Quantumcat

Director!

The only problem with a spade though is that you're the one getting in and you won't be able to lead it anymore (if pard has the diamond stoppers, he's not likely to have a good spade suit too, that's a lot of HCP?) Also pard might have overcalled 1♠ if he had a suit worth leading. What about a diamond? Partner might have a good diamond suit and dummy has Kxxx or something but then you might just be setting up dummy's good five card suit. I would be a bit nervous leading a heart, as East could easily have a real five or six-card heart suit. But then again, it probably isn;t doing any harm (hopefully pard has the T or something so you haven't lost your double stopper) As for a club, East might have a singleton or doubleton ten or queen which might not work out so well. Can the jack of clubs ever work? Can the club suit be distributed Qxx in dummy Axx in partner and Tx in declarer? Feel free to call me an idiot if it's a stupid idea :)

A CCs natural place is in front of your opponent. Since you're not supposed to look at your own CC during the bidding there isn't much point having it in front of you? I wonder if those people know this. I wonder if your opponents were actually playing a very sophisticated defence to the Chameleon system :)

Wouldn't call partner with 5-6 hearts normal, with six he should have either opened 1♥ or 2♣ and rebid hearts. With five hearts he should bid 2NT and await puppet/muppet stayman. Could be he forgot how to play multis, the people at my club playing multis don;t actually know how to play them, they bid 2♠ in response to 2♦ when they have five or more spades. Maybe this person was making even bigger mistakes than this, and thought 2♥ showed hearts, and he had a six card spade suit and three hearts?

You can make 2♦ show hearts and 2♥ show spades, then opener is more informed and there is always more room (opener won't take up space and less hands to show) I play 2♦ over 1♣ as 0-4 HCP single suited hearts or gameforce single suited or 5+ hearts 4+ clubs. 1♣ can be strong balanced or unlimited 14+ HCP natural. Opener bids 2♥ if he is happy playing in 2♥ opposite the very weak hand, or 2♠ if he has at least an invitation opposite the weak hand. Then the responder relays: 2♠ = strong single suited 2NT = 5+/5+ ♥/♣ 3♣ = short ♦, 5 hearts 4 clubs 3♦ = 2524 3♥ = short ♠ 5 hearts 4 clubs If shortness has not been shown (2♠ or 2NT) next relay is for shortness, otherwise then controls, then the rest of our relay stuff.

I would assume natural - west probably has a 4144 or 4054. I don't really know what to lead, I'll let someone better than me have a go at that :)

But that will show an invitational hand, won't it?

[hv=pc=n&s=sa9765hajt843dk4c&n=s42h9652daj973ct9&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=1h2c3hp3s4cp5c5hppp]266|200[/hv] Just for ease of reading^

I must be missing something really obvious. How is the contract cold? If declarer sets up his club can't you put partner on lead and take three spades a club and a heart? Edit: Ok, I think I understand Rainer's post. Ignoring my stupid made up hand, for the OP, either declarer has nine tricks and I can;t see how attacking can get us to five, or he has eight, and a diamond is the card least likely to give away a trick.

I'll pass, bid spades if they try to stop low, and double when they get high (if pard hasn't stepped in by now of course). I think this sounds like a better hand than bidding right away (which could just be to find a good sacrifice or get in their way). Maybe it will encourage pard to co-operate with me (in terms of doubling them or bidding something).

Is it so bad to leave the hands where they are? The only downside is if you forget which hand the opponents cannot see, which may change your play.

This is a good idea - especially if there were pre-loaded convention cards for a number of systems (with just the basics), and when placed with a pickup partner, the system you had in common had its CC loaded automatically for you. No need for conversation with your non-english speaking partner, then.

If you want to play Precision, you really need a very regular partner. You'll be better off trying to find a f2f partner. Since it is way harder to dump a f2f partner than a purely online one, when you find one they will be more committed. You can always practice over BBO in between tournaments and club games.

I don't think always bidding over a strong club is a good idea, unless your opponents aren't very good. Experienced players who play precision always know when to play or defend, and you won't get away with making a bid going for too large a number because the opponents make the wrong decision.

I have a theory. In ACBL land you can't practicably invent anything new so there is a finite set of systems and conventions you can come across. You can agree a defence to all of them and never need look at a CC. Anywhere else though, you can come across weird home made stuff or simply something you've never heard of, so there is a real need to look at your opponent's CCs in case you have to quickly agree a defence, so there are rules about having to provide them to your opponents.

