benlessard

If you lead H and partner has 1 card or a club trick. A of H = 3H tricks + S + maybe Q of D or J of S. A of D = not many chance of putting this contract down. K of S = if the Q is in declarer then he might make 2H + 2D + 4 or 5 clubs before you make your spades. A of C or well placed K of C= almost no chance of putting this contract down. K of D = almost no chance of putting this one down. If you lead S and partner has 1 card. A of H = if partner has the T of S then maybe 3S + 2H. A of D = if partner has the T of S then maybe 3S + H +A but unlikely. K of S = hope for 4S and a slow trick. A of C or well placed K of C= if partner has the T of S then maybe 3S + C + H. K of D = if partner has the T of S then maybe 3S + H +A but unlikely. If you lead D A of H = almost no chance of putting this contract down. A of D = hope for 3D +S +H but the K of need to be in declarer. K of S = hope for 4S and a slow trick. except if declarer has 5 clubs trick. A of C or well placed K of C= if partner has the T of S then maybe 3S + C + H. K of D = almost no chance of putting this one down unless partner got the T of D If partner has 2 minor cards but no club tricks. QS,QH,JD,JH, QS & QH favor a H lead. QS & JD few chance of setting the contract. QS & JH few chance of setting the contract. So its either a H or a low S. On low H you are hoping that partner got the A and that you can make a slow trick, the problems is see is that declarer knowing you are short in clubs going to finesse you J of S or the Q of D. A low spades is aiming for 4S (finessing the Q) and making the H king. (like on a passive lead) but maybe declarer can make 5C + 3D+1H if he finesse you Q of D. It also aim at KQx in declarer (partner having the T) or Hx on dummy. Im quite tired so ill need to recheck tommorow but so far a spade lead seems better.

What about X vs 3S ? Surely there is some time where 3H x is making or down 1 and 4S makes.

Why not ? Both are easy 3D for me. For me 2S has to suggest 2 place to play. But they rarely suggest H and a minor. We are in MP so most of the hands with major and a minor should just bid the major and most hands that are NT or minor should just bid nt. The tricky hands are between H and NT or both minors. Occasoinnaly you would get a hand that is 6m and 1 stopper where you have reason to believe that 3m might be better then 2Nt. As for 6m and 4M i prefer to just bid the major. Over 2S partner should bid nt with a stopper or bid his best minor. Over his minor my 3H should suggest Hearts and stopper in nt. On a side note if the doubler bid 3H its should be 100% GF and show the hand that was too good to overcall.

Axxx KQxxx xx Jx Easy 3C. My previous post wasnt finished so im going to edit it.

I Disagree 100% Pass----1C 1H------2C Do you really believe that its better to play 2D as forcing ? With pass on the 1st round any hand that is a weak 2 in H is out. Any hand that is GF is out. Any hand that is H + club fit (4 cards) with limit strength is out. The only problematics hand are 1-a good 6H+4S 2-a bad 6H +4S 3- a good 5H + 3C 4- a courtesy raise with 1 i bid 2H. with 2 i pass with 3 i bid 3C even with 2 clubs 3C will not pose problems. with 4 i pass. Keeping 2D as artificial is giving a courtesy raise since you can use 2Nt as a good raise and 2D as multi inv (so the balanced inv is in 2D). However there are some problem with the response of 2D as multi inv wich tend to denied a club fit. The responses after the 3rd suit forcing 2D that i suggest are. 2H = xxx or Hx and a minimum hand. 2S = stopper in spade no H fit deny a stop in D 2Nt = minimum no H fit stopper in D. 3C = mininum solid clubs or 7 of them. 3D = max 6C + 4D 3H = max xxx or Hx in H. If we keep 2D as natural NF 1- Walsh style than 2D show 5D or + and is mainly to play. 2- non Walsh 2D show 5H+4D inv or weakish 55 in the red. Ill raise with 3 card support often so when i rebid my minor and partner is a passed hand we dont play often in partner major (unless hes 6M+4oM and didnt want to preempt). For me its clear 2D as natural is better. After P-----1C 1S----2C ??? here 2D as artificial make more sense because you can show the extra hand of 55M non- inv but i still believe 2D as nat to be slightly superior. 2D = multi inv 2H = 5-5M not invitationnal. 2S = 6S and reason for not wanting to preempt 2Nt = power club raise 3C courtesy raise. VS 2D = natural inv or weakish 55 2H = natural INV 2S = natural INV 2Nt = natural INV 3C= natural INV If P------1D 1S----2D 2H= nat inv 2S = nat inv reason for not preempting (probably 55 or 65 in the black) 2Nt = nat 3C = good D raise 3D = courtesy raise. There is a big matter of style here. Those who play sytem on even by a passed hand and those who play that passed hand bidding is a different story. Im in the latter category. Ive learned that 4th suit forcing is off by a passed hand (except at a high level). So its tough for me to find reasons to play new minor forcing and 3rd suit forcing by a PH.

