rbforster

Silent Club: We don't have strong agreements for interference over 1♣-1♦ (unlike interference over higher GF responses), but I'm expecting a strong NT (extras) would seem better than a takeout double. 1♣-1♦-(1♥) strong; most 0-7, some GFs 1N-2♣ extras, balanced stopper (~19-21); stayman (GF smolen planned) 2♠-4♠

I was providing my alternative non-preempt auction in case people were interested, but the North hand is a 100% preempt for us so. You should use the.preempt auction (although I suppose it doesn't matter this time).

Silent Club: North is a 2♦ preempt for us, 4-9(-) with 5+ diamonds and a 4+ major. Either way, that auction leads to 3N by south. Depending on preempting style, 2nd seat Vul might mean South expects a sound preempt hand and forces to game. Otherwise he can invite, which is a more awkward auction but works out this time (might have to play 5-2 3♦ or miss a 5-3 major fit if opener is 5/5). 2♦-3♣ preempt; art GF ask 3♦-3♥ hearts; how many? 3♠-3N four; game 2♦-2N preempt; invitational ask 3♥-3N max with 4-5 hearts; game If for some reason partner forgets to preempt or this was a second seat South hand instead of fourth, 1♣-1♦ strong; most 0-7, some GF 1N-2♣ 19-21 bal; stayman 2♦-3N no major; game In the NT auction, 3♦ after stayman would be the same shape but slam invitational values (~10+), which is possible in original 1♦ reply.

You don't need preemptive 3M jumps on the second round of the auction either.

Silent Club: 1♣-1♦ strong; most 0-7, some GFs 1♠-1N artificial two suited min 5+/4+; asking for longer suit 2♠-3♠ usually exactly 5; invite 4♠-P The only part with some judgement here is the 3♠ invite (vs pass), but with a fit and useful shortness in support of spades it seems ok. Opener is at the top of his 16-19ish range so accepting is easy. It's possible to show responders hand as a one-suited invitation and preserve relay possibilities (initially respond 1♠), but the combination of minimum strength for a 5-7 range and poor suit honors makes an initial negative response better I think, especially in a minor (KQxxxx would be fine).

given the conditions, I get to 5♣. I didn't really see the slam potential as opener of certain responding hands like the actual one. I was just throwing out 1N vs 3♣ as an idea, I don't have strong agreements there.

Good hands should pass, especially ones with lots of defense like this. they are going to have a worse than field part score auction unless you bail them out. Pass and lead a club against 1N.

Silent Club: P-1♣ agree with pass; strong 1♠-1N bal or ♣, usually GF; relay 2♣-2♦ clubs usually GF; relay 2N-3♣ "short" hearts and GF values; relay 3♥-3N 2236; bit heavy but signing off P ....not enough to show extras we can't open 2♣ here by North (the "silent" club method) and would not preempt. The main choice here is whether opener is good enough after finding out about no heart fit to try harder for slam in clubs, and if so, how. I think my above auction is probably the most likely, where opener asks for shape first (since responder can be 3235 in which case 3N is clear). Then, having found a club fit but only 6-2, then the decision is whether to ask for strength with 3♠ optimistically (which forces us to 4N when responder has 7 QP), or bid 3N with the knowledge that responder will bid on with 9 QP. While the right 8 QP will be enough (AK♦, KC♣), I think most good slams will have more and so took the low road with 3N. Another option would be to break relay after 2N and ask for strength with 3♦, letting us stay lower opposite 7QP. Of course this approach won't tell us the club length/fit, which seems a more likely source of tricks for a light slam. We're getting to slam opposite 9QP anyway, so it's just a question of how the middle range goes handled since opener has a little extra but not that much. Our 2N bid excludes (321)7 shapes however, so its not that bad to ask values here since a 7 card suit is pretty unlikely (only 3037).

I think with the given North hand, I might be tempted to bid 1N in response to the double. Jumping to 3♣ with a soft 5 bagged seems wasteful, and T9xx might be enough of a stopper for 1N (and there's space to cue again if opener was worried).

