Quantumcat

Drury doesn't apply if the opening is in fourth-seat. If partner has a pre-emptive opening (which is what drury caters for) then he would have passed the hand out. This reminds me of a funny conversation at my club, the auction was: 1♦ (P) P (X) P (P) P My partner's 1♦ showed exactly 4 spades and 8+ HCP, I passed with my yarborough and two spades, the pass-out opp doubled, and her partner with five diamonds, two hearts, and four good spades over my partner's tried her luck at leaving it in (the takeout double should be of spades, so her partner should be expected to have three diamonds). We made 1♦ with an overtrick, and it turned out the doubler had a 17 count with six good hearts. She was adamant that she had to double first to show a good hand, and didn't seem to understand that 2♥ in this situation could not possibly be weak, because if she had a weak hand she could pass it out.

The reason is to make about 20 auctions clear instead of muddy. The only disadvantage is playing in a 4-3 fit at the two-level which could easily be a better spot that 1NT anyway. Besides the 20 auctions that become clear with this agreement, it is harder for the opponents to balance (opps having a fit means we must have one - but they don't have to have a fit, so it is dangerous to balance). This is actually the main attractant to playing Acol! (the inability of opps to balance effectively after for example 1♥-2♥.) In my experience, it is intermediate+ standard, not taught to beginners to whom it needs to be drilled into that you need 8 cards for a trump suit, but standard to anyone who has taken the time to think about it or has played with someone who has. Next time you have a five card major you have responded with, and have a bidding problem and end up having to invent a suit or something, think about whether this auction might be a little simpler for you if you knew for sure partner didn't have three cards in your suit :-) Just in case you don't know how usual auctions go with this standard agreement: 1♣-1♥ 2♥-2NT = invitational with four hearts. Opener can pass (holding 3 cards) or correct to 3/4♥ (holding 4) or 3NT (holding 3) 1♣-1♥ 2♥-3NT = GF with four hearts. Opener can pass (holding 3 cards) or correct 4♥ (holding 4) 1♦-1♥ 2♣-2♦ 2♥ = 16-18 with three card support. With a very bad hand responder can pass, with better he can invite or bid game in either NT, clubs, diamonds or hearts having an excellent idea of opener's shape and his point range. You never need to rebid a five-card suit, if you have a 5-3 fit opener will tell you later and if he doesn't, it was 5-2 or worse anyway. And if you have game values with a five-card suit you don't have to stress about how to find out about three cards with opener. If opener chooses to bid 1NT with his 4333 shape, providing opener has good judgement you are probably better off in 3NT despite the 5-3 fit anyway.

Ducking the spade gives up a trick, and gives East a chance to switch to a worse suit, diamonds. It also means that when the club finesse loses, East can put his partner in with a diamond, and if West led from 3 small spades, you'll go heaps off (spade goes through your queen). There is an age-old rule: when there is a worse suit than the one lead to the first trick, don't duck, cause they will probably switch.

You are probably thinking about whether you should bid game with 9 HCP when your partner opens 1NT, or to just invite. What you need to make 3NT on less than 26 is a good long suit to set up, and controls to prevent the opposition taking too many tricks. You can't know about the controls, but you can know about having a good suit to set up. If you have a decent five-card suit, bid game with 9. If you have a decent 6- or 7-card suit, bid game with 8 or even 7. If you are bidding it with 7, make sure it runs opposite an honour doubleton from partner. E.g. AQJT86 is great (if partner has a double stop in whatever they lead, that's seven tricks already and partner still has high cards in three more suits) but AK6543 is not. Although if you are playing matchpoints, probably don't be too enthusiastic about bidding game with the former because you will get a bottom whenever all the others are in 2 of your long suit, or in 1NT making 7 or 8 tricks. You don't need to be in a game to make a top at matchpoints, just taking all your tricks and being in the right partscore will do. If you have a 4432 or 4333, probably best to just invite with 9 HCP. In this case since there are not likely to be any suits to set up, you won't be making tricks with any small cards, and you will need the full quota of HCP to make game.

