benlessard

Discourage what else ? Why would you want to play count in a situation like this, just doesnt make any sense ? From partner point of view a ♦ continuation or a shift is possible. playing standard signal. low switch clubs. middle or weird card. switch ♥ If you have problems with this hand i strongly suggest you to go grabs some defense books

[hv=d=n&v= &n=sqj9xhaxxxxxxdxcx&s=sxhxdakxxxcakxxxx]133|200|Scoring: IMPs[/hv] you play leaping michaels pass by north, 2♠ weak by east 3♠ (both minors or looking for a stopper) 3nt 4♣ Do you agree so far with the bidding ? does passing 3nt make sense ? now what ? pass ... partner 4♣ is forcing but... 5♣ The book bid 4♥ hope its not a cue bid

I like the term "optionnal" because it suggest the term "option" for your partner. To a beginner i tell them its a take-out that he can pass if he doesnt want to bid or that its a penalty X that he can pull with shapes

In standard this is a very common misunderstanding. The 2M rebid is showing a minimum 6 carder hand. therefore with extra and a shapely 6 carder the correct rebid is 2m With this 6331 the correct rebid is 2m. AKJ Kxxxxx AQx x 1H--1nt the correct bid according to most expert is 2d not 2H and i really hope nobody bid 3h with this. Partner will most of the time give preference with 2 and if hes got a stiff heart you will be happy stopping low. The problematics hands are (MP) where partner got 5 D and 2H with a weakish hand where hew will pass 2d instead of correcting. or when he got 3136 3145 shape. But notice that in IMPs this is a no-brainer

i agree with you that to forbid 3M is good bridge (unless it show a very specific hand). But most (experienced) director will forbid you to psych if you play an artificial method or convention that allow you to make risk-free psych. And bidding 3clubs 2nt or 3d with a maximum and a 4 card major is an artificial method that allow some risk-free psych. It doesnt matter if the method is or isnt designed for psych. If its artificial and allow you to make psych without risking your partner raising you then psyching become illegal. Example 2h (W)---pass--- 2s (nat F) and in your methods partner rarely raise you to 3S or 4S then you cant psych with the 2S bid. ACBL rules disallowed 2. Psyching of artificial or conventional opening bids and/or conventional responses thereto. Psyching conventional suit responses, which are less than 2NT, to natural openings. 3. Psychic controls (Includes ANY partnership agreement which, if used in conjunction with a psychic call, makes allowance for that psych.)

Watch out if you like to make these 2d psych. Many 2 barrels stayman system forbid opener to respond 3h or 3s with a maximum in that case it become a risk-free psych (psychics controls) wich is illegal under ACBL laws and probably WBF also.

IMHO the 4club bid is horrible. Hiding a suit like AJT9x is just plain bad bridge. In my experience when opener cue- bid at the 5 level and come back to game at 5 level after cue-bid in all suits he need help in trumps. Ajxx inst enough i pass. with opener i would have raised 4h to 5h meaning im not worried about controls im worried about trumps. Ben

In tempo ive bid 2s. all pass. Partner hand was a real delight. qx xx kjxxxx qxx chance they make 6s are great. unfortunately. hearts are 2-2 and the q of clubs is placed behind AK ! down 6 -300. Luckily for us our partner stopped in game +450 my left hand opponent had a clear X im still wondering why he didnt X. (hope they dont play this as neg X) anyway over theyre double ill bid 5d. And its possible right hand wont bid 5s.

3 aces is never never never a bad 12 count. its not a bad 13 count either.

When i saw dummy I knew game would make unless trumps were 4-1 (on a non-diamond lead) after the 2d overcall the K become almost a sure trick. The k of clubs also increase in values. So with strong possibilty of bringing 4 tricks south hand is a clear limit-raise. Its very unlikely south hand wont bring 3 tricks So 3s should make even if i have a dreadful minimum. Most people ive asked said 2S is ok. At the table i might have bid 2S. But after thought its seems a clear limit for me.

