effervesce

I play good/bad 2NT but if I was playing with a partner who does not play that convention I wouldnt be sure!! So option 3 for me. Why am I not sure? Because there is a responsive double available over the 2S raise - 3D obviously denies 3H btw. If you had some diamonds, would you all make a responsive double with a strong hand here or 3D with the strong hand??? That is the question... And of course, whether you play better/convenient minor or short club may also influence what the bids mean...

Bash a 3NT bid-there is a good chance for a club lead, and any more scientific bids (eg transfer to clubs/invite with clubs) will of course tip the opps to not lead a club.

Erm... in the auction 4♣ was a NON-SERIOUS cuebid-with either of those golden hands you gave I'm sure a serious 3NT would have been bid. The 3♥ raise already shows slam interest (since 4H could have been bid instead) - you dont really have extra extra slam interest-4♥ over the 4♣ cue would be my choice.

To Impact and Akhare: Both those symmetric relay systems appear to use A/K controls (A = 2, K=1 controls) and thus appear to be UNABLE to discover if a grand can be made if both the KQ in South's hand are in the same major eg if South's hand was either ♠KQ6 ♥T943 ♦- ♣T98643 or ♠986 ♥KQT9 ♦- ♣T98643 (which moscito, which uses queen points (A=3QP, K=2, Q=1) can find with the aid of denial cuebids - though you could just have added a denial cuebidding sequence to those systems and the right spot should be found. But for the hand I gave yes symmetric relay systems seem to find the slam =) Any non-relay systems up for the challenge to reach 6C?

Double. If you pass they'll probably be left to play in 2H as partner is likely to have a few hearts-so at this favourable vul you want to compete for the partscore.

North (dealer) ♠AT4 ♥A ♦KJT32 ♣AKQJ South ♠K86 ♥QT94 ♦- ♣T98643 No interference in bidding. Using moscito relays (hidden text below):

No fit: Pass with up to ~8HCP With fit: Raise with down to ~3HCP-usually to ensure that p leads right thing-will often pass with more and a fit with xxx in p's suit since you dont really want that suit led. With Kxx in the suit however you want to make sure if the opps bid game that ur p does not make a bad lead letting them make game when they shouldnt.

Sort of on this topic- has anybody here had any experience playing 1C-(1D)-X or 1m-(1M)-X as DENYING a 4 card major?? Robson/Segal say that this is a better structure for 1m-X but I've never tried it-and is supposed to be good for 5 card major systems where you cant freely raise opener's minor, but I've never played it and thus dont know whether it is better than the standard interpretation of the X as a takeout double here. Their examples include 1C-(1H) and you hold Kxx xxx xxx AJxx or Ax Jxx Qxx Kxxxx where (if you play normal t/o doubles) you dont really have a good bid.

Eh-would never have had this problem in my system - 1C - (1S) - 3H! would be a fit-showing jump - showing 5+ hearts, 4+ clubs. Then rebid your hearts over p's expected 4C bid showing your good hearts.

The first double showed takeout, the 2nd double here showed cards (strong hand). This should be takeout.

4NT should be an extreme two-suiter. Usually the minors, but possibly may be a minor/major if he/she expected the bidding to reach the 5 level due to the extreme shape of their hand. Of course, what 4NT means in your partnership depends on your partnership agreement.... but with a random person on BBO, i'd take it to be a two-suiter.

For me, 4S is a clearcut bid by south. 3S in our moscito system would be game forcing, 4S just to play. N also has a good hand enough hand to bid again. Systematically: 1C - (X or 1D) can be handled easily in any inteference system 1C - (1H/S/1NT/2C): step = takeout of the suit; if no anchor suit for overcall then natural GF; 2NT shows minors, cue = michaels, X = GF balanced/4441 (not singleton in their suit). Jump in suit bids NNF. 1C - (2D+): any action game forcing-X = t/o

Pass. Even though you have 5 spades, your shape is the worst possible-also the spread out honours in different suits suggest defending. Since p has the A of clubs, you are sure to take 5D down - 5S may or may not make.

Thats why opening 4H at matchpoints is a very good alternative-in matchpoints the FREQUENCY of finding the right spot is king-it matters less on finding slam since that is a lower frequency than preempting the opps out of bidding, and reaching a (looking at your hand) spade or club game. Bidding 4H directly also has the major benefit of also being less likely to be doubled and passed out for penalties-with you bidding 1H-(X) then 4H-(X) the opponents are more happy to pass out 4HX than if you bid 4H straight off the bat.

