Quantumcat

You have probably forgotten what it is like to be a beginner. When you are a beginner, you have no experience or the instinct that comes with it. You have no idea how to do the simplest things. Rules give them a chance to not have to think about some things, and spend their energy thinking about the things that they CAN work out. For instance, we give them the rule to open 1NT if possible, then to open a five-card major when they have one. So they work out they don't have 15-17, so open their 20 count with five spades, 1♠. Then their partner bids 2♠. NOW they can do some thinking, because it's something they have the power to work out. They know 25 points = a game, a 2♠ response shows 6-10, 20 + 6 = 26. "Aha!" They say. "I worked it out! We can make game!" Then they proudly write "4S" on the bidding pad. They have no experience to be able to tell what the best opening bid is (experience about how different auctions tend to go and whether they end up in good contracts or not), and if they were forced to think about it they might feel powerless and stupid. So we give them some rules, then teach them about some things that they CAN work out for themselves. Then they feel capable and not stupid, and they continue playing. Later on, when they have experience, they can work out that the "rule" is not the best thing to do, and do something else. For instance they got passed out in 1♠ once, and that 2NT is a better opening.

Law of total tricks says we are safe at the two-level with an eight-card fit. Plus you don't want to give passed-hand a chance to bid spades and have them find their 2♠ contract. 13-16 is fine. It is 13-16 and not 10-16 because you don't want to be going two off vulnerable at matchpoints, even if they DO have a game.

I think it was Paul Marston who invented the splinter points scheme. In this scheme, you give yourself two points for the ace in partner's singleton suit, and nothing for any other cards in that suit. If you have 26 combined points, then you have the values for a small slam. With you showing ten to twelve points, opener would need at least 18 to make a move toward slam. So his 18, plus your 5, is only 23. You do NOT have enough strength for a small slam, unless opener has 21 points. But with 21 points and a singleton club, he might have considered a 2♣ opening, plus he will continue to move after you sign off with a hand that strong.

Well, it depends what meaning you assigned to a jump to 3♥. If you assigned the meaning I suggested, opener has something like KT76 A8743 AQJ6 5. You have a good shot at game opposite the above hand: you only need the one of the ♦K or ♠Q onside which is likely considering the pass by responder. So I would bid game. Although he might have some hands where there is no play, it might be a bit of a gamble. (Oh, and in the play: if anyone is going to have all three cards it will be opener, so play the king of hearts first. Why? Responder has a maximum of five HCP which gives opener at least 16. If responder had five clubs they would raise no matter what. So opener must have at least 6 clubs. With 6+ clubs, 16+ points, and a void heart, he surely would have found a bid over 1♥!)

lol, ok, to the both of you, I was only trying to clear things up for the original poster. There are rules that get given to beginners when they don't understand why the rules are the way they are, then later on when they understand the purpose of the rules they can break them when appropriate. For example, "always cover an honour with an honour" or, "always play 2nd hand low" or "never pass a new suit by your partner" (not that you would break the last one very often, but you know what I mean :-))

Comparing your post with an article by Eric Rodwell: You: It is common to play that 2NT shows extra values and is forcing. This is the style of both SAYC (as defined in the ACBL documents) and Acol. This directly contradicts with these quotes: - After a 2/1 response, opener shows a balanced hand with a rebid of 2NT. This is a minimum balanced hand with 13 high-card points. - ...the 2NT rebid would not be forcing. - Using standard methods, opener has to jump to 3NT, since 2NT is not forcing and opener doesn’t want to stop short of game. Reference: An article by Eric Rodwell, comparing opener's rebids after a 2/1 response in Standard and 2/1 Gameforcing: http://www.betterbridge.com/articles/Two-Over-One/06-200709.pdf I agree, and that's why 2/1 Gameforcing was invented. Standard has been improved upon, and the improvements have spawned many a new system. That doesn't change what standard is. If you play what you are suggesting, where responder has to come up with another bid even if opener rebids 2NT, then you also need to play a forcing notrump, since many hands if they made a 2/1 response, and opener bid 2NT with a minimum, would have to either play in 3 of your suit with a semi-fit or play in 3NT without the values (any five or six card suit with 9-11 HCP). In that case you are basically playing 2/1, perhaps renamed, "2/1 Gameforcing If Semi-Balanced Or Balanced"

Responding at the 1-level, partner has every likelihood of having a 3-card suit. If you are short in a suit, and responder did not raise, partner will probably have a few of them. And everytime they have 8 or fewer points they must find a suit bid. With a likely four to six cards in opener's suit, there are many hand shapes where he will bid 1♥ on a 3-card suit. E.g. 3334, 2335, 3325, 2326. (they might chose 1♥ instead of 1♦with three cards in each, if their hearts are good, to help partner with his lead if he ends up as opening leader). You can assign any meaning to a jump to 3♥ you wish, but it doesn't make much sense to jump about when you can make a cuebid. By the way, when deciding to overcall or make a takeout double, you should consider what you will do if responder pre-emptively jump-raises and it gets passed back to you. Will you be strong enough to make a takeout double? If the answer is no, then make a takeout double right away to lessen the chance of your side getting shut out. If the 15-16 that you hold isn't good enough for a takeout double after it goes for example (1♠) 2♥ (3♠) P (P) ? then you would certainly begin with a takeout double not an overcall.

