ritong

yes, hannie , it works also after 1♥ pass 1♠ , although less easily due to the unlimited responder , the "forcing or not'" aspect being tougher to handle. about "std" weak 2s , the debate is widely open . my position is i prefer to show two suits rather than one if the auction is to be competitive . as a caricatural example , imagine you hold seven solid ♠s & an outside goodie , and it starts 2♥ pass 5♣ . don t smile, it happened more than one time to my opps :-)

ah, ok ! :P no problem , the tool is adaptable.

well, justin , not sure i get what " jumping over the 2!c rebid" means, anyhow here is how it works with ♠/♣ & ♥/♣ hands in the low range . 2♥ opening means : 5♥ exactly + 4/5 ♣ 12/15 2♠ " " " : 5♠ " " + 4/5 ♣ 12/15 the responder can : - try a new suit , encouraging , not forcing - chose ♣ - raise major, invite ( not preempt, beware) - relay with 2NT (game forcing for opener) facing 2NT , opener bids 3♣ with 5 cards , 3 of his opening with 5422 bad hand , 3 NT with 5422 good hand , his tripleton with 5431 . quite simple . next time we see the possible developments after 1M 1nt 2♣ 2♦ . the tool is already usable, though . it works with common sense , my general idea is not to build extensive boards with every case in it but to provide some concepts wich everybody can use to build more comfortable auctions. henri.

ok, i dive . first , if you play forcing NT or special openings in majors at the two level , better give up now this boring post , cause "riton 2♣" is not compatible with those. the general idea is that a 2♣ rebid by opener after a 1♥/♠ opening bid and a 1 NT response expresses a failure of a " satisfying " bid , with no connection to the ♣ suit . we can admit that opener feels "stuck " for his rebid when he has a hand in the strong NT range and, sometimes, upper. this can happen with one suit, two suits or a 5332 shape . a consequence is that an other rebid than 2♣ shows a " pure " hand, be it about strength or suit quality if one-suited . 1♠ 1NT 2♦/♥ is limited to , say , 15 hcp , as big ♣ systems do. 1♥/♠ 1NT 3♥/♠ shows a suit expecting one loser facing a single. 1♥/♠ 1NT 2NT is 18/19 balanced , basically. 1♥/♠ 1NT 3 any is not anymore " i m just scared to be dropped at the 2 level ". if your hand does not fit one of these models, you have a priori a 2♣ rebid, assuming you do not have an obvious pass, naturally . ok, the opener bids 2♣ . what is the responder supposed to do ? a) responder has a common hand , with no particular length(es) or hidden fit. he bids 2♦ , waiting for further info . :) responder's hand includes a particularity , which can be: 1) a 6+ bagger . he bids it , at the two or three level depending upon his strength (remember , his first bid was 1 NT) 2) a minor 2 suiter , treated via 2/3 NT depending upon strength . 3) a "hidden" fit for opening suit , assuming a direct raise would have been constructive . well, he raises :-) 1♠ 1NT 2♣ 2♥ 6+ ♥ , bad hand 1♠ 1NT 2♣ 3♥ 6+ ♥ , good hand 1♥/♠ 1NT 2♣ 2NT 5+♣/5+♦ bad hand 1♥/♠ 1NT 2♣ 3NT 5+♣/5+♦ good hand 1M 1NT 2♣ 2M "i had a natural fit , too weak for a constructive direct raise". now, the tool is almost usable for experiment , when we know what to do when opener has a major and ♣s in the low range . you already suspect that is the reason why level two major openings have to be changed , and rightly so :-) we see that in next post :P

it could be that dummy has more trumps than expected, and that declarer has a two suiter w ♦, extract trumps, discard ugly ♠s on ♦s , part has ♣king & ♠queen, okay..but in that case, meck has no obvious reason to anticipate the " blame-taking"...hmmm...i think i ll enjoy the end of the story :-)

hi:-) first, i think that meck's remark is based on the fact that he plays w a client, so he takes on himself the possible blame , as his part obviously took a view bidding 5♥. the idea is : during play, take the blame on yourself, then discuss on healthy basis afterwards :) naturally, meck could have waited for the end of the deal to do that :D i admit i am surprised that a pro of his caliber allows himself such human reactions maybe he is not a robot, after all second, it seems that the choice is between ♣ace & ♣underlead..i do not see danger concretely, so i do not underlead.

