bucky

What would opener's 4♠ (instead of X) show? Does it have to be 5-6 in ♠/♦?

How do you make a forcing minor raise playing 2/1? Same. You either play invm or you don't. Whether you play 2/1 or sayc has nothing to do with your choice.

I don't understand this, it sounds like you are suggesing 3♦ was indeed a good bid with this hand. In an attempt to understand this, may I ask what is your definition for 3♦ bid? If it is defined as mixed raise, then this hand is not far from it. It lacks the 5th diamond, but it also put pressure on the opponents. Very often partner has 4th diamond, and opponents have fit in a major, then even 3♦ down 1 or 2 can be a good result.

Precision is a bidding system. According to the rule of bridge, card play starts only after bidding is over. I don't see how it can possibly affect what carding/discarding one chooses to do.

Loser count is more meaningful if you can be assured of fit. For example, if partner has red suits instead, you may have more losers in spades and clubs. That being said, this is not a terrible 2♣ opener, although I still prefer 1♠.

Also, 1♠ - 4♠ is typically made from a different type of hand, something like 5-card trump support, less than opening but with some shape. If you bid 4♠ with that hand as well as a balanced 12-13, partner will have a hard time judging accurately on followup actions, if any.

No, 3♦ will be limit raise, 10-11. With gf hand you respond with a new suit first (which is forcing for 1 round at least).

looks like a very reasonable auction North hand is too strong for just rebidding 2♠. With 6 good spades and 16 HCP, it is clear to rebid 3♠. Also, if west hand is going to bid 2♥ after our side started 1♠-2♣, then maybe after 1♠-1NT there will be an interference of 2♥ or 3♥. So a more realistic auction will be: 1♠ (P) 1NT (2♥) 3♠ (P) 4♠ Or south can even bid 4♣ instead of 4♠, showing spade support with great clubs.

Point count for 3N is relevant when both hands are balanced. When partner has a long suit, count for the number of tricks instead. After all, whether 3NT makes depends on whether you can take 9 tricks or not, NOT depends on whether you have more than x HCP. BTW, I think many of your questions will be excellent in the Beginner and Intermediate Bridge Discussion forum.

I think you may have misunderstood the meaning of "shortness" that a splinter bid shows. "Shortness" means 0 or 1 cards, so you can certainly make splinter bid with a void. It is true that most of splinter bids are made with a singleton not void, but that is due to the fact that singletons come up more often than voids, not because voids being ineligible for splinter bids.

Sorry, I don't see the logic here. Opps being good doesn't mean their hands being weaker.

X, and then make a guess if partner bids 3M. I mean guess between pass or bidding 3NT over partner's 3M. No need to X then raise to 4M, since by X first then offering 3NT, I already showed a flexible hand (should have 3-card support in M), so partner knows to bid 4M when it is right.

Why would I expect to find 4♠ after 1♣-1♠-2♣-pass? If responder bids again, he deserves to find a stiff spade. That was a bad example. But partner could have: AQxxx AKx xxxx x

Whether you play forcing 1NT response has significant impact on your rebids. Do you or do you not?

Don't you need a 6th club to make this bid?

This hand is borderline, sort of gray area that can go with either 1C or 3C. When I want to make a decision between them, I usually look at the number of major cards I have. If I have 4 cards or less in the majors, I open 3C. Otherwise (like this hand) I open 1C. Of course we are talking about only 1st/2nd seats.

Because some may think about X, then you would have to consider the consequence of double getting passed out when partner has 5323 shape and each side has 9-card fit, in which case white against red *might* win.

+1

I think this might be a hand where big club system wins over standard bidding. After 1♦ 1♥, 3♦ seems the bid that is least distorting, although it is pretty heavy with the actual hand. It's possible that a clever 1♠ or 2♣ rebid from opener might work out better on this hand, but they will often lose on others.

Most play it as strong 6-4 though.

Yes, but 3H is NOT.

I think at 1-level, you can afford to have wide-range overcalls. With a good hand partner has cuebid available so you can sort things out. With a mediocre or bad hand (with fit) partner can do simple or preemptive raise, and you will still be reasonably placed whether you overcalled heavily or lightly (assuming you are not going nuts with ultralight overcall when red). While I don't think X is terrible on this hand, the value does seem soft, and doubleton spades are somewhat a flaw. Change DQ to SQ, then X will be much more comfortable.

I know this is not posted as a bidding problem, but X of 1♣ looks a bit odd to me.

I vaguely remember that in old-fashioned bridge, X is penalty. I do think take-out is superior, but you ought to make sure partner plays the same way. You may also want to define it as showing extra value, since that is an important message to convey, in the meanwhile many take-out shape hands with minimum value can find a natural bid. I don't think this hand falls into the "extra value" camp, so 2♠ would be my choice. Of course partner doesn't know whether I have 3 or 4-card support, which is the reason why Rodwell invented support X.

2NT by North should show 18-19, balanced or semi-balanced. (yes, with only 13-14 and spade stopper you PASS!)