Hanoi5

I'd probably just bid game, but being not Vul I'll give it a try with 3♦.

♠AJ97xx ♥KJ ♦x ♣8765 Teams, all white: (Pass)-???

I voted for 2♦ 'cause the OP advertised his system allows him to bid a non-forcing 2♦.

What's the minimum for partner's double at this Vulnerability and against this pre-emptive jump? Wouldn't 4♥ show a ♥ control? I thought 5♠ would be unanimous.

I would have followed your path, 1♦ and then 5♦ over partner's . It's a very difficult hand, if partner bids hearts, can we make a double exclusion KC?

Teams, all red: ♠AKQx ♥xx ♦AJxx ♣KQx 1♦-(2♥)-X-(3♥) ??? What's your call?

If an opening bid is made with 12-20 HCP's I prefer to have 3 ranges: 12-14, 15-17 and 18-20. So if you have a bid for 12-14/18-20 in NT then 15-17 has to 'lie' by either rebidding the Major or bidding a minor (diamond in this case); an interesting question would be, why didn't you open 1NT with 15-17 balanced? (probably because the Major was too strong, then rebidding it won't be much of a lie) And this is probably a topic for the Natural Bidding Discussion Forum.

South opened 4♠. I don't know why the diagram has North as dealer. In order to defeat 5♦ South has to return a club after winning the first trick with the ♠A and then return another club when in with the ♥A.

I think I can make my question more accurate; when the law says: "where these are matters of partnership understanding." (my bold) these refers to a. relevant inferences from the choice of action, or b. calls actually made, relevant alternative calls available that were not made and relevant inferences from the choice of action? So if the bidding goes 1♠-Pa-3♣, can I ask about the bidding if it wasn't alerted? Because 1♠, being natural, is not necessarily a partnership understanding and 3♣ not being alerted (either) should be natural, so can I ask about those calls (the ones actually made) or do I have to ask only about calls that are a matter of partnership understanding?

Law 20F1 states: "during the auction and before the final pass, any player may request, but only at his own turn to call, an explanation of the opponents’ prior auction. He is entitled to know about calls actually made, about relevant alternative calls available that were not made, and about relevant inferences from the choice of action where these are matters of partnership understanding." Does this mean that: a. A player can ask about "calls actually made", "about relevant alternative calls available that were not made", and "about relevant inferences from the choice of action where these are matters of partnership understanding", or, b. A player can ask about "calls actually made" "where these are matters of partnership understanding", "about relevant alternative calls available that were not made" "where these are matters of partnership understanding", and "about relevant inferences from the choice of action" "where these are matters of partnership understanding"?

My partner opened 4♠. I don't think it would have done much difference, but I said the hand was a 1 or 4 opening, too much for 3 or 2. Maybe with a different Vul I'd have been right. This was the end of it: [hv=pc=d=s&v=b&w=s9h3dakt98643caj2&e=sqthk986542d5ck96&a=4s5dppp]399|300[/hv]

So, 1♠>>>Pass>>3♠>>>2♠>>>4♠?

1♥-2♣ 2♥-3♦ 4♣- Then ask for KC and play 6 of the minor.

Wouldn't you say that changing a player because of an injury and then having the replacement get injured is a bit of bad luck?

4♥. Is there a way to ask partner how good are his clubs and how many of them he has? I don't think so...

♠AJ76532 ♥Ax ♦xx ♣xx Teams, all red, you dealt...

My mistake. Your partner dealt and passed. RHO opened 2♥, Muidenberg.

Edited

All white, teams, partner deals and second hand opens 2♥ which shows 5 hearts, 4+ in a minor and 6-10. Would you bid 2♠ or 4 ♥ with this collection: ♠KJ98xx ♥Qx ♦KQTxx ♣--- Pa-(2♥)-???

Instead of losing 5 you won 19? That's more like 24 imp's swing.

♥6. I suppose ♣K and another is also possible, but I see it as a guess...

Right. Is it better for West to Key-Card over 2♦ from East over a heart support from South? I guess, but East won't be bidding 5♦ with J/T sixth and nothing else, so 6♦ is not that crazy.

I think 1♦(1♥)5♦(Pa)6♦ is the best you can come up with. By going slow you might find the opponents pre-empt you, taking away space from you.

♥A and another, expecting partner to hold a singleton and ♦KJxx OR! small heart, expecting partner to hold a singleton ♥10 or doubleton 10 and a diamond combination that'll produce two tricks... I'll go with small heart.

I hope the double is for take-out, though I'm sure that's normal. Opening 1♦ will not create so much trouble with so many spades missing...