Quantumcat

If you think never mentioning the target suit by name is interesting you should see some of me and my partner's auctions: 1♦(1) 2NT(2) 3♣(3) 3♦(4) 3NT(5) 4♥(6) 5♣(7) 5♥(8) 7♠ 1. Exactly 4 spades, 8-20 HCP. 2. Any splinter, 10-12 HCP. 3,4. What splinter? Diamonds. 5,6. KCB? 2 without queen. 7,8. What do you have in hearts? Queen or doubleton. The two hands: ♠AKQ8-----♠T8762 ♥KJ6532---♥AQ4 ♦AJ2---------♦7 ♣2------------♣A943

Here in Australia, it is the norm. Only people that play Acol (New Zealanders, some elderly South Australians) play high-encourage. High-encourage is seen as "old", much the same as take-out bids over 1NT instead of transfers.

In that auction, responder usually has only 1 more card in trumps than the first suit. When the second suit gets raised, that's when there is probably a singleton/void in the first suit and 3-4 card support for the second, and declarer will probably want to ruff several times, so a trump lead might show a profit. If you have a long strong holding in the first suit or you have a shortage and partner hopefully does, a trump lead might be useful in the non-raising case, since they will need to ruff more than once to set the suit up. For instance you lead a trump on opening lead, you get in with the suit, lead another, and get in again, and lead another one and he never gets to ruff the suit, and you might get 2 tricks because of the bad break in the suit. But in this case, the suit breaks 3-3, and declarer will never want to ruff more than once. You will only show a 1-trick benefit if partner has AKx or AQx, so can get in twice for two more trump leads. Partner MUST have one of these two holdings if the trump lead is to benefit at all, or you can NEVER lead three rounds of trumps, and declarer will always get to ruff once, and meanwhile you haven't used your time on lead to do anything productive. Here's an example hand [hv=pc=n&s=sqj7542h965dj76ca&w=st86hj8742dt2cj76&n=sk93hat3dk83c9852&e=sahkqdaq954ckqt43]399|300[/hv] On leading a trump then switching to a spade, declarer might cross to the jack of trumps, take a diamond finesse, ruff a diamond, knock out the ace of hearts, ruff the spade return, draw trumps and claim, for 11 tricks. Or he might not take the diamond finesse, and take 10 (we let partner win the diamond so he can lead another trump, but alas, two trump leads are not enough). On leading a spade, declarer might win, knock out the ace of clubs, ruff the spade return, cross to the jack of trumps, take a diamond finesse, ruff a diamond, knock out the ace of hearts, ruff the spade return, then he will play out winners and partner will probably just make his long club. 10 tricks. If he doesn't take the diamond finesse, he can be forced an extra time, so he only makes 8 tricks - partner gets two long clubs. Imagine the possibilities if declarer isn't as solid as I made him.

I defended a redoubled contract last weekend for +1000 (should actually have been +1600, but oh well), against a big-name player, I won't say his name because that would be rude :-), but his sponsor had terrible handwriting and he thought he opened 1C when it was actually 1S. To contribute to the thread, 5-major is probably a likely contract to be redoubled, if somebody tried a Striped-Tailed Ape double and the opponents were not fooled. I've also played 2 1NTXX contracts in my life - I open a 10-12 notrump and the opponents think that means they can double on any random 12-count. Partner passes showing happy or nowhere to run, the opp passes thinking 7 HCP is plenty to pass with, I redouble showing a 5-card suit, pard passes saying he's happy, opp passes thinking he's not going to fall for this ploy to make him feel nervous and rescue us ... and so we play 1NTXX, one just making the other with three overtricks (doubler had an 11-count under pard's 15-count, opp passed thinking he can't bid with 2 points). Unfortunately the 3 overtricks was in a pairs event :-( I can imagine 1-of a suit could get redoubled sometimes too - there's a takeout double, a redouble meaning whatever, a pass because they think they are not forced to bid anymore, and the doubler passes thinking his pard has made a penalty pass.

Don't be scared of doubling - unless you are playing against real beginners who don't know how to count to 25 HCP, then your partner must have some strength, and there is absolutely no danger in coming in. The fact that they have a fit means your side must also have a fit (but beware if they are playing Acol where they could be playing in a 4-3 spade fit). Just make sure your partner knows to bid 2NT with 2 places to play, and doesn't lazily bid 3♣ with four clubs and four diamonds, or four clubs and four hearts.

