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I have recently been introduced to the idea of playing 2NT as either 16+ or 10-12 with 4 card support, with 13-15 4 card support through 3NT. If you play mini-splinters (I do) then 2NT denies a shortage. 3-card support can go through forcing nt.

I agree with an earlier post about the bbo masterpoint symbols. To me these are intrusive and also of no interest (since they give no indication of how good a player is just how many points they have collected). What I would like to see alongside each player's name is an indication of their skill level. Then I can choose to join a table where all the players are at a level I would like to play with, or quickly find potential partners in tourneys of the right skill level. You could for example use initials, P=private, B=beginner etc (they are all different!), or colour codes. Thank you for the site. It really is excellent.

We play a standard 1♦ (0-7) response but then 1♥ by opener is kokish forcing 1♠ Playing an opening 1NT as 14-16 then you have 1♣ 1♦ 1NT =17-18 1♣ 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ 1NT = 19-20 1♣ 1♦ 2NT =21-22 1♣ 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ 2NT = 23-24 etc You get to play you favourite reponses over NT for all balanced hands in the range 14-20

I would think if S bids 3NT this is showing a hand which is confident of taking 9 tricks after hearing partner's support of H but less confident of taking 10 - maybe Ax,xxx,AKxxxx,AK I would pass as N trusting S to have this hand.

What I was meaning was to consider what to do if they X a mini NT (i.e. a 10-12 range NT) for penalties. The two most popular methods seem to be 1) - XX any one-suiter, opener bids 2♣ and you pass or correct - 2♣,♦,♥ show that suit and one higher, typically 4-4, can be 4333 if you are stuck 2) - XX any one-suiter, opener bids 2♣ and you pass or correct - 2♣,♦,♥ show that suit and the suit above 4-4 - pass forces a XX and now you pass to play or 2♣ = ♣ & ♥, 2♦ = ♦ & ♠ - i/e/ the non-touchign 2-suiters option 2 means you can't play in 1NTX, only 1NTXX :) - puts them on the spot...

The other thing I would spend some time on is what to do when opps X (which they will tend to do quite often in my experience )

When I played strong 10's our agreements were - 10 shows 2 higher or 1 higher and the 9 - J denies a higher honour - 9 shows the 10, or is doubleton (or singleton ;) ) A lot of the advantages seemed to spring from the J and 9 leads

teammates are rarely amused by a XX'ed vul slam in the out column :)

No, I pass and hope to show the shape later by a X or a 2-suited overcall.

Most people I know either play weak NT with 4 card majors or strong NT with 5 card majors.. so you may well be comparing two different systems rather than just two different NT ranges. I have played both these systems for many years - is there anything specific you are interested in?

I can see the logic of 3NT since there are many hands where p will pass 3♦ but 3NT will come in facing a suitable 5 or 6 count

yes, and p can bid 2NT with 4-4 in the minors to find your fit

I actually find that something rigid like symmetric relay is much easy to play in an infrequent partnership than standard methods that inevitably require many often subtle implicit partnership understandings. That is intersteing - could you direct me to link where I can find a well-doumented version? Thx

This was our first thought :rolleyes: but then we decided if you could find bids for hands with a 4 card major and a poor 5 card club suit why not use them when the club suit is good as well? Then when you open 2C you always have 6 so you are better placed to judge the competitive auction

Thank you all for your comments. We don't play enough to go to something like TOSR, but like to mess about with the sytem from time to time :D It is interesting how our system seems to have developed towards what others play - for example we changed 2C to guarantee 6 after some bad boards in 2CX and changed 2D opener to be (34)15 as well as 4414 and 4405