benlessard

(1D)-----P------(1S)--------4H (5C)----??? W vs R imps xxxxx Axx xx xxx Your call ? Ive added a club

WTP pass. If you are thinking about 4S its because you play too much Mp and not enough IMPs.

IF 1S isnt forcing its 2C WTP for me. I see no reason to bid 1S NF here. There are the methods i know for advancing an overcall. 1- the simpler = is same level forcing, 2/1 non forcing easy 1S with this hand Popular in France and I think Mike Lawrence is suggesting this method in "overcall" 2- Before the Cue is natural after the cue is transfert. So 2C= diamonds followed by 2H describe this hand neatly. This method is suggested by Marshall Miles and others. 3- All non-jump advance NF so jumping setup a force. 2C WTP The Diamond are not good for 2D NF and bidding 1S NF is risking to play 4-1, 4-2 fit for no good reason. 4 all non-jump are non-forcing & Jump-shift show fit. So with GF hand you have to start with a cue-bid. Again 2C WTP for me. 5- 1 level NF but 2 level forcing. Maybe 2D is ok but i still prefer 2C

If 5H over 5m show the hands too strong for a 5H overcall then 6H over 5S show the same hand right ?

Im wondering if 1H----1S 2C----3D Should show a splinter or a NF 47 or 5-7. Splinter like these are very rare and could be dealt with a gf 2D. The weakish 2 suiter is also rare but is a problem hand with no acceptable solution.

Im sure the payoff of 2Sx going down is good compare to the chance they make it, however Im not cracking unless im almost sure that we can double every higher contract. On this hand even if partner manage to X 3C i dont feel that confident.

North 80%, South 100%, both of them deserve serious blame. You are in imps and there are white so south shouldnt care about undertrick. North cannot be AKQJ 8th so south as a clear H switch. North with no trump promotion has to ruff just in case declarer is 5422 and decided to bid 3S instead of doubling.

I like to play that 4H = gambling into 4H. Any slight extra with north i make a splinter or bid a new suit at the 3 level. So for me 5C is short by 2-3 pts.

What is the Nt range of the opps ?

[hv=n=saq9xxhxxdajtcakq&s=stha98xdk98xxcjxx]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Your are in 3Nt after East made a 2H overcall. West lead the 7 of H east play the T you duck he return with the K.

Because of the limited opening we are in better shape then regular 2/1 & its mostly when partner is in 1st seat that you might have problems. (pass)-------1M----(Pass)------relay (OCall) is not that frequent and dont give us that much problems. If you compare 1H-----(P)-----1S relay----(2D) Where 1H is limited but 1S is unlimited to a standard where 1H is 11-22 1H-----(P)------1S/1Nt nat------(2D) i cant say that the relay is much worse. Dont forget the upside of competitive non-forcing bids. 1H-----(P)------??? 1S=relay 1NT,2C,2D here will give you many competitive advantage. The more hand you put in the relay the more these bids will be efficient.

to wait for 17+ to relay say that you should play a simple transfer responses instead. Ive never saw a relay system that allow for LOB that satisfy me because the requirement for GF are just too harsh. (2) 1NT is 6-9 or 11-13 with ♣; 2♣ is 14+ clubs or 17+ any; 2♦/2♥ are 11-16 natural. A simple 2/1 structure with 2C as artificial seems better then this. Again the requirement to relay is too high to my taste. My philosophy is this loosen the requirement for a weak 2 & for 1Nt openings thighten the requirement for a 1M opening so that the response after 1M work like magic. Im not a great believer in LOB so my judgement is tainted on that subject.

IMO good relay is better or equal to natural bidding for COG in the majority of cases. Noble showed a hand that is usually tough for our system. AKQTx QJT J xxxx xx Axxx xx AKxxx 1S-----1Nt (relay) 2S -----??? 2S showing 5S + 4C (12-14) wich is our worst hand. now pass= i think 2S is better then 3C 2NT GF further relay / all slammish hands 3C to play 3D relay break asking for a H stop 3H relay break asking for a D stop. If partner is 6??4 then 4S will probably be the best game. IF partner is 5224 then i need 5 clubs trick a D stopper and 2 trick elsewhere for 3Nt and if partner deosnt have a stopper 5C is probably hopeless. if partner is 5??5 then 5C is probably the best spot. But if you bid 2Nt to know more about shape you might be in the dark. IMO the best way is to break the relay ----------3H (relay break asking for a D stopper) 3S (5 good spades or 6 weakish spades doesnt deny a D stopp)----------3Nt not enough to raise S 4H (good H fragment D stiff denies a 5 club suit/beefy 4 card suit)-----------??? Now here you are pretty well placed If the H would have been better (AT9x) you would have played 4H You can bid 4S showing a weak doubleton and suggesting 5C or you can just bid a plain 5C.