Oh yeah I might add that you are well within your rights to choose to not raise with three cards and 11-15 HCP, but that will mean you can never show three card support later (you'll probably give simple preference later on, and responder will think you have two). If you don't show it right away and then show it later, you'll be showing 16+ HCP (e.g. 1♥-1♠, 2♣-2♥, 2♠).

I speak french but am not french. Maybe you saw me talking to a french person on BBO :-)

Partner won't have four hearts, or he would have responded 2♥ not 3♣. Anyway, I have an agreement suggestion that covers all possible situations: If there are two suits to be worried about, we SHOW. If there are three suits we are worried about, we ASK. This is because, if there are three suits and we show, partner doesn't know which one of the other suits he needs to have to bid 3NT. So asking is best.

It can't be minorwood, or you would have bid 4♣ immediately after 2♣ (presuming that's how you play minorwood). It shouldn't be a cuebid, because you had no way of setting clubs and showing interest in slam (3♣ after 2♣ nonforcing, and 4♣ is minorwood). It has to be setting clubs and showing interest in slam. Else you have no way to do this. It can't be asking for a stopper, as opener has shown at most one spade. Similarly it shouldn't be a cue, because both of you already know you have at least 2nd round control in the suit and bidding for the sake of hearing yourself talk isn't smart. If responder made that bid and I was opener, I would probably take it as slam interest in whichever of my minors was longer. But of course it is open to interpretation since the two "easiest" meanings don't make sense. No. There are many reasons for bidding 4th suit forcing. You will have a LOT more luck if you agree these standard things: 1. Raise responder's major immediately with three cards if you have 11-14(15) HCP. 2. Belatedly show 3-card support if you are stronger than this. 3. Make the cheapest response to 4th suit forcing that could be useful. If you need to find a 5-3 heart fit you would have found it right away, and if opener was strong, you must be on the way to slam now (you used 4th suit forcing, and opener showed 16+ HCP) so have plenty of room to find the right spot.

Wow, I had never considered playing it as anything other than an invitational three-card raise in hearts...

oops posted twice accidentally, can't figure out how to delete a post :-)

Some people play 3♠ as forcing to game, and some people play it as invitational (needing to bid 4th suit to force to game). That is something to discuss with your partner. Whichever you agree on though, repeating your suit at the minimum level, whatever the circumstances, is almost always a weak, terminal bid. 2♣ is better than 2♦ because partner may wish to bid 4th suit forcing to force.

1. 9 tricks: 2 spades (presuming LHO led from either the king or jack), 3 hearts, 1 diamond, 3 clubs. Danger is that when the club finesse loses, instead of playing another spade as we would like, RHO will play a diamond, then the second spade trick isn't set up yet, and when we try to set it up they will cash too many diamonds. So instead of winning the jack or king and playing a club, play a spade. Then they will probably clear the suit, but then when the club finesse loses, if RHO has another spade, that means that they are 4-4 and they can only take two spades and a club, and maybe a heart at the end. If LHO led from three to the king or jack, RHO might be able to cash some spades but not enough to set us (he can't play both a spade AND a diamond when he wins the spade!). He will take three spades and a club. Can't cash hearts first, or else in the above instance he might be able to cash two spades and a heart, plus the spade we gave him, plus the club, for a set. 2. Again the same 9 tricks. Nothing different to the first hand except that there isn't a possibility of a tenth trick (a heart)? Did I miss something? It is IMPS so we're not trying to figure out a way to get a tenth trick are we?

It must be a splinter because you could show actual diamonds by bidding 3♦ then 4♦ (the first diamond bid starts off being 4th suit forcing but after your second bid, it shows 6/5 in spades and diamonds). And it must be a splinter for clubs because if you have a splinter for hearts you would have bid 4♦ right away instead of 1♠. 3♥ is not really a good bid, because it doesn't help partner to know when to bid 3NT. You bid 3♣ to help partner know whether to bid 3NT, and gives them a chance to give some mild preference, so you know whether they have a void or a doubleton, since if they raise to 4♥ after 3♥ they could well have a void heart but any other place to play seems worse. If opener's clubs and diamonds were reversed, responder would be very pleased to bid 3NT after a 3♦ bid. If he had one less heart and one more spade, he would have to bid 4♥ after a 3♥ bid, and if opener's clubs and diamonds really were reversed, you'd be missing out on a good 3NT. The added benefit of bidding the strong 3-card minor instead of repeating the hearts is that the auction can proceed: 1♥ - 1♠ 3♣ - 3♥ 3♠ - 4♠ If opener has three card spades and responder has five, you won't miss your spade fit. But if it starts 1♥-1♠, 3♥, responder will almost always have to bid 4♥. Don't forget to always raise with three cards immediately with a weal (11-14 HCP) hand. (i.e. 1♥-1♠, 2♠)

