jerryblu

The bidding went 1C-1H (opps silent). What's my FORCING rebid? If I had opened a different suit, I could always manufacture a jump shift in a lower non existent suit. My hand was x, Axx, K, AKJT9873 Partner's response was in the suit I most wanted to hear; I had visions of slam, but no way to explore. My idea would have been to reverse (2D) then bid 3C or 4C, but I was afraid my partner would take a preference to diamonds. Finally, I wound up with the practical game force bid of 5C How do you bid this?

Thanks for the replies. I had hoped for more people to comment, and quite frankly, given the number of variant methods being used, and the way people tend to have strong opinions about these things, I had hoped for some disagreements. Maybe another day or so will bring me more grist for my mill. :(

Playing lebensohl (or Rubensohl similarly), when the bidding goes 1NT-2S, responder with a GF & a stopper and a 4 card heart suit bids 2NT and then cuebids spades. But if the bidding goes 1NT-2S-2NT-3S then what? Opener cant bid because responder might have only a club competitive hand. Responder has two possible bids: dbl and 3NT. That sounds like penalty and a minor oriented gf hand with a stopper. I dont see any easy way to get a third meaning expressed. There are good logical reasons to say that either 3NT or the double should show a heart suit. How do you play it? (The problem does not arise for other suits, because the "other major" can always be bid naturally by responder.)

I suppose it's also a question of captaincy. Is it better for 2NT opener to ask or for the 5-5 hand. Certainly, the 2NT opener is in a better position to judge whether the distribution duplicates hcp values.

Suppose the auction goes 2NT-3H; 3S-4H, AND this has been defined specifically as a 5-5 major hand with a slam interest auction. It would be easy to use RKC to check for the controls, but I wonder if there is anything better. Something that would tell opener the exact distribution, voids, etc., perhaps, and still leave room for Ace asking.

Suppose partner opens 2NT (20-21) and you hold AJxxxx, Kx, Qxx, JTx You are very close to slam but opener really needs to judge the combined holdings; there is no easy way for you to know whether you have only one loser off the top. My thought would be to do a Texas transfer to Spades, and then define 4NT as the usual keycard ask, but also define any bids beyond that as a way of telling opener what you have rather than asking. This gives up cuebidding, but when partner has opened 2NT maybe that is superfluous. Telling could be via the usual rkc steps or by 2-1 controls, I would think. Any comments? Jerry Blumenthal

I really do appreciate this discussion. As always, the question with these bidding structures is one of balance- of mind boggling complexity versus capability. The more epicycles we devise the more we can do and the less we will remember. And as several have commented (and I agree), it is a small target in general, and in particular, the 4522 or 5422 hands are even less of a target. We'll need this once in 500 deals maybe. So thanks, and I'll see whether I want to pursue this in complex or simplified form. Jerry Blumenthal :) jerryblu on bbo

So open 1H with AKxx, AQJxx, AQ, Ax ???

If opener has a 5422 hand like KTxx, AQJxx, AQ, AQ I believe he will usually open 2NT. Maybe not if the two minor doubletons are not robust, but reversing with this hand could get messy. And suppose the hand is actually AKxx, AQJxx, AQ, Ax in which case I think everyone would open 2C and rebid 2NT. With that as preliminary, consider this problem The bidding with one of those hands goes 2NT-3C 3H ---- so opener has 5H. If responder has 2 hearts and 4 spades, how does he check for a 4-4 Spade fit without bypassing 3NT? I think the only way is for responder to bid 3S in which case he may wind up declaring. That may not be best, but it beats losing the 4-4 fit. It is even harder if opener's hand has 5Spades and 4 Hearts. There is no way to find the 4-4 heart fit below 3NT after opener replies 3S to the 3C query. The only way around the second problem that I can think of is that when opener has exactly 5S&4H, that he respond 4C to the 3C inquiry, artificially describing this specific holding exactly. Responder can then transfer to the correct contract or bid 4NT to play. The (big) disadvantage here is that you will be a level higher having bypassed 3NT. The alternative is to let Opener reply 3S and forget about the 4-4 heart fits. I'm not sure which would be better. Am I missing some easy solution? Jerry

"Some people play, that when you split your honours, you play lowest from two, but highest from three; So if dummy plays a small, and you want to split, you play J from QJ, but Q from QJ10. (When falsecarding is not an issue.)" I suppose that brings up another topic: splitting honors. If partner leads small, and dummy has xxx, I play lower of touching honors. When declarer leads small toward ATx, I play higher (if I decide to split)

Yes, I agree with everything you said. (but you can forget the $15) I need a way to convince a partner that his idea of "standard" is incorrect Jerry :)

What I really want is an authoritative book (so I can know what is "standard") that describes how to follow suit when partner makes an opening lead of Ace (from AK), dummy has 3 small, bidding is irrelevant, and you hold either QJT, QJX, QJ, Qx, QJ9x, JTx. Anyone know of a good source? FWIW, I play that the Q always promises the Jack, and the Jack always promises the ten. TIA Jerry

In your opinion, what is the most common expert usage, other than standard signalling: 1. O/E or lavinthal on first discard, otherwise UDCA 2. UDCA only including first discard 3. other. TIA, Jerry

Thank you all. I guess I'm just a little bit insecure. When my very expert partner insisted that I should play J from QJx, and disagreed with everything I (and you) said to the contrary, and then told me that my ideas were non-standard, I found myself doubting myself. You've confirmed my thoughts on the matter, and I wont defer to my partner's judgment again if I believe as strongly as I did this time.

Your partner leads A of a suit, and you have QJx. Dummy has 4 small. You can assume partner is playing A from AK. Which card do you play to tell him what? Does the Q guarantee the J? Or does it deny the J? Also- what would you have played from Qx? And lastly- do you know of any book or literature of any sort that discusses this? Not in Watson, Lawrence, or Kantar so far as I can tell.