wank

over 2D gf cb, yes describe your hand as much as possible. if responder just wants to offer a choice of games, he can do that via 2C puppet then 3M/NT. as for 2C, yes consider this a marionette rather than a puppet, i.e. you're expected to bid 2D unless you have extra shape, particularly unplayability in diamonds.

you're wrong about the bidding. 2C shows a maximum pass. north has that. you grossly overbid.

i agree. it's only the qd being under the bid that makes west's a bit excessive. the east hand is just rubbish.

i'm afraid that if you think a weak 2 guarantees 6 and let's say 6 HCP, you need to get out a bit more. Not everyone has to bid like you would yourself. This is just a style thing. Opening a weak 2 on that isn't even an unusual style these days.

no blame. this is just unlucky. south found north with the 1 and only shape where there was no fit. double of 2C doesn't require aqjxx. you would clearly double with ktxx too. how would you feel defending a 9 card fit at the 2 level at adverse? any finesses are going to be onside (well, ok, not the kd). if you find a fit you're going to have tricks coming out of your arse. the only poor bid is the original double which didn't affect anything. if you double 1nt on hands like this you will end up scoring -380 when you've got a slam on.

this sort of thing isn't that odd. after 3S x p or 2S x 3S (more the former as you don't have a responsive double available) it can easily be right to bid 4H on 3 with a doubleton spade, planning to take the force in your hand.

it's a terrible idea at matchpoints for sure. at mps you want to be using stayman on all your 44 major hands (you're solidly odds on to have a fit) and scrambling into your 4-3 fit if necessary. at imps you can just smolen on the 54 invites and play game. unless you're 22 in the minors, invites are essentially useless anyway, because opener will never knows how useful or otherwise his honours in the minors are. on the whole then i'd say worrying about bidding 45 hands optimally isn't worth it. most people don't use rubbish stayman often enough. unless you're playing imps and you have 5-7ish points you should bid stayman with 44. 3415 is good at any form of scoring. over 2D, you bid 2H. if p bids 2s, you bid 3C. p knows that's weak because you already bid 2H to play.

you would need to ask south what he would do if 2C was alerted. if we assume he'd pass, then west (not east) would play 2S. i'm reasonably confident west would make that, especially on 4 rounds of clubs, but i suppose a small percentage of -1, say 20% including a degree of generosity to the non-offenders, would be arguable.

2s on this hand is pretty much a crime. who did that in a bermuda bowl? if it's from a long time ago, bidding was terrible even among good players.

if i were going to bid i'd bid 3nt. at this vul though i'd be perfectly happy passing.

invitational with 5 i mean. the advantage is 1) you can play 2s instead of 2nt or 3s when opener is rejecting the invitation 2) you can invite lightly because with a max and no fit, opener can try 2NT 3) 1nt-2h-2s-2nt is now available for something else. popular options include artificial GF (allowing direct bids to be for example 5-5 invites), transfer to clubs, etc. i play responder's 2nd bid as a transfer. 2NT=clubs, 3C=diamonds, 3D = 6M, invitational to game/slam (direct splinters to 4m/4H = void), 3H = 55 (inv if xfer to S, GF if xfer to H), 3S = c.o.g. M>NT, 3NT = c.o.g. NT>M

this mainly depends how you play 1nt-2c-2r-2s. i play it as invitational so 2h can be any hand with both majors.

you have axxx in partner’s first suit. it’s daft to be fixating on the weakness of the heart suit. it’s often a double fit (yes, often, despite it being a 2 card club)

i disagree. doubling at the 3 level opposite a hand which can’t bid over 1d should show a better hand (offensively the hand is ok but you need more defence). most of the time p is going to have a 3343 4ish count and you’re dropping him in it. it’s nothing like when rho opens 3d. then p has a far wider range of hands. after p’s pass of 1d his subset of hands is much smaller and dominated with misfitting rubbish. the villain is south who forgot to bid the first time. if north does double south is too strong to just bid 3h.

i certainly wouldn’t double but i’d consider it.

short answer: the director is wrong

i’d think 4m was a cue for spades. i would have rebid 2d. after 2d-3d i’d bid 4h. after 2d-3c i’d bid 3h.

you can play takeout (showing other M) or penalty. both are entirely reasonable. penalty is normal. takeout is only really played as an option in expert circles.

given that this is entirely illogical and pointless, are you sure it’s intentional? if your partner is just incapable of adding upto 15, whatever he’s doing can’t be considered a psyche.

the only strong openings i play with my regular partner are 2nt and 3nt. of course you’re hugely ev negative when you open a gf 3nt but we think we’re printing money on the much more common hands. we actually play flannery and 2c weak with the majors but 4 weak 2s is fine if that’s your preference. in match points it’s a no brainer imo. the scoring system puts a premium on part score hands. at imps your bad boards will often be -13 or -16 for slam swings which is more painful. still, we’ll be playing it in serious events, the english trials for example.

if 2s guarantees 4s 3C should be a natural slam try. if you have an 8 card major fit you shouldn't be interested in playing 5 clubs: it's 1 trick more required. however there are good reasons why many people that 2S doesn't guarantee 4. in that case, 3C can sensibly be a natural non-forcing game try.

this idea that is micheals is weak or strong went out in the 80s. it should be strongish to strong. i never do it on a hand i wouldn't open, with the exception of both majors hands. it gives a lot of information away. it makes it very easy for the opps to play the contract. this information leakage is too great unless you've got a good enough hand to win the bidding.

it's an obvious 2h bid over 1h. if you don't bid on that the opps will rob you blind.

2h was a gross overbid. double would be sporting enough. i'd just pass.

thanks. i played well in the sf and qf. i made 2 absolutely pathetic declarer play errors in the final though (plus other stuff i got wrong less unreasonably). the qf was the biggest game i'd ever played in my life at that point. so obv the final was huge. i couldn't sleep the night before with nerves, excitement or whatever. then i played far too quickly and made these 2 stupid mistakes. that was probably the nerves as well. eventually when we won there was no feeling of elation. it was all relief and i felt emotionally drained. if i'm lucky i'll be in the same position again one day and it won't be as intense.