benlessard

in a bidding challenge https://bridge.downagain.be/FD/FD.php?bod=1DP1HP1NP2CP2N 1D--1H (4D unb, at least 3H or GF) 1Nt-2C (4H min or any 6D--- at least 9pts) 2NT--3C (sing !C 15+ rkc D) 3H---3S (3/0---!DQ ?) 4C---4S (yes but no !HK bypassing !SK/!HQ) 5C---7Nt (yes but no !DJ) Asking for !SQ is stupid, so proper bid is 4Nt not 4S with a 7th !D or !DJ we would play 7D probably. iRL 1D---1H 1NT---3C solid clubs ... here are our responses over 2C... ?? 6D min 5D+4H min 6D 15+ no sing 2Nt sing !D (3361) or 7 card !D

1NT---(2S)----3D (♥inv+) 3H nf 3S willing to play 3NT or strong max 3Nt doesnt promise stop. 4m nat but willingness to play 5m4H instead of 3Nt even if responder got a !S stop 3S-followed by 4Y is H fit forward going for !H slam. As you can see bidding 3NT when you dont have a stop never cost.

In a relay system I use it. But im going to try for standard system in many situations.My conditions <a> NT by your side has already been bid (mostly only because i hate wrongsiding) <b> 3♣/3♦/3♥ is the last bid (you could play it over 2Nt I guess, but 2Nt-3Nt as artificial got a bad reputation) <c> Your forcing to at least 3Nt/4m <d> doesn't matter if your opener or responder or its a competitive auction. This may seems weird but i know "doubt 3NT" got a lot of value in comp auction where 3Nt is less viable than usual because of concentration of pts in opp suits and knowing a 5 card danger suit exist. <e> Make sure opponents understand the meaning before the lead. <f> probably not worth it after a 2NT opening

For me I dont like to upgrade 17 count with only 2s in my hand. After a 1Nt opening if responder got 5/6S and a marginal hand he can go via 2C-2red-2S to show an invite. Obviously this doesnt apply if 2S is used for something else.

[hv=pc=n&s=saqj63hk7dakq63c7&n=s82hqjt32d7ck9543&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1sp1np3dp3hp]266|200[/hv] here I also reverse 3S and 3Nt. 3S= to play 3Nt or quite slammish 3Nt some doubt about 3Nt (singleton !C or maybe 6232 xx in clubs) 4C= cog 4y nat delayed 4C= cue agreeing !H 4y stronger. Note that north could probably make a COG bid on the ealier round.

1S-1Nt-3D-?? (1nt is forcing and may have a limit with 3 trumps, 3D can be 6?3?) 3H 5H or H values worried about club stop 3S puppet to play 3Nt or strongest actions. 3Nt willing to play but tol for !S or big worry about !H stop. 4C natural 4D natural 4H COG 4S 5-7 delayed 4C cue for !D . delayed 4D rkc delayed 4H !S limit delayed 4S !S limit if 4C natural isnt possible than direct 4C is for !D and delayed is for spades.

Its a work in progress but here is the conditions so far. <a> Nt has already been bid <b> 3 in a suit is the last bid <c> 3S bid would be forcing (no intent to play 3S) <d> 3Nt would have been nf 1Nt--2H 2S---3m (GF doesnt matter that much what 3m mean) 1S-2H(gf)-2Nt-3D 1S--1Nt--3H(gf) etc and in many more auction. ----------------------------- 1st principle. 3Nt can be passed but show doubt/medium interest in going forward. ------------------------------ 2nd 3S is a puppet to 3Nt tend to be discouraging (most likely to want to play 3Nt) or strongest action. my idea of strongest action is RKC>control, Void>sing, forcing>NF, cue agreeing partner suit>natural new suit cue where fit is more probable>cue in less plausible fit. clean fit>COG fit in M>fit in m ----------------------------------------------------- 3rd direct bypassing of 3Nt are medium encouraging ------------------------------------------------------- 4th its played by both side. ----------------------------- first example 1NT---3H (15-17 may have 5M)---31(54)/3055/maybe even 3046 with bad 6 card suit not quite slammish. ?? so with hand that have !H waste, low interest in minors/4S------------3S as a marionette to 3Nt (weakest) hand that can try for 3Nt but have doubt or potential for minors or !S-------3Nt direct. (medium) hands to dont want to play 3nt but are not that good you bid direct. (medium) hands that are maximum you start with 3S first and bid later (strongest aka delayed bid). So if you play 3H as 100% GF than you could do 4m direct invite to cuebid (or min) and delayed is rkc (or max). If 3H is not GF than direct is NF and delayed is GF. 4S direct can be 4S cards ex 44(32) min nothing in !, 4H direct is COG but delayed 4H/4S is maximum. you have direct and delayed 4NT/5m too. Quiz... Kxxx AJT AJxx Kx KQx KQxxx AJx xx KQx 9xxxx AKQ Kx AQJx xxxx Ax Axx AQJ AJx xx Axxxx

