gszeszycki

IMO you are way more likely to have a weak distributional hand you could not bid with after 1h than you are to have a strong hand with hearts that you hated to bid some number of nt with. For ex you hold something like K432 7 Q543 Q432 Rho opens 1h I pass w/o hesitation. bidding continues 1n p p and now I pipe in with my tox because it is not so dangerous anymore with the hcp seeming to be split somewhat evenly. Dont even try to convince me anyone wants to X with this hand directly over 1h because you are not even remotely prepared for P to pass for penalties.

Even with not having a clue what all the bids mean to this partnership ----- south should be willing to shoulder the blame for this missed game for one simple reason. N has been trying VERY hard to reach game despite having zero trump honors. Even if making sound overcalls it is rare to have everything in a suit. N is undoubtedly holding back some due to trump quality question and S has trump quality galore and a side suit ace (many times better than KQJ in high level suit contracts) I not only would have bid game but cue bid 4S on the way to 5d just in case.

given the bidding there seemed to be only 1 kind of hand where 7n has a decent chance of making where the lead makes any difference. something like void--------Ax KQJx-------Axxxxx xx----------AKQx AQJTxxx---x here it seems the only way to prevent our hand from being squeezed is to start with a low club --This eliminates the delayed club finesse after the run of the hearts (and spade ace) squeezes us in the minors forcing us to hold 6 cards in the form of Kx clubs and J9xx dia.

Dealer: South Vul: N/S Scoring: IMP ♠ AJxx ♥ KJx ♦ KTxx ♣ xx ♠ xx ♥ Qxxx ♦ ♣ AQJxxxx p p 1s x 2c 2d p p 3c p p 3d p p p before commenting on this hand how would the bidding proceed if S held say x Qxxx x KJTxxxx My guess is the bidding would proceed exactly as the auction shown and therein lies the problem. The S hand is a very reasonable pass fearing a preemptive bid would bury a heart fit but S did not do enough to try and differentiate between the actual hand held and the much weaker example hand i provided. Assuming everyone is happy with a 2c bid (which I am not) the very least S could do is bid 2h vs 3c. This bid would at least show a much better club suit and at the same time give N a clue as to why S didnt open with say 3c right away (fear of missing a heart fit) this bidding might show a hand similar to x Qxxx x KQJxxxx. S has to appreciate the opening bid by p along with the X by rho means the club K is an overwhelming favorite to not be in lho hand. Once we realize this our hand is now worth 7 tricks not too shabby for a passed hand. This leads me to wonder why not xx vs 2c? This bid still leaves open the possibility of a heart fit (whereas the non forcing 2c bid once again threatens to bury a heart fit) and lets p know you are near top of your power range for a passed hand. We are prepared for anything N does (surely we dont fear 1s xx) and now we have a fighting chance to get to game. If the bidding continues as before after 2d p p (surely p would bid hearts if they had hearts and a weakish hand) I would bid 3d which should clarify just how good my (obviously clubs) hand is and trust p judgement from there.

the big distinction btn MP and IMPS can be summed up as follows at MP invite dearly accept freely at IMPS invite freely accept dearly Since it does not pay to get into "iffy" games at mp our bidding needs to be a tad stouter than at IMPS. Invite dearly means we invite wishing only to stay out of game if opener is near the "bottom" of their range. Invite Freely means we want to be in game ONLY if opener is near the top of their range (ie responder would bid game themselves if all they needed was an "average" hand from opener.) The upshot of all this is that most 8 counts at mp you might as well pass saving your invites for top of the line 8 counts (like 2 aces which increases the communication between the 2 hands).

