Mariner1

You should lead a club. Not just because it is the unbid suit but because in the bidding S shows 5 !d and leading a club "might" setup a threat/tap of his trumps. DD might lead to some other lead yet they will be wrong more often than right.

P should have bid 6♠ or even 6♣ if what you have, which is at the minimum level for your call, would have been enough for a slam.

Opening a weak 2 in the 3rd seat is usually a really weak opener to gum up the 4th seat. The 5 card opener is usually a 4th seat bid telling P no matter what you would bid I would have to respond 2 of the same suit. It is designed to lock the O's out of the auction and to end it quicker. Such actions are usually directed more to Match Point games than IMPS. Opening a 5 card weak 2 in 3rd seat, when legal, is probably a poorly conceived idea and I would recommend playing Drury or better Reverse two-way Drury or some other form of support/no support convention. There are just too many hands that even with the 11 point opener exhibited here that can have game possibilities.

Since I am recommending one method which is in opposition to some other "Popular" methods then I pretty much am generally opposed to those methods though I will play some of them for partnership harmony. BTW, in bidding just because it is "Popular" definitely does not mean it is the best horse to be tangling your spurs on. ------ "For us, 1N (14-16) 2C 2D 2H shows an invitational hand with 5+ spades (rarely more than 5) and 1N 2C 2D 2S is either a balanced invite in notrump (with at least one 4 card major) or an invitational hand with 4S and longer hearts." Neither case interferes with how I prefer to play/recommend the minor suit transfers and intermediate minor holdings be bid.

try this: A. 2 ♠ -> 3♣ if opener has a good fit and 1N bids 2N without. B. 2N transfers to 3♦ if the opener has a good fit and bids 3♣ without. To stop with a weak hand the responder either passes if NT bid their suit or they bid it themselves to end the auction. If responder wants to pursue the auction they bid higher than their transfer suit which should be used for either showing controls or low-level asking bids as agreed upon in partnership. The ability to do the above is why 1N - 2♣ and then responding bidding either - 3♣ / ♦ should be intermediate. ----- Now all 3 types of hands can be handled without a lot of confusion. And there are more possible actions should 4th seat enter the auction. ----- A. & B. can be reversed and after 2S or 2N the 1N opener can bid the transfer suit without the fit and the intermediary suit with a good fit. Then the responder can sign off and become declarer by bidding their suit or bid higher if desired. Both methods have their +/- levels for consideration. mariner1

----- Sorry, 1N - 2C - 2S - 3C is/should be invitational or you need to change your system agreements. 1N - 3C is/should be forcing And some now use the 4 suit transfer to 3 C as in 1N - 2S - 2N/3C depending - any bid other than 3 clubs in forcing (suit is still clubs). So this is used when either weak or very strong and not the middle ground which is the 1N - 2C - a major - 3minor as suggested for invitational).

I am back... went through some rough medical issues so I was out for quite a while. Many thanks for the concerns. Sure to do miss doing all the Vugraphs though. :)

You should absolutely bid, not pass. Your hand is worth 7 highs plus good distribution count if you can find any fit. So the positives of reaching a game outweigh the risks of bidding by a large margin. Hands such as this is why you should be playing Stayman with hearts first responses. Opponents pass throughout though you can handle any interference easily enough. 1N - 2C Stayman 2D no major - bid 2 hearts which is a warning to P - if p bids 2 Spades now showing short hearts bid 3 clubs to play. 2 Hearts - I raise this to game 4 Hearts. 2 Spades - 3 clubs natural invitational (no I do not love this bid but you can't have always have everything) (Note that which is popular is very often the totally wrong bidding methods to be using.}

Al having the LIN files available from within the Vugraph Rooms or on the Room Selections menu would be good, or even from the Useful Links and OnLine menu. Until then these are available. http://www.sarantakos.com/bridge/vugraph.html - The Vugraph Project http://web04.bridgebase.com/vug/?C=M;O=D - Past Vugraphs (also see BBO Bridge Library) http://www.bridgehandpro.com/ for a searchable database of hands played on BBO vugraph. It is a free site. Thanks to James Heneghan of Ireland Another Kludge option would be to get someone that was in that room to send you the file. Hope these help.

With IE8 you need to use the Compatibility Mode. Look at Address Bar - if you have what looks like a torn page click it and it should turn BLUE meaning the Compatibility Mode is on. Or Click TOOLS - Compatibilty View.

There is now a Spell Checker that works well with Roger Pfister's excellent BBO authorized FREE Chat Assistant. It is TinySpell which can be configured to work with CA alone or almost all Windows programs (the default). Both the free TinySpell and the pay TinySpell Plus versions work with CA and/or BBO Chat. Chat Assistant - http://rogerpf.com/bridge/CA05_Info.php TinySpell - http://tinyspell.m6.net/

There is now a Spell Checker that works well with Roger Pfister's excellent BBO authorized FREE Chat Assistant. It is TinySpell which can be configured to work with CA alone or almost all Windows programs (the default). Both the free TinySpell and the pay TinySpell Plus versions work with CA and BBO Chat. Chat Assistant - http://rogerpf.com/bridge/CA05_Info.php TinySpell - http://tinyspell.m6.net/

The Chat Assistant seems to work well with Vista Home Premium 32 bit on my Laptop except for the slider. The slider seems to have no effect. If I type too many characters then the 1st line starting with Mariner1: will be blank and then the next line will be all text. In a multi-line sentence this is repeated until the last line and then it shows as it should. Mariner1: Then the messages starts and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Mariner1: and the next line is here and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Mariner1:and finally the last line is correct. These # of characters above of course were limited by this Forum. So to control the number of Characters I can use in the Chat Assistant I have to make the Length of the Box the max and then remember to not type past that without starting a new line. Overall I like the program and it would be great for commentators. Maybe a Spell Checker? How about a common phase popin where we could click a line in a seperate previouly saved box and have it put into the Chat Assistant Window. Yes I realize those request make the program a lot more complex to code. Thanks! :)

This is usually solved by experienced pairs by their agreed style. Since that doesn't exist go to basics. 4c should show I was made to bid and have a dog minimum - 5c should show good fit with no control outside of clubs and length in suit, a K is about all you are showing. You could stick in 3 diamonds however I think you have found your best fit for game and possible slam.

You should DOUBLE...... your p should pull the double to express interest in GAME by bidding 3 SPADES. Bidding is a co-operative effort and these bids both exhibit that co-operation.