Here is my suggestion: 1♥ - 1♠ 3♣ - 4♦ 6♣ The 3♣ bid looks a bit weird, but opener is protecting himself in case 3NT is the right spot. In that case, if responder had some diamond stuff and nothing in clubs that would encourage him to bid 3NT. If you trust your partner to have an actual hand for clubs and not just making noise with his 4♦ splinter, that's all you need to bid 6♣, since you have all the aces, and partner should have a bit of strength to fill in the kings. It is too hard to find out if partner has a void, and even if you could, you still don't know if you have twelve tricks or thirteen so just bidding 6♣ is the best bet. Responder will almost always bid 3♥ after 3♣ unless he has something vitally important to say himself. So you won't ever miss 4♥. And responsible partners should never go leaping about in minors while 3NT is still a possibility, so you shouldn't worry about ending up playing in clubs when you should be playing in 3NT with the 3♣ bid.

When responding to partner's takeout double, you can show your points as well as your shape. If the least you can bid is at the one-level, you show about 0-7 HCP. Jumping to two shows about 8-11 HCP, and you should have five cards. 1NT shows about 7-11 without a suit to bid except the opponent's. If you have less than 7 without a suit, you just have to pretend you have one. You might have to bid a three-card suit at the one-level. If the least you can bid is at the two-level, bidding at the two-level shows about 0-9 points. 2NT will show about 10-12 without a suit. Jumping to three will show about 10-12 points and five cards. If you find yourself in a situation where you have some points but not a five-card suit and no stopper in the opponent's suit, bidding the opponent's suit says, "I have a good hand but I don't know what suit we should play in. If you also have a good hand, we should be in game but you can pick the suit". The point ranges I gave are not the law. It depends on how strong you need to be in your partnership to make a takeout double. In general, bidding at the 1-level says, "I don't think we can make game unless you have like a 2C opening". Jumping to the two level says, if you have a really good hand we can be in game". Jumping to the three level says "We should only not be in game if you have a minimum". Of course, any time that you KNOW game is on, and you know what suit you want to play in, you should just bid it. Also if you ever have a six-card suit, you hould probably think about bidding one level higher than your points tell you to. If you have a seven-card suit, there should be a really good reason to not bid game immediately no matter what your points are.

Ok I'll amend my plan. Ruff a heart, club, small spade and cover whatever East plays (if he doesn't play the king), spade to ace and ruff another heart, try some clubs and see if we get an overtrick. If East played the king then switched to king and another diamond, ruff West's third diamond with the ace, then finesse East's jack. We should have one more small trump left for the last heart. The above presumes East has all three trumps, if he doesn't: -If West has singleton jack: He will win it, switch to diamonds, then East's king will win a trick (is it called en passant?). We will go down (losing two spades and two diamonds). -If West has singleton king: He will win it, but after ruffing with the ace, East's jack will fall under the queen. The opposite will happen if we decide to play the queen when East follows with the 9. The jack will get promoted with West has singleton king and the jack would fall if West had singleton jack. After reading the spoilers it doesn't seem like anyone else has an answer either. I guess the only thing to do is figure that East, with K9, is not brilliant enough to play small, and if we see the 9, we hope he has KJ9. If he does play small, we tell a bridge column editor about the hand!