Depends on what level you and your partner have agreed to use takeout doubles to-but most experts play takeout doubles basically all the way up to at least 4S, and alot up to 7S.

Yes it is-especially if you play in a 5-1/ 4-2 misfit while there is an 7 or 8 card fit available elsewhere. That's why I'll still play a precisionesque system for the time being (1C = 15+ moscito, 1D = 2+D 10-14, 1H/1S = 4+ suit 10-14, 1NT 9-11 NV 1st/2nd and 12-14 vul or 3rd/4th, 2C 10-14 prec, 2D multi, 2H/2S major/minor, 2NT=minors). These misfits happened far too often for my liking. However, it might have been more frequent than it should have due to (what we played) the 1NT response on these unbalanced hands with 7-10-I wonder what a bridge simulator would say about comparing the resultant contracts from bidding 1NT with those 5422/5431 hands instead of making a 2/1 bid. What do you (and others) think?

5♣ for sure... if you opened 1♣ only with your hand it wouldnt be surprising at all if it went 1♣-4♣(michaels) and the opps finding a cheap major sac.

Interesting-an extension of the popular two-way drury convention except that 2D shows 3 card support and 2C 4 card support, and allowing one to find the range of the 2C 8-11. Nice :)

Okay, so with all unbalanced hands you bid a new suit... so does that mean I must respond to an opening of 1D or 1H with 2C with 8 points, unbalanced hand with clubs? Because I'd previously thought that for a 2/1 bid you'd still need at least 10 points... but I guess that makes sense as game invitational hands would go through the relay... Previously I dealt with situations where a 1H (4+ spades) i'd respond 1NT with an 8 count, 2-1 spades, 2-3clubs, 5/4 hearts and diamonds. So instead with such hands you're suggesting i should bid the 5 card suit, and this 2/1 bid would be NF? That appears to open a whole new can of worms-now say opener has a 5314 shape and responder has a 1453/2452 shape- the bidding would go 1H-2D I presume? Then you have a similar sticky situation...

Yeah I've thought about that too - then again with the 15+ strong club you'd have a similar problem already after 1C - (2H) or 1C - (3H)- the 1C opening itself is intrinsically tactically weak to interference. However, I think this would be counterbalanced (as in polish club where it could be a weak NT) where the opponents cant interfere on nothing anymore in fear of losing their own game? 1C - (2H) or 1C - (3H) now genuinely has to be a weak 2 or 3 bid for fear of preempting their own partner. Until tested, I believe that sure, the 1C - (2H) in such a structure would be affected more by such interference, but the upside is LESS INTERFERENCE due to the possibly weaker nature of the 1C opening.

Did anybody mention Oliver Segal's "Partnership bidding at bridge" ? I found it to be a very informative book on evaluating the 'offensiveness', 'defensiveness' of hands, how vulnerability and which seat in the bidding affects probabilities. Its geared towards the advanced player aiming to do better at bridge. An electronic book can be found at http://www.geocities.com/daniel_neill_2000...ingAtBridge.ZIP made available free by the authors so there's no reason not to read it! =)

Hi The Hog, lol whoopsies. I didnt know Richard helped out alot with making the system :-) Anyway, you ask, what does not using the transfer 1D/1H openings lose? The ability to relay shape/etc to reach slam? The ability to reach 4-3 major fits quickly, making it difficult for the opponents to balance? Losing the ability to relay may be true, but in general I've found that a) its not required that often b ) relaying with a strong hand opposite a weaker hand is usually more useful in determining slam potential. With two moderate hands it takes more denial cue-bidding and often its harder to determine who has what from the QP and denial cuebids c) the transfer opening allows the opponents an extra bid (of course this may be counterbalanced by the 1S bid) d) the 5 of a minor/4major opening hands. My main problem with the system is I'm not sure how to handle these-maybe Paul (or you) have found suitable ways to deal with these 4 of a major/5 minor hands which are opened with 1D/1H transfers. If it goes 1D(4+hearts)-1NT-2C (showing 5/4 hearts clubs either way), you have a problem: when do you correct back to 2H or pass 2C? Obviously you cant bid 2H if you have only 2 hearts (you could be in a 4-2 fit!), and if you have two hearts and two clubs you just got screwed. Do you know Paul's new structure over the 1D/1H openings? Coz I'd love to learn it :-)

