nigel_k

It has been wrong for a long time and they know about it. It doesn't seem like the sort of bug that would be hard to fix but it must be because it has remained so long while other stuff in the vugraph archives has been changed.

For a long time I played that the first discard is discouraging (in that suit) and reverse count. The benefit is that you can show count right from the first discard, as well as indicating suit preference. Lavinthal and odd/even cannot do that. I can't say whether it is technically superior, but knowing the count of each suit as early as possible used to give me a feeling of comfort on defence though this has lessened over the years. It's fairly rare that the method leaves you stuck without a good choice of card. I think I first learned this method from Lionel Wright around 1989 but I don't know where it originated.

I would only consider it in this precise sequence: 4♥-4♠-4NT (with diamonds as trumps) because you have 5♣ as a queen ask. Even then you have to remember it and I have a feeling I might reflexively bid 4NT intending to ask for the queen if it came up. Also it is not completely costless because after the queen ask with 5♣ instead of 4NT you are a step higher if you want to ask for specific kings. If it was 4♦-4♠-4NT (with clubs as trumps) I wouldn't want to give up the queen ask just to be able to play 4NT instead of 5♣ but it could work sometimes at matchpoints.

I expect 4♥ to play better than 3NT and would love to bid 4♥ fast arrival. However this hand is worth about 13.5 so I would never have opened 1NT and it's just terrible for a heart/club slam so I can understand bidding 3NT to try to apply the brakes.

Pass. I don't agree that any hand with hearts should bid 3♥ here. A normal 2♥ bid covers quite a wide range and there is no room to investigate if you bid 3♥ on all of them. Partner having passed doesn't prevent him holding all the hands that want to bid 4♥ only if I have a decent 3♥ bid, e.g. Axx Jxxxx Axxx x. Partner also knows that passing them out in 2♠ at matchpoints is unlikely to be good and will stretch to balance. Then I can bid 3♥ and feel good about it. I would probably not have opened (unless playing weak NT) but it's close.

The reasoning for pass is impeccable except that you are going against the field. Bidding can gain over passing if partner is 5503, and sometimes when he is 5512, and when they forget to double and you lose some 50s. If LHO is the male in a mixed pairs then obviously more favourable shapes for partner are also possible. At worst you are still even with the 2NT bidders and have the slight edge that you may play the longer trump suit when partner is 1-1. If my opponents were above average compared to the field I would pass but otherwise I would probably just bid and hope to gain a trick in the play.

Open 4♥. But I like the agreement that gambling 3NT can be any suit.

If I have methods to show a limit raise with heart shortage I would definitely do that. Otherwise I would call this a minimum splinter but I suspect many people's opening bid requirements have been eroded so it's now a normal limit raise and partner will routinely accept with something like KJxxx Qxx Axx Kx.

u are right, of course --if 2C followed by 3d is the garden variety. If it shows a hand where diamonds is trump, with 10 tricks, asking for cues (etc), then this hand is still not a real problem. I guess there are a few situations where 4H will make while we languish in 4D....but I will live with that. I am with the 2♦ waiting people right up until they say responder cannot even bid 2♥. Why not? It doesn't shut out anything opener might have wanted to bid. Also, allowing a 2♥ response on any decent hand with some hearts means you can use a 3♥ negative if opener bids 3♣ or 3♦ and avoid the above problem.

Agree with using the second step for all superaccepts, i.e. 1N-2♦-2♠ or 1N-2♥-2NT. Over that you need a re-transfer bid and can do what you like with the others, maybe show singleton or doubleton. There are three available steps if you use three of responders suit as one of them. or two otherwise. I would also use an immediate jump to three of the suit, i.e. 1N-2♦-3♥ or 1N-2♥-3♠ as a shutout with a minimum and offensively oriented cards, e.g. xx KQJx Axx KQxx. I wouldn't superaccept with a minimum and scattered values though.

Not sure exactly what you are suggesting, but over an opener you can bid 1NT forcing and give preference with 3 cards and a weak hand. Over an overcall you can cue bid with 3 card support and a good hand. So I think the two situations are not analagous. Suppose you have agreed opening bids are 11-20 and overcalls are 8-17. I still think with three card support you should raise the opening bid with 7-10 and raise the overcall with 6-9. Because you have different ways of dealing with hands outside the range. I agree with downgrading this to a pass though. I'll probably have to bid 2♥ later so could do it immediately to try and shut them out but partner will over compete quite often as our hand is so poor. And I think it will be quite hard to shut them out of spades even if I raise and I don't mind if they play three of a minor.

I would definitely investigate a minor suit slam if I had the methods to do so. This hand has pretty good cards for 6 of a minor. Otherwise a direct 4NT is simply an overbid. You don't want to be in 6NT with two balanced hands and 32 HCP or sometimes 31. It's in all the books. Just bid your hand normally.