hello all :-) i allow myself to expose a personal convention,which i practice for more than 20 years , modestly named " 2♣riton"(!) and which has obvious relation with gazzilloid idea. the point is :in a natural system, lots of opener's hands with a 5+ major suit in the 15/19 zone create a rebid problem, assuming the answer is one NT . this can occur with one suit, if of poor quality . consider any 6322 or 6331 with Qxxxxx as main feature , zoned 15/18 (or even more) . this can occur with two suits, noone likes to rebid 1♠ 1nt 2♥ with 12 as well as with 17(18), cause we all know responder will have a pb with ♥ fit and no obvious raise . finally, this almost solves the eternal debate: one NT with 5th major or not. secondary consequences are numerous, for example responder can bid 1nt(nonforcing) with weak fits, intending to show a real fit if opener shows strength via 2♣rebid, which is conventional with my stuff. so, a possible answer to these snags is a conventional 2♣ rebid, which means " i have cards, but i feel stuck because of no satisfying rebid". the main difference with Gazz is that i use 2♥/♠ openings as two-suited with major+♣s and opening values , 12/15 (there are developements if opps have the courtesy to leave us alone) . this suppresses the standard weak two openings, which i think is not such a big deal . this suppresses the Gazz ambiguity, also.. 2♣rebid = ♣s or cards worries me a bit, instinctively. naturally, i have dozens of pages of developements :-) this is a rough picture of the baby, just wanted to alimentate the debate; let me know if some of you would be interested in reading more about that stuff. friendly. henri

any mega ♣ fit :-)

hi again:) just a word more about this topic..my general policy is not trying to solve a specific situation with a specific answer, but is more oriented towards trying to establish general guidelines, if possible. the overcall subject is interesting, because it gathers a lot of pre-conceived considerations, like directing a lead , not risking a heavy penalty , and others . these considerations make sense, of course , but they are relatively secondary, i think, compared to the primitive goal of almost any bid : play in ATTACK . when i overcall, i hope to be raised, and i hope to be raised high . i admit easily that , in the submitted hand, chances to be raised to game are low, but they exist , mostly if my pard is reluctant to overcall with, say, 5 ♠ to the ace , some side king and a singleton , which , all in all, is not so much less probable than getting caught for - 500 . there are also some tactical considerations which are not easy to quantify , like " you won t have a peaceful walk, guys".. in some recent vugraph, roland declared himself amazed by the fact that people overcall with such " rotten " hands, particularly the italians if i remind well, and get away with it. i did not check closely, but i m pretty sure that in every case, game contract possibilities were in the picture , as a compensation to possible misfortunes , and , if the game level could not be reached, the usual side effects , like bothering opps, occured here & there. well, thanks if you standed all that blah-blah til now :huh:

there is few to be said about the ♥king, also.. 1)if i am declarer, LHO will lead a ♥ most likely, even holding the ace 2)if he does not do that, his other lead may well be good to us so, tear up this card is pessimistic , in my view

hi :unsure: my concern is : what will be my feelings if my part raises to game? here, i wud be HAPPY, so i overcall 2♠ . the possible game bonus is a good counterpart to possible heavy penalty, and there is an other subterranean reason, my part is supposed to balance 1♥pass2♥pass pass with practically any hand, and what will i bid?

bénédicte "patapon" cronier showed me once bridge base online two years ago , we were at a dinner and she went off table two or three times an hour to go at the computer :) i was not convinced at this time, but after that , i spent a week end to her place to play a bridge competition and she insisted to make me try again..i slept 30 minutes in the whole week end, finished last in the competition and bought a computer when back home :-) BBo has had considerable impact on my whole life, no need to say i am grateful to its creators , no need to say either i am pretty sure it will impact on bridge life in general , much more than it does just now. i know i am a little off-thread, but i could not resist:) thanks all & long life to the virtual bridge.

my suggestion is that, in the future, diff colours signal diff functions.

what can happen to a yellow person is to be denigrated the way you do it, angriness can explain some . as far as i know , " acbl " wears a yellow jersey for tourney organizing purpose , and not for hosting/administrating as "full " yellows devote to do. for that matter , my answer constitutes a suggestion that different colours signal different functions. henri.

4♠ looks pretty obvious to me, and , to make things consistent, let's admit i am apassed hand. this way, 2♥ makes more sense.

i witnessed the hand , have to admit i thought " omg.." when the 6♣bid appeared, have to admit i thought " lol " when the ♥ lead appeared , and watched the following chat: -uday : " humm -- ty part" -uday's part (a very nice guy called jim) :" humm = i lack the ♣jack , opps " -uday: "well, maybe bigger " when the curtains fell on this drolatic drama , jim okayed he forgot their agreements about this opening bid, which , by the way, does not occur so frequently. nevertheless, my suggestion is : what about playing 3nt = solid minor and NO outside stopper, instead of leaving it to responder guessing in which suit the outside honour advocated by uday is? no outside stopper, and responder is much better placed to take the right decision .okay , enough teaching for now :D

it looks clear to me that preempts , any level , have to be disciplined . the reason is they are DESCRIPTIVE bids. the preempt is a side-effect. if you ask around you "where , in your opinion, is the bridge " , you will often get as an answer " at the five level". well-founded decisions at the five level create a HUGE difference. so, better resist the envy to bother opps & restrict your preempting to mrs Auken(or is it miss Zenkel) principles :)

my guess is ben posted this hand because -1400 ties vs 1430 & wins vs 1460. i suspect his aesthetics are satisfied with that stuff, anyways mine are ;-)

gosh, i am late ! but want to express my esteem & affection.

i loved this story (mainly its style) please ingrid , tell us more often your adventures :)