foobar

Not to belabor the point, but I am hard pressed to think of a single hand in the several hundred relay auctions that I have had over the years, where playing H/M/L felt like a distinct advantage. Perhaps, that underscores its superiority by implication :D.

Isn't this random, in that the issue could have very easily been the other way around? For example, assuming a zoom with ♠ trump and 6♠430 with H/M/L: 4♣ (high ♥ shortness) -> Allows easy sign off in 4♠ 4♥ (low ♣ shortness) -> Can't sign off in 4♠ If 1 and 2 are flipped, then L/M/H would have worked better/worse.

IMO, the H/M/L is just arbitrary, and I have seen a couple of systems that use L/M/H. It likely just comes down to what the partnership can remember.

I don't recall the specifics right now, but my recollection from reading it a year+ ago is that it was ~symmetric relay with the short-legged, long legged, single suited with H/M/L shortness. Was there a particular tweak that helped with the mnemonic ease vis-a-vis other symmetric schemes?

3♦ -- bid where you live. Trying to land in 2♠ on a dime is asking for the inevitable 2N / 3♣.

Look no further than the excellent DDS: https://www.bridgecaptain.com/downloadDD.html. It works on Windows (and on Linux with WINE).

Think it's time to wake up and smell the 6+♣ coffee :D. Berkowitz-Cohen are doing great in the USBF finals, and am almost sure that they too have moved on, but you can trying going through the vugraph archives.

Sounds like balanced 11-12 hands without a good 4CM pass in that case?

Off the top of my head, I would suggest Simon de Wijs and Bauke Muller (Tarzan Club), and others might have more examples of world class pairs that play symmetric. Perhaps, you can start a separate thread on symmetric relays on this forum. Regarding the success and failure of KK-relay, BW has a few threads on the topic, and based on what I have seen, Kit is very willing to engage in related discussions, so you can try asking about this specific auction. I am *really* skeptical that "maybe 11-13 balanced with a 4CM (and maybe unbalanced with a longer suit)" is a desirable feature of an 1M opening in competition.

IMO, this is a premature conclusion. Like anything else symmetric relay is a tool, and it can be used for better or worse. Gratuitous use of relays will undoubtedly result in poor outcomes, and sometimes, a judicious exploration for a slam will result in game being wrong sided. Are you sure that canape passes this criteria in spades? I would rather that the opening makes the canape nature of the hand evident upfront, rather than open "may have longer suit", and hope to survive competition.

OK -- the recommendation to dump the 5+♣+4CM hands and go with just 6+♣ (and maybe side suit) still hands.

So, it seems that your 2♣ opening can be: 1) 5+♣ and a 4CM 2) 6+ ♣ (but no 4CM) If so, I would recommend going with just 6+♣ (and says nothing about side suits). This is much more amenable to relays.

+1 -- if you change the requirement to 6+C for the opening, IMPrecision has a pretty elegant ~symmetric structure over it.

2♥ -- the 6-1 will play almost certainly play better than a 4-3 if partner passes 2♦, and the rebid might coax a raise.

+1...the only adjustment is that a X a PH shows something like a Woolsey X (longer minor and a major). It's an effective check on ensuring that the lower bound of their NT range range doesn't drift southwards too often.