benlessard

2H--4C (void) 4Nt--2+Q 7H people hate showing voids in partner_suit but for me its often there that I have a void !

Hs or inv(semi pos) or GF bal. This may seems to overload 1D but it lead to highly efficient others responses. By getting all the semi pos hands out early you get very nice auctions since opener doesnt need to worry about showing extras or asking for strenght. GF bal can be elsewhere but since they are "competition safe" I prefer to let opener describe his hand at a low level.

Maybe its a style matter but I dont like 2Nt offshape & with positionnal stopper when I can make a forcing pass. Partner can easily have Qxx in H. Even Jxx will make a difference if partner play the contract.

2D can be GF with both M 3C is GF with club fit (but may have 4/5M) 2Nt is preempt to 3C or GF with D+M (no club fit & at least 9 cards in both suits). This here is the weakness of our system, it lead to sometimes we are not well placed for slam bidding but slam with no club fit are rather rare.

Maybe im wrong but i feel that since West is lacking AK of clubs, 1Nt instead of doubling suggest QJxx or Q9xx in clubs. With a 2353 shape I would need exactly 18 pts to bid 1Nt instead of 1D. With many 4333 I would X rather than 1Nt even if Ive got 17 pts. So i dont think our prospect in 3C (if partner doesnt have 4S) are good. Those who think we are going to play 1Ntx are way too optimist.

With a decent partner passing is surely right. When hes low in pts he know that I cant have a balanced hand (if you play strong NT) and hes going to lead clubs almost automatically. 3C is always going to be dangerous and I much prefer to defend against 1NT than 2D. Its even possible that 1Nt go down and they make 3D. Ps i dont think 2C can be used as a garbage stayman here, since the 1Nt is a bit wide range most expert players i know expect 2C to always be at least inv so that overcaller can jump with a max and bid 2D/2H/2S with a min.

As east I wouldnt have passed. The 4S bidder is favorite to have at least 3 diamonds. So East hand look like 3 tricks to me and in worse case scenarion at least 2 tricks for sure. So unless you play in a world where 4th seat bidding isnt intended to make or a world where its Cyberyeti who construct the bridge deal I think 5S is really safe.

For me its simple. If you use 2M as to play or forcing you have problems with INVs hands, IMO in imps you must be able to invite and play at the 2 level. It allow you to invite more agressively knowing you can land safe. If 2M is used for exactly inv with 5/6 the frequency is too low (it will be overcrowded elsewhere) & you risk playing in 5-1 fit, however if partner need 2 to pass than you wont be able to stop in 2M in 6-1,7-1). Rather than play 5 or 6 why not play 4 or 5. So responder need 3 or 4 to pass. That way you free up 2D one suiter. My preference is 2D invite with a long M or no M but you can use 2D to stop in 2M/ or other GF hands if you like.

IMO old style precision is fine its the classic response structure that really sucks. Ive said it many time I much prefer that my 1D show 4 +2C show 5 VS 1D show 2+2C show 6. What i like best is 2M inv with 4 or 5, partner need 3 to pass (everytime your inv with a M and a club fit you can safely bid 2M with 4,5,6 knowing that you wont play there if partner doesnt have 3 or is maximum. 2D multi inv (Everytime you want to play 2M no matter what partner hold in your major) Over 2D opener bid the inv he rejected (pass or correct style, ex 2S means that hes super accepting H but rejecting a S inv, this is useful when your inv with 5/5 in tyhe majors) 4-3 fits tend to play rather well when the hand with 3 trumps has some shortness, if they lead trumps then the 5th clubs come to life. IMO im sure that we score better in 2M in 4-3 than 2Nt. Its not perfect for slam, but slams not based on a club fit are rather rare.

passing 4S is a big joke

(2C*)--X--(P)--2D (P)--??? * precision What does 2H/2S mean ? a flexible hand 54 in the majors or a hand too good for a direct 2M (around 19 pts) ?