David - you might consider expressing interference through spoilers <given NS hands> If your system response is 1N or higher, If your system response is 1♠ or lower,

Silent Club: Semi positive hands with a good 6+ suit, say AQxxxx♣ in this case, will make a positive response showing that suit (here 1♠ = ♣ or balanced). If this is partners hand, we'll have an uncontested relay auction showing exact shape and then continue with a slam investigation probably via RKC ♣. For example, 1♣-1♠ strong; ♣ or bal, usually GF 1N-2♣ relay; clubs one suited, might not be a GF 2♥-...-3♥ strong relay; 6322 for example with known suits 4♣... RKC1430 in clubs and maybe control asks after ... 6N probably or 6♣ if shape indicates diamonds arent running. At this point we should be able to count 6♣,5♦,1♠ and just check for the A♥ (missing presumably given the conditions 0-7 on responder, but opener here Won't know that since he used the strong relay and repsonder could still have a true GF not just semi positive). Assuming a more indifferent hand for responder, we'll have a more typical auction: 1♣-1♦-(1♠) strong; most 0-7, some GFs X-3♣ takeout; invitational 5 card suit or poor 6+ suit (GF hands would have cued or bid 3N) 3♠-? ...3N or 5♣ If responder bids 3N, I'll sit for it although it'll be wrong sided for hearts I guess. If responder has nothing in spades, we'll try the club game and hope he's got enough values or shortness to cover our heart losers. Edit for the updated North hand. Our auction continues 3♠-4♣ 5♣ Not sure if South is worth an optimistic cue of 4D here to see what North will say.

Well you're right that my system does not prioritize part score hands, so yes, it's certainly behind systems where 1H was Kokish or extras and 1S was 0-4 instead. I am not set up to relay opposite any negative by responder, but the upside is my GF relays are almost always step lower than everyone elses' (not just on the 1C-1D ones). There are several factors that make this reasonably playable, although I expect we are behind both 2/1 and at best on par with other precision systems on a part score deal. 1. Opener has shown a minimum, 16-18ish, with 1H, so opposite 0-7 game is usually off and we don't need too many invitational sequences 2. Opener has a prepared and descriptive rebid - either 6+ single suited (or 6+/4 two suited), or a balanced hand (including 5M332/4441). These hand types, bid naturally, allow responder to pass or invite fairly easily (there are tricky ways for responder to sign off unilaterally in his own long suit at the 2 level, but these are rare). I've chosen to have opener show rather than responder for tempo reasons, although neither has really shown anything so far, shape-wise. 3. Two suited minimums by opener have been removed from this sequence (those are 1C-1D-1S with their own artificial scrambles), so there's less risk of missing a side suit fit when opener bids 1H Hope this helps. I did very extensive probability-based convention testing for the 1C-1D tree in my system, so it's pretty good for what it is, but at the end of the day it was a design decision to emphasize game/slam bidding over part scores. The nice thing here is that I can continue with symmetric relays using 1N+ by the GF hands (showing H/H+m) having transferred successfully for right siding, parallel the bidding tree with the same spade hands (i.e. 1C-1H(spade GF)-1S(relay)-1N+ for S/S+m), and give useful meanings to all the higher bids that many 0-7 responding hands couldn't use without getting too high. Tempo is also important here, because responder's temporizing 1S lets opener make a natural bid and allows most of the 0-4 hands to pass, whereas otherwise a natural 2 level bid by responder would still be wide ranging and opener might feel like inviting opposite a 0-4 hand and get too high (or alternatively we'd have to give up on various invite sequences).

Silent Club: 1♣-1♦ strong; most 0-7, some GFs 1♥-1♠ artificial most minimums; artificial 0-7 1N-2♥ 16-18 bal including 5M332; transfer 5+♠ 2♠-3♣ completed; natural unbalanced invitational NF 4♠-P Opener has a max with 3 good spades so accepting seems clear.

Silent Club: 1♥-2♥ 4♥-P I don't upgrade 15 counts into 1♣ based on distribution, unless they're 4 loser hands or similar. Here a precision jump rebid of 1♥...3♦ shows our hand perfectly so I wouldn't hesitate to start 1♥. We play Bergen raises, so 2♥ is ~6-9 and 3 card support. Since opener needs at least two aces and the Q♥ for slam (which would be an invitational response 1N...3♥ plan by responder), opener can just jump to game.

Silent Club: 1♣-1♥ strong; 4+♠ unbal GF 1♠-1NT relay; ♠+♣ 2♣-3♦ relay; 5314 3♥-3♠ relay; 6 or fewer QP 3NT-P Oops, wrong sided I guess, doesn't matter much here.

Silent Club: 1♣-1♠ strong; GF bal or clubs 1N-2♠ relay; bal with 4=2 majors 2N-3♣ relay; 4243 3N-P Given opener's min values and lack of a major suit fit when he hears 2S, he could jump to 3N there without disclosing any more of dummy's shape info.

I don't have as strong agreements on interference continuations (we play natural takeout doubles and bidding here), so this one is much more subjective. P-1♣ 1♦-(1♥)-2♠ most non GF hands; natural strongly invitational with a decent suit 3♣-3N natural with enough values for game; game FWIW, this is still a Vul 2N minors opening by our partner, so we would preempt the auction before the strong club hand gets to bid. In that case, I think it'd just be 2N-3♠ 5/5 minors weak; natural GF 3N-P can't support spades In both of these the weak hand has shown clubs, which makes it seem like 3N is a reasonable choice vs 4♠ opposite likely shortness. I'm not sure if it'd be right to pull 3N to 4♠ anyway.