Everytime you rebid a suit, you are telling your partner you have at least one more card in that suit than you originally promised. For example, if you have five hearts and five clubs, you start with hearts (to show five) then bid clubs (to show four) then bid clubs again (to show five). There are general rules for deciding which of your suits to open and rebid: Rule #1: Above all, bid the longer one first Rule #2: If they are equal length, bid the higher one first (hearts in the above example) This is so if you open a lower suit, then bid a higher suit, you are showing MORE of the lower one than the higher one (or else you would have opened the higher one) and now, every time you rebid the higher one, you are also showing an extra card in the lower one. For example, you have six diamonds and five hearts. You start with diamonds (to show four) then bid hearts (to show five diamonds and four hearts). Then when you bid hearts again, you are showing six diamonds and five hearts. The reason bidding hearts will show an extra diamond s well as an extra heart, is because if you had started with equal length, you would have started with hearts. Rule #3: If you bid and rebid a suit without bidding any others, you are showing at least six, even if your first bid showed only four. This is because a balanced hand should have bid notrumps, and if you don't have a balanced hand you can't have a five card suit without having a four-card one also.

You can cuebid then bid 2♥ with this. No need to jump: partner may have only three hearts, and we may not have found our best fit yet.

Probably around 15-16 HCP and some good shape with five hearts. It is saying if we have a nine-card fit, I don't mind being in game with less than 25 HCP, if you like your hand (no wastage in their suit primarily). Also it prevents the passed hand from bidding 2♠ and having them find a save or a good spot to play. Also never forget that 1♥ could be a three-card suit with a shape like 3325. You shouldn't reply 1NT to a takeout double unless you have about 9-11 HCP (unless your pard always has incredibly sound takeout doubles, in which case 6 or 7 HCP might be ok, and you can bid 2NT with about 10-11) Then 4♥. Partner will have four or five hearts and somewhere between 0-5 HCP. With more, he might have bid 3♥ (with five hearts) or another suit (with an unbalanced hand) or 3♣ with four hearts and a balanced hand and no club stopper. You can't bid only 3♥ just in case he has only 0-2 HCP: pard will think you have about 17-20.

Here is a list of what all of your bids would mean: 1NT = 18-20 balanced (1NT instead of double would be about 15-17 balanced) 2♥ = 13-16 with four or five hearts New suit = 18-20 with five or more of the suit (an overcall instead of double would have been 11-17) Cuebid (2♣) = none of the above ->2♥ = 17-20 with four or five hearts ->NT = 21+ balanced ->New suit = 21+ with five or more of the suit So, you will cuebid (2♣) then bid NT. When bidding hearts, the reason you can be weaker than the rest of the bids is that you have already found a fit and can't get stranded at a high level without a fit. When you are bidding a new suit you need to be stronger because you have not yet found a fit, and don't want to haveto get to a very high level while finding a fit and not have the high-card strength to justify it.

I only just thought of it, but in answer to your first few questions, A 1NT rebid after step will show the step suit as the second suit. Except after a 1♣ opening where it will show any balanced 12-15 (you are likely to be able to bid the second suit at the 1-level anyway) Shape can be 5-5 or 4-5 (pass correction to 1st suit) or 4-6 (bid 2nd suit after a correction). Bidding the second suit instead of 1NT will show anything better than this (5-6 or 6-6). Yeah, the two-openings suck. Playing a level higher shouldn't be a problem though, if the suit is rebid it will be the quality of most people's vulnerable 3-openings. (Except bidding slower may make it easier for opps to bid or double for penalty) Also you could easily play in a seven-card fit when you have a nine-card fit available, when responder is less than invitational. However, this is only a problem at matchpoints when you are vul and might go for 200 (when the opponents don't have a game on). Do you have any suggestions for improvements? (Or maybe the whole idea of the 1-openings being either one range or the other simply can't work) Everybody hates 4441s! Probably pretend it's balanced, and deal with the consequences like other people who don't have a bid for 4441s. You never know, the opponents might be kind and interfere so you can make a takeout double. 6322s with 12-15 I would probably open the suit: if there is a step-response, I can rebid it gently and pretend I have a weak hand because if they have 19+ they will continue bidding, and if they don't, we didn't have game anyway. With 10-12 I would open 1NT. With 5422 same as above, if pard makes a step response and has quite a weak hand I'd rather play in a suit, and I don't have a good takeout hand so when opponents interfere (pard hasn't shown a suit) we still can't find a fit. With 10-12 I would open 1NT. I like to open 1NT as often as possible :-)