Short answer - discuss with partner. Most common amongst beginners (I've found) is low encourage on partner's lead, reverse count on declarer's lead, and low encourage on first discard. For a complete beginner, skip the count cards, just play your lowest when declarer plays a suit and you can't beat their card. When partner leads a suit, and you can't win and don't have to play third-hand-high, you play your lowest if you are happy for partner to continue playing this suit when he gets on lead (e.g. you have an honour and dummy won the ace. Or you don't have an honour, but don't like any other suit). Conversely, if you have a much better suit you'd rather partner played, you play your highest. When you make your first discard, play your lowest from a suit you want partner to play if he gets on lead, or your highest from a suit you really don't want him to play. If you don't have any preference at all, you can play low from a suit that partner is void in, or from a suit you know that partner knows is a bad idea to play, or high in a suit you think partner is likely to switch to (e.g. there's a king in dummy). This is the basics of signalling.

If partner has the ten, and you play the 9, you will probably make 2 tricks. Declarer will finesse partner for the queen (I can tell you why if you want), and you will make partner's long ten as well as your queen. If partner has the ten, and you play the queen, you will only make 1 trick (declarer will play off A, K, J and see if they are 3-3). If partner has the king and you play the 9, you will make either 1 trick (if declarer plays the ace next, then low to the jack), or 2 (if declarer thinks partner started with KQxx, and you with T9 doubleton). 2 is unlikely (partner might put in an honour when a card gets led towards the AJ, in case declarer started with only 2 cards, then he can't lead towards the jack again. Declarer knows this, so it's less likely he started with KQxx if he doesn't put in an honour). If partner has the king and you play the queen, now declarer has a solid finesse position against the remaining honour (he can lead the ten, squashing your 9 - he has the jack and the ace to take care of partner's king and 8). So you take only 1 trick. In both cases, if you play the queen you are guaranteeing only 1 trick. Whereas playing the 9 might get you 2 and definitely at least 1. Therefore play the 9.

The benefit of passing is that your partner now knows that you have 5 points or less. If you have a six-card suit, then if the opponents re-open the bidding, you can bid your suit at any level you like, without your partner doing anything silly. This is called limiting your hand. In general, when you have the opportunity to limit your hand, definitely do so. Means you can go crazy later without your partner thinking you have a strong hand and bidding too much.

Unless you play checkback, it is very important to raise the major response when you have three card support and 12-14(15) HCP. If responder has only 4 cards himself, with inviational values he can bid 2NT (which you can correct to 3♥ when not accepting and holding 4 card support, or pass with 3-card support and not accepting, or bid 3NT if accepting with 3-card support, or bid 4♥ if accepting with 4-card support), or 3NT with game values (which you can correct to 4♥ with four card support), or 3♥ with invitational values and five cards, or 4♥ with five hearts and game values. If you have about (15)16-17 HCP, change suits, then support hearts. This shows only three-card support (otherwise you would have bid 3♥ instead of changing suit), and more than 12-14 (otherwise you would have bid 2♥ right away).

Usually the "dummy preferred second suit therefore lead trump" is only applicable when the second suit got raised. Diamonds are 3-3 and only need one ruff to set them up. It's unlikely you can get rid of all three trumps in time, and you will have wasted tempo trying to do so when it only saves you one trick at most (only if declarer's diamonds are very bad, otherwise you only had 1 or 0 tricks even with no ruffs). Leading a trump is for when you have a long strong holding in declarer's other suit, or you have a shortage, and it was not raised, making pard likely to hold length, and you hope strength. A forcing defence is probably right. Partner has 4 clubs probably (maybe even 5, if dummy has 2-1 in declarer's suits, or if declarer bid a 4-card club suit), and you have a definite entry to play another spade. In fact this defence will work any time partner has at least four clubs, the only time it fails is when declarer has solid suits (AKQxx diamonds KQJTx clubs) and a spade stopper (ace, or king doubleton). If it turns out the opponents actually have some spades (e.g. A2 opposite KT65), then you can give pard a spade ruff when in with the ace of clubs, and declarer will probably never ever get the king of spades. I would love to know the full deal, and see if the forcing defence works and how many off he goes :-)

Double - if partner has 4-4 in two suits, he should bid 2NT, over which you bid 3♦.

No, opener has 7 points. Responder has 11 points, bids a suit and then 2NT, showing an invitational hand. If responses by a passed hand were non-forcing, then opener can pass responder's bid, and not end up in 2NT. But if they were forcing, 3rd seat can no longer open sub-minimum hands, they need to have full opening values.

