benlessard

If we reverse the black suit it a close call between X and 2C (both are ok imo) but here its WTP X. Also im not fond of light overcall.

Bidding 4S here is a joke. We have approximative the points partner expect but 5 out of 8 arent working full time, the spades lenght is slightly above average. The only good feature is the stiff clubs (still good in defense) and good D spots. We are also going to get X a non negligeable amount of hands. Also its still possible partner got a 3046/3055

The best examples for intelligent and diverse time controls come from Japan. My estimate is that Go is twice as complex as shogi (japanese chess) and shogi is twice as complex as bridge/chess and they have every format from 15min each players to 2 days games. The majors titles in Japan each players has 8H(go) + nap/lunch and 6H(shogi). Today there is no adjournement (sealed moves)(in chess computers killed adjournement but in go computers are not good enough to help but it will come) Anyway an interesting read http://gobase.org/reading/trivia/?id=thinking IMO Time controls serve many purpose Most important is to teach beginners/intermediates to play quicker. Before a certain point players improve faster if they just play and learn rather than think too much. I know some will disagree with this but im 200% sure of this. 2- If you want to make a show/get sponsors you have to have time controls no choice. 3- To protect against super slow/deliberately slow players (mostly for slow games rather than bridge/poker/backgammon) In chess modern and faster time controls (2/2.5H) per players are being the norm, people were sceptic hated them at the start but now they are accepted, more mistakes, more agressive games & reduced draws it also allow 2 games per day for tight schedule amateur tournament.

I dont see why people are complicating things here. X penalty/big bal pass = forcing, multiple strain are possible at least 3/3 in both M. 4M minimum with good suit partner need 2 cards to go on. 3M single suiter with extras or natural and 2nd suit or 3nt/4S is possible. A further 4D bid is COG. 4C clubs+M 4D both M 3Nt longs clubs + D stop

i dont think its easy for west to play low when i play low to king at trick 2. Does my bidding show a S control or a H fragment ? If its a pure math problem low to K win, but IRL its a different story. 1 - the lead is fishy 2- West going to hop a fair amount etc

1- I like 1H lead consideration are important here. 2- its much easier to construct hands where 2S is going down than hands where game is making. So pass is clear. AKQJx with 2A or AK with and stiff ou xx in H. I would bid 2S with both hands showned not close imo. I can bid 1S pretty heavy if i got 5 of them with with 6 i feel safe at 2S, also when partner got Qx,xxxx,xxx,QTxx I dont want to play 1S making 6.

I would pass this one and dont think its close. It wont be too tough to make a sim on this 1 and i might make 1 later this week. maybe im wrong but i would tend to do the opposite, the stronger the opps the crappier the openings /5 cards preempts giving partner more strenght. As for rebidding 1S after 1H response i think its asking for troubles (3S/2Nt).

The other reason for scrambling with equal shape is allow a garbage with 3415/3406- if opener pass 2H hes got 2S+3H and 2H will play well enough with 3/3 or 3/2 he will bid 2S and you have a 2nd shot at 3C.

I didnt think it was right to pull but with further counting i do now.

IMO direct runout are WAY better than forcing pass/delayed methods. For me pass show desire to play 1NtX (3334) or pts. Opener will XX anytime hes got a 5 card suit. As for the rest i prefer a direct bid to show 5 and XX to show at least 4/4. Transfers and gadget are ways to help the opponents show strenght on both side of the table wich lead them to double you more often.

In a MP perspective i completly agree. In a imp perspective I agree too but its only when you get a minus instead of a plus that its relevant. So the range where responder is strong enough to make a foward going stayman is a range that the weak Nt has good odds to go plus anyway. But Its clear that 12-14 bal vs 5-9 is way more likely to miss a fit and switch a plus into minus/ than 15-17 vs the equivalent range (something like 3-7). But its the major advantage of strong nt in all seats. Is this advantage is a lot higher in 4th seat than in 1st 2nd seat ? responder will never have a GF hand but the opponents passes tend to raise his HCP average. The fact that 1NT is safer in 4th seems to be a more than adequate compensation. Im not defending the weak Nt im just defending that if you play it in 1,2 you can play it in 4th seat Many play t-walsh or similar setup after a strong clubs so opening 1C wont wrongside M contracts nor 3Nt.(but its still an important point to take into account if you dont) It will sometimes wrongside 1Nt . As for after a 1D opening i agree that wrongsiding 3Nt after 1D--1Nt---??? is a loss but you get the upside of the 1D---1Nt--all pass sequence wich less frequent (and less damaging) if you play a Weak Nt. The combo 1d--1Nt all pass, they find killer M lead is more likely if you play a strong Nt than if you play a weak nt. As for losing good bidding sequences, i agree that you loose more good bidding space by having a weak Nt hand in 4th seat.