I see this all the time at my local club. Someone makes an invitational bid with a gameforce hand, and the other accepts, with a minimum. (example: someone opened 1♥ with 5-5 in the majors and about 9 points. Their partner bid 3♥ limit raise with her 16 count, and the opener accepts the invitation...) Or one person bids and rebids the same suit until the four level with a silent partner, then dummy comes down with four cards and declarer has only five. Or someone opens 2♣ and rebids 2♠ with a balanced 17-count and four spades (YES this has truly happened, and by the club teacher, too!) and responder passes with 7 points and four spades, and of course 2♠ just makes. They get used to bidding each other's hands.

I play it as either a weak take-out or complete penalty. There is a difference of at least 3 or 4 hearts and at least 7 HCP so partner should be able to figure out which it is.

Inspired by the post below (system design) maybe you guys can help me turn this into a system that can work? I have come up with a couple in the past, and always been told "nope won't work". I hope this one will! Intro: All 1-suit bids, if weak non-canapé (rebid suit or pass in competition, rebid suit non-competition), if strong, canapé (rebid longer suit, bid NT, jump-rebid your suit or possibly double in competition) 1-level openings: pass = 0-3 any, 4-9 bal or 16+ any 1♣/1♦/1♥/1♠ = 4-7 or 12-15 1nt = 10-12 with 13-15 open 1♣ and rebid NT 2-level openings: 2♣/2♦/2♥ = 8-11 with a higher suit or 6 cards 2♠ = 8-11 with 6 cards 2nt = 8-11 good 6+ card suit (constructive 3-opening) Responses to 1-level openings: step = either GF opp. weak or non-GF opp. strong (19+ or 0-11) else = natural, non-GF opp. weak, GF opp. strong (12-18) jump-raise & jump-shift = pre-emptive opp. weak opening, invitational opp. strong (10-12) Responses to 2-level openings: step = Ask for other suit (can be passed) 2NT = GF enquiry other = natural invitational jump-shift = natural GF 6+ good suit Responses to 1nt opening: (my own system) 2♣ puppet to 2♦, any invite or slam invite + in major (rebid 3 major) 2♦ GF stayman or balanced 5 card major or slam invite + in minor (rebid 3 minor) 2♥/♠ to play 2NT GF unbal with 5 card major (bid suits with values in them up the line, whoever first knows 3NT is ok bids it, otherwise end up in a suit) 3♣+ to play Rebids: With the weak option rebid your suit at cheapest level, or give a simple raise if responder bids a suit. With the strong option change suit, bid NT, jump-rebid your suit, or jump-raise partner. Once you are limited, bid whatever you like to get to the right fit. After a pass: What do people normally do? Maybe 1♦ = non-opening, up to invitational opp. 16+ (0-8). otherwise natural normal openings, 9+ and GF opp. 16+ (but all balanced hands start with 1♣). 1NT response to non-1♦ opening is 7-9.

You would only leave the double in if you are quite sure the contract will not make, and you can't get a better score by declaring. This means you need a very good holding in the opened suit, something like KJ984, and not a very weak hand (you need some side-suit tricks as well as trump tricks). If you don't have this, you must find another bid. Since you may be forced to bid a three-card suit here, having an actual long suit is excellent. With a good hand, bid game with it, or without a good hand, bid just 3.

In Standard, a 2/1 response is only invitational (or better). If you have a balanced hand of 11-12 points and you don't want to accept the invitation, you bid 2NT which responder can pass if he has only 10-12 points. If you have 13-14 points and a balanced hand, you accept the invitation with 3NT. If you are stronger than this, 15-17, you should have opened 1NT to start with. If you are even stronger, 18+, you will have to make something up. A handy agreement is that, if responder bid a minor, 4 of the minor is a forcing raise, and 4NT is natural (not blackwood) and invitational to 6NT (about 18-20 points). ........ If you rebid your major like the above poster suggests, partner won't know whether 3NT or 4-of-your-major is the best contract, with say two cards and GF values. He can't bid 3-of-the-major, because that is invitational with three cards; He can't jump to 4-of-the-major because that could be the wrong contract; He can't bid 3NT and have partner correct to 4-of-the-major whenever he holds six cards; responder may have wanted to play in 3NT despite opener having 6 cards in his major. Also the contract will be wrong sided.

