Robert

Hi everyone I have taken a couple of shots at Jlall when I believed that he was off base. He has also often given me a number of good ideas to either test or sometimes even adopt after his explanation of some bidding theory or point of bidding. His explanation about this hand appears 'spot on' to me. A trump lead is going to remove some ruffing values. That jump to 3S also appears a tad light by my methods. Are you sure that some of the 'magic bidding' that is posted 'after seeing both hands' is not in action here? Would everyone(that jumped to 3Ss) still jump to 3Ss 'if' the posted hand was a misfit all around? Anyway, using my Big Club methods with a bunch of toys and 'not' using a relay method: 1C*-1H*-1S*-3C*-3D-4D-4H*-5S*-6S 1C*=16+ any shape 1H*=5Ss or 11+HCP NT 1S=a fit 'if' you have spades 3C*=mini splinter showing 'heart' shortness 3D=cue 4D=cue 4H*=Last Train(slam try with no relation to the heart holding) 5S=slam try with good spades 6S=I have the controls I might have been influenced by looking at both hands, however, my auction did show good spades(only after I already "knew about 3+ card support" and that partner had already 'shown' slam interest) After I showed the heart shortness(and partner did not hiccup), we both 'cued' diamonds and partner decided that after that start that he still had 'something' in reserve. I can't cue bid clubs so I will jump to show good trumps(I played a lot of Blue Team Club and that system often ended in either a natural 4NT contract or 5 of a major) Jlall ain't afraid to express strong disagreement with posts so I will let him tell it like it is. 'If' I happen to disagree with a post of his, he shouldn't feel too bad that I disagreed with him and typed up a post to express my negative opinion. B) Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I play transfers after the other side overcalls. I think that an Italian pair was playing this in a Challenge the Champs contest from Bridge World. I seem to recall that Meckwell used much the same methods. The Meckwell system is listed in "Bridge Files" so you might find this bidding there under the competitive bidding methods. If I find the Challenge the Champs contest(or if it really was a regular 'report', I will PM you the information) My version is that double 'shows the next higher suit' and that 'a' bid also shows the next higher suit. 1S*=a NT type hand(but might be somewhat off shape) With 4-4 majors, we transfer to the lower major(bidding up the line) and partner either raises with a fit or bids spades holding four. We also use support doubles(and redoubles) after we have 'shown' a suit. The lead advantage is sometimes very nice. If you had bid a suit naturally, the lead would have come to the overcaller and partners' KJx would be dead. Having the overcaller get to lead away from his HCP is also an advantage. Ax(x) in dummy and partner holding Qx(x) is a double stopper with the overcaller on lead. If partner was dummy, the lead into his Qx(x) with KJ10 behind it would lose a trick and often times a tempo. You allow get some interesting information 'when' partner advances the auction. My agreement is that a minimum or three card fit 'bids at the one level. A full opener 'jumps' to 2M to indicate more than a minimum with 4 trumps. I like the method, heads you win and tails you tie is a great way to gamble. B) Regards, Robert

Hi everyone 2D*=Multi(my 2H bid shows a three suiter with short Ds, Precision style) 100% content. I played fairly solid weak twos in my early years. A KS partner changed that style to 9-11HCP and 2/3 top honors. We did not open 2M that often, however, you certainly knew what partner held when he did bid. My suits/ranges have fallen quite a bit over the decades. I now open weak two bids with side four(five!) card suits. Roth type shapes and Meckwell style ranges. My Precision base methods use a rebid like 1D-1H-2C-2H as showing 6 cards and 9+-12HCP. We invite while staying at the two level. This requires a weak jump shift on 0-9HCP and a six card suit. Since we play limited openings, the style is very aggressive and seems to work. :) Regards, Robert