Lets say i get 20 balanced hands all from 12-17 in 4th seat. LHO is a passed hand but will have some 8-11 pts with a good 5M and some 5/4 shapes and some 5/5 shapes. Nothing you can do about 5/5 shapes LHO will bid no matter what. For the 5M332 both strong and weak Nt will block neatly. For the 5/4 Opening a strong 1nt will block him more cleanly than a weak nt will do the job but the difference isnt enough to compensate the more frequents overcall your going to face when opening 1m. If your strong in 4th seat there is less chance of facing an overcall and you should be in a better shape against the overcall. So IMO its more efficent overcall blocking strategy to bid 1Nt with the weaker hand and 1m with the stronger. IMO its another good reason to play weak nt in 4th seat. Beginners/intermediates usually like to open 1Nt because their sequences are better defined after 1Nt than the rest of the system. Those who play neboulus diamonds or have shitty responses or bad agreement in contested auctions after 1C might feel that way too. But in a good system for constructive purpose I dont see why you prefer to open 1Nt as often as you can. I must admit i play a weird kind of precision so i dont fit in the "open 1C is the worst part of the structure but help the rest of the system" mentality. I like weak 1NT and NV i like to open it as much as i can for mainly contested auction and better overall system cohesion, not because my bidding is better after my 1Nt auctions than my 1C auctions. I it were just up to me NV i would play a wide 10-14 or 11-15 range and my goal would not be to get precise bidding afterward. Both method bury fits (mostly 4-4) and give "too much" information to defense when you stop in a delayed 1Nt. The advantage to strg Nt is that when you miss fit you have extras values so are likely to make 1Nt anyway. The worst when playing weak Nt is 12-14 vs 5-9 pts where 1nt goes down and 2M/m makes these are much more frequent than the equivalent 15-17 vs 2-6 pts in strong NT. For the information however i prefer weak Nt sequence. 1m--1M--1Nt is better if weak Nt (1nt rebid is 15-17) than str 1Nt were the rebid is 12-14. Its not a simple as this but its the main point. Also since in 4th seat weak and strong have the same freqency then both will bury your fit with the same frequency. Its just that a weak nt is more likely to bury opponents fits while missing a fits has worse consequence when ur weak. A important good points for the strong nt is that their strong 1C opening have a much better definition since there is no bal 15-16 pts there. So its obvious its not an easy calculation to what is best and its highly dependant of the overall structure.

Our 1M opening are 12-14 or 18-22 so if opener has 18-22 range hes having clubs or a balanced hands. Its an imps system. My POV was that it was impossible to find all M fit after 1C openings (53-44-35) in an intelligent manner. So if decided to sacrifice a hand range and i think when responder is 5-8 is a good range to sacrifice since its a frequent and ennoying range you ll probably make 1Nt anyway. The hand that are annoying are when responder is 5S INV and opener is 35(14) 15-17 and game is there because of the fit and stiff. The sequence im not sure is 1C--1D--1H(at least 3H)---1S (any INV)----1Nt (minimum not 54 in M/not 6C) MAY not be balanced here i was planning to play 2C = 5C 2D = 5D 2H = 6 of them 2S = 6 of them but i may want to sacrifice the ability to stop in 2C.

Weve played this evening 1D = 4H+ or any shapes semi-p) 1H = 4S+ (weak or GF) 1S = no M weak or GF 1Nt = 6 clubs weak or GF 2C = 6D weak or GF opener accept the 1M transfer with 3 cards and 20pts or less and its not forcing. 3 times weve stopped at 1M and 1 time we stopped at 1Nt 20 vs 3 pts and only 1 of the contract was untouchable. Being at 2M or 2NT would mean 3 or even 4 minus scores intead of all plusses. Ive mostly played 1C--1D(H)--1H as F1 but im thinking that its better to play it NF Idem for 1C--1H(s)---1S. My previous view was that you cant expect to buy the hand at 1M often but once both opp passes on round 1 the chance that they want to compete is greatly diminished. Any1 agree ?

