lmilne

2♠ and pass seem obvious. Don't understand 3♠ - what is the goal here? To try to get doubled and go for 200?

It's a little more interesting given that LHO has to have a side 4-card spade or club suit. But I'm guessing most pairs playing this system would bid 2♦ with 6M 4m, whereas they would only bypass 2♣ with 6M4M with disparate suit quality. In other words, I will play LHO for 3604, and if he pitches 2 clubs and 2 spades (as most people would) followed by a heart, I would exit a spade, losing 4 hearts and a spade.

and yeah, I would play LHO to have the A♠, K♥ and K♣. If they are really good they might pitch down to stiff king of clubs. But regardless I would have thrown one club from dummy and then counted the discards to either exit a spade from dummy at the end or play a club to the ace, with the default being exiting a spade. -100 should be ok on this board, tying those who go one off in 5 minor and beating those who go 2 or 3 off in 3NT. edit: and no, I'm not going to entertain the notion that West has overcalled vulnerable on a 7-count in a national event.

lol, LHO has 6 hearts, if that helps!

I would lead a trump. Declarer isn't going to finesse you for any trump cards, after showing 9 cards in the majors and your partner doubling. There isn't any loss to a club, and may be a reasonable gain for getting some trumps off dummy early.

Yeah. If you played it as "both minors", for example, you would be giving up playing 3NT (big loss) for some accuracy in which minor to compete to the 4-level in (small gain). If you want to offer a choice of minor suit games, you can bid 4NT. You really do need 3NT to play.

4♣ should totally be artificial! On this hand, not sure... 6♠ is ok, I guess.

Awesome. Thanks.

Out of all the subforums, you chose "Offline Bridge" for a question purely about partnerships on BBO?

This probably wouldn't go down well in ACBL land... Along the lines of the "multi" 2♦, we played a multi 3♣. 6 options: Weak "4-suited" (ideally 4333, 4432 or 5332 at a pinch); Strong "4-suited"; Weak 2 in spades; Normal preempt in clubs (otherwise you can't open them!); 8.5+ playing tricks in diamonds; or 9+ playing tricks in clubs. Responder normally responded 3♦, and things took off from there. Very illegal convention. One of the funniest auctions was (us vul) 3♣ - (X) - 3♦ - (X) - pass -... after some thought the little old lady emerged with 4♣, where they played, for +150 to us.

You can't set trumps then un-set them. 3NT is serious... Jump rebids by opener are to express (very) specific hand types, rather than general enthusiasm, IMO.

Wayne, What do you use 2♣-2♦-2♥-2NT and 2♣-2♥-2♠-2NT as? Also, what are your 3-level jumps? We are using a variation of our 1NT system, not sure how optimal it is...

I try not to play with too many horrible partners :lol: 4NT would not be keycard for us, no matter how much you want it to be.

[hv=d=s&v=n&s=sxhaxxxdaxckqj9xx]133|100|[/hv] You open 1♣ (2+), LHO overcalls 4♠, partner doubles. If scoring matters, say so.

why would anyone think about leading a singleton against grand, especially when they have solid trumps? n.b. it's pretty hard to work out what he was thinking of anyway, but still...

and here was me thinking that's what the forums were for!

trump from hand, seems more intuitive... any reason why you thought your line was better?

1. 1NT 2C 2D; 3D 3H; 3S 4C; 4NT 5H; 5S 6D. 2C simple stayman, 3D nat GF, 3H/3S/4C 1st/2nd round controls, blackwood, followed by a grand slam try. East has shown both kings and both aces, so signs off. East should definitely kick over 3S (instead of 3NT), this auction doesn't seem hard. I didn't read all of the post at first, but having seen the comment about KQxx of clubs - would definitely get there on this auction. If East doesn't bid grand after showing AAKK and partner still trying for grand, with KQxx of clubs, that would be poor judgement - he should at least bid 6♣ or something. Second one, I wouldn't open 2♥ and I don't know what system to play over these 55/54 type bids, so I'll refrain. You are somewhat right that being an 'expert' player (being able to beat fields filled with largely poor players, and exploit weaknesses) isn't about judgment, it's about avoided dumb things and doing the occasional creative thing the field misses. 'Elite' players, on the hand, will have much better judgment, you will find - it's a very useful skill that can be honed through thinking about the game in the right idea, and of course a ton of experience.

did your LHO really use BW/RKC with a worthless ♦ doubleton? I overtake

the guy who scored against us, wayne. he looked a bit more offside than reid did, for sure!

If bidding 2♣ with this hand is "style", then it's definitely a losing style against any partnership who has the faintest idea about the game. Overcalling with trashy 5-card suits, at the 2-level, opposite a passed partner, with a balanced hand with scattered honours, is not winning bridge.

and there i was hoping the conclusion was 5♣!

Double is better because a.) you have support for the other suits, 2♣ sounds like 6+ suit, and partner will expect a stiff in 5-card red suit a lot of time, not this great support you have; b.) you have a 5-card suit with gaps, all that needs to happen for you to go for a number (300 or even 500) is the guy on your left has AQTxxx and your partner doesn't have much help in the off-suits. Double doesn't really risk this, as partner has a choice of places to play after a XX, and can pass to imply doubt (then you have an easy 2♣ bid). c.) your partner will strain to lead clubs after you bid clubs, even when a red suit is better, which you have a clue that it may easily be. d.) while dbl isn't preemptive, neither is 2♣. With a different sort of hand, over an opening bid of 1♦, you might get an overcall out of me, just because people suck at 1♦-(2♣) auctions (likewise 1♣-(2♦)). Not this hand though, and definitely not over 1♠. e.) your partner should know that 5332 is a normal takeout double shape (with a minor, shortage in opened suit). So you can still get to club fits. f.) as MickyB said, if you tighten up your range for 2♣ bids, throwing more of your usual bids in with either X or pass, then when you bid 2♣ your partner isn't worried about these hands, and knows you are serious about it. In general, the theme is that 2-level overcalls are more committal, more dangerous and more preemptive than X, so you should bid when you have hands that fit into this category (less doubt about strain, better hands, or the opponents will have problems if you preempt the 1-level). Did I miss anything?

I normally just count out half a second (ish) and then play my card, I don't try to play fast or anything. Even tempo is better than fast tempo.

I don't think the extra 3-5 seconds people take (showing the ace) actually helps them think through the situation, I bet most of that time is spent in a "deer in the headlights" phase where they're just realizing they're in a pressure situation. In theory, playing against familiar opps you could take a little extra time every time a small singleton is led through you, so that when you do take a few seconds to think with the ace you aren't necessarily giving away it's position. But this is bad in practice because a.) those few seconds are unlikely to help you if you haven't already worked it out, b.) you risk being accused of sharp play when you don't have the ace. To all those people who don't take 10-20 seconds at trick one in third seat (when you have an easy card to play to trick 1), this is the sort of thing you should be using this time for! P.S. Mike Lawrence does a great discussion of this situation in Dynamic Defence, laying out lots of situations where it can be right to fly, as exceptions to the general rule of smooth duck.