nekthen

Surely with K♠ and K♣ partner bids 7♦ instead of 5♠, so after 5N 6♣ must be a void or singleton

The problem is 2/1 GF and 1N F1 I know people swear by it and bridge teachers love it and generally it is good when partner finds a 2/1 bid. (Not always) If you really like it you must live with the consequences, personally I cannot stomach being forced to bid over 1N

At IMPS I punt 4♠ and leave them to guess. At pairs I am prepared to try a sneaky pass

[hv=pc=n&s=s762hkj53dqt85ck4&n=saq9hadakj2caqt52&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=2cp2n(8-10%20balanced)p6nppp]266|200[/hv] Seems to me that a spade lead is dangerous for South in 7♦ I would be bidding 2♣ GF with 2 suits or 23+ balanced or weak 2♦ 2♦ pretty much forced 3♣ 3♦ both natural 3N implies 4 card ♦ suit with a massively two suited hand would bid 4♦ 4♣ mild slam try cue bid 4♥ kickback 4♠ as expected 5♣ Q check 5♥ yes and the K♥ 6N I see 12 tricks pass Would bid 7♦ with 5 card ♦ Unfortunately it seems likely that the sequence strongly suggests a spade lead against 7♦ while 6N is right-sided It seems like 6♦ is the last cast iron contract and 6N is surely worth the risk needing to take 5♣ tricks or 2♠ tricks 7♦ only if I need a top 6N is likely to score more than 50% if it makes

Although the ♦ fit is a bonus, I want more power to bid 2♠. The hand demonstrates what a blunt tool 2N is. 3♦ is not forcing and we want to be in game. Partner may have only 4♦ so what choice do we have but to bid 3N? As I said xyz makes it easy [hv=d=n&v=b&b=13&a=1cp1dp1sp2cp2dp3dp5dppp]133|100[/hv]

So many times the result is either 2N +1 or 2N-1. If you can set up diamonds you make 3 and if opps can take 4 heart tricks first you may go down. So at imps I bid 3N. I only need to be right about 30% of the time. Ideally, you play xyz, in which case, you can show an invitational hand with 2♣ partner 2♦ and you 3♦ I think also that there is a case for treating this hand (vul) as a weak jump shift and bidding 2♦ instead of 1♦

The hands you quote are much too weak for my treatment responder can leap to 7♦ precisely because he has two singletons opposite the known Aces in partners hand. Maybe I should have said GF with slam interest. As you say, when using a lot of space you must be very specific. I assume you do not regard splinter bids as a waste of space?

Yes its a lot of space, but it defines the hand very precisely in one bid, takes away 4th hands ability to interfere safely and prevents the sort of murky sequence suffered by Tramticket and partner. In most auctions you have to bid to 3♠ to get your hand over. It also means that other sequences are either not as extremely distributed or are not GF. Look how easy it is now to bid to 7♦ 1♣ 3♠ 4♦ 4♥ 4N 5♠ 5N 7♦

I do use a Walsh transfer style set of responses to 1♣ for Acol. This is a special hand which would respond 3♠ showing 5♠ and 5+♦ GF Partner can simply bid a game, cue bid in ♣ or ♥, bid 4♦ to set that suit or bid 3N to show a ♦ cue

Humans are programmed to see patterns. We see representations of things in clouds and on toast. Our brains organise random occurrences into patterns and we cannot stop them doing that. We just have to recognise that this bias exists

There is a case for 2N being lebensohl. (in competition, I think 2N should always be leb if you play it, otherwise the brain ache of working out when to use it is enormous) So 3 of a minor must be a suit with 3 card support 3♥ is a good raise with 4 cards and no ♥ stopper 3♠ is pretty much any old rubbish with 4♠. Likewise 4♠ with 5 card support, even at red v green. 3N 2 spades and minors stopped 2N followed by pass or 3♦ must be to play 2N followed by 3♥ is a good 4 card raise with a ♥ stopper 2N followed by 3♠ or 4♠ is a values raise with 3 cards 2N followed by 3N 2 spades and all other suits stopped I do not like doubling 2♠ as it gives opp two extra bids (pass or rdbl) which a smart pair will have assigned meaning to I guess it means "partner I have very short spades if I double again it is penalties"

How about day long tournaments that you can enter as a partnership? With enough different hands you could even enter with different partners

Given your methods, 4♠ seems completely reasonable. I do not like pass to be forcing where a cue bid is available, if they bid a natural 2♥, I imagine everyone would agree with a direct 4♠, using lebensohl to show stronger hands. Someone bidding a direct 4♠ must be long and weak and concerned that opps have the possibility of making 5♥