I agree with your "post number 34", especially if responder isnt a passed hand. If you have some pretty good hand into 1M (would you open 1C or 1H ?) opening than you have to keep some tools to get to slams. In wich case partner 4D is ambiguous and probably a slam try after 4S if that is the case your hand cannot be better than what it is so 5Nt is automatic. I like COG bids but im not addicted to them but if you dont play them here when a non 1 clubber facing a passed hand then you should probably never play them. I know these similar auctions quite well We play that our 1M openings are 12-14 or 18-22 so in competitive auctions we are forced to make cue bids, X (with some trumps) or impossible bids (often 2Nt) to show the big hand and set up GF auctions.

Good point so there is still 3505,4504 i guess. PS i think Xing 2D is superior to 2H or pass.

Hand 3 in my system I would open 1C(15+) and manage to show H+S 15-17 and ill think it would still be be a small underbid. Any hand where i want to play game vs a random ace and a tol in one of my suit is worth 1C IMO. Matter of style I guess. I Would you have bid 4D with 3613, 4612, 3505, 3604,3514 ? I would have passed 4H with any hand holding 6H and i would bid 4S with the rest of them suggesting S+C (3S+longer clubs) IMO it shouldNOT show a 56??. Im pretty sure all my partner would agree with me here. If i ever get a non strong enough hands for 1C that get massively upgraded after a neg X (5701) i would probably need to reach the 5 level by myself.

1- bidding is completly nutz here. 2 i prefer 2Nt but 3D is ok, of course partner clubs are better than our diamonds so 6C obvious (with xx in D or a stiff AKQ he will bit 5Nt PAS with awesome clubs so hes likely a stiff in D) 3- i dont believe in slam try when im not strong enough to open 1C and im facing a passed hand, i dont play responsive X here. so for me 4D is COG typically 6 good H and 3/4S or 3514/3505 shapes so 5C seems clear. Jlogic hands are usually tougher.

Pass vs most opps but Ill bid 2S vs know customers. Its a two way street to get X here. Opener might might a take out with xtras value that responder will be happy to pass with a hand he woulndt double and if opener pass responder can X for 100% penalty. You have to understand that these auction reprensent twice the risk without twice the upside. Even undouble -200 is going to be bad nad -100 might not be a great score.

Why would you assume they hurry to cash all their spades if you exit spades at trick 2 ? LHO should know better and switch in the suit where hes got nothing if hes got both K you should always make the contract anyway since he wont have the Q of H. Low H to the J is better i think.

pass and 2nt obvious for me

On this board i never expect partner to discard the 8 of H since both QJ H are missing. Common sense dictate low H = AK. QJT show top of seq. High H no honors not even the T. A high in a side suit suggest a switch the Q and a low elsewhere should suggest the JH by elimination. Those who say partner is much likly to have QH than J of D are misguided since partner doesnt have QJ of heart so is the J of d more likely than Qxx and J for declarer ?

Some ideas behind our system. if responder has an invite and opener is minimum we play at the 2 level. opener is min with DS 1D--1H 2C(DS min or GF) --pref pass 6D 1D---1H 1NT--2C (inv or GF) 2D min D+H 1D 1h 1Nt 2C 2H = min D+C 1D 1H 1S 1Nt (inv or no pref) 2C (5 of them) -- 2D/3C are inv here pass If openener is 18-23 he can make 2 natural bid before reaching the 3 level instead of jumpshifting 2164 become 1d-1h 1S-2C (pref) ?? 2D is step 1 (showing 5C) 2H is low short 2S is 2254 rest is high short. so 2H---2S ask 2Nt = 3154 3C = 2164 When responder has a GF the cheapest bid that is not a preference is inv/GF 1D--1H 2D (D+S) ---2H is gf relay 1D--1H 1S(D+C)---1Nt = relay 1D---1H 1NT (6D)---2C is relay after the 2nd relay a further bid setup GF or is inv.