Hi jillybean2 I have played for several decades now and the choice of system does not cause that many problems 'if' the rest of your bidding is solid. I have played 1NT ranges from 8-10 up to 17-20(Roman) The Romex 1NT is a forcing opening bid. Changing your 1NT range to 14-16 would enable you to open balanced 11 counts and still rebid 1NT(11-13) without having a four HCP range. Some people play wide ranging NTs, I have tried them and they do not fit my style of play. I used to play Precision Two Down and Two Up several decades ago. We opened two HCP light in 1st and 2nd seat and opened two HCP heavy in 3rd and 4th seats. The replies were Precision 'with' the opposite adjustment. A 2/1 needed 13HCP over a 1st/2nd seat opening. A first/second seat Pass showed 0-8HCP and left a lot of room for wide ranging opening bids. We alerted opening bids and 'weak' two bids as being 'quite wide ranging.' You seem to like opening 1NT with many hands. You might want to try playing a 11-14 range(or 10-12, 10-13 or 12-14) and see if you 'like' the style. I played a lot of standard Precision in the 70s and changed to a style that opens 12+ balanced hands. Opening flat 11 counts just did not seem to have more gains than losses. My current style is to pass flat 11 counts. This enables me to play a very agrressive style of bidding and doubling. Whatever style that you enjoy is the method that you should play. My current bidding system is a Precision type base(well I still play 5 card majors), however, almost everything else is changed. I open 1NT=15-17 and bid 1C-1D-1NT holding 18-20. Just my comment, however, your auctions seem to have the biggest problems in competition. Perhaps you should concentrate a little more effort on your bidding in that area. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone IC-1D-1S-2H-3S should be forcing and showing a six(+) card suit. 1C-2D-2S-2NT tends to show 2353 shape. I normally show a balanced hand with a 2353 minor hand instead of bidding the minor. Only a very good 5 card suit would suggest bidding the suit(AKQxx or AKJxx type hands) The values held range from a 8+ unlimited, since 2NT is still game forcing. Responder may sometimes bid 1C-2D-2S-2NT-3NT-4NT to invite slam. I play a Big Club and 1C-1H* shows spades or a 11-13HCP(or a 17-19) balanced hand. 1C-2D*=8-10 balanced(or 14-16) You might want to try 1C-1D-1M* forcing-responder bids 1NT with 0-5HCP, 2C* with 6-7HCP and 2D* with three card support and 5-7HCP and a direct raise is four(+) trumps and 5-7 dummy points. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I would open the West hand 2NT. wtp? I open 2NT with xx in a side suit so holding Qx and the stated HCP(20-22- is my normal standard range), a 2NT opening is not a major concern. Do you really want partner to bid 1C-1NT with his 5-6HCP hand? Rebidding 2S 'without prior agreement is not my style. Either partner does not have 3 card support for spades 'or' he will support me at his next bid. A toy that I like to use is that bidding 2Ss here asks partner to pass even holding three card support 'without' game forcing values. Why bid higher than 2Ss 'if' you will be passing the 3S invite? Not playing my toy, I use the cheaper bid of 2NT or 4th suit to 'attempt' to sign off. My choice of bids here would be 2H*. Partner could bid a 'passable' three card spade raise and I would only continue to bid because we are 'Red' at IMPs. A 2S rebid in my 'standard' methods would show a six(+) card suit. 4NT suggests that the drugs or alcohol(or a combination of both) suddenly kicked in. Regards, Robert

Hi eveyone Playing standard methods I would not have opened this hand. Playing my Big Club methods, it is just barely an opening bid. If partner passed this hand in a Big Club method I would not have any comment. A very close decision. The auction 'if' I was forced at gunpoint to open in standard methods If I was playing MPs 1C-1H-2C-3H-all pass. In my Big Club methods 1D*(2+ Ds)-1H-2C(5+-4+ either way in the minors)-2H*=invitational (9+-12) I play weak jump shifts showing 0-9HCP over my 'limited opening' bids, so a direct rebid 'invites' while staying at the two level. Playing IMPs 1C-1H-2C-2D*(new suit forcing)-2NT-3H-3NT Opening the club hand at IMPs creates a very ugly auction. If playing standard methods and I opened(at gunpoint) the club hand and somehow rebid 1NT(not a good bid IMHO and not my style) 1C-1H-1NT-2D*-2NT-3H-3NT I play the XYZ convention(after 1 suit-1suit-any rebid including 1NT-2C*=forces partner to bid 2D(to sign off in diamonds) or I will rebid to show an invitatation type hand. A direct 1NT-2D* bid is forcing to game-2NT(waiting bid=I do not want to rebid my 6{7?