el mister

[hv=pc=n&s=s7hakq43dq82caj72&d=w&v=b&b=4&a=ppp1h1sd4s5cdppp]133|200[/hv] Playing 4c M and a strong NT Got a bit lucky declaring this one the other night - how do you rate 5♣ here? Wildly anti-percentage or more like it pays to be an optimist at the bridge table? What's your bid at this stage and how does it change with the vulnerability?

Played this hand with my wife who is getting back into the game: [hv=pc=n&s=saq542hajd76cat95&n=s8hq64daqj92ck832&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1dp1sp2cp3cppp]266|200[/hv] MPs, playing 4 card majors and a strong NT. Is S wrong to want to show the ♣ fit here, rather than bid 2♥ 4sf? We weren't sure if 3♣ showed a weaker hand than S held, that it was effectively a limit bid. Given it's been bid, is N worth another action, and should 3♥ or 3♠ be stopper asks for 3NT?

[hv=pc=n&s=shakqj98763d32c53&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=1s]133|200[/hv]Mps. What is the right approach with this freak - do you need to plough 4♥ right now, leaving partner to take it on with some values/controls? Or is it better to double as the first action and hope for a more civilised auction?

Thanks. Out of interest, does the analogous auction exist when opps bid hearts? Wonder what that would imply for partner's spade holding.

For the following sequence: 1♠ - X - 2♠ - pass 4♠ - X - pass - ? Undiscussed, what is partner's second double here? If it is clearly takeout, what sort of hand and vuln would you make the double on? Interested to know if it suggests defensive values, or if it is an unequivocal instruction to play at the 5 level.

Thks for the replies. I did actually bid 3S, figuring a Moysian is not the worst thing in the world - raised to 4S by partner. Partner showed up with: ♠Kxxx ♥- ♦JTxx ♣KQxxx Which looked to have some play, but I couldn't handle the 2-4 spade break and it went one off. Club game seems miles better, so I was ruminating if either pard's 3H or my 3S were clear mistakes.

Playing 2/1, simple lebensohl agreement that a direct cue means stayman, nae stopper (should it over a major?) - what is the bid here? [from the club last night - spots are approx] [hv=pc=n&s=sa92hqtdkq97caj93&d=n&v=b&b=13&a=pp1n2h3hp]133|200[/hv] [Original deal edited for minor suit J holdings]

I think the Manhattan project is up there in terms of the 20th century - not just for shepherding in the nuclear age and the subsequent geo-political impact, but for showing what scientists and engineers can do when you get them to stop dicking around for 5 minutes. It has to be the most significant (and terrible) example of on-demand scientific problem solving of the last century - maybe ever. Roughly a 4 year period of uniting disciplines, under extenuating circumstances, to exponentially accelerate discovery. Inspirational, if it wasn't for the directly ensuing death of 100s of thousands of people. Makes you wonder what it would take to do something similar in a current global concern - energy, say, and how best to fund and motivate scientists. The process of scientific discovery is a slippery beast - it defies planned, top-down approaches that attempt to manage it; yet free market, incentive-driven processes are not necessarily the answer, either. Interesting that the Manhattan project was more of the former, than the latter.

Only paper for me. I basically agree with Franzen when he said that kindles are not for serious readers. Obviously he's trolling with how he made his point, but I think the sentiment is correct. If you're heavily immersed in a novel, be it a ball-breaking piece of high brow lit or a star wars series, then having the book in your hands as a singular, discrete entity affects how you interpret it.

This is quite a basic question - is there a standard use for the 3 level in 2/1 game forcing sequences? Had one or two misunderstandings with pard about what is a cue and what is just a suit-showing bid. Say the uncontested auction 1♠-2♣-3♣ back to me. Holding something like ♠x♥Jxx♦AKxx♣AQJxx If I now bid 3♦, should that show 4 diamonds, describing my hand some more, or could it be taken as a control-showing bid? Or the major suit auction 1♥-2♣-2♦-2♥. Shall we just start cue-bidding forthwith at the 3 level?

I think just getting the show on the road is the way to go for an intelligent adult. Structured learning of bridge is extremely boring for novices and you'd be better just firing up bbo after some bare minimum hand evaluation discussion - what are hcps, what is a balanced hand, what is a fit and what is game. If he takes to the game after a few months then down to the club for a supervised duplicate, start to think more carefully about learning the game.

Be interested to know how the laws come to bear on this sequence: I held a balanced 14 pt hand with ♠AKx. I opened and we had the checkback sequence 1D, 1S, 1NT, 2C, 2S, 4S. Prior to my 2S bid, I had the urge to bid 3S, and grabbed the stop card and put it down in preparation. Then quickly changed my mind and put it back and bid 2S. Partner was solid for his 4S bid, and this was a normal contract in the room that made without incident. Seems like I erred in my bidding mechanics, if that is the correct terminology, but was there any harm done?

