that not that unlikely. And occasional -530? Yes, you have to learn with them...No -530s, not doubling enough. In IMP, its not so clear, and pass is majority action of choice but, the big winner here is +300 and +500 when we dont have a game. Impossible? Maybe. I just dont belong to the camp you should always automatically pass at IMP, when it feels right to dbl and odds favour it, it usually is. [hv=n=sxxhakxxxdjxxcaxx&w=skxxxhqxxdkxxcxxx&e=saqjxxhxd10xxckxxx&s=sxxhj10xxdaq9xcqj10]399|300|[/hv] On this actual hand, declarer made because defense screwed up and never opened diamonds. And this is the worst case scenario, both kings well placed, and clubs 3-3 and defensive error. Some other day minor suit aces will be switched or at least one of them and then we are looking at +300- 500 profit, and East West did not did anything wrong bidding to 3 level with 9 trumps.

[hv=v=n&s=s97hj10xxdaq9xcqj10]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] You have this hand and the bidding goes Partner RHO You LHO 1H 1S 2S 3S Pass Pass ? presumably, 2S cue shows limit raise or better Question is , do you double? -at IMP - at MP - bid 4H? - pass

I talked to Vince on BBO few months ago, he was really excited about playing for Australia and practicing with Del Monte and he fell in love with Sydney. I imagine this must have been big dissapointment for him. He had some issues with Canadian officials during Junior Champ in Sydney, and have said never to play for Canada again, but thats a long story. Its interesting how his carrer will unfold, but Vince is definitely brightest junior talent in Canadian bridge.

Yes, movie about Justin would be really something.. or maybe a reality TV Show? This can be geared toward bridge audience, life of a young bridge professional? But I can see TV Exec. already not very thrilled, But maybe enough lobbying can make it happen;)

Great effort Justin by you and others to put this on You Tube and make it available to mass audience. CTV market is small, ( Canada) and this should spark some interest in bridge around the globe. By the way, I think they CTV choose wrong timing, it was Easter weekend and also at the same time Regional Tournament in Toronto, so probably not many have seen it anyway. I ve seen first 2 parts and can say very well done. Cheers

Hi There is very good book on signalling by Danny Roth, I think its called Signalling Success in bridge, I suggest you give it a try. It explains all common and uncommon signalling, pros and cons , plus some unusual signals, Alarm Clock, Christmas wish, etc.. which apply in specific situation. At the end , its what you are comfortable with that wins, you and your partner both I think there is also more recent book by Julian Pottage Cheers