agree with artk78 and pass The problem with making any bid at this point virtually assures we will end up in 7h X. Partner has made an advanced sacrifice and prudence dictates we have to take out insurance against 6s if opps bid it. WHY not give them their best chance to go wrong and pass??? While we may feel certain they will make 5s (though this is far from certain give p something like JTxx xxxx Txx xx and 5 might go down after we lead a club). We will not get creamed on this hand if opps bid 5s and make 650 or 680 vs -500 in 6h but we can get creamed if we go -800 in 7h and opps were slated to go down in 6s (or rarely even in 5s). A bid of 6c looks too much like we are telling P of a way to beat 6s if opps bid it (not a sound idea) P might X 6S with a singleton club expecting a ruff.

at MP I would sign off in 3N since dia slam is a top/bottom proposition and I would be surprised if we find any slam that is much better than 5050 (that we could bid with any confidence). At IMPS where the 5050 dia slam is beneficial the slight risk of getting overboard at 4n seems warranted and i would bid 4d.

Dealer: East Vul: N/S Scoring: BAM ♠ KJ ♥ KJ87542 ♦ 63 ♣ A9 (p)-1♥-(p)-2♠*, (2N)-? Assuming your agreement further means an assured heart fit----I would bid 3C (which should show the ace) vs 4C which should be a splinter---(I would further use 3N to show BOTH minor suit aces but thats me) in any case partner now has plenty of extra information if they wish to explore slam:)

Dealer: North Vul: N/S Scoring: IMP ♠ ATx ♥ xx ♦ AQ9xxx ♣ Ax 1♠-(4♣)-? I am hard pressed to imagine too many hands where the 5 level is not safe thus I will begin with 4N (this has the benefit of showing spade support right away) If p shows me TWO with Q I bid 6D asking them to bid 7 with dia K (if they bid 7d showing at least kxx i will pass since 6d has far less risk of opening club ruff) (admittedly we probably will not make 7 if p has a total minimum due to expected bad breaks) but that is what preempts are for. If P shows me TWO w/o queen I will settle for 6S If P shows me any less I will settle for 5S p can still bid slam with some monstrous hands knowing i was looking for slam like say KQJxxxx KQJxxxx void void. Another benefit of 4n right away is that I learn something useful about the hand if LHO bid 5c or 6c (assuming we are playing PODI (my favorite) or DOPI).

Matchpoints. AQJxx Axxx Qxx A 10x - AK109xxx KJxx 1D - 1S 3D - 4D 4H - 4S 5C - 5H 6D - 6NT Down with 7D making. I ATB 100% N for 4d bid just no good reason to take control of the bidding that way so soon. The power and distribution for a 3d bid are just way too numerous at this point. For starters you could have a spade fit which would score better than diamonds. Start with 3H maybe youll get lucky and p will bid 3s which your p might do with xxx or (even better Kx). If P bids 3n (as they should with this hand) you can then bid 4d to show dia slam interest having learned at least that opener has wasted values opposite your short club.The 3n bid would also have a tendency to severly limit the power of opening bidder since they had a nice 3c bid avalable over 1s they did not use.

Assuming pairs, bidding with JLOGIC. AKQxx KJxx Qxxx - 1D - 1S 2C - 2H 3C - 3D 3S - ?? 2H was forcing to game, no canape openings. Your call? WHO's in charge here is the question. Fluffy properly recognizes 3n as a slow down bid but now lets explore WHY. 1d normal 1s normal 2c normal 2h fsf to game 3c no 3 card spade support no heart stopper (*except in the rare circumstance we --- are extremely distributional and bidding 3c more important than bidding NT) ----continuing to bid our distribution. 3d setting trumps (in case its needed) and giving p a chance to bid 3h to show ----a partial heart stop for nt by bidding 3h (in case we have something like ----AKxxx Qx Kxxx Qx)==if opener were to bid 3n now it would mean the 3c bid ----was needed to show very extreme distribution. Something like ----*void A KJxxxx KQxxxx 3s high degee of probability showing 2155 but maybe 1255 possibly even 0355 and ----could just be marking time to see what responder wants to do. If opener holds ----say void 743 AKxxx KQxxx would you really want to bypass 3N or bid 3N? 3N GIVING UP CAPTAINCY and also helping to clarify a lot of our previous bidding ----1. we have hearts stopped so our 2h bid was primarily interest in spades or -------merely marking time until we could bid 3d to set trumps. ----2. The only reason to take time to set dia as trumps (when 3n was a viable -------contract) was to make a mild slam try in dia. with a hand similar to say -------AJxxx KQJ Qxxx x we would not waste time with 3d we would bid 3n. ----3. It is important to realize opener knows none of this until we bid 3N. It is now -------up to opener to realize our mild slam try was based on club shortness and -------probably secondary heart stoppers KQ KJ( If we had someting like A AK or -------AK A in the majors we would not be signing off in 3n). If we are to progress -------to slam it is up to opener (who's hand power and power location is unknown -------to us. Let the player looking at their cards decide what to do:)))) Always remember what partner does not bid is just as important as what they bid.