NFB and lebensohl, if we follow our agreements it should look like; 2C-(2D)-?? X = show cards at least 2D 2M = NF 2NT = INV or GF with clubs 3C = to compete 3D = H inv or better 3H = S inv or better 3S = please bid 3NT 3NT half a stop Using 2Nt might wrongside a possible 3Nt, but im rightsiding many other contracts. ------------------------------ 2C-(2H)--?? X = show cards at least 2H 2S = NF 2Nt = to drop in 3m or GF club raise. 3C = Diamonds INV or better 3D = stayman.. neg X 3H = S inv or better 3S = please bid 3Nt 3NT half a stop. Its annoying but we dont have all club raise. 2C--(2S)--?? X = cards at least 2S 2NT to drop somewhere or GF club raise 3C = D inv or better 3D = H inv or better 3H = stayman 3S= please bid 3NT 3NT half a stop. ---------------------------------------- 2C--(X)---??? XX = diamonds 2D = H 2H = S 2S = inv values bal or with some clubs not too sure about 3 level bids however but they should be transfers INV or better (great suits). Pass and X show close to 10 pts. pass and bid is takeout

I really try to avoid doubling with voids, so for me its an easy pass.

I agree with Gnasher. IMO 2S should suggest 6C+4S while the X should suggest short H and at least 3D or a big hand. One thing I dont do is doubling with a good 4225. I tend to believe that these hand are unsafe. However i think doubling with 3235 with nothing wasted in H is pretty safe. By default i would play 2S as forcing but not quite reverse strenght but NF is probably better.

Im 99% in the preempt camp when these type of hands arrive. Here however this hand has serious drawbacks, ive done sims about hands like these (A empty suits) and my conclusion was that opening 3D isnt really dangerous but it tend to push opps in 3NT rather than in 4M, and when they bid 3NT its no surprise that 3Nt making vs 4M going down often happen. One of the main benefit of preempt vs 1 level opening is that your grabbing space and hope they will not reach optimum contract, but when your preempt help them reach a good 3Nt vs a bad 4M its a big loss for preempt effiency. I believe both 1D and 3D are ok.

It think 2D is a bit hard to evaluate without knowing all the responses and style but IMO when you have a chance to show a great suit, a slammish hand & show a splinter or not at the same time, I like to jump to the occasion. When you may or may not not have a good suit partner will often degrade a good hand without trumps support. If you show a great suit everytime partner has 3 sure working cards he will get very excited even without trump support. IMO this is exactly what you want here. Note that you can always bid 5NT PAS later. Knowing about the 5th clubs is a bit a mirage here since its likely you need only 1 discard. Passing 4S is a sign that partner played you for something like AJTxxx KQxx AQ x

A delayed 5M+5m bid simply cannot be right. These hand are riskier than a traditionnal weak 2, so removing some of the preemptive effect and give more opportunity to opps to double you is simply really wrong.

Clearcut at Imps, close call at MP.

At MP Im bidding 2NT. At imps i think both 3H & 2nt are ok.

WTP pass, my hand is nothing special. I think ill be happy no matter what partner does next. Even in the very unlikely case where he bids 5D my hand wont be a disappointement. Imo there is a good chance we get a H lead so i dont consider my AK of H as purely defensive cards.

I dont remember last time a weak opponents stiff a king in a nonchalent way against me. Im not usually expert at reading discards but here its likely that im going to get the count in D or in spades, meaning that I often going to have a risk free play for the drop in the end.

In my style as a passed hand I will rarely have 6M unless im 6M+4M (I know this is a minority POV), also I wont transfer with only a 5 card suit since 3Nt can easily be bid with a stiff in a M. So does 4C both M (possibly 6S+4H) 4D 5D+5H 4H = 6H+4S 4S = 5S+5C make sense without any lenghty discussion ? Those who have a more classic style for weak twos in 2nd seat should probably play transfers here agree ?

I agree 100% with this. I think 3 pts ranges are a bad range for a 1Nt opening and are the result of tradition not the result of bridge praxis. Note that not all invites have the same values. Invite that allow you to play 2M will bring a lot more Imps and MP than invite that lead to 2Nt/3m or 3M.

As south i would just bid 5D against most players but against weak players (look at the 4H bid by West) I think 3nt is ok. After 4H I think taking the safe is unclear. It really look like they are not in the best contract.

http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/22791-1nt-response-structure/page__p__243019__hl__%2Bstructure+%2Bbenlessard__fromsearch__1#entry243019 this is old however but might be a starting point. http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/28977-weak-nt-structure/page__st__20__p__329371__hl__%2Bstructure+%2Bbenlessard__fromsearch__1#entry329371 more recent.