I like cats. While patting a cat that is purring on your lap, you feel warm and happy. On the other hand, dogs are so desperate for attention all the time and all you get for patting them is a temporary suspension of guilt. Dogs also smell. Every house I've ever been to that lets their dog in on a regular basis smells like dog, no matter how otherwise clean. Apart from houses with undesexed toms, clean houses with cats never smell like cat (not that there is such a smell, since they keep themselves very clean). If you treat a cat with kindness and respect from kittenhood, it will grow into an adorable purry lap cat. However if you have small children or are sometimes mean to it, it will grow to be standoffish. Dogs on the other hand remain friendly no matter how much you abuse them. This is probably the main attractant to dogs. I think people who don't like cats have simply never met a cat that has always been treated well.

I only ever hear adverbs and adjectives get mixed up on American TV shows. For example "You did good" or, "That went real quick". If someone without an American accent said it, it would sound really odd. The hopefully thing though, you hear that all over the place.

Not much point trying a spade, since partner with ♠Kxxxx (plus a jack or queen) might have found a 1♠ bid. A small club might be his ninth trick, as might a heart (if he has Kx). With a passed partner I don't think we can get five tricks by attacking so I am going to hope he only has eight and lead a passive diamond. Maybe the hand is something like:[hv=pc=n&s=saqjhqj763d4ck853&w=st973ht982dt3cq94&n=s8542ha4dj62ct762&e=sk6hk5dakq9875caj]399|300[/hv]

Rule I have been taught - don't let pard defend when you have a nine-card fit he does not know about. Here it could even be a ten or eleven card fit. Should have raised the previous round, if there was no 3♠ bid you would still have had to raise at the four level, so there is no need to pass to show a minimum.

An easy rule - if you make a takeout double, subsequent doubles (of the same suit) will still be takeout, can't suddenly switch to penalty. Just says he STILL doesn't know where to play, and he has extras. (If it is a situation where he makes a takeout double and you bid, then they bid again, and he doubles again - that says very good hand, but only three-card support for your bid suit).

Well, then a double would show a good hand not knowing where to play, probably with heart tolerance - same difference, really.

I have some simple logic to show why 2♣ (or 1♠, if he had spades and clubs) does not show any extra values. Opener can pass if he doesn't mind 1♥ getting passed out. This would only be when holding a minimum weak notrump (like 11-12). If, however, he holds a suit that has not been fully expressed (the partnership may have a fit and does not know it yet) and thus does not wish the overcall to get passed out, and that suit does not need to be bid any higher than it would be without the interference, he should be allowed to bid it with no extra values.

I think there's a good reason why Acol uses a weak notrump. If you open 1 of a suit, if you don't have any nice distribution, you at least have some HCP to make up for it. If responder raises opener's major with three cards, opener can always rebid 2NT with a good balanced hand, and if not so good, having 15-16 HCP should help the 4-3 fit to make. However if you could have a weak notrump, you won't ever be able to make an invite when you have the balanced hand, and you will end up playing a lot of 4-3 fits with weak balanced hands. This can be a good thing, if you are confident with 4-3 fits and enjoy making the opponents guess whether they should balance or not, but if you are scared of difficult 4-3 fits then not so good.

If playing Standard: If ever partner still gets a bid when you pass, you can pass saying you have nothing to add, which you don't. You don't have any extra points (you may not have game values), you don't have a primary fit for partner, you don't have a suit that needs showing. If pard also has nothing much to say (a balanced 11-count with five hearts for example) he may also pass. +200 will be better than a partscore. If he is better, and short in clubs (very likely), he can make a descriptive rebid (e.g. 3♦/♥/♠, X for takeout) and you will get to a sensible spot. If I were your partner and you doubled, I would expect a balancedish 15 or 16+ HCP without three hearts or five diamonds or six good spades, and probably short in clubs. Others may have different ideas. If playing 2/1: When someone interrupts a gameforce auction, it is usual to have the agreement that a double OVER the interferer is penalty, and pass is takeout; and UNDER the interferer, a double is a hand without a clear bid (usually balanced) and partner passes if he also has nothing particular to say, probably with 2-4 cards in their suit (this avoids penalising them when you have a good fit). With a regular partner it is best to discuss what you will do over interference, so when it happens the both of you are on the same page.

I am going to pass (over a suit) - I have been taught when preempted, just get to a sensible spot and stay there, don't worry about the perfect spot.