Edit: I forgot to say, it was mp scoring Hi everyone, I held ♠AKJ8742 ♥Q ♦6 ♣Q974 Vul against not rho opened 1h we have a hand worth 7 tricks red vs white and not much defense lets get this off our chest and bid 2s which shows a hand worth 7 tricks and not much defense. Pass is the order of the day after 2s and let partner decide what to do. At IMPs I would bid 3s over 1h but at MP cant readily afford to go -500 red vs white too easy to score a zero that way at IMPS no big deal.

Axxx AKQxx KQ xx lets back up the bidding one round so it goes 1D X 1H ? you hold the following hands xxx x xxxx AKxxxx Kx xx xxx QJTxxx xxx xx xxx AKQxx xxx xx xx KQJxxx these all look like free 2c bids to me and yet there is a huge range of plausible outcomes hands 1 and 3 have a fair shot at 3n hands 2 and 4 dont want to venture much above 3c and none of them like a forcing natural 2h bid. Dont spend too much time worrying about conspiracy theory and the opps magically knowing when to bid 1h with xxx. Those opps risk getting their side to high level heart contracts that are X by partner. Tailor you bidding to probability rather than frequent las vegas bidding and you will prosper. Note that opposite each of the above 2c bids a 2n rebid allows the club bidder to bid 3c with hands 1 and 3 and 3n with hands 2 and 4. This is a vast improvement over a natural 2h rebid where the inevitable 3c rebid leaves the partnership adrift with no clue as to the best course of action. The rule about doubling and bidding a new suit as natural is fine except when the opps bid the suit first. let me reiterate after the 2c bid you should bid 2N and stop worrying about the right miracle hand where trumps break 41 yet 4h still manages to make

Swiss team, NV vs Vul 2nd seat: Axxx AKQxx KQ xx RHO open 1D, would you DBL or over call 1H? If you DBL, it goes: (1D) X (1H) 2C pass ? Now is 2H natural? if not, what to bid? Is 2NT here GF? No it is a cue bid agreeing to clubs and in theory asking for a heart stopper for NT showing a hand similar to AQxx xxx AQ AQxx same thing a 2d bid would mean with a hand similar to AQxx AQx xx AQxx even if 2h was natural I would not want to bid it with AKQxx P is virtually certain to be short in hearts in this auction. Best rebid here seems to be 2N invitational since partners 2c bid probably shows 5+ clubs 6-9. If p bids 3c pass

Dealer: ????? Vul: ???? Scoring: Unknown ♠ AQJxx ♥ xx ♦ AQ ♣ Axxx ♠ ♥ KQ9x ♦ KJ9xx ♣ Kxxx North deals, how would you bid at imps? 2/1 this seems somewhat straightforward depending on partnership agreement if your partnership plays standard 1s normal 2d normal 3c (shows extra values) 3n (even if opener has clubs responder has minimum power and 9 of 12 in the reds. PASS opener has shown the extra values responder seems not to care and opener is pretty much minimum in the extra value department. Would not fault a 4D bid as long as responder can bid 4n as a sign off. If partnership plays 3c does not promise extra values (my preference at imps) 1s normal 2d normal 2s catchall 2n nothing much else to do 3c showing extra values and clubs 3n who cares PASS I showed my extras and have nothing else to add. Would not fault a 4d bid as long as responder can bid 4n as a sign off.