The guy said it is NEVER right to bid 2♣ with 2335 - I was just responding to that as opposed to the actual thread. Sorry :-) Replying to the actual thread: Reasons for bidding: 1. You know you have a game and might not take enough undertricks to beat it 2. You are not sure of making game but are fairly sure 4♠ is making Reasons for passing: 1. You are not sure your game is making but confident of some positive score out of 4♠ 2. You are confident game is making but not slam, and are confident of getting sufficient undertricks out of 4♠ to cover your game Reasons 1. and 2. for bidding are not applicable, because for 1. partner is a passed hand, and has a limit to his strength, so you can't be sure of game. And for 2., partner did not bid a suit, making all your short suits worth their full weight on defense. Your long suit has the Ace so it is very likely to be a trick. So you can be fairly confident of taking 4♠ off. Reason 1. for passing is applicable, as above. Reason 2. isn't applicable since you are not sure of your game, BUT, on general principles, when they are red and you are white, if in doubt whether to defend or play, it is usually right to defend.

If bids by a passed hand can be forcing, then you are no longer allowed to open sub-minimum hands in 3rd seat - don't want to end in 2NT with 11 HCP opposite 7!

Another reason for overcalling 2♣ instead of double, is if you are strong enough for two bids. In this case you will show more of your hand by bidding 2♣ then double as opposed to double then double. E.g. (1♠) 2♣ (2♠) pass (pass) X as opposed to (1♠) X (2♠) pass (pass) X If you are only strong enough for one bid, then double shows more about your hand than 2♣.

This shows why you need a good suit to overcall at the two-level vulnerable. In my first month of playing bridge I was 22 and overcalled on something like Q2 QT652 Q653 KJ [i was told, "10 HCP to overcall, 12 HCP to open..."] - this exact auction happened - and I went for Newcastle (Australians will figure out this meant I didn't make a trick). I think I cried. But I learned the lesson and started having my bid when vulnerable! Of course pass is right - and if pard goes for a postcode then you should hang onto him cause he will have learned his lesson and won't ever do it again ...

Most hands with 8 cards in the same suit below 12 HCP (some 9-12 HCP would be too good, some not) should be opened game, and some with 7 cards. This could be hands as bad as QT876543 and nothing else or KQJT765 - K543 32 (most would open 4♠). If you are too strong to open game, there are lots more options. If you have a solid suit you can consider opening the suit and rebidding 3NT - this shows a solid suit that was too good to open game with. You don't need a lot of HCP, just a solid suit and maybe some outside cards (but not necessary). If you play a Gambling 3NT opening, then this would cover similar hands but with a few cards outside the suit. If your hand is too good to open game with and your suit is not solid - simply open one of your suit and rebid game - this will be hands in the 15-18 HCP range. You might be solid but too good to rebid 3NT (e.g. you have multiples of the following outside your suit: voids, aces, kings). If your hand is too good to open game and not good enough to open one and rebid game (or suit is not QUITE long/good enough) - simply open one of a suit and rebid 3. This covers every possibility of long, good suits.

West can anticipate East's problems - if he has a void, he can't keycard. Therefore West should just ignore his small clubs, and keycard himself. When you are faced with a crunch situation, you sometimes just don't have the luxury of ironing out every tiny detail. This is Pragmatics for Bridge 101. In addition, there isn't really any way that his partner can have his bids if he doesn't have something solid in clubs - he has shown the equivalent of a 16 count or better, to be suggesting slam over a 2/1. They only way really, is to have exactly KQJTxx Axxxx - Qxx. And this might not be worth 4D to some people. In other situations, it's good to recognise that when one partner has shown a splinter, if the other one has the ace (and knows the partnership has slam values, of course) he should either (a) cuebid his ace as soon as humanly possible so that if his partner wants to keycard he can, or (b) keycard himself. Suggested auction (incredibly simple): 1♠ 2♥ 4♦ 4NT 5♣ 6♥

My regular partner who also functions as my coach told me years ago - with four trumps and a singleton - bid game. It has never failed me yet.

Overcalls have a few purposes - making it harder for the opponents to share information, to help partner find a good lead, to compete for a partscore, to find a game. Since the opponents have already made an opening and a response, they have a very good idea about their shared assets. You won't be making it any harder for them to find the right contract - they have a good idea whether they should double you (if partner raises) or bid on. So don't overcall "just because you can". This is only useful if you can take up space and they haven't shared much information (e.g. a 1-minor opening, but not a 1NT opening). If you have a great suit with nothing much outside, you might help partner find the winning lead. Careful though, if you have say a king or a queen in another suit and a not-perfect suit of your own, and partner was about to lead from KJxx or QJxx, you might actually be preventing him from finding the right lead. If you have a great hand, you could be helping your partnership compete to a partscore or game. If you don't have a good suit OR a good hand - you could distract partner from the right lead, or land in a stupid contract that gets doubled (the opponents already have a good idea what their combined assets are, so they will know when it is right). If you land in a high contract when you have a good suit but not a good hand, it is hard for the opponents to double (nobody has trump tricks) and even if they do, more often than not the penalty isn't worth their while. If partner leads your suit when you have a bad suit and a good hand, you should have plenty of defence to make up for the trick that's been given up. So really nothing can go wrong if you have either a very good suit, or a decent hand. If you think about what you are trying to achive with your bids, then you will know when a hand is right to overcall and when it isn't.

