flytoox

I found it is extremely slow this week to connect to bridgebase, also, i notice that i logged on to bridgebase.lunarpages.com, not bridgebase.com anymore. is there anything wrong or simply you change the server? thx fly

I will dbl, pd bid 2s in balance seat, he may have very few with only five card spade. 3c rates to down 2.

How about passing 2Hx? Balanced hand, has sth for defense. Declarer might play trump wrongly after your dbl. LTT seems apply here.

Hi fly, I never blame my pd, it's very hard to bid 4s on a singleton but maybe that is ok after I reopened with 3s instead of 2s. NOt meant to blame, just wondering what is the correct bid for ur pd. It is VERY hard to raise on a singleton. ANd it is much easier to say here:)

Hi, Luis, I have some doubt about your pd's dbl here.. I think dbl should be mainly based on trump stack here. With his hand, I think he should bid 4s rather than dbl. It is correct to pass with your hand i think. If you pull pd's dbl, what he will say next time when he holds sth like S: X H: QTXX D: AXX C: XXXXX

Mike Lawrence's complete book on overcall and william bill root's commonsense bidding

I think whether south should open is not that importnat here. Let's assume North is the dealer and open 1N, same question remain. Another question I just think of is, what south should do when holding: S: XX H: XX D: QJXX C: AKXXX Good bidding may be able to distinguish these two hands, though I donot know. Any hints are appreciated. Hongjun

I dont think south hand is strong enough to open. I did consider 3c though. shape is good only if you find a fit. Though opening it here may help pd to find 5minor, but most of time it will mislead pd, making pd think u have a better hand.

Hi, Roland, I found 3d is problematic too, it could be a weak hand with d suit. When do you use minor stayman? With 4-4 and slam interest or 5-5, stayman is sure better. DO you still use stayman when minor are 6-4? regards hongjun

Hi, Roland, what is the sequence you think will be a better way to minor game or slam after NT opening? 1N-2S(1)-3C(2)-3D(3)-3H(4)-4C(5)-5C/D(6)? (1)Transfer (2)accept (3)2nd suit (4)fit 2nd suit and control bid (5)control (6) signoff

I met such a hand last night: BOTH VUL, DEALER EAST S: XX H: AQXX D: AKXX C: QT9 S: KQ9 S: ATXXXX H: KJTX H: XXXX D: T9XXX D: - C: X C: JXX S: XX H: X D: QJXX C: AKXXXX AUCTION WENT: W N E S Pass pass pass 1N pass 3N all pass East lead a small s and we quickly down 2. Some table bid to 5c after east's 2s opening. Many table reached same 3N like us in the same way. Fred also posed a similar hand on the BBO about whether you should bid 3N or minor game after pd's strong 1NT or 2NT. The problems here are: 1, should south explore the possibility of minor game when holding 6-4 in minor suits? 2, perhaps not very important, would it be better if North open suit rather than NT? thx in advance. Hongjun

I am in England, and interested in it too. But I dont play Acol, is it ok? Hongjun

The best way to solve this problem is to buy Mike Lawrence's complete book on balance as a gift to your pd ;D

Hi, Peter, I quite agree with Lius on the 2s opening. I would not open 2s with this hand esp. pd has not passed yet. You will easily miss game in heart by bidding 2s. If you dont like 1s, then pass. But facing passed pd, u may consider 2s, even 3s

This is really tough one. But I think slam chance may not be that high. The problem is that though you are void in Diamond, you have only two trumps, and one of them is HQ. I think 80% time I will pass 4H.

When psychi backfired, blaming pd is the last thing you should do.

In this sequence, it cant be pd to psychi, coz he is in 4th seat, no need to do it. If there is any psychi bid, it must be ur LHO.

Hi, Luis, I doubt the value of rdbl as SOS, if 1NT is a true NT, then if you want to run, better u run first rather than pd run first.

simply rdbl after dbl of pd's 1NT. Whereever they run, u will dbl them. fly

I personally dont like this idea. Using 1d-3c as invitational would be too wasterful and too dangerous in my opinion. If you treat 1d-2c-2d-3c as not game forcing, then you can use this sequence to show this kind of hand. I quite like this solution. IN 2/1 sys, many play 1d-2c as game forcing, hence with invitational hand it is very difficult to handle. Mike Lawrence's workbook on 2 over 1 has very detailed explanation about this. I think it deserves ur investment. regards hongjun

With 4 or 5 cards overcalls I'd bid 2d on your three examples. 4s would never cross my mind after 1d(1s)pass..... agree, 2d would be the best starting point. No rush to bid 4s, it is always there. Pd may have min overcall hand, so u can stay belove game. If pd have 4 card, then he may be able to rebid nt, which you will be happy to pass.

Many top players, like Mike Lawrence and Marshall Miles, recommend to use 4-card major opening and overcall. Wonder if any guy here adopt this method and what do you think of this method. Marshall Miles even said you should overcall 1S with: S: AJ85 H: T D: A8 C: AQT842 I personally think this goes a bit far.

Good thread. I remembered sb said Lebensohl is one of the best conventoin in bridge, perhaps after stayman only. Some example using Lebensohl: W N E S 1N 2S ? SUPPOSE 1N=15-7 (1) S: X H: XX D: KJTXXX C: AKXX BID 3D HERE, FORCING TO GAME (2) S: AJX H: XXX D: KQXXX C: XX BID 2N, forcing pd to bid 3c, then you bid 3N. The more time you bid notrump, the more stoppers you have in opp's suit. Some may play different style. (3) S: XX H: XXX D: KJTXXX C: XX BID 2N, after pd's 3c, you bid 3d (4) S: XX H: XXX D: X C: KTXXXXX BID 2N, then pass pd's 3c. But Lebensohl has too many different vein to list in this short post. A widely used one is after Opp's weak 2 opening and pd's takeout dbl: W N E S 2S X - ? (1) S: XX H: AQXX D: KJXX C: QXX BID 3H, forcing to game. (2) S: XX H: KJXXX D; XXXX C: XX BID 2N, after pd's 3c, bid 3H, showing weak hand with long suit. An extension of Lebenohl is in competitve auction when you want to compete only to 3 level, you can bid 2N first. By using this extended Lebensohl you can distinguish a competitive hand and a game try hand: W N E S 1H 1S 2H 2S ? (1) S; AX H: AQTXX D: KXX C: AJX bid 3H, game try (2) S: AX H: AQTXXX D; KX C: XXX bid 2N, then back to 3H. Responder can use it in a similar way. Correct me if this is wrong:) However, I am not sure what to do after Opp's minor suit interventoin with an invitional hand: W N E S 1N 2C ? 2C is natural. I hold: S: XXX H: AQTXX D: KXX C: XX 3H is forcing, 2H is to play. So shall I bid 2N then 3H?