I think that bidding over 4S automatically show. 3 trumps+2 keycard+stiff or 1 keycard + pts and a void. So it make sense to bid 4Nt when no void and to bid the void when you have 1. But this wanst discussed so ill keep it simple by bidding 4nt.

Im not fond of super-accepting because i think the preemptive effect for them are overrated. But for bidding thin game they are important. Here its a obvious super accept.

IMHO Not by a passed hand. Even 4th suit by a passed hand isnt always forcing. New minor + 4th suit forcing + 3rd + other gadget lose a lot of their utility when they are done by a passed hand.

3S. Partner going to play me for a 5-5 or 5044. Any 6 card suit i can introduce naturally at the 3 level is a suit that i would have preempted at the 2 level. With a weakish suit I would have preempted or pass all the way. X is risking to enplayed partner into pass. QJx Qxxx KQx Axxx 3Hx making & 4S making.

I think pass is weak. If you pass what are you going to do over 5C by your partner ? Bid 5H hoping partner can read your hand ? What about 1S-----(4H)-----pass-----(pass) 4S-----(5C)-----??? How is partner going to be able to see that you have values ? X is clear cut for me. At least if there is a followed up partner going to play me for values.

Sometimes they dont have a H fit. Why would i bid 4S if they reach a risky 3Nt or play 4m ? Once they reach 4H its still possible they are in a 7 card fit but its likely they have a fit so at this point bidding 4S make a lot more sense.

Easy pass. Its quite rare that i bypass a 4 card suit after 1H. We are not in a Walsh situation. 1C---1H 1S that show an unbalanced hand is really not standard. For me by default a XX is sos when we have showned no game aspiration. 1453 would be my perfect shape to XX but that would give opps 9S. so a XX probably show a 2443 shape.

We are a passed hand so i dont see why 2D is forcing. The upside of having a courtesy raise seems lower then having the chance to play 2D or to make a natural 2D bid. I dont remember last time i had a problem with this setup pass-----1C 1M-------2C ??? 2D natural 2M natural 2Nt natural probably C shortness 3C sound raise. I really dont see any intelligent reason to make a courtesy raise with that. Also If 1D---1S 2D---??? Do you still play that 3D is a courtesy raise and that 2Nt show D tolerance ?

An unlimited hand that pull 2nt into a new suit is 100% forcing. Most C players knows that. Even if 2S is limited (only a limit raise) its a bit more foward going then a 2Nt bid. Its not just a matter of hands type. Its would be interesting to check on bridge browser the games that are being reached after 2Nt vs after 2S limit If you play without 1nt forcing. 1M----??? Statistically speaking 4M is more frequent then 3Nt. I think its pretty obvious that 2M is more foward going then 1Nt. and we can safely say that a limit raise is more foward going then a natural 2nt. Any1 would play raw score or rubber bridge will prefer that partner show a limit raise then a natural balanced invite at 2nt. With the overcall there is some differences. 1H----(1S)-----??? here 2H is competitive (could be a courtesy raise) and 1nt is more constructive (you can pass with some 6-7 count) and its clear that on this hand 1Nt is much better then a single raise of 2H. But does that mean that 2Nt is more foward going then a limit raise? I dont think so. To invite one must make sure that the chance of reaching a good game outweitgh the risk of going down because we are 1 level higher. Forcing ourself to reach 3H instead of 2H should suggest the same risk/benefit calculation then reaching 2Nt instead of 1Nt/2H. On a hand where there is some strong signs that show 3NT as more likely then 4H why would i prefer to play 3M instead of 2Nt ? If im willing to go 1 level higher then the safe 2H why im not willing to go higher then the safe 1Nt ? Maybe the fact that you believe that reaching the correct strain would be easier after 1nt then after 2Nt (i disagree with that) clouded your jugement too much. Its doesnt make any sense to see 2Nt as an overbid (to call it atrocious is plain poor judgment). Partner opened in 1st seat and you have 11hcp a K of that is placed behind and QJx in partner suits. What do you want more ? Its should be at least clear to anyone that 1Nt is a underbid by a spread that is greater than 2Nt is an overbid (some people are considering to force game with the hand and there is a lot more vote for 2Nt then for 1Nt)

Our hand is a monster despite the wasted K of H. I think the 4441 gadget is only useful is partner really think that 5m is possible. (with a so-so hand he should just stayman and bid 3Nt.) Finding weakness to stop in 4m is a losing approach in imps. Play 3Nt or make sure you have enough strenght to give 5m a fair shot. Only when opps overcall and we dont have stopper that im willing to stop in 4m.