It shows around 17-20 HCP (or equivalent in shape/suit qualities), is natural, and doubler still has a take-out shape. Bidding 3♣ says you are happy stopping in 3♣ if responder has 0-7 HCP and four clubs. Therefore not bidding 3♣ says you would like to go higher, and is at least invitational opposite 0-7 HCP. Responder should consider bidding game or at least something encouraging if they hold 6-7 or a nice 5 HCP. 0-4 HCP can pass if they have something of a fit with doubler's natural suit. Doubler would have done something else if he can make game almost on his own (bid game as his first bid, made a Leaping/Non-Leaping Michaels as his first bid, bid 3NT as his first bid or rebid 3NT after your Lebensohl, or cue-bid the opponent's suit as his first bid or as his rebid after your Lebensohl).

Some people play that both transfer to a minor then bidding a major AND stayman then bidding a minor show 5+ in the minor and 4 in the major, but that stayman then minor shows invitational values (where you would rather play 3-minor than 2NT if opener rejects) and transfer to minor then bidding major shows a game force. e.g. 1NT 2♠ 3♣ 3♥ = 5+ clubs, 4+ hearts, game force 1NT 2♣ 2♠ 3♣ = 5+ clubs, 4 hearts, invitational - opener considers fit with minor/major to be a reason for upgrading, and considers they probably have a singleton diamond [singleton spade might have bid 2NT]

I don't think anyone would care too much playing normal online bridge - if there are no prizes at stake, who cares if anyone is cheating? If you think they are you can just boot them and get some new opponents (or not - it might sharpen your declaring skills if every deal is like playing Bridge Master!). But I thought people might care if there is an entry fee with prizes at stake. It wouldn't matter much to me if I got accused of cheating, but my partner is a minor personality in the small world of Australian bridge and cares about his reputation. Your reply wasn't very helpful and did nothing to alleviate my concerns so I will stay away from tournaments and stick to playing against GIBs.

There's a simple reason why Gerber is not useful. It is because when you are playing a NT game or slam, the essential thing is having enough points. When you and your partner are 4333, to have a decent shot at making you really need 26 points for game, 33 points for a small slam, and 37 for a grand slam. When you have a five card suit you might need a little less - but not much. Holding one stopper in a suit and needing to knock out an ace to make tricks with your five card suit will mean you go down in 6NT. If you have enough points, it becomes very unlikely that the opponents hold two aces, or an Ace-King in the same suit. Even when you are not missing an ace, or missing only one, you may not have enough strength to take twelve tricks. Knowing partner's ace count will not really help you. Conversely, in a suit, you usually don't need so many points to take 12 tricks. Holding a void, you don't need to worry about knocking out an ace - you have control of the suit without needing any points in it. With fewer and fewer high card points, it becomes more and more likely that the opponents can hold two aces. Therefore it is a very good idea to check. Even when you hold enpough power to take 12 tricks, even the best players can't do it when the opponents cash the first two tricks. Therefore, Gerber is quite useless. And it is no good using it in suit auctions either - it just means natural, normal bidding gets confused and you can't make cuebids or splinters anymore. This hilarious auction happened once at my club: 1♠ (me) - pass - pass - 2♣; 2♠ - pass - pass - 3♣; 3♠ pass - pass - pass. Her words: "Sorry partner, I couldn't compete to 4♣ because that would be Gerber!" lol

You are better off using duplicate scoring. There are no high-level rubber games (well maybe you can find some in New York or London, but it'll be world-class players taking your money for the pleasure of sitting down at a table with them), so there's not much point learning how to play rubber well. Most of the skills you learn won't be transferrable and you might end up with bad habits for duplicate (where you can find a million tournaments, for any level of skill). Of course if you regularly just play with four people and never go to a club, or to any small congresses, you may as well play rubber. But as soon as you can get eight people you can have a teams game. With more, you can play an American Whist movement and still get to play teams.