} card club suit and I cannot support hearts)-3H=game forcing with 6(+) cards and 3NT=still cannot raise hearts, however, 3Hs was forcing. awm hit the nail on the head with the comment about KQ tight not being worth five points and the singleton club in the rebid club suit is also a negative feature. Some(many?) players open this kind of hand and that is their style. Their partner should be aware that this type of hand will be opened. I used to play a system where we opened all 9HCP hands. Partner was aware of the junk that we opened the bidding with and both partners needed considerable 'added' values to either invite or force to game. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone jillybean2 1C-4C is not forcing in standard type methods. It is a hand much like the one that raises one major to four. Unless you see some great advantage in the crisscross method, I suggest that you play inverted minors. A good inverted minor method should get you to good contracts. The crisscross bidding appears to use up a great deal of space on hands that you really should be using to exchange information at low levels. MikeRJ bidding looks very good with the example hands. The 1D replay saves bidding space and partner shows a balanced hand with modest values. That information appears to suggest 3NT as a final contract. 1of a suit-3NT showing 16-18(or whatever range you pick) is often listed as a 4333 type hand since it uses up so much space. Jumping to 3NT 'without' a heart stopper might survive on many hands, however, it can sometimes result in a very silly 3NT going down while a game/slam in a minor is much better. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone If no one cares, continue with these bidding methods. If beer was thrown, the situation has now become very serious. Discard the 2NT 'for better minor' convention and switch to Lebensohl here. A direct bid shows values and a weak hand bids 2NT* so partner will normally bid 3C* and partner will either pass(with clubs) or correct to another suit. Over a 'value showing' 3H bid, you have an easy 4H raise. I suspect 'without' the use of Lebensohl, I would still raise a 3H bid. You do have a fit, a void and a fairly low number of losers. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I play 4NT as 'Last Train' with clubs agreed. With Diamonds agreed, I use 5C also in the Last Train style. It is a great tool to show extra(or minimum) values. The Italians of years ago used 4NT as a 'on going' bid. It kept the bidding open and suggested a higher contract. Partner was encourages to cue or bid slam. When asked what it meant, the explanation was 'rollling the hand in a circle in the air' it keeps the auction going. Edgar Kaplan also liked to use the 'rolling' 4NT in many of his auctions. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I would not even think about opening 1NT. Unless I was playing with a very, very weak client, 1NT has zero appeal(and I would not bid 1NT in that situation either) I would rebid 2Cs over a reply in either major. You might consider a minor reduction in the value of this hand because partner bid your shortest suit(1S) Over a 1H reply, where is the hand going if partner does not bid again over 2Cs? There might be a magic hand with 9HCP that passes game out, however, partner will rebid with 10+ or rebid a long major with 5/6+HCP. The Italians used a saying that it wears out the brake when you keep your foot on the gas. Another saying was that it was easier to 'add something' to your bidding than to substract something that you have already promised. "Having something in reserve." I would reverse into 2Ds 'if' I held Qxx of hearts with a 1345 pattern. The lack of a third heart means that the hand is slightly weaker than a 1345 pattern. A toy that I like to use here is the after a reverse, a rebid of the major asks partner to pass with 3 card support 'without' GF values. Why play at the three level when you already know that you will pass that invite? I use the cheaper of 4th suit forcing or 2NT to ask partner to show his range. They will not rebid above three of his suit without game going values. