marcD

I guess one way to find out whether 3♠ is forcing is bidding it. Will not take the chance, so will protect partner with 3♦. Not 100% clear to me 3♠ now should be forcing and possibly even less so to partner .

I play what seems almost standard in France : invitational becomes GF iif 6th bid (i.e. FSF bidder rebid) is 3C or above. Note however that standard practice here is to play things like 1C-1D-1S- 3C forcing so the overall framework for the discussion is slightly different. Not sure it's optimal but at least it is easy to remember

Thanks for your answers; I was South and felt we got a bad result without anybody doing something terrible. Guess we were fixed because West did not raise diamonds. 3S was not a game try in our methods but clearly shows a good ODR and North might have raised (it is always aggravating for the opponents when you bid a cold game on such an auction :blink:. The hidden agenda was actually to find out how many would suggest 3S instead of 2S with the North hand; nobody seemed ready to reevaluation that nice 12 count by that much ...

♠[hv=d=n&v=b&n=sak75h852d7ckqt73&s=sq9632ha6djt82cj4]133|200|Scoring: XIMP 1C - 1D - 1S - P 2S - x - 3S allP[/hv] 1C = balanced 12-14 or unbalanced with C 11+ 2S 4 cards consistent with weak NT type or minimum unbalanced Who is to blame ? N ? S? system ? thanks

3♠ is obvious and post mortem proof even though it does not do justice to my hand. the only alternative is 5♠. I would reluctantly (but quickly !) bid 3♠

Could not resist balancing with 4♠ over 4♦. Bidding 3♠ over 2♠ should be natural but I would rather pass to avoid any mix up

I don't think she has a choice now. First time since 1993 that Italy hasn't been on the podium. Roland Clearly Mrs Lavazza knows something we do not know. It is difficult to imagine that bridge performance alone could justify Fantunes to be sidelined. They brought new ideas to bidding, they are fun to watch , they were the less arrogant italian pair and perform extremely well against weaker teams (which with the current euroship format is an asset). What is intriguing is that things could evolve so quickly; Angelini was not an unknown entity for the rest of the team and they should have been committed to winning or losing with him. Guess Italy has yet to discover sportmanship (as also confirmed by the report on the the Norway game)

did i miss something or 5H was a sign off . guess responder has a club void he did not show on 4NT . So I hope partner has a trump trick + King D which could go away on the spades : DT

nice 2NT opening wtp ? looks like 21 to me :rolleyes: contraty to what is stated in another of your posts think these hands (17-19 or 18-19 or 18-20 depending on system)cause a lot of pain in competition . you should not bid twice with them but you run the risk of being stolen blind . That's why I think having a 2C or 2D for these hands makes sense. If not follow your table feel pass if a reasonnable mood NT otherwise

4NT would be take out for me. So DBL shows a good unbalanced hand with convertible values (no trump stack, 5+ C) . Ok, get fixed when I have 18-19 balanced but so be it

depends on vulnerabilities and form of game . MP x optionnal (more so if they are vul) as I need to protect my +110 ; teams t/o shapely hand

Partner will be passing too many hands where we are cold for 3NT. So I guess 3NT , the real issue being what to do over DBL by LHO Pass Pass

I am probably too conservative but I do not see how dbl by partner could be for take out (what kind of hand would pass first and then dbl ?) or penalty. (BTW not clear to me either that my dbl of 3NT would be take out (probably shows a strong balanced hand) so my choice would have been between 4D and pass). For me it is clearly lead directing (probably spades). So I would guess 4S in a regular partnership or double 4D to see what comes next with a pick up partner

North made 2 weird bids : 3♣ instead of 2NT or 3♦ is mindboggling and then 3♠ over 3♦ is almost as bad. South could have bid 1♠ instead of 2♠ as is first rebid (stiff Ace is a liability) but it's more a matter of style

1/ I prefer 3H (slight overbid) rather than 2H which covers too much territory in classic methods (I guess i would bid 2H with 0 points and 5H ) . 2/ Do not think partner would bid 4H with a flattish 18-19 and 4 hearts (3H over 2H is enough); rebidding is probably ok but I bid 3H on the 1ST round to avoid facing that problem

I have no issue with 2S (2H would be an overbid and whhy go to the 3 level with 4333). The only questionnable bid in my mind is 3S which sounds competitive instead of DBL . So South 60% bad luck/why is it that good a game? 40%

extreme shape seems clear (does not want to play in 4Sx facing a balanced HCP rich raise, even though pass and pull would not have a special meaning as the pass would not be forcing); warning against doubling 5S with D concentration. Slam is not the issue (or then just blast to slam)

4D is undefined would assume it is an autosplinter but would never try it without discussion. 1NT is disgusting but so are the alternatives . auction worked well (my partner would rebid 2H :)) and now 4S seems clearcut

Not worried about 3NT so 4C seems perfect. Anyway usually play 3C is a 2 suiter so choice is 4C or PAss. 5C could work but is a bit too rich (even) for me

Difficult problem at MP . Facing a passed hand, 4S can be anything and the 6C is suspicious . It may be right to pass but at the table i would probably bid 6D to show my void (:)) try to play 6Sx

Playing 3S seems too narrow a target and i could be cold for 6D . So pass is out . choice is between 3NT and 4D . I choose 4D as my hand has slow tricks. If partner cue bids 5C i bid 6D, over 4S i'll pass (i would assume 4H is not to play and will bid 5D)

Definitely a matter of style : with my partners, 1D is constructive and i am not going to miss a game if my partner has some values. I can live with double but partner will expect better majors and will stretch to be bid 2M or even 2C . The only minus of 1D is that it is boring / too obvious. Not sure I need the preemption of 1NT and 3NT will likely play better from my partner's hand so for me 1D 10 Dbl 7 1NT 5 (who said RHO has clubs anyway ?)

Dummy has bid diamonds naturally. Sorry missed that since most players bid 3D to find 44 major fit and/or avoid playing 3NT from the weak hand. Pass anyway

Do I zbsolutely want a spade lead ? i guess not, so pass is easy. Guess depends on your agreements but dbl for me ask to lead dummy's suit or if none bid then spades. Here you could possibly argue that dummy has shown spades but I think it's better to treat 2H as a plain relay.

Where? Not here... Just a question from a confused European. France, Spain, Portugal. Cannot speak for Spain or Portugal but I guess that more than 50% of serious players play inverted minors in France now. It still true though that the standard is still old fashionned raises.