the number of tricks a declarer make (and how high he should bid rely on these things) Controls. (stopping opponent cashing tricks before yours or to enable you to discard losers) Source of tricks long suits. Ruffs Pure power HCP & spots wasted values and others tactics leads , communications ,finesse endplays ruff-n sluff looser on loser etc. IMHO understanding of long suit is where experienced bidders have an edge over average players. average palyers often based their judgment too much on HCP and extra trumps and Ruffing power then long suit power. Example ive seen often Axx jxxx akxxx x 1h ----pass---- 4c splinter yurk!! To not bid 2d with that hand show a real lack of bridge understanding etablishing the values (from a full trick to completly worthless) of the 5th diamond is what make the difference between average and good players. its not that Long suit source of tricks is more important then ruffing its just that its the most overlooked and often its in direct relation with the value of the stiff clubs xx AKQXX Qjxx xx xx AKQxx Qjx xxx xxx AKQxx qx qxxx xx AKQxx x Axxxx xxx AKQxx x Axxx Its not an easy matters to find wasted values or to know how many clubs will i be able to ruff or to how many spades can i discard But my experienced tell me that ... An average player will often prefer to be short in diamond and long in clubs to score many ruffs he will like to discards spades on the k of diamond . He will prefer to have 5521 then 5431 with 3 in partner suits. A stronger player will try to see the hand as a whole and understand the values of q in partners long suit. He will see useless shortness or trumps extravaganza. He will see that 1 discard is often not enough Example op pass all the way 1s--2d--2h--3h-- ??? Here they will cue with a diamond stiff instead of Qx They will underestimate the importance of the possibilty of establishing spades or diamonds and focus too much on ruffing power. But when bad trumps break come, overruff trump promotion or when they have to ruff with high trumps (and have trump loser later). They say its bad luck.

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=saqxxxhaxxdxxcaxx&s=sktxhxxxxdkxxxckx]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] 1s----2d----2s----all pass. 4s was a very good spot. should north open 1nt (15-17) Do you agree with the 2s bid ?

all White IMPs A bracket J KQJT9xx Q9xx x 2D weak --- X---- ???

X but i think its close. here is why When partner has 4s ----------------------- if partner has the J its unlikely that it will be easy. if he doesnt you can be sure it will a tough spot. when partner has 3s no contract will be a great spot. ----------------------------------------------------------- 3nt 4c or 4d 5c 5d are unlikely to be a good risk-return of investment deal when partner has 5s ----------------------- with a red ace and a minor Q jxxxx xx Aqxx xxx xxxxx xx axx qxx xxxxx axx qx xxx xxxxxx ax xxx qx even with 3 good cards and extra trumps he can go down in 3 and 4s has no play. When partner has enough values to go to the 4 level its basically the same thing -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 will make but 4 will often go down. The bottom line is No matter what partner bid its not likely to be an easy contract. if partner has a bad hand it will probably be a disaster. if partner hand is fair you will probably go down if partner hand is nice you will get a fair contract if partner hand is great you will get a good contract. if partner hand is excellent you will get a great contract but it wont be cold. I hope you get my point Same thing if partner pass its ulikely to be very juicy while the chance they make it is a worry. At Matchpoint its an automatic X because settling for -140 or + 50 or + 100 doesnt seems like a good deal. in the long run. Anyway its a perfect hand to show IMPs MP difference in strategies.

easy 3 clubs bid of course some will argue that 2c is rarely passed. but it does happens and when its does its because partner had clubs wich means you lost many imps or you got a big fat mat6chpoint zero. x xxxx xxxx AKxx since opener could could have only 3 (or 2 clubs if 2d show 4) everybody will pass 2 clubs with that hand. and you have a fair chance of making 7.

IMHO here what the bid means PASS= its means that you dont know what a cue-bids is 5D = its means you dont know what a VOID is 5H = You are insecure or you know partner will bid slam anyway 5S = is a q-bid it doesnt show 3cards its show a wilingness to play 7 but says you believe your ace of spades is a more important feature then your clubs void as if your partner cannot guess you have the ace of spades anyway. 5nt is pick a slam like 6 weakish diamond or 5 diamonds and 4 good hearts. so if you dont want to play 7 you should bid 6d since your diamond are good. 6c = CORRECT BID meaning first round controls willingness to play 7 (implied spade control that your partner know anyway) 6d = you dont believe in grand slam or youre leading the match by a ton of imps. 7d = make sense but its a bit of a gamble imho. anyway i see no reason not to bid 6clubs. 6 in the red should be icy and if partner bid 7 it think it will make. Ben

