Vilgan

I play precision, and tbh it seems like you are just giving your opponents more lines of communication. For example, if it goes 1 C, X. Now partner can pass with 0-4 HCP. bid 1 Diamond with 5-7. XX for 8+ points and no 5 card suit, or with 8+ and a 5 card suit.. take their normal bid (systems vary a lot on that). So just by doubling you have greatly increased how much he/she can tell me about their hand. Gotta head out, but the more natural your bidding is over precision the better imo. Admittedly I haven't run into all the various systems that exist, but bidding naturally against precision always seems to be the most effective.. and the least likely to go for a major penalty. Anyways, g'luck :) Eric

What would be the benefit of X without 4 hearts? I guess if you have AKQ of hearts, your partner might forgive you. I don't see why it would ever promise diamonds, as you could easily have 3 4 2 4 and be interested in a major suit fit first, with the ability to come back to clubs later if they don't have hearts. Eric

Favorite things: In Standard: inverted minors In Precision: flipped positive responses to 1 club opener 10-13 NT first 3 seats regardless of vuln (in MP) and non vuln (in teams) The standard conventions are fairly critical imo, transfers, splinter, RKCB, michaels, etc. weak NT isn't really a convention, but its provided quite a few entertaining auctions. Eric

Greetings all, I'm a comp sci major at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. I started learning the game in September when I showed up at a newcomer game hoping to learn and started playing occasionally in the main games in November. I didn't break 5 points until 2006, but have been having some success since then in the mini-mckenney... at least till I take a 3 month break to have fun in Europe this summer. It'd be fun to get to know other juniors who play bridge, as we seem to be a rare breed in Oklahoma. As for systems.. I started with standard, but just recently switched to precision after a bad morning round. We got knocked out in the first round of a KO, so at lunch my partner suggested a switch to precision. He gave me a 5 minute rundown of the various responses and away we went (and scored a 58% game that afternoon). Having played it more, I am really really loving precision and 10-13 notrumps. Anyways.. fun to meet new bridge players and maybe I might meet some of yall at Dallas in March. I'm also planning on going to the Junior camp this summer since I'll be in the area already. Eric Sieg

Playing leftie for ace/jack (which can also be figured out by knowing which small spade he led usually), my line would be Q spades A diamonds low club to the queen If he goes up with the king, i wouldn't stress too much about it to be honest. leftie might have a heart honor, but its doubtful he has both. If left plays low and rightie has the king, it still doesn't matter much as long as *both* heart honors aren't on your left. He will most likely come out with a spade, which isn't a threat. A diamond isn't a threat either, pitch lowest heart if he does that. Looking at dummy its very unlikely he'll find a diamond play anyways. Wherever you win it, next winner is Q clubs, followed by a low heart from dummy. Play the jack from hand, and you'll get beat by either the queen or the ace. He has to play spades again, which still isn't a threat. will probably be won in dummy. cash the king of diamonds if you haven't already, then another low heart from dummy With this line, imo you get a minimum of: 2 diamonds 1 heart 2 spades 4 clubs assuming you don't have AQ of hearts on your left. You can play for diamonds as your source of extra tricks, but that can be risky since you don't have a lot of trips to the dummy and good D can strip you of that. If you want to try that route I'd try: Q spades A diamonds low club (save spade transportation for later, try a club first) from there play as appropriate. I don't like this as much since finding pitches while running diamonds isn't exactly easy. Anyways, not sure if this is the "right" way (still new). but its the way I'd play it. Vilgan

I believe so, the people that play precision frequently play together at the NBC's or (with the newer players) were taught by one who does. SAYC is definitely more common, just thinking about trying to learn precision since it seems to say more with less. I am doing pretty well I think considering I just learned this game recently, but will be near Slovakia for the junior pairs thing this summer so it'd be pretty cool to develop a game to the point I won't get run over by people who have been playing a lot longer. Eric

At our bridge club, it seems like there are 2 main styles of play. 1 is SAYC or pretty close. The other is precision. After playing pretty much SAYC (since its what I was taught), precision is starting to look pretty tempting. It seems to define points a lot more accurately than SAYC in less time. If I open 1♥, I instantly limited myself to a max of 15 points (from what I understand). I also really like the weak 1 NT style (it seems to make things a lot harder for opponents), and it seems to mesh well with precision. But....... grass always seems greener on the other side. What are the disadvantages of precision? Thanks for any pointers! :P Eric

1♣ pass or 1♦ pass being semi 1 round forcing (barring 4 or maybe 3 in that suit) seems like a good deal. I would sorta miss the weak 2♦, had 2 games earlier where I a weak 2♦ would have been perfect but 3♦ was pushing it a bit too far especially if partner was broke. At high levels, does anyone really play 2♦ = weak diamonds, or do they all have special meanings? Thanks for the help :P Eric

Still sorta new, but reading up on conventions etc it seems like I've mostly been learning SAYC and most of it goes pretty well. The one area I've really had things turn out bad a few times, are the 18-19 point hands that look something like 4 4 2 3. I'll open a club, then get pass, pass, pass. Partner didn't do anything wrong if they only have 3-4 points, but its turned out less than pretty several times. (playing a weak 6 card club fit instead of an 8 card heart fit). From what I understand, standard practice in a semi balanced 18-19 point hand like that without 5 of a major is an opening 1 of a minor. But in play, this has bit me several times. Is this a problem anyone else encounters? Right now I'm almost considering just calling 1 NT 15-18 and 2 NT 19-21 to eliminate the gap. Or alternatively, looking into precision since the 1 club bid is forcing. But I really hate getting 1♣ pass pass pass or 1♦ pass pass pass when opening a minor due to a lack of a 5 card major. Thanks for any pointers or advice :lol: Eric