We are playing something similar for quite a while. Our 1D is 4 unbalanced 11-23. Ill keep the meaning of your bid for comparaison 1D - 1H (Nat or GF relay)---------------------------------------------------- US its hearts or 9+ (inv are great to put here) or S+D fit 1S = 4+C ---------------------------------------------------------------------idem non GF 1444,0454,0445 are there too. 1NT = 4S, 10-17 (If 3 card support of hearts, 10-14)-------------------------- 6D any strenght or 12-14 with 4H (without 4C) 2C = 6+D (us its spades 12-14 or GF) 2D = 3H, min or 3H, 4S 15-17 or 4H GF or GF 6+D, 3Hs --------------------------its D+S 15-17 2H = 4H, min------------------------------------------------------------------ its 15-17 2S = 4S, 5+D, GF ------------------------------------------------------------- us its short S H+D GF the rest is for us is patterning 2NT = 2452 3C = 3451 3D = 2551 (doesnt exist so show 4441) 3H = 2461 3S = 3550 (doesnt exist so show 4450 3Nt = 3460 ------------------------------- 1D - 1H - 1S (4+C) -> 1NT = GF relay ----------------------------------------------------------------(unclear pref 33,23 22 in the m) or 9+ 2C/D = pref --------------------------------------------------------------------(idem limited to 8pts) 2H = 6+H, 8-11 -----------------------------------------------------------------(6H but 5-8) 2S = 5+H, 4+C, inv+ 2NT = Nat inv 3C/D = Nat inv (45+) 3H = Nat inv -------------------------------------------------- 1D - 1H - 2D (3H min or 4H GF or 3H, 6+D GF) -----here the 2D show 15-17 with 5D+4S -> -----------------------------pass is pref 2H = Min, 4-5H ------------- GF relay 2S = GF relay----------------pref 2NT = Nat inv----------------rest is void showing (no inv is necessary) 3C/D = Short suit inv 3H = General inv 3S = splinter 3NT = To play -------------------------------------------------------- 1D - 1H - 1S - 2C/D (Min, preference, with 32 in minors, pref clubs) -> 2D = 64 minors, min 2H = 3H, (54) minors, 15-17 2S = 4135/4144/4045/4054, 18+ 2NT = Invite with longer D 3C = nat invite 3D = Both minors with doubt about 3NT (no spade stopper or 3H), 18+ 3H = 55+ minors, 18+ 3S = 46+ minors, 18+ 3NT = to play here since we know the preference is under 9 pts. any bid by opener is GF describing a shape. first step is showing 5C 2nd step is denying 5C and showing high short 3nd is 2254 4th and higher is low short. random 6-8 pts vs GF 2155 1D--1H 1S--2C (pref) 2D (5C GF)---2H ??? 2S = high short 2Nt = 2245 3C = 3145 3D = 2155 3H = 2146 (doesnt exist so 4045) 3S - 3055 3NNt - 1165 4C = 2065 ----------------------------------------------------- Annother important seq for us 1D--1H---1S---1NT (GF or weak unnclear pref allow us to play in the better partscore is responder is 22/23/33 in the m its also allow us to fing H fit if opener is ?444 type) 2C = 5C not 4H 2D = not 5C not 4H (so always 5/6D+4C) 2H = 4H (so 1444,0454 or 0445) 12-17 2S is GF with 5C rest is usual pattening. ------------------------------------------- 1D - 1S -> 1NT = 4+C --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IDEM 2C = 6+D ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IDEM 2D = 4H5+D, 10-17 (If 6D, 10-14)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IDEM 2H = 3S min or 4S GF or 4H5+D 18+ or 3S, 6+D 18+ (This is a bit cramped bid which is the cost of making 2D NF)----------min raise or GF raise 2S ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15-17 RAISE Basically what we are losing is a 3 cd raise. only superchart cause it has non GF relays slightly more vulnearble to preemption since 1D--1H could be 4342 with 7 pts or many 9-11 pts hands What we are gaining is a huge relay structure for GF. no need for invite bids. RArely play 3 level partscore (only when x444 shapes vs inv hand) . 1D--1S show 5 (could be 4 if with 6 clubs) Much better description all over the map. In similar setup (unbalanced D, art bidding is allowed) the things i know for sure. 1D--1H should be a relay OBVIOUS people play too much partscore at the 3 level for no good reasons 1D---1H relay---1S (should show clubs not obvious at first but obvious when you start playing it) 1D---1H---1Nt should show 6D or a H raise or at least 3H. range should be splitted so you dont need invites. Things im fairly convinced 1D---1H----2D should show spades 1D---1H----2H should show hearts 1D---1H----1S----1N as asking wich m is longer (or do you have 5c) is great even when not GF Bidding minors slams/games is the easiest way to beat strong teams. Range like 12-14 or GF / 15-17 is better than min // 15+ If you have a set of boards to bid ill be happy to bid them.