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone 1C-1S*-2C-3C-3D-3H-3S*-4C-4D*-4H*-4NT*-5H*-6C 1C=16+ 1S*=5+ hearts GF 2C=natural 3C=raise 3D=stopper/suit 3H=decent hearts(if partner happens to hold Qx or J10 3S*=4th suit forcing(I will pass if partner bids 3NT) 4C=no spade stop here 4D*=Kickback RKC 4H*=one(4130) 4NT*=Last train style 5H*=cue the heart King in case seven is on 6C=six is my limit The comments that you should rebid the 5 card heart suit with a 2H bid are not my style. If partner has three card heart support he will bid 1C-1H-2D-2any-3H and if he does not hold three hearts, he will not support hearts. I like to play a toy in standard auctions that rebidding your suit(hearts here) ask partner to pass with three card support 'unless' he holds GF values. Why play at the three level when you can play 2Hs? The cheaper bid of 4th suit or 2NT is used to 'attempt to sign off' after a reverse. Partner rebids his main suit with a minimum reverse and bids higher holding GF values. Direct bids at the 3 level show additional values. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone The bidding is not my style. Do all of his partners pull 4H when they hold x or void in hearts? If they do pull, what happens when he holds AKQxxxx(or KQJ10xxx) of hearts? DWI should be avoided. Driving without a valid permit is also a no no. The sheriff let her out after five(5) days served of a 45 day jail term. She had already been given 'good behavior' to reduce the time to 23 days 'before' she even entered the jail. If you do the crime, you will do the time seems reasonable to me. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone What "book" are you quoting? Who wrote this "book?" Meckwell bids when they hold 13 cards. They often open 8+HCP in 3rd seat. Meckwell is considered an expert pair by virtually everyone in the know. My partners often make negative doubles after 1S-(2C) with 6+HCP. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I would go with the 2C bid showing clubs, unless the system needed the bid for something else. When I played a pure canape type system, the 2C bid was needed to show 4441 type hands. A couple of comments/suggestions. The Hacketts(?) used a canape type system and one of their toys was to reverse the meaning of 2NT and 3C* after one non club-2D(or 2 level higher) reply. 2NT was a canape into clubs(with opener taking another bid with extra values) and 3C* showed a strong NT type hand. If your NT ranges do not require the 3C bid to show extra values, you could still use it to show an extra club with goodish minimum values. I played a lot of Blue Team Club in the 70s. The 5-4 either way suits after 1 non club-1any-2z was playable. If partner makes a 2/1 bid, the system required you to rebid a five card before showing another suit unless you were showing a canape type hand. The fact that partner does not raise your first suit is a slight hint that your fit might well be in your second suit. On a bad day, misfits happen. Blue Team also used another toy to limit the opening bid. A 2C opening showed 15-16HCP if 4M and long clubs. With 14 or less HCP you opened the major and bid along canape type lines. I believe that it is putting too much pressure on the 1D opening 'if' it can be used to show a club one suiter. You are going to feel like bidding 3Cs in competition(after opening 1D) and how is poor partner to work out that you have 6+ clubs and you do not have a diamond suit? Regards, Robert