♠AT96532 ♥654 ♦ ♣964 1♥-??? Let's suppose you pass: 1♥-Pa-1NT*-X 2♣-??? And finally: 1♥-Pa-1NT*-X 2♥-2♠-3♦-X 3♥-Pa-Pa-3♠ Pa-??? How many spades in each case? pass 2s pass overcall 1s (r vs w) can do nothing except incite insanity in future partners (this one will leave you after seeing your "overcall") I have much more sympathy for those that try the risky 2s than 1s. 2s having passed (thank gooodness) this 2s bid should not get p overly excited and realize this bid is primarily based on length pass I have a partner that felt doubling 3d was a better shot than inviting 3s and their dia power is bad news opposite my void. I feel i would have to be lucky to make 3s at this point.

X then 2n Imps still have to press for game p can always "run" to 3d if it looks right but we cannot ignore huge shot at game if p spade Q and heart J and dia Q say.

2/1 1s normal 2h normal 2s this usage of catchall will allow you to show GOOD 6/7 spade suit and heart support. 3c normal 4h delayed support makes the 2s bid stand out as a good 6/7 spade suit. 5c normal 6h 2nd round control dia 6s you know the spades are decent not quite as sure about the hearts

left entirely out of this discussion (I don't know why) is the difference between IMPS and MP. The minor suits are virtually assigned to oblivion below slam level at MP and with any weakish distributional hand 3n is a way more desirable contract than 5 of a minor. This position makes bidding 2s catch all with the weakish 2 suiter) very desirable at MP because it allows opener to show stronger (and therefore more likely to be slam worthy) hands immediately. This position makes much less sense at IMPS where getting to the BEST SPOT (IE minor suits are back in the ballgame) is a ton more important than getting to 3n. Playing IMPS I would bid 3d with the weaker distributional hand (if p then bids 3n so be it) with the stronger 2 suiter I would bid 2s catch all 4d over 3n (realizing that 4n is then a sign off and a cue bid shows slam desire) There are numerous problems created in 2/1 bidding when forcing responder to rebid 2n with all manner of hand. Save the 2n rebids for hands that have extra strength and/or no clear direction. Rebid 3n with most balanced or semi balanced minimums.

It is completely wrong to state there is a standard 2/1 set of instructions anymore. I offer the following options knowing most players might object to me not differentiating between 3 and 4+ card support for major suits (though most do not have such objections when raising an overcall). 1M p 2M 3+ card support and a hand that falls short of invitational (6-10) 1M p 3M 3+ card support and a hand too strong for 2H not strong enough to be ----------game forcing and not distributional enough for a 1M p 4M bid. (10+ to 12-) 1M p 2N 3+ card support game forcing raise. Save your 1N forcing bids for hands that deny having trump support it frees up an enormous amount of other bids for better purposes than differentiating between 3 or 4 card support. The mantra of support with support is readily apparent using the methods shown above. Your p will almost always appreciate knowing immediately if their major suit has support. Remember that MP is a bit different than IMPS and raise your bidding standards by around 3/4 of a point for invitational and game forcing hands when playing MP.