It is perfectly fine, but you will miss some games playing such a wide range. If you narrow the range down a bit you'll find it a lot of fun. Having a wide range will put lots of pressure on your partner if there might be a game on, and you will find it loses its pre-emptive value and you miss some games and also get to contracts going off when you should have stayed in 1NT. I play a 10-12 1NT in first and second seat when not vulnerable, and have altered responses which are more preemptive than constructive. The main attraction is that when playing Matchpoints, when not vulnerable, the first pair to get to 1NT usually wins the board. This is because if the opponents make seven tricks, they only get 50 points instead of 90. And if they make 8 tricks they only get 100 instead of 120. So if you have a system that allows you to get to 1NT as quickly as possible when not vulnerable, you will gain loads of matchpoints every session! The other point is that the opponents cannot overcall at the one-level before you reach 1NT, so they may miss the required lead to either beat it or get it two off, OR they may miss the opportunity to play in a two-level partscore. The benefits mentioned above mean that it is only really effective in 1st and 2nd seat. Once you are in 3rd seat, if you should be doubled you probably will be. These are my responses (if you are interested): 2♥, 2♠, 3♣+ are to play. This gets you in and out of the auction with maximum speed. The opponents get much less chance to come in. Conversely over a transfer, opponents can freely make a takeout double knowing it can't get left in. 2♣ is a puppet to 2♦, which shows any invite if you bid again (4+ card suit). Follow-up: opener passes with three or bids 2NT with two if not accepting the invite. He can bid 3NT or game in the suit, raise to three, or bid a new suit if accepting. 2♦ is game-forcing stayman, could have a balanced five-card major. 2NT is unbalanced and game-forcing, usually a five-card major and another suit. Follow-up: You bid suits you have values in up-the-line until somebody decides whether 3NT is an ok contract, and bids it or a suit game. Optional extras: -4♣ shows both majors and slam interest, 4♦ shows both majors and no slam interest. This takes pressure off 2NT and allows more pre-emption. -Slam interest in a major starts with 2♣ and rebids 3 of that major. -Slam interest in a minor starts with 2♦ and rebids 3 of the minor. When playing a very weak NT, you also need a very good runout system. This is what I play and I have found it very effective: - redouble is clubs or two suits that are not clubs. - 2♣ is clubs and another suit. - 2♦, 2♥, 2♠ are to play. - Pass is happy, or nowhere to run to. Opener redoubles with a five+ card suit, after which you try to find it or pass if you were happy. This structure allows you to show any hand with two suits, and to play in 2♣ if that is your suit (which other runout methods may not allow).

Helene summed that up pretty well. This makes it really obvious why you need to have an actual takeout double shape to make a takeout double. It is perfectly acceptable to pass with strong hands because you don't have a suit and don't have a takeout double! Always, always consider your rebid under a few possibilities of your partner's response before making a bid! I saw a very, very funny auction at my local club the other night - (1C) X (P) 4S (P) 5C (P) 6S all pass. The doubler had a 13-count with five clubs and one spade. The 4♠ bidder had six spades and about a 15 count, rich in aces, but with a doubleton club. She was very pleased to hear about her partner's "control" in clubs and good hand. The doubler was trying to rescue his partner from 4♠. Lesson: if you make a takeout double without a takeout double shape, you can bet your bottom dollar your partner is going to bid game in your singleton. This is why you need to have 18+ HCP to double without a takeout double shape - if your partner bids game in your singleton, you'd better have enough strength for slam since you will be starting to find the right fit at the four or five level!

Repeating the fourth suit means you really do have the fourth suit (and more of the first suit you bid). This is usually a splinter for the second suit. Opener rebids 3NT if he doesn't truly have the suit he bid, he was making it up cause he couldn't think of a better rebid. Any other bid but 3NT sets diamonds as trump.

I guess we are worried that at some point West will play ♦AK and play a diamond through the small trumps, so East can make his 9 or jack as well as his king. So ... ruff a heart, cash the ♠A (now if West wins a spade he can't give his parter a diamond through your small trumps), play a spade covering if East plays the jack, use a club to get to dummy, ruff another heart, cash the two clubs and if East started with three you make an overtrick cause he ruffs his partner's diamond at the end! or else they take two diamonds and East makes his king of spades when he ruffs one of your club winners.

