wank

in my example clubs was supposed to be responder's 5 card suit so he could bid that naturally. if opener is 4-4 in the majors you bid 1nt-2c-2h-3c-3S-4NT to invite naturally with 5C with no major fit. the rule for 4NT being not keycard is to initiate keycard you always have to show a strong raise first, i.e. 1nt-2c-2H-3c-3s-4d would set spades. you don't really need a plethora of cuebids. with 2 balanced hands, slam bidding is more quantitative than anything even in a suit. if responder is 4-4 in the minors, yes you need to start with 5 card stayman, you can bid 1NT-3C-3D-4H to say you're no longer interested in the majors once opener denied 5, then you could play 4S shows clubs and 5C shows diamonds and 4NT no fit. yes 4441 shapes are awkward then, but they often are. that's why people often reserve a particular bid (3M?) for them.

just don't bid 5 card stayman on slammy hands. opener has enough space to show the 5th card in their suit if you use normal stayman. 1NT-2C-2H-3C-3H-4D sets hearts 5 card stayman over 1NT isn't for slams. it's for bidding the right game and hiding opener's major holdings on those game hands.

bidding and rebidding a major is natural and nf. it should be at least mildly invitational.

if you consider the previous reply to be useless, as i expect you do, it pertains to bids made through a mechanical error, i.e. getting out the wrong bidding card. you can't change your bid just because you changed your mind or were distracted by your RHO's low cut top.

your partner's 3H bid was terrible on a 4441 shape. i don't need to hear what honours he had to tell you that. 2H was fine.

he showed 25+. 27.25 or whatever you want to call it counts as 25+. there's nothing he can do. it's not like he can even be confident of making 4H.

yes i'd rather have the hcp in my suit but for example qjtxxx xx xxx xx i wouldn't open but qjtxxx xx axx xx i would. i wouldn't open (by a large margin) qjtxxx xx qxx qx which is the same 7 hcp.

aces and kings outside are good. queen and jacks aren't (unless in a side 4 card suit).

i meant something like kqt9xx xx xxx xx as in relatively balanced. if i had extra shape, e.g. 6421 i would accept a weaker suit.

kqt9xx and out if balish

well yeah i doubt i would do anything with '4432 and 2 extra jacks'. it's the 4531 shape which gets me excited. to distill the original hand down to HCP on this auction I'd rate it at 6 or more. i'm guessing you'd drive game with a 6 count opposite a cuebid too. perhaps it's more a difference of hand evaluation.

i would open 1NT on this hand, but i wouldn't open it on the 4225 which you evidently consider more mainstream. the actual hand has no good rebid, being rather heavy for 2C. Your other hand has no rebid issues.

look again

you're not expecting to bid slam here. having low level bids forcing to cater to optimal game bidding on the small number of awkward shaped hands seems very unnecessary to me when you've got a cuebid and enough space to jump. of course i'm approaching this from what's evidently a narrower range for the original 1H which reduces the need for space to differentiate range (a 4531 4 count is easily in the upper half of my 1H range, so yeah I don't have any qualms about jumping around). it doesn't look like either of us is going to be convinced.

he didn't hestitate and the opps didn't claim one. however, in england the official guidance is not to ask unless you're interested in bidding. this is obviously contentious.

responding 1nt would be pretty bad with nothing in their suit. just pass (it's a 2 card club, hence i don't like 2c). if partner's got a lot of points or short spades he'll bid and you can show your hand so you won't miss game. if partner has neither, you'll probably be perfectly happy defending 1 spade. as the opps are both passed hands, he'll know you can't have nothing.

Well i bid. I wouldn't expect p to compete with 3 hearts as he'd be expecting them to be in a 6-1 fit. Partner had asked about the 2D bid then passed in a normal tempo. It transpires he has a 0355 13 count and raised 3c to 5. 6c by his hand is cold. 6c by my hand needed a non heart lead or the ace onside (it is). 3nt makes lots of overtricks. So we clearly had a negative position on the board. Anyway lho wasn't impressed. He Called the director on me and was later heard complaining in the bar about perfidious professionals who care more about money than the beauty of the game.

as does david gold. it's totally an english thing. i don't like leading away from kings. i also don't like leading from aces. still, if i think the bidding calls for it i'll do either. a blanket approach is clearly excessive.

you're right. i would feel awkward bidding 2H on that too, but i'd solve the issue by bidding 1NT to get my HCP across more accurately than with what's evidently a very wide range 1H in your approach. partner can cue on the way to 3NT to get more info. i've seen you like to overcall 1NT much more often than I do because you're worried about missing game with 16-18 opposite 7-9. this makes rather more sense if you're putting all these hands into 1H.

i think the advancing hand is worth a punt to game opposite an 18 count if there's a major fit and i'm expecting 2 mos of the time (when partner's got a minimum cue anyway)

it seems like you're putting too many hands into a simple response for my taste. i jump on almost all 8s with a major and less with a 5 card suit. that puts the actual hand in the top half for a 1H bid. and i think advancer has to take some of the strain once the doubler shows extras.

i'm not surprised you haven't seen it. it's a pretty rare auction. i think making the strong hand bid 3 times on what could be an 18 count is excessive (and obviously a recipe for going overboard).

i'd force to game. exactly how to do that in a way which gets across my major holdings is interesting. 3s now and 4h over 3nt? seems unilateral - partner might have a GF club hand with no spade stop, but i think it's probably a risk you have to take. 3S and stand 3NT? this hand seems much better in a suit and you haven't shown the 5th heart. 3d? partner will think you're looking for 3NT. 2s? not for me - risks being passed out. i'd just bid 2S without the QS.

you have to be careful when it comes to reading stuff. being a good writer doesn't require being a good player; as such something can be well written rubbish. as to which of these figures to give more credence to, i'll point out that despite mr magee being british, i've never seen him playing in an international or even domestic english/british event.

Kxx 10x Ak Kqxxxx All the Xes are very small. Love all at imps You open 1nt, 2d (one major), pass, 2h (pass/correct), bid again? This doesn't seem very interesting to me but a reasonably experienced player felt quite strongly about it.