Silent Club: 1♣-1♠ strong; balanced GF or clubs 1N-2♥ relay; balanced no major 2♠-2N relay; 4m333 3♣-4♥ relay; 3343 11 QPs (so off an A, or QC and a black king) 4♠-5♠ relay; 1-2 AKQ honors in each suit, only 1 in diamonds (so off AS, or QC and KS) 6♦-P Sure 6N is cold if partner has all the secondary honors and we're just off the spade A, but I can't tell between that and the actual hand below 6♦ so I took the known slam. Partner might not ask for which minor after hearing 4m333 and just signoff in 3N with his min, in which case it'd proceed: 3N-4♥ signoff; 11 QPs (minor unknown this time) 4♠-5♠ relay; 1-2 AKQ honors in each suit, only 1 in spades (same two unknown hand types as above) 6♦-P This time 6D is only on a known 5-3 fit, and if so and partner has the hand given but with 3334 (rather than missing the AS), now we'll need 3-2 trump and bring in the 4-4 club suit for only 1 loser.

When you're all done lots of deals, you might see if you can get someone good to score the outcomes ala Challenge the Champs, and then the participants could compute their scores too. But there's no need to do this anytime soon. I already found one area for improvement. In my two suited relays, for example it goes: 1♣... transfers showing two suits ... - 2N relays; equal shortness, i.e. either 5422 or 7411 3♣ : relay 3♦ 5422. (now 3♥ asks for strength in steps) 3♥ 7411 min strength 3♠ 7411 strength +1, etc The point is just that the more common 5422 shape has to waste a step where opener asks for strength on his bid, while the much rarer 7411 shape zooms directly into showing values. Better would be to swap these shapes, which resolves the 5422 shape one step lower assuming you were going to ask anyway, and 4♣, the first step past 3N, would correspond to 9 QPs in strength which is generally safe enough to show extra values anyway even if opener tried to sign off. Now this is just an application of the general principle that in relays were you zoom, the top two steps should be in reverse probability order (highest is more common than 2nd highest), even though the usual rule is to bid hand types from lowest/common to higher/rare.

Thanks for the suggestion David! I will try to bid my system and see what areas for improvement come up :).

In my Silent Club, this one relays out shape and leaves opener on a guess as to which 4M game to try, once values are insufficient for slam. 1♣-1♦ strong; non-GF or various unbalanced GF's with ♥s mostly 1♥-2N waiting (includes minimum single suiters or min balanced); ♥>♦ unbal GF, no shortness 3♣-3♦ relay; 2542 3♥-3N strength ask; 7 QPs 4♦-4♥ terminator; forced 4♠-P signoff As South/captain, it seemed safe to ask for values despite my minimum since we were aiming for 4M and not 3N and there was plenty of space. After identifing our total of only 17 QPs, and with no exceptional shape, it seems clear to sign off. While my system doesn't give any indication of suit strength, South is looking at a 6-2 fit with some very nice spades in his hand so I went with that (either way South is going to play 4M and has revealed nothing).

Find a partner you like and teach them - that's how I've always done it :).

I play 2m as weak to intermediate in 3/4. 2C is 8-15, 2D is 5-11. I like 2C as a preempt in 1/2 also :).

What about this: 1♦ 12-14 balanced, strong minor hand, or unbal minimum minor hand with 4M 2m 5-12 5+ minor, could be 5m/4+om or sometimes 6m/4♥ The 5 card minor hands preempting should add to the pressure in 3rd seat, and I don't think there's too much of an issue adding low ranking side suits. After an uncontested p-1♦-1M 1♠ natural unbal, with 4+ in either minor 1N min values; balanced, or over 1♠, also 14(53)/1444 2m min 3-4 card M raise, bidding 5+ minor naturally (only 3M raise if 4OM + min) 2M balanced 4 card raise 2OM natural, strong hand 2N both minors strong 3m one minor, strong 3M strong 4 card raise

I haven't tried to play it, but I reviewed it enough to see that trying to have GF relays as well as constructive invitational auctions involved a lot of details and it would be quite hard to remember unless you wrote it :). I know I have some very complicated relay systems in special situations, but they make sense to me and I don't forget them, but that's because I spent a long time thinking about all the issues for some specific sequence before settling on the one I like best. Personally I just play the same methods in 3/4th. But for me, there are more GF hands - not just the 8-9hcp hands that didn't open, but decent balanced hands that we pass Vul (up to 12 hcp), and the club "openers" in the 10-15 range that I prefer to pass so I can have 2m preempts instead.