I think 4♥ here has to be both majors, otherwise what if opener has only hearts and responder only spades? So I would just play double as penalty and pass with the other hands.

I would rather not play system on after any kind of interference, but given the conditions I think you have to pass and hope it doesn't go all pass. It usually won't. However I wouldn't force the 1NT bidder to always reopen with a double after 2♣-P-P because that will lead to a silly contract quite often. Definitely play takeout doubles of whatever they do next. Please don't claim it is safe to bid on bad hands against me because I play takeout doubles. It's not true and penalty doublers lose a lot by wasting valuable bidding space.

5♦ earlier is clearly right if partner cannot have four spades and pass clearly right if he can. Opposite an expert I'd assume 3♦ can have four spades unless specifically agreed otherwise, and it doesn't sound like you had that agreement. I would routinely bid 3♦ instead of dbl with a weak 4-5. Otherwise it all depends on what you know about partner. Some people are quite wooden in the way they will always show Jxxx in a major ahead of anything else. Given the uncertainty, you might bid 5♦ anyway just to make sure you avoid a bottom.

Agree with initial pass. 1♥ is a fairly close second choice. 3♥ a distant third. Never 2♥. I also would not fit jump because the heart suit and overall hand are wrong. Even with 4-5 a fit jump on Axxxx is going to do more harm than good. Partner may downgrade a singleton or think his Qx will help to set up winners. I would just cue bid and limit raise or show shortness if I have that option.

I like to use my 1NT defence also against 2NT or 3NT (whether gambling or not). If you play penalty doubles of 1NT then double with single suited minor or something. On the given problem I would always bid 4♥ though I don't expect it to be right a lot more than 50% of the time.

Not a pleasant problem but I wouldn't use it as a reason to hate all auctions that start 1♥-1♠. I don't like bidding 4♠ much, and if 3♣ FSF is the only way I can show a game forcing single suiter in spades then I really hate it. Assuming partner is one of those people who always opens the major with 5-6 then I bid 5♦ otherwise I bid 4♥. I definitely would not have bid 3NT last time, partner would do that over 3♠ on most hands where it is right.

If you splinter with stiff ace then do that, otherwise bid 4♥. I don't understand the logic that this should be an exception to the 'no splinter with stiff ace' agreement. It's a perfectly normal hand of its type, in both strength and shape. If you believe that not splintering with stiff ace gains in general, then you should believe it gains here.

I don't know the legal answer to the general question as to whether a player is allowed to ask another player to leave the table. But I would tend to think you should call the director first. On the actual hand, why didn't South want East to hear the question? I don't see how East hearing the question could provide him with unauthorised information that might affect the result on the hand. If it is just that he might be offended, then the question is not really offensive and anyway if you're going to say something that might offend someone, you shouldn't ask them to leave just so you can avoid saying it to their face. However, if I was East I would leave if asked except if South was a known idiot then I would insist on him calling the director first.

I agree that partner's hand should have bid 4♥ but still you could be a lot better, e.g. Axx Qxxx xx Axxx or even AKxx Qxxxx Jxx x. Opposite xx AKxx AKQxx Kx slam is bad and with any more he would have a 2NT opening so that cannot be a minimum. 4♠ sounds like any hand with a spade control that cannot use Blackwood, i.e. needs more than just key cards. Opener can still bid 5♦ to show interest but no club control. The only thing wrong with 4♠ on the given hand is that you'll go down too often. If partner has the ♥J and solid diamonds, slam is probably 34%. And there's a good chance it won't be any better than that even if they don't find the best lead. Plus of course he might not have the ♥J.

Unfortunately for you, 31-32 HCP does usually make 6NT double dummy because all the finesses are taken the right way and double dummy analysis is how GIB decides what to bid.

Actually xx AKQx AKQxx xx is a good slam, well 68% anyway. But I don't see how you can cater for that and avoid going down in the bad cases - he probably won't jump to slam himself over a 4♠ cue bid with no club control and if you bid slam only when he fails to cue bid clubs then he could have Kx AKxx AKQxx xx plus there are five level safety issues when you sign off. And when the trump queen is missing I doubt slam can ever be good.

I have never liked inverted minors and would prefer just a boring old NF single raise with support and a minimum response. This works much better than bidding 1NT, both in competition and when you end in 3NT. On the stronger hands you don't need all that space as Helene noted so can just use 1♣-2♦ or 1♦-2♥ to show a good raise.

Use 1♥-1N-2♦-2♠ to show either a diamond raise or a club hand. That gives you two ways to raise diamonds and two ways to show clubs.