i recommend a takeout style at imps, a hand that desire to compete but can also stand 3Hx. ??? (pick a holding wich you would like to bid over 3H) x AQTxx AKJx the logic is that the pen x isnt that useful in imps and its the hand with the H fragment and longer spades that is in a better position to see the off/def ratio. To my talented students I like to give the example where having a void in opps suits make you want to compete but since its your partner who got opps trumps hes often in a better position to know what to do.

the hands mesh slightly better than average and opener hand got slight extras and its still a borderline game. One hand doesnt mean a lot but inviting look right on target.

thanks Nullve, the convention was rename crazy train despite being moe about parity keycard or turbo than last train.

http://bridgewinners.com/article/view/crazy-train-combining-last-train-with-a-parity-keycard-method/ Worked a lot the last 2 years desinfection/cleaning in industrial health care laundromat (pre-covid) and elderly residences + prison (infected by covid). I also spent 2 1/2 months in US mostly to avoid winter and for poker. Ironically its was because of a small success in bridge that ive took a break from bridge, we won free entries and some $$ to cover expenses to go to the LV national and there me and my partner hit the poker tables every day. In short for the last year I didnt play bridge at all and rarely went on the bridge forums but now my interest for bridge is making a little comeback. Of all the "weird" stuff I teach to my tough students the "crazy train" (similar to polish end signal) is what give them most bang for bucks. I very highly recommend to adopt/design a similar method for your expert partnerships. You can use denial or show cuebid it doesnt matter. Even expert grossly underestimate how many imps they lose because of slam guessing at the 5/6 level. Any expert know how to ask for kings for small vs grand but very few of them are able to do it at a level lower and being able to locate all the Q for 6 or 7 decisions. Maybe I already wrote a post about it here but i wasnt able to find it in the search. If you have hands where you went overboard or miss slams because you didnt know about side K/Q you can post links ill do my best to show how my method might bring solution for those cases.

I ve tried many stuff and regular neg is what I prefer. I like to play that opener rebid of 2M is not even forcing.

If your willing to add some artificiality. I recommend my 1H/1S inversion. It handle both majors by responder better than standard methods and without the need for 1D-2M as reverse flannery or similar gadget. If responder got 54?? 1D-1H-1Nt (opener denied 3S/4H so we know there is no fit.) 1D-1H-1S (we know we have a fit in the major but we dont know where it is) responder got 55?? 1D-1H-1S (we know we have a fit in the major but we dont know where it is) 1D-1H-1Nt (when responder rebid 2H it will show 5♥ not 4♥) so if opener is 23?? we will play 2♥ not 2♠. responder got 64?? 1D-1H-1S (we know we have a fit in the major but we dont know where it is) 1D-1H-1NT responder can rebid ♠ and be sure not to miss a 4-4 ♥ fit. responder got 45?? 1D-1H-1S (responder will rebid 2H to show 5,we might play 2S in a 43 fit if its 45?? vs 31?? 1D-1H-1NT (since opener deny 3S, we are very likely to have a ♥ fit unless 2254) responder got 44?? this is where we are at a disadvantage in reaching some 2M in 4-3 but we are never missing a 4-4 M fit compared to 1D-1H-1NT where you can miss a 4-4 !S fit 1D-1H-1NT= no fit so we are ok 1D-1H-1S= here we might have a 44 ♥ fit but maybe we only have a 43 ♠ fit, the solution to avoid too many bad 2♠ is that if opener is 3343 and 12-14 he rebid 1NT (rather than 1S) even with 3♠. On those hand the inversion do a lot better than standard method even if you don't use 1D-2M for both M by responder. The exception is when its 1D-1H-2C where responder could have 5H and we might have a 5-3♥ fit. You also have a lot of others advantage from the method.