Hmmm interesting 2H multi. Against the 2D multi I've always used 2H is heart takeout, 2S is spade takeout, X is opening hand with 5 card major. Unfortunately a 2H multi doesnt let me use that, so I'd have to use (in direct seat) X = heart takeout, pass if i've got a spade takeout or heart hand and use 2S as a genuine spade hand. The problem with as suggested before is that it does not let the opponents play in a 3-2 fit (they can run) - of course this is probably counterbalanced possibly by missing game on hands we have a game in hearts and they play in 2H. I like the idea of 2H as a multi - more preemptive as unlike 2D multi the opponents "know" the 2D opening partner will bid again and can pass with strong hands then double later. It'll also let me try out this idea i've had for a while for a system (polish club/moscito relay hybrid): 1C = 15+ any or 12-14 6+C/5+C 4M 1D = game force 8+QP not 5440 type shape 1H = 5-7QP balanced may have 5M/unbalanced no 5M 1S = 0-4QP any 1NT = 5-7QP 5+H 4+ another 2C = 5-7QP 5+S 4+ minor 2D = 5-7QP 5+S 4+H 2H/2S = 5-7QP singlesuiter 2NT+ = game forcing 8+QP 5440 shapes 1D = 10-14 2+D 1H/1S = 10-14 4+ suit 1NT = 15-17 bal 2C = weak, 5/5 blacks/reds/majors 2D = weak, 5/5 pointed/round 2H = multi (wk 2 in a major) 2S = weak, 5/5 minors Wonder how this'll work out :-)

-Allowing 'artificial' pass openings be described in the software-currently opening bids of pass, or forcing passes cannot be described -Fix the 'copy and paste' in FD-currently if you copy the 'branches' down from a bid onward and want to paste it elsewhere it only copies properly if there was the same number of bids reaching the branch point. Ie, 1C-1H-1NT (copy stuff onwards) vs 1NT (paste) doesnt work too great.

Thanks for the welcome. As for more info: -the relays are antinumeric (ie clubs/diamonds/hearts/spades in order of priority). -the system after a 1C-1D game force, or a 1C-semipositive-(step bid game force) are designed so that single-suited hands end up using the single-suiter table, the two-suiter hands using the two-suiter table etc [b]Single-suiter table (2S is step beginning the single-suited table below-the previous bidding would have indicated which suit)[/b] 2NT = 6332 or 7222 3C = relay 3D = 6223 (show in numerical/alphabetical order) 3H = 6232 3S = 6322 3NT = 7222 3C = HS 3D = MS 3H = 6331 3S = 7(32)1 3NT = 7330 [b]Two-suiter table (where the previous bidding would have revealed which two suits)[/b] 2S = first in alphabet longer (if possible) 2NT = relay responses as for 3C-> below 2NT = 5+/5+ (if possible) 3C = relay 3D = HS 3H = relay-resolve as below 3H = 5611 or 6511 3S = relay; now 3NT = 5611, 4C = 6511) 3S = LS 5521 3NT = LS 5530 4C = LS 5620 (numerical/alphabetical order) 4D = LS 6520 3C = HS (higher in alphabet longer for 3C+) 3D = 5422 3H = LS 5431 3S = LS 6421 3NT = LS 6430 4C = LS 7420 4D = 7411 [b]The three-suited hands are handled in the balanced/4441 or 2NT+ GFresponses to 1C or semipostives-below is the balanced/4441 table[/b] 1NT = balanced or 4441 2C = relay 2D = no major 2H = relay 2S = clubs only 2NT = diamonds and clubs 3C/3D/3H = 2353/3253/3352 respectively 3S = 3343, 4-5 QP 3NT = 3343, 3QP 2H = 4 or 5 hearts, not 4 spades 2S = relay 2NT = 5 hearts (5332 shape) 3C = 4 clubs, 4 hearts 3D = 2443 3H = 3442 3S/3NT = 3433 (4-5 and 3QP respectively) 2S = 4 spades, not 4 hearts 3C = relay 3D = spades and clubs 3H = 4243 3S = 4342 3NT = 4333 2NT = 5 spades 3C = 4 spades, 4 hearts 3D/3H/3S/3NT = 4441s, HS to LS Having such single-suiter/two-suiter tables that recur throughout the system make it not too hard to learn (still hard but easier than other relay systems). Does anyone know how to make it tab properly? since its not formatting properly sorry. It only vaguely tabs when i put it as 'code' at least-but its still not great.