East has a clear 4H bid. Not close. For west its bordeline i can live with both pass and 4H.

We have plenty of points but partner H values got crushed. X of 3H would show hearts. Doubling 3S is just too dangerous. So pass and pass ill take my small 50

My first insctinct would be to bid 5Nt PAS. Over 6C ill play it safe and stop in 6S over 6D ill bid 6S to suggest 6Nt or 6S and over 6H ill pass knowing i wont lose a slow trump that i might have lost in 6S. But my main reason is I dont like to endup in 6S -1 when 6Nt is cold.

Saying that 6m is better or might be better then 3Nt is a bit pointless. I have 21 points in my hand so im not expecting partner to be strong enough to make a slam try or to leap to 5m. So in practical term there is no road that lead to 6m.

I see at least 2 contradiction in this post. 1A--Our hand is pretty crappy for a 4H contract relative to a 3N contract 1B-- Anyways vul at imps id still just bid 2S Unless partner got 2 S stoppers and bid 2Nt, 2S is forcing us to 3H. Our hand is better for 3Nt then for 4H but you are aiming to play 3H instead of 2Nt. For me this is an obvious contradiction. 2- 2N is really sick and 1Nt is quite reasonnable. From a value showing point of view we can safely say that. 1Nt is the weakest 2Nt is in the middle. 2S is the strongest. So the middle bid cant be atrocious from a value point of view if the 2 other bids are reasonnables (from a value point of view) And if you consider 3Nt to be a more probable game then 4H then 2Nt cannot be atrocious in term of strain. Is is possible that a bid is wrong if the values are ok and the strain ok ? Maybe... like in this case you might feel that 2Nt might lose H forever while 1Nt keep H in the picture, but i disagree on that point, partner is more likely to make a move over 2Nt then over 1Nt. So im more likely to play in H after 2Nt then after 1Nt. Plus im not sure ill like to bid 3H after 1H---(1S)----1Nt----(pass) 2H---(pass)---??? Wich give me the feeling that 1Nt is an improper bid. Of course if you feel that your are strong enough to force to game then 2S followed by 3Nt make sense. Ps do you think starting with a negative double might work ? After the X if partner rebid 2H you raise to 3. If he bid a minor you try 2Nt. Doesnt look so bad...

What would 1S----2D 3H show ? if its natural then my guess is that 5S show a strong 75- with a big disparity between the S and the H. AKQJxxx KT9xx x If 3H would have been a splinter then i guess 5S show a 75 that is too strong for 4S.

X of course. I think that a 3Nt bid with confidence is as good as a X. However i dont usually use the bag of tricks when i have a perfect bid available. Also when i have 2 close decisions that i believe to be equals i tend to follow the field unless im in a very big events.

I would have opened 1Nt but now i rebid 2S. I think 2S is safer then 2C. If the bidding goes on i might be able to reach 3Nt and if the bidding stop im happy to be in 2S instead of 3Nt or 2C.

Some like to play that 3C can be a weakish courtesy raise while 2Nt show a better hand with club tolerance. They tend to pass 2C with pretty good hands without clubs tolerance. I dont really like that style. My 3C are sound raises, i dont pass 2C with a stiff and 10-11 pts. and my 2Nt tend to show a stiff clubs with 10-12 pts or a club fit & stoppers that need protection. Because i have the 2 red ace partner can have a fit and Kx or Kxx in a red suit but he is still way more likely to have a stiff clubs and extras values. So under these condition pulling 2Nt to 3C make no sense. 3nt might need the clubs to split 3-3 so 3Nt doesnt seems like a good bet. However if clubs dont break 2Nt is also in Jeopardy so trying for a 25% 3Nt might not be so bad after all. But i still think passing 2Nt is best. As for 3C its clear cut accept i wish i could find a way to let partner play the hand but i cant so i bid 3Nt.

Ive read a setup somewhere. with 15-17 hands that are 4252,2425 they open strong Nt and with 2452,4225 they open normally. 1D------1S 3S (stiff H) inv 1D-----1S 3H (fragment =stiff clubs) inv+ 1C----1S 3red (fragment = stiff in the other red) inv+ 1C----1S 3S (4225) inv with 2425 they open 1Nt 1C----1H 3H (stiff D) 1C----1H 3D (stiff S) 1D----1H there is no gadget. Im not fond of offshapes Nt openings but showing the stiff economically is fun.