In PC 1S-(2D)-2H is a neg free bid. Bidding a 5 card suit after a bid that show a balanced range isnt really a neg free bid. 1Nt--(2H)--2S(to play) no players I know will call this a neg freebid. If you bid with a hand that is 7-11pts its not a neg free bid in my book (but i understand why its simpler to say it is). 1C--(2D)--2M in PC is totally safe even with almost any 5 card suit and 7-11. The bid fit if opener got a bal hand or if hes art 17+. It doesnt fit my idea of neg freebid. Over 1D prec its a bit different since opener can easily have a unbalanced hand, I know players that bid 2M with a crappy 5 card suit saying opener will have a bal hand 11-13 70%+ of the times but for me a neg freebid is like a weak 2, if its only a 5 card suit you need a very good suit quality good enough to play in a 5-1 fit. A neg freebid is a bid that partner is able to pass with a singleton support.

By "extremely conservative game" I guess he mean in the political sense, players who bid 2M with 4pts can hardly be called more "conservative" than players who wait to have 10pts to bid 2M.

Agree with Mikeh post but Im adding a little twist. In my reg partnerships we agree that with equal lenght we pick the black (garb stayman, better minor leb, scrambling, michaels,unu 2Nt etc) So 3S directly showed extras & only one major but 3H can be 3451 no extras, while X and pulling 3D to 3H can be 4351/4441 (but not 3451) it doesnt promise extras but you need decent defense in case partner convert. You lose the advantage that X of 3C and 3H direct always promise extras (but 3H with 3451 shapes is somewhat a nice hand anyway) but you are not passing with 4351/3451. We also play negative freebid but i dont think it matter, other than we know responder will not have 6M in this spot.

For the last 2 years ive been teaching to university students, I mostly teach to the "A" and "B" players, some of them are among Canada best juniors (but Canada is not very strong) and even if technically some of them are more than strong enough to play a strong club system its just a terrible idea. (and I usually play a strong club system). Its better they perfected their local standard first since as defender you need to learn it to know what your opponents are doing. The strenght of precision is reaching game quickly without giving too much information (1M-game vs lenghty 2/1 auction) Being able to open light and raising quickly (quick in quick out). Those two features are best against opponent that will squeeze the maximum out of the bidding space and defend double dummy when you give them too much information. They have very few masterpoints so they mostly play players weaker than them and even in junior comp they are usually playing against players that wouldnt use the bidding space to the maximum. So stealing bidding space and hiding information is less important vs inexperienced opponents. The drawback of precision for constructive auction will hit them hard. A decent precision system also need special tools or agreement that arent really useful in any other system ex 2C/2D openings, response to show both minors after a 1!D opening etc.. I would teach them polish club,weak Nt or even 4cM system before teaching them a strong club.

we bid 1D with any SP hands (or any hand with 4H or GF bal). After 1C-1D we split our bal hands in 3 ranges 15-16/17-18/19-20 with 15-16 we bid 1M that can be 3 card like in PC with 17-18 we bid 1Nt (or 2H with 18 & 4card support for !H) with 19-20 we bid 1NT but we will accept when responder bid again with a SP hand (if he pass 1M hes showing 0-5). 1C--1D--(3m) ?? here we play X as showing 4H. if responder got 4H we are ok if not responder will have 6-8 pts. (with most 9 we GF) I somewhat believe that shape first is more important and GF hand go better with weak hand rather than putting the SP with the GF hands. With GF balanced hand we go slow.