IMHO the problems with bidding 3c with kx x qxx akqxxxx is that partner will pass with hands that you would want to be in 3nt. xxxx aJ9x jxx xx you might wrongside 3nt. 3 clubs is not my favorite matchpoint contract and in imps i prefer to have 25% of making game then 50% of making partscore. I think that on a long run 3nt is highly likely to be the best spot on most deal and that by going the fast way you maximise your chance of making it wheter its a good or bad contract. as for axx x ax akqjxxx most says its a 2c--2d waiting ---3nt (not 25-27 bal but a long solid minors and ready to go down like a man) I think its positive bridge to bid games that could be could be off the first 5 tricks but where you keep the defense on a tough spot at trick 1 and 2. Im sure most world class player make their bread and butter by bidding low HCP game and making them not by settling for small plus when game is only 30%. Anyway ill keep asking there is plenty of top players in Montreal so im sure ill get some interesting answers. Ben

I was suprised by Frances response so ive asked around to players in Montreal and the consensus was the following. 7-8 solid in the bid minor sure stopper in spades. at least half a stopper in the other minor. Probably a stiff in opener suit. around 15 pts. Some did argue that the stiff in partner suit is almost mandatory since a doubleton and a ruffing value make 4H or 6H a possible contract. All the player ive asked said that they would never bid 3nt with 3 aces or 18 pts ax x axx akqxxxx 1c--1h--??? All of them thought 2d was obvious The more i think about it the more i prefer the sure stopper in the other minor because opponent didnt overcall spades so they are more likely to have diamonds then spades. Im not saying this way is much better then the other just that i find there is a major style difference here worth discussing with your partner. on one side its a tactical bid "right siding" the contract putting the defense on a tough spot reaching a good game with slight values but possibly losing the 6 first trick The frequency is a bit higher on the other side its a sure thing contract but "wrong siding" the contract. (in matchpts) telling the defense to lead hearts forcing you to bid 3 clubs with minimum values but with a long suits missing some cold games probably a easy for some slams lower frequency Ben

opener could easily be 2245 3145 2146 1246 3235 with most of his point in diamond and hearts. there is 3 option either you allow rebidding 1nt without a stopper or allow rebidding a 5 card club suit whatever the suit quality or either 2d could show a minimum hand. (ill even bid it with a good 3 card) im sure the 3rd option is best. xx qx aqjx kjxxx if youre like to rebid suit with kjxxx then go ahead bid 2c but for me its an easy 2d bid. PS im pretty sure the BY THE BOOK standard treatment is that reversed over neg double doenst show extra.

i agree that with slammish hand the slow way is preferable. But playing at the 2 level with invitationnal hand is so much more important. standard way 1d--1s--1nt-- 3s INV 1d--1h--1s----3h INV 1d --1h--1s---2c---???----2 or 3h GF 1d--1s---1nt----2c---???---2 or 3s GF 1d--1s---1nt---2h followed by 3h or 3h directly (to play) Reversed way 1d--1s--1nt-- 3s GF 1d--1h--1s----3h GF 1d --1h--1s---2c---???----2 or 3h INV 1d--1s---1nt----2c---???---2 or 3s INV 1d--1s---1nt---2h To play I can tell you that you will gain many imps by playing the reversed method or something similar. a shapely 10-11 pts facing a minimum opening often go down at the 3 level.

2s 4th suit GF seems like the best most flexible bid. If you play walsh 1c--1d--1h--3h would have been GF so after 2s -- 2nt --- 3h should show 3 card support or an advanced cue-bid with solid diamonds. 3clubs is an underbid but 2h is a gross underbid

In Imps its a clear cut pass. I think 1s will rarely make. In fact bidding 2nt is just as big of a risk then passing because you will get a club lead more often then you think. If they make 1s X its no disaster since the possible +500 easily make up for it ( expecting +800 seems unreasonnable)

1m---1 X---3nt show a long solid minor with a minimum hand with the desire to be declarer something like Kx xx Qx AKQxxxx with a hand as good as this make a jump shift. The idea of jumping direct to game is to tell slam is unlikely and you want to make it harder for defense with good hand take your time.

Playing 1c --1d---1h---2h as GF is Throwing away Walsh biggest edge in the garbage Why give up the 3 card raise ? If you dont raise with 3 card with that hand you should play play up the line not Walsh xx Axx Axxxxx xx

In standard its invitationnal. You have to bid 4th suit to set up GF. But its a lame way to play. A better way is using 4th suit as all the invitationnal hand and the 2nd level bid arte to play and all jump as GF but nobody play this way. Ben