. The more type of hands you have in the relay the more precise the other bids will be so in the end the other bids will be less vulnerable to preemption. The important thing is that the nature of the bids that are in the relay are compatible. By compatible i dont mean similar. A michael cue bids with 2 range that dont touch each other (4-8, 16+) will play better then a wide range (6-14). Polish club 12-14 balanced (or 18+) will play better then a 14+ big club (both openings will have similar frequency) Another example is Multi-2D. If you put lightish (5-7) balanced hand in the relay you will have no problem at all with most interference. Opener with a monster will GF anyway. With a weak or medium hand he doesnt need to bid unless extreme shapes and want to sacrifice. This is because a weak balanced hand is compatible with a GF hands. However if you put invitationnal hands in 1Nt youre going to have some problems. Invitationnal hands are not compatible with GF hands. Take for example this setup. 1S----2S (6-9) 1S----2H (limit or Gf with a S fit) (here if opener make a splinter whatever the follow up it will be unclear if the responder is limit or GF.) If you reverse the 2S regular raise and 2H 1S----2H (GF raise or 6-9) 1S----2S (limit) Then you wont have problems. If partner is making a slam or bidding game facing a possible 6-9 and i was GF there will be no problems. There is no doubt in my mind that 1Nt as GF only is inferior and the only reason for playing it is legal matters. Then my guess is that your relays are not optimal. If i have a GF hand and a partner showed a fairly precise opening I dont want to show anything, i want to listen to partner. The problem i see with many system here is that they come from a system with a "natural core" in wich we add some relays to improve for slam bidding. Instead of starting from the natural system and adding some relays, start from a already made relays system and try to naturalized it to your taste. I agree with 95% of -- rob f -- last post

For me its more like it doesnt matter that much what the basic structure is, as long as its coherent and has proper follow up and players are efficient at using the system.

in practice what is allowed (mid-chart) is that the first response can be artificial 6+ forcing "say like 1Nt forcing" and that your next relay is GF. What director wont allow you to play is 2 or 3 relays or waiting responses that dont show GF values or 0+ responses. After a strong C opening you can play whatever you want BTW. What im 100% sure is that 1- after 1H opening play 1S as the relay and not 1Nt. 2- dont play light opening if you want to play 1NT as absolute GF, so when you say 10-14 its should be great 10 count with 2 aces & 6+ cards suit not overcall type of hands. 3- if you play superchart-- put non inv & non GF hands in your relay. Setting FP is nice but getting better partscore will be more important. Plus its tougher for the opponents to overcall. 1H--(pass)---1Nt-gf----(???) (here he can bid with crap just so that you dont relay) 1H-----1Nt (6+)----here he should overcall with sound values because it might be their hands. 4- its nice if your 1M openings are unbalanced. So if you are playing weak NT then 1Nt 12-14 with 5M possible & 1M opening as unbalanced is a better setup. Our setup is 1H (12-14 or 18-22) 1S--- relay 6 + ??? 1NT clubs 12-14 or jump shift strenght 2C diamonds 12-14 or jump shift strenght 2D 6H 12-14 or jump shift strenght 2H 5H + 4S 12-14 2S 5H +5S jump shift strenght (or 6H +4S 18-22 if you open 1S with 5-5) 2Nt 4522 jump shift strenght 3C 4513 jump shift strenght 3D 4531 jump shift strenght rest is voids

Im missing the ♠T♠ to invite.

Im not sure why the X show good shapes and is weaker. There is plenty of hands with values where you have no bid over 2D but can X over 2S. Also I dont see why 2Nt cannot show 5H/5C surely these weak shapely 2 suiter are more frequent the the long clubs unsuitable for a WvsR preempt. IMO X =values with 4H or with 5H not suitable for a 2H over 2D. 3415,2425,2416 etc. 2Nt takeout C+H at least 5/5 3C C+ D tol or if you are willing to put some C+D tol in 2nt 2Nt = C+H or C+D tolerance 3C clubs only

need to know the agreement for X but i would probably pass. The possible agreements for the X i know are 1- at least 43 in the majors. 2- at least 4-4 in the majors all shapes. 3- at least 4-4 in the majors (equal or longer hearts.) 4- exactly 4H (because 1H show 5+) 5- a 4M and 4 clubs. 6- beginner often play that a 1M show 5 so they X with any 4M hands. I prefer 4 & i really hate 2&6. With 5S and 4H i really think the best bid is 1S unless you plan to make only 1 bid. With 6S and 4H i would have bid 1S but this hand is too weak so i would have passed.

I dont like X. If the bidding return to me at 3M wich is not unlikely (W vs R for them) ill be screwed. 3D is showing 8 tricks but this hand is too much defensive and not enough offensives values. But if i hit partner with a D honor he will know i have extra length or pts elsewhere. All is remaining is 2D but this do not do full justice for the hand. In my partnership we dont care about ODR so ill bid 3D. But with a normal partner ill bid 2D. Of course i would expect a raise. The overcaller also knew he was R vs W when he bid at the 3 level. Passing with 3D or 4 diamonds wouldnt crossed my mind after a R vs W 3 level overcall.

Both of them. After most of the responses over 4D exclusion you can still make a general slam try. IMO most cuebidding sequence lead nowhere when you have a void. Not really most here will think that 4D is a splinter because they dont like to bid 3S with only 2 cards.

IMHO partner got only 2 types of hands where he want to bid over 2S after this seuqnce of bidding. C+H at least 55 (probably 65), or long club suit + D tolerance. With 2416 or 1417 shapes i either preempt or pass forever. 1- my hand isnt strong enough to make a neg X 2. I have a stiff in partner suit. So for me X is take-out 2Nt is both rounded suit 3C is clubs + D tolerance.

With a stiff diamond and 2 or 3s i would bid 3S, with a stiff S and 2 or 3D i would bid 3D. So jump is showing a void for me.

P---P---1S---2H P---P---X-----P 2S--P---P----P making 4 is quite likely too. For me this was a direct 2S wtp raises (making a neg X is begging to play 3D in 4-3 fit). Ive been doing them for quite a while and i have found no reason to complain. At imps it allow you to bid game and at MP it allow you to play good partscore. Im a bit surprised they are unpopular. http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=25484&st=0 This is also a hand where i was the lone ranger with a 2 card raise. People prefer to rebid clubs with AJ8xx instead of aiming at a 5-2 ---6-2 fit in 2S.

For me its exclusion keycard.