wank

i don't know this bridge baron of your's, but it's normal for responder's 2♣ rebid (and 2♦ in some more advanced methods) to ask for further definition from opener, in particular a 3rd card in responder's suit. this is called checkback. think of it as being a bit like delayed stayman.

the problem is you've devoted the 3♥ cuebid which should be available for hands like this to a hand (strong with spades) you can show in other ways: 3♠/4x

yes 2s is any 6 spades, spades and clubs too weak for 3c or a balanced hand not ideal for NTs, presumably 11-14.

if the overcall's in diamonds use 3c as a cue raise. if the overcall's in clubs, just suck it up and cue 3 of opps' suit. fwiw i also use 2c as the cuebid whenever available, in effect drury, this allows space for 2d as a unsure bid. there are obviously plenty of 1M overcalls which are perfectly reasonable but unwilling to go past the 2 level opposite a UCB. you can easily miss game due to the wide range of overcalls if both players have modest extras.

interesting. so assuming you have the values and outside stops to jump to 3nt, but only a singleton spade, you're presumably bidding 2nt. do you then have to press on to 4nt to get your values across? this is starting to get a little high with say 16 opposite 10. i would prefer, like mrace, for a 2nd round jump to 3nt to deny as much as a decent doubleton and let me offload all my hands in range.

clueless players often have silly ideas.

opps silent 1s-2d-2s-3nt what does this show in terms of spades? i should have said in a 2/1 context, but as gnasher used to say in his signature, it's only 2/1ers who don't feel the need to mention system in their posts.

[hv=pc=n&s=saj743hj6d532ca32&n=skq9hat98dakt94ck&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=pp1dp1sp2hp3dp3sp4cp4dp4sp4np5hp5np6sppp]266|200[/hv] lead is the 4 of heart's to easts king. east returns a small club. EW play non-polish style 2nd and 4th leads, i.e. if west has 4 or more to an honour he'd lead 4th, with 3 or more and no honour he'd lead 2nd, with 3 to an honour he'd lead lowest and with any doubleton he'd lead top. knowing EW you assess the chances of LHO making a non-systemic lead as being very low. east similarly is a pretty upstanding honest carder, but anyone could manage to win the king from kq here. your go? if you cash 1 top spade, which is i think all you can do without committing yourself in some way, RHO follows with the 8 and lho with the 2.

lho isn't totally sure but seems like he's going to treat is as natural

[hv=pc=n&s=saj62ht2dtcakq843&d=w&v=n&b=12&a=3sp4h]133|200[/hv] Imps

well, yes right you would be. we ended up in 6d after 5sxx.

2♣ is a GF for almost everyone. it's got nothing to do with whether you play 1960s english bridge or not and more to do with not having to pre-empt yourself on the 2nd round when you hold a strong and possibly 2 or 3 suited hand. if you have something that looks like a game force, you force to game and, sad story, but sometimes it doesn't make.

at my table partner overcalled 5s, north still doubled which is obviously ridiculous, and i had the joy of reaching for the blue.

wJS means something different in the UK to what i understand them to be in america. our weak jump shifts are are something like 3-8. still with a 7th spade and 4 clubs, i wouldn't be tempted by anything other than 4s.

top of nothing. it's 99% to be a 3 card suit.

surely 4s shows solid spades. this isn't an auction for fast arrival lol. if i only had 1 call it would be 7s and i would be thinking it was 85%+ to be cold.

this is an totally auto majors bid for anyone who plays matchpoints though personally i'm totally happy to bid at imps too on hands like this - 5 and 6 imps swings are not to be sniffed at.

i would say anyone who is incapable of cashing the 2nd heart winner when he had the opportunity is perfectly capable of miscounting at least 1 of the 2 required suits later.

[hv=pc=n&s=s865ha876dak96ca5&w=sq4hkqt43d74cq762&n=sakt932hj92dt2c98&e=sj7h5dqj853ckjt43&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=1np2hp2sp3d(usually%20invitation%20with%206%20spades)d3hp4sppp&p=d7dtdjdks5s4sksjh2h5hah3s6sqsas7h9c3h6htd4d2dqdad9h4hjd3s8c2std5]399|300[/hv] the play went as shown, reaching this 5 card ending (don't slag off my declarer play - yes i know there was a double squeeze after the non-cash of a 2nd heart trick - i was dummy). you will note west should know the heart position, but for no sensible reason declined to cash his winner and east should know the diamond position. declarer now calls for a spade from dummy. east plays the king of clubs, picks it up and substitutes his low club. north/south point out this isn't entirely cricket. east then says '1 club trick' and shows all his cards. north/south call the director. aside from another reference to club trick and a stream of polish nothing more can be extracted from east. the first director therefore summons a polish speaking director. the second [Chief] director comes and asks east what he's doing in polish, and he explains that he knew he was being show up squeezed and declarer would make all the tricks if he had aq of clubs, and that if declarer didn't have the queen there was a club loser. after the initial debacle and having to wait for 2 directors, you will appreciate a reasonable amount of time has elapsed and all the cards have been shown before we hear the full story from east. you will note that east actually has to keep his diamond and perforce will never personally make a club trick, and what west has to keep is dependent on what declarer keeps (declarer is squeezed first) but west perforce has to keep an accurate count on south's remaining cards. director ruled 1 trick to EW which was upheld on appeal, though I did get my get 20 euros back, yay.

[hv=pc=n&n=sakq6543hj65dcak6&d=e&v=b&b=10&a=p1h1s]133|200[/hv] 1) what now? 2♠ 3 card raise, pass or other? as you see i attempted to use the spoiler thing. obviously i failed.

north has a serious cue

she doesn't trust you, eh?

west should double - he's the one with the appropriate heart holding.

4 spades. i am not doubling but that's not because i don't have the strength for it. i don't have the clubs or hearts for it. yes, i am playable in clubs, but not as playable as doubling and correcting would imply. if partner is 2-4 in the black i want to play 4s for sure. doubling and pulling isn't a function of strength when you have no space - it's just a function of shape.

nm