Apollo81

1. Since 3♦ is NF, I wouldn't bid that with a 16-count. 2. I think choice of games is a much better meaning for this bid than anything else, particularly since 3♦ was NF. The only other reasonable thing I can think of is a 4-6 or 4-7 reds hand, but that seems like it would come up much less often than some awkward choice of games hands would.

IMO not a clear decision either way due to the IMP scoring and lousy heart spots.

Pass Who says they have an 8-card fit, and even if they do, we could still be going for a number. Remember that partner, with the supposed "heart shortness" didn't bid over 2♥.

I would bid 4♦. The only other reasonable action IMO is double then 4♦, and that is only reasonable if you don't play ELC.

I like double because, while my "hearts" horse isn't nearly as good, I have one other good horse and one reasonable horse to fall back on.

This is a difficult problem because it's not clear what certain calls mean in this auction. Is pass forcing or not? Is 2♦ natural or a cuebid? Is 2♥ a big hand or ELC? When I have discussed these things, these answers are usually pretty inconvenient for this hand. The one bid that partner will get right for sure is 3♣, so I will bid that. I would imagine that partner will often follow up 3♦ if he has no 4-card major. I then have an easy 3♥ bid. Later I will discuss what a 2♦ bid means here.

agree w/ Phil

I agree with Josh. Partner could have all sorts of stuff, so passing at this low a level seems like putting too many eggs in one basket. I think the other bids besides 2♥ overstate my hand in various ways.

At least it was close. While this hand has too many potentially working high cards to pass, if you had held 109xx xx xxx AKxx then pass seems very clear to me.

Dbl, then convert ♦ to ♥

Normally it's right on this auction to lead something other than what was opened. However, I don't see many attractive leads here, so I will go with the ♠10 anyway.

Pass. I expect partner will balance if 4♠ is cold. Double should be takeout of diamonds here.

agree, looks textbook for this

I'm considering playing a jump to 3♠ as inv with good spades and 2NT..3♠ as inv choice of spades/NT. Then 2NT..3NT is choice of game OM/NT regardless of which major they opened. Sounds somewhat similar to what you're doing.

What about "choice of 3NT/4M" as a possible meaning if their suit is a major?

I'm aware this topic has occurred before. Consider the Lebensohl sequence (2x)-Dbl-(p)-2N-(p)-3♣-(p)-3N. 1. What does this mean if undiscussed? 2. What would you like it to mean? 3. Does the identity of the opponents' suit matter? If so, how?

Surely years starting at 2020 will be referred to as "twenty twenty ...."

Whatever your call is, it's hardly "totally obvious"

Agree that this is a normal double. IMO pass has more merit than it has been assigned by this discussion, and 4NT has less...

1. Describe the 4♠ bid in non-competitive 1♥-1♠-2♦-3♣-3N-4♠ 2. What is the worst 1543 opener that would not pass here

All of the club spots seem relevant in this problem. For instance, partner could always play the ♣9 on the second round, denying the ♣10. If that happens you obviously have to win the club trick. If neither declarer nor partner played the ♣9 (and you trust partner) then partner must have ♣10 and you can safely duck the trick. If declarer played the ♣9 on the second round then you may be able to tell from all the other spots whether he is hiding a low one or not. If I had concluded from the above that declarer could hold the ♣10, I would rise and lead a low heart, hoping declarer guesses wrong from ♥Jx.

I like 5♥. I think that we have enough high cards so that there is a chance of double, all pass. Clearly I am bidding 6♥ over Xp6♦, I am not risking a huge negative number by passing when the save is probably -300 at worst.

I would pull. Let's say partner has a 15 count. He is probably expecting the pts to be 15-15-5-5 around the table with his tenaces over the NT opener. The points are more like 17-15-7-1, and some of partner's tenaces might be badly placed. It's quite unlikely he has a trump stack here. AND things are splitting well for them AND the opps will likely get guesses right if necessary.

The only layout that matters is if declarer had 6313, so we win the club and then play another one, trapping declarer in dummy.

Does this have any merit over normal weak twos in the majors, other than it is harder to defend against? Seems like freeing 2♦ would be more useful than freeing 2♠.