Dealer: West Vul: Both Scoring: IMP ♠ Axxx ♥ AJ ♦ xx ♣ Qxxxx ♠ J ♥ Qxxxxx ♦ AKx ♣ Axx pass-pass-pass-1[h] 2[d]-dbl-p-2[h] all pass please refer your x partner (who should be avoided at all costs) to this forum so they may feel properly lamblasted for their part in this embarassing escapade. the 2h bid was fine as it nicely shows 6 hearts and roughly a minimum hand (if the opps had overcalled 1s this would be a different story) I have a question here---how dare you make your partner THINK??? I mean if you had merely read their mind like any decent partner you would have found a 4h bid and they could sit and continue being a proper dummy w/o all the work. To be honest at IMPS I would bid 4h with their hand after your 2h and invite with 3h with just a tad more balanced hand (take away 5th club make it a dia). I would not get upset if P chose 3h vs 4h and if P bid 3h I would bid 4h with your hand. You did an excellent job of bidding --- keep up the good work your study of the game is paying off. Please go to FindAPartner.com for lessons on how to avoid getting stuck with completely inept (and worse) irritating partners:)))))))) In case my little story was not completely clear I ATB 100% N

1♦-(P)-1♥-(1♠) 3♣ 1♦-(1♠)-P-(P) 3♣ I think the standard interpretation is first forcing 2nd not. How I prefer to play is another matter entirely. the two situations are extremely dissimilar and in situation 1 those of you that play support x are at a disadvantage. hand 1 NF the first I would play as strongly invitational --a hand not strong enough to bid 3s (asking for spade stop for 3n) or even 2s (a bid that says nothing about heart support) and wrong distribution for x something similar to xx x KQJxx AKQxx hand 2 NF the second as non forcing and very distributional and weak similar to void x Axxxxx AQxxxx bidding 2c in this position should generally be stronger than bidding 3c. The reason for this is you are backing into an auction where there is significant danger in the form of the opps making a game and at least by preemting with a weak hand you make it harder for either to compete because of the unknown nature of your partners hand.

If your suit is diamonds 4d (if you are lucky i can give u 2 tricks) is probably our limit if your suit is clubs I want to be in at least game if not more I would imagine a hand similar to xxx(x) x xx(x) Axxxxx It is vital to inform p of the incredible club fit (if there is one) we can always cue bid at the 5 level (or even bid 4s) if we have a strong heart hand. P chose 3s because they believe the hand belongs in a suit (they did not x 2s which we could possibly convert to penalties) so lets inform them where we can play. P did not bid 4H if anything their minor suit is probably better than their heart suit. their hand is quite offensive in the sense they are forcing us to bid at the 4 level and we could have nothing. I would imagine the only place they want to play is in one of their suits so it's best to forget any ideas of showing a new suit natural. Their hand might be similar to (as a minimum) x AQJxx x KQJTxx with x KQJTxx x AQJxx they have a much easier 4h bid.

2h risks missing spade suit (with a cruddy suit to boot) 1h risks getting us overboard with what is probably a better defensive than offensive hand we still have a partner and if they cannot open the bidding it is hugely unlikely we missed anything much. I choose the cowardly pass at imps

Dealer: South Vul: N/S Scoring: IMP ♠ 9x ♥ AKxxx ♦ KJxx ♣ Jx ♠ AT8xxx ♥ QJ ♦ Ax ♣ Q8x 1♠ - 2♥ 2♠ - 3♦ 3♠ - 4♠ 2♥ - GF, 5+ hearts 2♠ - Catch all, does not promise 6 spades, usually denies 3 hearts. 1s 2h seems very normal the problem is the 6 card spade suit is pretty crummy and I am unconvinced repeating it is sound bidding. I have no troubles pretending this is a 5 card suit. The best call appears to be 2n This bid has several advantages 1. Bidding remains LOW responder can bid other suits if they wish to pursue a contract other than nt. 2.Has the advantage of showing a balanced (almost certainly) minimum opener with stoppers in unbid suits (ok ok Qxx maybe needs some spinach). 3. If NT is right contract it is probably best from our side 4. if P raises spades at least we know it was with 3 (or 2 good ones). 5. If P now bids 3c or 3d I am now very happy to bid 3H. after 2n responder has nothing much else to look for so bids 3n. With xx clubs (vs Jx) I might be strongly tempted to bid 3d and we would end up in 4h after bidding goes 1s 2h 2n 3d 3h 4h