Hi everyone That 3C bid causes confusion in many 2/1 auctions. Since the system was listed as 2/1 100% GF, someone must decide 'if' 3C just shows shape or shows extra values. I am strongly in the 'extra value' camp. 3Ds should show a decent suit since no 3S(4th suit forcing). After 3S-3NT should permit partner to pass. 4D is a strong bid in my auctions. I play Kickback so 4H* would be RKC and 4NT would be a heart cuebid. Without prior agreement the 4NT bid would be RKC(if you do not play Kickback) Only after prior agreement would 4NT be signoff. I do not understand rebidding the diamonds(3D) and after partner goes out of his way to pull 3NT to 4D suddenly I decide to bid 4NT 'to play.' "Trust Partner" is my standard agreement(except perhaps playing with a novice) If you cannot trust partner, this partnership should not last very long. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I agree with hrothgar(am I really writing that I agree with hrothgar?) about the sytem should hopefully help you select the NT ranges. I currently play a forcing club(started out as Precision, however, the only thing left is five card majors and 1C is still forcing. 1NT=15-17, 1C-rebid of NT is 18-20 and 1D(2+) is 12-14HCP 'if' balanced. KS was a favorite system for several decades. 12-14 1NT and 1m-rebid 1NT with 15-17. ACOL period 12-14NT with 1NT rebid as 15-16HCP. Forcing Pass system. 1nt=10-12 AND 1D-any-1NT=13-15. Pass and 1NT=16-18. I also tried playing Forcing Pass using(at different times) 8-10 and 9-11HCP in 1st/2nd seat. Two Up and Two Down Precision system. Opened Precision 'Two' HCP lower (11-13=1NT) in first/second seat. Opened Precision 'Two' HCP higher(15-17=1NT) in third/fourth seat. Roman system using 17-20=1NT range. Changed 1NT to 17-19 shortly after starting playing Roman. Blue Team Club using a 13-17HCP=1NT. Normally 16-17 as the 13-15HCP range involved only certain shaped hands 3=3=3=4 or 3=3=2=5 with clubs. Bende and I used the same range after an opening 'Pass' with my 1C*(fert)-1NT showing 15-17HCP. I enjoyed playing all of these ranges. From 8-10 up to 17-20(even if I changed the 17-20 to 17-19). I believe that NT ranges are a matter of style. If you are happy with a certain range, you try and play that range. I do not prefer to play wide range NT openings or rebids. If partner wants to play a four step 1NT range, I go along with that choice or get a new partner. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone If you cuebid here, you are hanging partner for his 'balancing' 2H bid. I would not raise to 3Hs opposite a decent partner. After (1S)-p-p-partner should bid 3H with 12-16HCP and a good suit. He bids 2H with up to about 14HCP with 5 hearts. The bottom range for this bid is much lower. cherdano You are 'balancing not overcalling' on this hand. My 2/1 'overcalls' have a much higher minimum and maximum that many players on this forum. My 'balancing' examples should not be posted as young children or those with weak hearts might be seriously damaged 'if' they saw what I sometimes held when I 'balanced.' The style that I use tends to double holding very strong 6 card suits and 15-16HCP. With a very strong suit and a good 12HCP you also bid 3H. If you bid 2H with up to 16HCP in balancing seat, your bidding is wrong. I would have chosen another phrase, however, you did post that my bidding was 'wrong.' Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I play many of the methods(with my own versions) from the Picture Bidding Book by Alvin Roth. 1NT-2C-2any-3 level bids(except a direct raise shows 'shortness') We can find quite nice 4-3 Major fits and some 5-4 and 5-5 mnors fits. 1NT-Jacoby and a new minor shows 5-5+ suits with invitational values. My own toy is 1NT-3D=5-5 majors inv. to game in a major. Partner is not allowed to bid 3NT. If I happen to have the HCP values for game, I will bid 3NT or raise with 6 card support. You can bid games based on fit and not raw HCPs. You can also play at 3M with a misfit. Roth uses 1NT-2C-2M to show the bid major and deny the other major. 1NT-2C-2NT=4-4 majors(min.) and 3C*=4-4 majors(max.) I borrowed a Stayman is Doubt method from a previous partner. You can show a 4333 major fit and give partner a chance to choose game 'knowing' that we have a 4-4 major fit and that I am 4333. Roth also uses Stayman and a follow up of bidding a major as forcing one round. You can show an unbalanced invite with a 5 card major. With game values, he bids Jacoby and rebids 2S* after a heart transfer or 2NT* after a spade transfer to put us in a game force auction. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone The best system to study for canape bidding is Roman 'if' you want to 'understand' canape. I did play a lot of Blue Team Club in the 7Os. Blue Team is a canape 'tendency' sytem. One level openings and a rebid of new suit are 'either suit longer' after a limited reply(one over one or 1Z-1NT) Roman is a closer to a 'pure' canape system. I changed the methods from three card major openings after I 'jump supported' the opened suit with 4 card support and we were still in a 4-3 fit. Roman opens a 3=3=2=5 hand with 1M and canaped into clubs. 1) I suspect that one round force 2/1 bidding fits the system better in Blue Team and Roman. I have always liked the 2/1 'forcing to 2NT method when playing Blue Team Club. A modern method of bidding club canapes is to reverse the meaning of 2NT and 3Cs. 1M-2Red(Diamonds/Hearts)-3C*=strong NT type hand and 1M-2D-2NT*=club canape(if you have extra values, you bid higher after partner bids 3Cs. Blue Team bidding solves some of the club canape problems by opening 2C with 15-16HCP and 4M with longer(or 5/6) clubs. Major Roman two bids show the suit opened(5+) plus 4(+) clubs. The Italian systems tended to be very strong in slam bidding and a little weaker in part score battles. Game bidding is also very good. The Italians made a lot of IMPs over the years by playing many 4-4 major fits(weak?) in 3NT. The Italian methods take great pride in long auctions 'if' they describe their hands. A trademark of the Blue Team Club system is the fairly high number of 5M and 4NT contracts that they make the final contract. Delayed raises to the three level in Blue Team club is often a slam auction. They play limit raises so a delayed raise to three is normally a slam try action. 2) Blue Team uses a 13-17HCP 1NT(mostly balanced 16-17HCP with some systemic 3325 or 3334 club hands that no other opening covers) Roman uses a 17-20 range. Some Americans play Blue Team with a 15-17 range. I have played Roman with lower range than 17-20HCP 1NT. Whatever you like is my guess for your range. I passed a pure canape forcing Pass system several decades ago with a 10-12 range 1NT in 1st/2nd seat. My 1C(the Fert opening)-1NT reply showed 15-17HCP. 3) You show 5-5 and 6-5 hands by following the system methods. Sometimes you are able to 'bid out' your pattern and sometimes the system prevents it. My feelings were that I was able to bid out my shape and range much better in Blue Team Club than many standard methods. The system(especially Blue TEam Club) often forces you to pick a certain bid. 4) Depending of the Blue Team book you read, opening major suits are either Q10xx or Jxxx. Roman opens three card major(3325 shapes) with no regard for honors in the opened suit. 5) Partscore bidding is likely the weakest part of Canape type system bidding. On the other hand, bidding 1M-2/3M-4M often conceals a 4-5 or 4-6 hand from the other side. The Italians played a lot of IMP type bridge and their systems were geared to good game/slam bidding. 6) I learned to play a lot of low level(read one level) penalty doubles while playing Blue TEam Club. It has served me well over the decades. The negative double after a one level opening is 1D-(1S)-X. 1Red-(1 level overcall)-X is penalty 'if' the auction does not go exactly 1D-(1S)-X One player made a joke overcall after my partner opened 1H-(1S)-X(AQ10xx plus an opening bid and holding short hearts)-(2S) they did not get the joke. Pass by my partner(puzzled since he held xx of spades)-(p)-X(If I felt that 1S doubled was decent, 2Ss doubled should be even better) He sat and he went down a bunch. :) 7) I suspect that I would add a bunch of bells and whistles 'if' I tried to play a canape type system today. Competitive bidding would use more card showing doubles and 2NT would often be used in a Lebensohl like style. Even my forcing Pass canape bidding used a lot of card showing doubles back in the 70s so not much is new under the sun. :) George Coffin published his Natural Big Club system that also used Canape bidding with a weak NT and a couple of other toys several decades ago. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone #1 This depends on your chosen methods. I like non forcing free bids at the 2 level, so some of my jumps show GF values. #2 I use weak jump overcalls(except in Pass Out seat=12-16HCP). Why not bid 2D in this example with a good hand to allow partner more room to explore for stoppers, level and fit? If partner is a passed hand, I allow my jump overcalls to be fairly wide ranging(up to 12HCP) #3 This auction should also depend on your methods. I use this as invitational since a new suit 'is not' forcing in my methods after an overcall. I currently overcall with 8+ after years of playing a 12+ range. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone Picture Bidding by Al Roth made quite an impression on me with many of the bidding ideas. This is kind of strange since I normally play a Big Club type system. 1NT-2C(but might not include a 4 card major or might include a 5+ major) ;) 1NT-2C-2D=no major-2OM is now a 1 round force showing 5+ major 1NT-2C-2H(shows 4-5 hearts, denies 4 spades) 1NT-2C-2S(shows 4-5 spades, denies 4 hearts) 1NT-2C-2NT=4-4 majors min. 1NT-2C-3C=4-4 majors max. 1NT-2R=transfer to 5+ major 1NT-2S=clubs(opener bids 2nt 'if' he would not accept an inv. to 3NT based on a long club suit) bidding 3C suggests a fitting club honor and quick tricks. 1NT-2NT-diamonds(same style as 3C bidding) 1NT-3C=weak minors Pass/correct 1NT-3D=5-5 majors. Opener bids the value of his hand in a major contract. If he would not bid 4M, he signs off in 3M. Responder will only raise with six trumps, bidding 3NT with game values and a 5-5 hand. Opener may decide over 3NT what game to play. 1NT-3H=CONFIT control/fit showing bidding starts with opener shows his number of controls. 1NT-3S=MSS Minor suit stayman. Opener shows a 4+ card minor or bids 3NT Follow ups describe shortness/shape. 1NT-3NT normal 1NT-4C=D transfer. Two suiters start with 1NT-2NT(D transfer) and one suiters bid 1NT-4C and show shortness(or 6322/7222) slam try 1NT-4R=transfer to majors 1NT-4S=C transfer. Two suiters start with 1NT-2S. If you are going to show shortness start with 1NT-2S and rebid at the 4 level. 1NT-4NT=mild club slam try with 6322 or 7222 shape, passable. Balanced slam trys start with 1NT-3H*(CONFIT) 1NT-5m to play 1NT-5M asks for trump honors by steps. Pass=zero 1NT-5NT and higher to play If you transfer to 2H and rebid 2S*, that is a GF auction. If you transfer to 2M and rebid 3m, that shows 5-5 inv. If you transfer to 2S and rebid 2NT, that is a GF auction. With 5M and 4m(GF) start with Stayman. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I played a lot of KS(with a weak 1NT opening) over the decades. With a 15-17HCP hand I would open 1m and raise 1M to 2M. With a somewhat better hand I would jump to 3M. Minimum unbalanced hands show a solid opening playing a KS style. You open 1m and still raise partner to 2M holding some 1345 type hand. The ruffing value makes up for the minimum HCP values. If you are playing a weak NT type style, you might want to open 2452 or 2425 hands with 1NT if 12-14HCP. If you open a suit and raise partner, he should expect a ruffing value or 15-17HCP 'if balanced' for a single raise. Hi inquiry Playing a version of Cole, why not bid 1m-1M-2C-any-2M holding 3 card support? I would have guessed that a direct raise(playing Cole) would show 4 card support. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I play a Precision type system with weak jump shifts in the majors(0-9HCP) Jumps to 3m are invitational(except 1D-3D) 6+ cards. This permits a major reply and the suit rebid at the 2 level to be invitational. Since the bids appear to work well, so I am also trying them in my standard base bidding. I really like to be able to rebid at the two level and still show my inv. type values. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I played a fair amount of bridge on another site and my partner and I did go over the hands afterwards. We closed the table and 'picked' apart the hands. I sometimes generated a few dozen or a couple of hundred example hands 'if' some idea seemed interesting. We normally spent about the same amount of time going over the hands and exchanging ideas about bidding as the time involved in play. Regards, Robert