Here: If you need 1-level safety, you must be scared of partner bidding at the two-level, which he is going to do 90% of the time after a normal takeout double. If partner is going to respond at the two-level most of the time, you may as well prevent the opponents having a constructive auction. Especially cause the double gives them extra definition - e.g. they may play negative freebids, and a redouble is usually defined as something specific, usually 9+ HCP with shortness in opener's suit. Whereas after the 1NT overcall they really need to double with any "strong" hand, they don't get the specificness of shape like a redouble gives.

A friend and I tried to offer to make a BBO app for use on iPads, for free. We were shot down.

Ok I understand now. That makes sense. The bid doesn't have to be a self-supporting suit, it is just a hand where you don't need your partner's opinion on the trump suit. If you pass with a 2-suiter, you can still show it later: when 5♦ comes back to you (assuming responder did not double) you can still bid 5♥, 5♠ or 5NT to show a 2-suiter, since a balanced/takeout shape would double (expecting to be passed out most of the time) and a single suiter would have bid the first time. The more I think about it the better it seems to give up on a slam in a black suit and pretend you have hearts and only hearts. If 5♦ came back to you and partner hadn't doubled, you would be stuck for a bid (5♥ should have two suits, and defending doesn't seem very appealing).

If you are afraid of playing at the 2-level when partner has a five-card suit you shouldn't be making a takeout double anyway. Since you shouldn't make a takeout double when afraid of playing at the 2-level when your partner has a five card suit (and is likely to reply at the 2-level), there is no harm in making the takeout have to be responded to at the 2-level. As long as you have a good runout structure when they double the 1NT bid (see my earlier post), and don't make any stupidly bad takeouts, you will be fine (see the last paragraph of the post above me). Having a system that protects against very bad but unlikely disasters, but gives up loads of different benefits is silly and superstitious. It's like playing strong twos instead of weak twos because you are afraid of the suit splitting 7-0-0 and getting doubled and going for 1700. If you are sensible and don't open a weak two when an average distribution of the cards will lead you to five off, just like you shouldn't make a takeout double if you can't stand to be at the 2-level when pard has a five-card suit, nothing bad can happen except unlikely horrible splits of cards and the opponents guessing to do the right thing.

Flannery is something you associate with little old ladies in the seventies. It is funny to think of banning a convention like that. A while ago I played Brad Twos which are every 2-opening shows that and spades, usually 5/4 either way or better. This is slightly harder to defend against than Flannery. Even so, the usual discussion of defense was in 2 sentences or less: "X takeout of opened suit, their suits natural?" "Sure, partner." Why are Americans so afraid of playing against something they haven't seen before? If the defence to it isn't immediately obvious and resolvable in 2 sentences or less, it might require a recommended defence be given to opponents, but to be actually banned below Table 10 of a Swiss, it should need to be something you'd need to practice against for a few boards, for example a forcing pass system. If Sam Stayman hadn't been American, Stayman would probably be banned in America too.

The reason for opening 2♣ is that you can make game all by yourself even if partner cannot make a response. If you need partner to have a king or a queen or two or even some helpful jacks, there is no point opening 2♣ because if you are making game, partner will respond to a 1-level opening. Also if you have a lot of distribution, even if you can make game by yourself, it is still better to open at the 1-level, because if partner can respond, the auction will be way easier for you, AND even if partner can't, your distribution means everyone else at the table has distribution, and they will find a bid over which you can make a rebid to accurately describe your hand.

It will be much easier for responder to make a double instead of playing the hand if he knows partner doesn't have a massive one-suiter, and thus has some defense. e.g. you'd rather partner has AKQT5/KQJ/5/KQ87 to defend with than AKQT97654/8/-/KQ5. Also, partner is better placed to know whether slam is on or not, if opener has passed rather than bid. e.g. partner holds 832/A653/JT87/63. On the first hand you only have 11 tricks, and a double will net you somewhere between 1400 and 2000. On the second slam is as close to 100% as is practical, but you will probably only get 300 or 500 out of a double. The two auctions: 2♣ (p) 2♦ (3♦) p (5♦) X = 1700. 2♣ (p) 2♦ (3♦) 3♠ (5♦) 5♥ (p) 6♠ = 1430.

A 3♥ bid instead of pass should say I am not capable of playing in any trump suit except hearts. This is why you have a problem after the rebid by responder: you ARE actually capable of playing in other trump suits! Since the 3♥ bid should mean you aren't capable of playing in a different trump suit, a 4♣ bid by responder should be a cue, and possibly 3NT would be "I wish you had had a double cause I wanted to penalise!" If you do decide that you are only worth playing in hearts (very reasonable) then after a 4♣ cue, you would be quite unlucky to not make 7, so I would probably be practical and just bid it (it may not make if he has 3+ spades and exactly 3 clubs).