I think 2♦ is most useful to show a weak hand with 5♠ and 4♥, then the sequence 1♣ 1♠ 1N 2♥ can be 55 (still weak as 2♣ and 2♦ are available to show invites and GF hands. As already mentioned 1♣ 1♦ 1N 2♦ (GF) 2♥ 3♦ is the way to start

WOW. Calm down. All I meant was when I play xyz, I prefer to do it in all sequences where it applies. To say to partner "ok xyz except when I open 1 club" seems an unnecessary extra strain. Yes you give up playing in 2 clubs, but how often do the opps let that lie? After 1C 1H 1S 2c p no opp with a pulse is going to pass. At pairs that is losing bridge. Using xyz, the bidding goes 1C 1H 1S 2N 3c p and opps have to guess at the 3 level whether to back into the auction. Incidentally, it was not me that said the approach is different between 2D FSF and xyz. There is also a big difference between the sequences if you are coming from a strong NT, 5 card major or a weak NT 4 card major (my school). Also whether you play the 1S bid as always unbalanced and thus showing 5 clubs or can include balanced hands with 4 spades i.e. does 1N deny a 4 card spade suit? So many possible nuances in such a simple sequence!

I think stick to xyz, if you play it. In general, where FSF is GF, and any other GF scenario, a bid of game shows a minimum hand. So 2N is stronger than 3N and 2H and 2S are stronger than 4H and 4S. The exact meaning of 3 level suit bids are up for discussion but to me indicate hands with big distributions. Similarly, after a non game bid by opener, a game bid by responder, indicates nothing more to say and other bids are stronger

I voted other. Other = pass I see two favourable outcomes. 1. They bid the slam in hearts and go down due to a spade ruff. Please p do not get out lightner double! 2. It is the last rubber of the night. Opps get lazy or take pity and conservatively underbid. 4 spades achieves nothing. Chances are opps next bid was 4N anyway (side bar is there a case for double meaning exclusion blackwood?) At rubber especially, lets say you go for 1100. You are now in a rubber that you cannot win even if you score two games before the opps get their one. You are like the punter who doubles his stake every time he loses. (Note this is NOT a good strategy) At the club, a random 5 spades might get you a top (passed out) but against competent opps you will lose. The 2 club bidder should be able to place the contract already

Given the vulnerability, I pass the second dbl. I expect opps to make, but still going to be best score and it may flush out a psyche by East

Probably 10♥

As a weak NT player, I would choose to open 1N AJxx is a lousy combo. Happy to regard this as a 14 count. I am a fan of opening minor before major on 4-4 hands but 1♥ is also fine, if that is your agreed style. While we all would dbl with one less spade and one more heart, I still prefer it to pass. It says I have points and no spade stop ok p will believe I have 4 cards in hearts, but life is messy. One rule that I ask my partners to obey, is when in doubt bid. Did we agree 1S 4H is a splinter? If in doubt bid! Is partners double penalty? If in doubt bid! Is 2N lebensohl or natural? If in doubt bid!

My partner is old school and would probably be horrified by the idea that a gambling 3N is now acceptable with AKQxxxx. I bet a straw poll at my club would find the majority agreeing that an 8 card running suit is required. How times change!

Pretty pointless as my partner is not named and does not go on bbo. I just wanted to see if my peers agreed it was to play. Of course, it is much easier to see the squeeze afterwards, I do not know if I would have found the play as declarer. I agree its a gamble, but 4♠ is probably not enough off. At MPs I think the possible results favour 4N, maybe at IMPS pass is the right action

Given South has all the outstanding points, I thought it a reasonable gamble

The whole hand [hv=pc=n&s=sak963ha85dck8742&w=sq87hk6dt4caqjt63&n=sj52hjt9743d987c5&e=st4hq2dakqj6532c9&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=3n4s4np5dppp]399|300|From a top to a bottom in one bid[/hv] Sadly opps have 3 top tricks, with a stiff spade I could understand pulling but I think you should treat 4N as natural and trust p. You can always win the pm if you pass! OK actually 44% as many were in 5♦ doubled The errors continued into the play when South cashed her aces and, not wishing to set up Q♠ if East has a singleton, played a heart at trick 3. Partner can now run the diamonds keeping the Q♠ and AQ♣ and S is squeezed on the last ♦ Sadly, partner did not see this line and played to drop the K♣ :blink:

5♥ seems like a sign off to me. Surely we have set hearts as trumps already. While I agree 6 looks to be there on the bidding, partner had 4N available which would give a chance to cue bid again. Yes we have the Q♥ but suppose p needs ♦ control? [hv=pc=n&n=saq2hak754dk63c32]133|100[/hv] This seems compatible with the bidding