Ok, I'll amend it to: I have never seen anyone play Gerber except for little old ladies who were taught to play bridge more than thirty years ago and have never forgotten their lessons, unfortunately they have never shown any evidence of having learnt anything beyond them either. At nationals, us youth players usually get together during breaks and after discussing who made the coolest beer cards, laugh about the stupid auctions that people got themselves into through playing Gerber. Usually it involved not being able to cuebid or give preference to or raise their partner's clubs, or rebid their own clubs in a forcing manner. Only last week I got a top on a board because one of our opponents could not compete to 4 clubs over our 3 spades because, quote "4♣ is always Gerber in our partnership, no matter what the circumstances".

You shouldn't make a takeout double first round with a very good hand and not a perfect takeout-double shape. When you get pre-empted your partner has no better idea of your hand when you double the second time than when you doubled the first. However, if you bid first then double the next time, your partner knows you have an approximate takeout double shape but a primary suit of the ones you bid, and a good hand. In this case, he won't go rushing to bid a four-card heart suit: with that you would have made a first-round takeout double. He knows you can reasonably tolerate hearts but won't be able to support four or five small. On the flipside if you are too weak to bid a suit then make a takeout double after you get pre-empted, you should make a takeout double first because you won't get a chance to later. In making your first bid in an auction, you should be thinking about what is likely to happen next and how you will handle it. If a particular bid will be able to convey more information in more auctions and give you more flexibility later on, then you should choose it in favour of one that will give you less. For instance, this is why we teach beginners to first bid the higher of fives: later on in the auction they can bid their second suit and have partner be able to go back to the first one at the same level. If they bid their lower suit first, they may later not be able to show their second suit at all.

A double of a 1-level bid won't ever be lead-directing, as lead-directing also implies penalty: if the opponents are happy in 1♣ and all your partner has shown is clubs, you are forced to leave them there or else risk playing in a non-fit. And defending at the 1-level doubled is no picnic. It is important to know that even playing short club, a 1♣ opening is very likely to contain four or more clubs, even reasonably likely to contain five or more. Therefore, always treat 1♣ and 1♦ as genuine suits. (The reason they are not likely to actually be short is this: a short club requires an exact shape of 4432 and 11-14 HCP, not more, or else there would have been a 1NT opening. Opening a three-card club suit requires holding three or less diamonds, and the majors to be balanced (or else there'd be a 1M opening) and holding 11-14 points (or else there'd be a 1NT opening). In contrast, you can open 1♣ with actual clubs and any number of points, and the shape of the rest of the hand is very flexible. So there will be more hands where 1♣ has actual clubs than when it doesn't.)

I use 4♣ over 1NT to show both majors and slam interest, and 4♦ to show both majors and no slam interest. I use 4♣ over 2NT as a slam invite in clubs. Same with 4♦, 4♥ and 4♠ except 4♣/♦ are forcing and 4♥/♠ are not. Alternatively you can use Texas transfers, which means that you can have 4NT be both keycard and natural invite. e.g. Texas then 4NT is keycard, which means transferring at the two-level then bidding 4NT is quantative. This is exactly what I said in my post: When you don't have a long suit that is a source of tricks, then you should have the full quota of high card points and it is unlikely that the opponents can hold two aces. However, if your tricks are small cards and not high ones, it becomes more likely that they can hold two aces in which case you do want to check for aces. In this case, though, if you have a fit you would have found it first, checked for aces, and only right, right at the end decided whether you think it's best to play in 6NT or 6 of your suit.

The reason it is wrong to bid 1♠ holding only three clubs is that responder may not wish to play in notrumps and prefer clubs to spades, and then you play in 2♣ with a six-card fit. Don't think you can wriggle out by bidding 2♥ - failing to raise on three-card support on the first round then raising later at minimum level shows a medium hand (16-18 HCP) with a 4324 or 4315 shape. This is analogous to responder changing suit after a 1-major opening then raising the major to three to show a medium hand (10-12 HCP) with three-card support. With a medium hand and four-card support, he would bid three immediatiely. Same as with the opener, with four hearts and a medium hand he would bid 3♥ right away. By choosing to bid 1NT with a 4333 instead of raising, you are choosing to forever bury the fact that you have three-card support. But a five-three fit with a 4333 dummy is probably going to be equivalent to a five-two fit, that's why it is acceptable to choose to not raise with no ruffing value.