Thanks. It sounds like it won't hurt to alert then. I think it would come up reasonably frequently, bidding 2C or 2D with 3. On rare occasion it could be 2 cards - a minimum opening 4-5-2-2 hand could have the sequence 1H - 1NT - 2C, as we don't play a 2 major showing opening bid atm. So I guess in light of the above then it definitely needs alerting.

Playing 2/1, after a forcing NT you might sometimes bid 2m holding just 3 - say a weakish 5332 opener. Does pard need to alert this bid as 'might be 3' or some such? This is playing in Acol clubland where most people don't play a forcing NT (if that makes any diff).

Gave this one to the opps in 2♠+1, with 3♥ making and even 4♥ on sub-optimal defence. When is the appropriate time for N (me) to bid hearts here? (playing Acol with pickup partner, so no agreements on jump shifts). IMPs scoring [hv=pc=n&s=sj5h64daqj974ca65&n=s6hkqjt97d63c9732&d=e&v=e&b=6&a=p1d1sdp2dpp2sppp]266|200[/hv]

What is the bidding standard like for these programs? I recently played a bridge app (from another place) on my phone, had a really nice playing interface - unfortunately the robot bidding is a bag o' shite, rendering the app useless {also featured acol bidding}. Not having played with robots before, I was wondering if this was a problem particular to the app - ie their bidding programs are poor. Or whether robot bridge programs are generally like this across the board. Actually the bidding in question was not completely terrible, which made it more frustrating. There was a framework there which made you want to stick with it, but high level bids and doubles would just cripple you. I guess the idea is to learn how the robot bids and accommodate that?

Thanks for the replies. I'm new to 2/1 so it sounds like I should go through 2NT in the first instance for simplicity, then consider other responses once I have more experience with seeing how J2NT continuations play out / see the hand types that are troublesome with it.

Playing 2/1 GF, Jacoby 2NT and splinters. Say you have 12+ and 4 card+ support for partner's opening bid of 1M. What sort of hand type would you hold to bid 2 of another suit, ie not show the fit immediately and not bid J 2NT, splinter etc. Say 1♠ - 2♦, or 1♠- 2 ♥. If you hold 4♠s here as a responder, what sort of holding might these bids indicate? I guess another way of asking the question is what sort of game-force hand, with a major suit fit and no singleton / void, does NOT want to go through J2NT.

I was in the shop buying a dvd earlier - on the cover it said 3.141592 stars out of 5. Hang on, I said to myself, this dvd looks pirated.

Just a quick query - anyone know if the UK prime minister is a bridge player? Reason I ask is that I swear I saw him described as a serious player when he was younger in a newspaper article, but I can't find any reference to it online, so maybe I'm mis-remembering. I doubt he's racking up the boards these days, but it would be interesting to know if he has the skills.

I think the 'getting it right' ship has sailed for George. Things went moderately pear-shaped with book 4 - not unusual for an author to lose their grip on things in these big series, and can be recovered from. Book 5 though, my God, what a cauldron of shite. He's tied to the mast with it now so I assume he'll produce a sixth book - I think the series is irrecoverable now though.

I'm just starting with 2/1, learning the system from Thurston's introductory book. It's a very clear treatment ISTM, and as far as the uncontested auction goes I'm doing OK. There is nothing in it, however, on the 2/1 system for contested auctions. I assume there are good authorly reasons for this, but it's got me lost on a few hands given that the opps have a tendency to bid now and again. Any tips on places to look for a common 2/1 treatments in the competitive auction? First and foremost, can one make a 2/1 game force over an intervening bid, or are systems off? Are Bergen raises still on? Simple things like that would be a good starting place to understand how the system works in these auctions. On that last point, Thurston introduces Bergen raises early doors, and clearly sees them as intrinsic to the system. If I sit down with your typical 2/1 bridge player on bbo, are they likely to play these raises?

You should ask for your membership fee back peterpr. Seriously, the main bridge club is a zoo - you can't just parachute in there and expect to play some good bridge. People adapt by making friends and playing with those they know. The site has good tools to enable you to do this. If you've got 500 enemies (!) then you've been playing on BBO for a while - have you not managed to sort the wheat from the chaff in all that time?

It's a while since I read the books, but I recall speculation on that point that:

Can anyone give a recommendation for a book to get started on 2/1? I'm in the UK and play Acol to a general club standard - moved areas and the new club is much more of a mix of bidding systems with 2/1 popular. Amazon.co.uk is not putting out much of a choice - 25 ways to learning 2/1 by Thurston and 2/1 Game Force by Grant and Rodwell. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Over-Force-Official-Better-Bridge/dp/093946084X http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bridge-Learning-Master-Point-Press/dp/1894154460 Are these good places to start?