In a pure strong club...instead of splitting responder range its better to split opener range. This is because there is more variance into responder range than into opener range (unless responder is a passed hand). If you play 1C 15+ and responder is GF, opener will be 15-17 more than 50% and rarely 21+. But a GF responder could be 8-11,12-14,15+ so its harder for responder to show his strenght than for opener to simply do some super accept in the relay scheme. Also if you play that style you can use xfer and put responder negative hand with responder GF hands. 1C---1H (15+, 1H= ♠ weak 0-5 or GF) ?? 1S= 15-20 can be 3 card support 1Nt = 15-20 no ♠ support 2C = 15-20 6♣ 2D = any 22-23 hand 2H = 15-17 with 6 ♥ 2S = 19-21 with 4 card support. if responder is weak he can pass 1S if he bid on hes showing an unb hand with 4!S. 1C-1H 15+, ♠weak or GF 1S-2C at least 3♠ support 15-20, ♠+♦ GF 2D-2H (not super accept, reverser so 5S) 2S-2NT (ask, low short) 3C-?? 5341,5251,6241,5350,6340 note that responder can signoff in 4S without leaking info. IMO 1H responses as 12+ is a very poor design since its too rare an not efficient.

1H-1S; 1NT = Clubs, F1. 2C = Diamonds, F1. 2D = 6+H, F1. 2H = 4S, 11-16. 2S = 4S, 17+. 2NT+ = Strong hands with extra distribution. I play this for more than 10 years. Our 1M openings are 11-14 or 18-21 (we open 1C 15+ with 15-17 and 5M unb) So after 1H-1S-?? 2H= 4S+H 11-14 and 2S and higher show 45?? and 18-21 2S=4S &H low short 2NT = 4522 3C = 4513 3D = 4612

One great idea of my friend system is something like 1C = strong or diamonds or some bal hands (with 4M or a certain range im not sure) its great to have 2C artificial by either players to sort hands out. 1D = clubs unbal (C+M or 6C) you keep 2D as the artificial bid. You are losing the 1D--pass option but gain more precision on the 1C.

It seems to me that many of these auctions are just to find the best partscore, IMO you would better to quickly settle on a playable partscore even if its not the best and have many of these auction for games & slams bidding.

Finding quickly a playable low level partscore (even if its not the best partscore) is a very underrated concept. Even if 2H is far from sure to be your best partscore it limit your strenght and allow partner to pass without extras and that all his continuations show extras, so your making your partner pass a working bid. If you make an artifical or a semi-natural bid that is forcing you force partner to keep bidding weither hes got extras or not, later you will need bids to untangle the GF,the inv and the to play hands and this will cost a lot of overall bidding space and your slam/game bidding will indirectly suffer. So if you can bid 2H NF that is fairly precise of value or choose a 1Y/2Y bid that is forcing partner to bid you often do surpringly better with 2H. I play a strong club with xfers for many years and for the first couple of years ive play 1C-1D-1H (1C=strong, 1!D= 4!H or pts, 1H as 2way bid strong or natural, the idea was a common one to simply keep a maximum of forcing auction especially the cheapest bids) At one point after struggling with the SP positives hands and poor partscores a friend suggested to me to start looking that 1H show 3+ cards 15-20 but non-forcing and a jump to 2H would be 4-5 cards but around 20 pts. Even if we did this to solve partscores problems the biggest surprise was that we saw the greatest gains in our slam bidding. Now after more than 10 years that ive made the switch I really understand why, the idea is that opener will often be 15-20 with at least 3H compared to the fairly rare 20+ hands and by 1H being non forcing all the hands were responder got 0-5 pts are now bid with a round 2 pass. We are losers in cases where opener is super strong and could bid an ecomnomical Forcing 2way 1H but these are rare compared to the frequent cases where responder is 0-8. By dealing neatly with many of our 0-5 and making xfer bids that are SP or GF our slam bidding accuracy just become a lot more sharp. Standard players can understand the same idea with 2/1 & 1Nt semi-forcing, 1M-1NT main strenght is not that 1NT is likely to be the best partscore its that many of the others bids are now GF allowing you to have a lot of bidding space to find the best game/slam. So a cheap NF bid that is a decent partscore got a lot of indirect value for your constructive bidding.

I play weak NT vul and my goal is mostly to scramble rather than to compete. If LHO pull the penalty double/XX because he is broke he tend to bid a minor rather than a major. so you can usally make a neg X over 2m. If it goes 1NT--(X)--XX--(P showing pts/setting up FP) finding 2S isnt my priority. If i play people who dont bid when 4ht seat got a poor hand im well ahead since they wont play FP over my runout.