Jinksy

But why has the troll been unmuzzled if he's not supposed to have emerged from his chrysalis as a beautiful... losing my metaphors here.

West's hand doesn't look like a GF to me, and E's hand looks like a negative, so bidding this with myself it would go (2♠) P (P) X / 2N 3C/ P. Well-passed, south.

3♣ is pass or bid 3♦. 3♦ asks about P's Hs (usually on the assumption that you have long Hs and hope to find tolerance opposite) - 3♥ then shows tolerance, 3♠ shows singleton or void, and 3N shows a 5-card suit. 3NT is a slam try in whichever is opener's second suit, so probably not the right bid here :P

ETA don't agree with anything I just wrote

Game all, teams. ♠ QJT ♥ 65 ♦ AT4 ♣ KQJ54 P opens 2N showing 5-5♠s and ♥s/♣s, playing strength about 10-13 total points (ie after including upgrades for shape). Your plausible options are 3♥ - asking P to bid 3♠ if his second suit is hearts, planning to pass it 3♠ - to play 4♠ - to play (maybe this should be in non-natural system discussion, but it's just a judgement question, whereas most posts in there seem to be about system)

Does it not give you pause for thought either that you're demonstrably wrong on the actual hands, or that a couple of the UK's strongest players (to say nothing of other very strong players in the thread) disagree with your 'only sensible course of action'?

It would certainly be nonstandard to play Smolen over weak NT. Partly because - well, what would be the point? - and partly because most weak NT players have not discussed their continuations in that much depth.

Obviously not a heart. Not a diamond because, a) P with most of the (hoped-for) defensive strength could not X 2♦. That doesn't prove anything, but it reduces expectation from leading the suit. b) KTxx is an awful awful holding to lead from, that threatens carving the contract and rarely establishes a fifth trick. Not a spade because, a) P could not open 2♠ or bid it over 2♥. Again, proves nothing but reduces expectation. d) Our hearts are lying badly, so we probably need an aggressive lead to beat the contract. The club jack offers marginally more support to help P establish his suit. Therefore a small club.

What would you actually need for 4♠? Is that supposed to be a picture bid? I've read about them in the context of you having bid two suits, showing values in just those suits, but what would it show when you've only bid one? If just values in that one, doesn't it misdescribe a hand with the K♦? If it can have some random outside king, isn't it a fairly useless bid? For me 3♠ permanently sets the suit, which is uncomfortable with such bad pips, but I think I'd bid it here with such bad heart tolerance, since I have a lot of sympathy with rmnka's point that you could be endplayed into having no other options than rebidding your suit with a much worse holding.

Diamond ace, and see if P signals a singleton.

4♠ pretty much forces partner to pass, unless he's splintered on a super-strong hand that always planned to bid on after your sign off. Pass expresses slam interest and denies a first round control.

That's why I'd be more inclined to bid three or even four, (mainly depending on opps). I don't hate 2♥, though - when they have slam interest, which looks quite likely, it puts quite a dent in their ability to explore for it. Sure, but IMO the reward increases more than the risk does when we have such a defensively weak hand opposite P's pass. Sure, the KD is onside, but that doesn't mean they don't have game/slam, perhaps in another strain. And the KD is also insurance against pushing them to a making high-level contract they wouldn't have found.

I'm sure you're capable of bidding to and making game on those (not sarcasm), but I doubt I'm capable of either. If by some mischance the opps kept out of the bidding, I would prob have the auction P (1♦) 1♥ / 1♠ 2♠ / P, and be reasonably content with making my contract. At MPs we might get a better score just for finding a superior spade partial, but it feels more likely to me that the opps are near to game and perhaps slam, and that they'll be able to use whatever bidding space I leave much more effectively than we can.

Pass. If south can't raise 1♠ to 2, I don't see why he'd be likely to raise to 2♠ to three. It's also possible 3♥ will make it easier for north. If you pass and he's looking at xxx or similar in Hs, for all he knows you might be in 5-2 fit.

I don't see any value in bidding 1♥. Are you looking for game? 2-4♥ look plausible to me.

Given RHO opens 1m, and you hold 54(nn), with a decent 11 count and both majors playable, is expert standard to bid 1M, or X? Or does it depend on your other minor holding/the major you hold/other stuff?

WTP ♥.

I would have taken passing and then bidding a new suit at the three level as a fit non-jump.

4♠ does not promise eight rock solid playing tricks (or two second-round controls, or a trump suit worthy of grand opposite a void), nor does following it with 5♠. Partner can't play you for a hand nearly this good if you don't give any encouragement. You'd have bid the same way if your top two spades were pips.

Count me in among the low intermediates. I just read a piece ine Bridge World Magazine where a high class player (Kit Woolsey, I think) seemed to be advocating it. It might not be the optimal approach, but on what grounds do you call it a misbid?

I would expect his 1N to be similar to a 1N response to an opening bid (values-wise I roughly agree with Zel, though I would expect a slightly lower bottom end), so not necessarily balanced or with a club stop. Given that, his X would have been takeout (with ELC available), so I expect 5♥s here. If I couldn't bid 2♦ before, 3♦ can't be natural now, so IMO is a game try in hearts. That sounds about right for my hand, so that's what I'll bid.

Yeah, I was semi-joking about not knowing what he had. But assuming it's natural, at these colours he must be serious given (from his perspective) the misfit, and we've got heaps of strength to spare, so whether it's nat or a cue, we want to bid 6♠.

Don't know, and 6♠.

[hv=pc=n&w=st8hjt543dkqjckq6&e=sa64hak8762dt6ct4&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=p1hp2n(4%2BH%2C%20inv%2B)p3c(Any%20min)p3hppp]266|200[/hv] Who's to blame? Is the decision close for either or both?

Call me simple-minded, but I'll pass 3♣, which we might set and and bid over 3♦, which we probably won't (given the SK is pretty good odds to be well placed for them). On the latter, we might well be no worse than 1 off, so even if they double us, as long as they were making, we might still get a good score. If we're two off, they still might not be able to X.