jeffford76

The specific auction on which this came up was the following: 1NT (X) XX (P) 2C (?) 1NT is 12-14, X is penalty, XX forces 2C showing a bad hand, possibly planning further action. I'm interested in both preferred agreement, and also what you'd expect undiscussed with a reasonable partner.

According to the latest ACBL Bridge Bulletin, Cohen is retired from pairs games, but still playing occasional team events.

What's double here? I assume most people are using it for spades with diamond tolerance. But if you're playing the old-fashioned way where double is penalty, then this is pretty clearly a diamond raise.

Now that the cost of gas has come down, the airline fuel surcharges and extra bag fees will surely go away, right?

Does the same principle apply to 1S - 1NT - 2m - 2NT? I thought bidding a heart fragment here was standard and don't see why it would be different. When considering gains for bidding the fragment I think you have to consider hands where it's right to play the 4-3, not just the 5-3.

Partner and I disagreed about this one last night at the club.

Over my 6C my opponent (who knows me) paused for a while, then said, "I guess I believe you," and bid 6S. I still think that's the best way not to get saved against, though. Apparently I still have more work to do convincing people I'm a maniac to avoid this problem. :( One of the amusing ways to get above average on the board was to play 5H after a revealing auction since reasonable opponents were afraid of pushing you to the slam.

Unless this hand came up twice in the last couple days, it's regional pairs, red against white. I bid 6C when I held it.

I hadn't realized people cared about this. What is it that is wrong with this?

This isn't particularly fair to the team being forfeited to. Imagine I'm averaging 20VP/match, and the team forfeiting to me is averaging 10VP/match. That means that they're getting 10VP/match against a field *that is worse than me*. I'm getting 20VP/match against a field *that is better than them*. My expectation against this team is probably at least 25VP and possibly higher. As a rough approximation, maybe I should get my average VPs + (15 - their average VPs).

I sent the following email to both my district representative and Jay Baum: I never received a response from the district representative (it's been several days) and received the following response almost immediately from Jay Baum: I sent the following reply which received no response (after several days): It's becoming increasingly clear to me that there will not be any response about who the "many" people are who want this ban. I strongly suspect that it has nothing to do with security, but is in place because of a desire to stop phones from ringing during events.

Your partner could have legally bid 1S without mentioning the error. If the director is then called for the "mechanical" error, and the change is made to 2H his 1S bid is still authorized information for you.

Regardless of whether it "should" be alertable, the ACBL is quite clear about the 1D -2D auction: EXAMPLE: 1D-2D If the 2 bid shows the majors (Michaels), clubs and spades (top/bottom) or some other two-suiter (not including diamonds, no Alert is required. (From http://www.acbl.org/play/alertprocedures.html)

Exactly. Opponents were not amused when I ruffed the opening lead the one time I had the auction 1NT - 2D - 4H - 4NT - 6H. OK, I admit also once having the auction 1NT (12-14) - 2H (signoff) - 4H when I figured the (mostly strong NT) field auction was 1H - 4H. Turned out to make 5H, and the field wasn't in the game, although I understand this doesn't mean it was "right".