anybody around?

I am!

Alright...

I need a GCC legal version of Woolsey over NT.

Woolsey:

2C = majors, 2D says pick your better (this is the part I like)
2D = 1 major (this is the part that is GCC illegal)
2H = H + minor
2S = S + minor
2NT = both minors
X = 4cM with longer minor, 2C asks for minor, 2D asks for major (I like this bid too)

GCC says all bids higher than 2C must show at least one known suit. Since 2D here shows an unknown major it's not allowed.

I was thinking of this modification:

2C = majors
2D = diamonds and a major (major usually longer for this bid)
2H = Hearts and clubs
2S = Spades and clubs
X = 4cM with longer minor OR single suited
2NT = minors

After (1NT)-X-(P)-

2C asks for minor
2D asks for major

If intervenor is single suited over either advance he will bid his suit. You only reach the 3 level if you have single suited clubs and the auction goes (1NT)-X-(P)-2D, but in the original version you are bidding 3C with single suited clubs anyway.

In general a lot of directors (especially on the east coast) will allow you to play Woolsey at tournaments. There was discussion about making it GCC legal; maybe one of our legal experts can comment on whether that went through.

2/1

1M-2D
2N-4D

is standard here some kind of picture bid with primary or secondary support for M, or is this a slammish single-suiter? If the latter, is it demanding cuebidding or suggesting? And is 4N to play?

Demanding, 4NT to play

So with a club card, is 4N kosher?

If all my tricks were slow, I'd be inclined to bid 4NT. If i had like AKx in clubs, I'd be much more inclined to bid 5C

QJx QJxxx Jx KQx vs Qxx QJxxx xx AKx for example

4D there is rkcb for diamonds to me.

sorry wyman. i signed on to bbo but i have too short an attention span and didnt see your message til I was going to sleep a few hours later.

Re weak two defenses, I've kicked around the idea of X and 2C both Wilkosz-esque, one promising 5 in the lower suit and the other promising 5 in the higher suit.

But as for your proposed Woolsey variant, IMO having the 2M natural bid is more important than being able to show all of the possible two-suiters two ways.

And no, nothing about notrump defenses has changed on the GCC; Woolsey is still illegal in many districts (including both the ones I have lived in.) It's not supposed to depend who the director is, only what the policy of the sponsoring body is (some districts explicitly allow all defenses to 1NT at their regionals; in the 90s, at least one of the Southwest districts allowed all midchart conventions except Multi for awhile.)

MPs, Red vs white

(p)-p-(2S)-p
(p)-X-(p)-p
(p)

QJ972
K4
AKJ63
Q

Do you agree with both passes here?

unlucky. totally normal

At even colors, I'd agree. Red/white, it depends on partner's proclivities. You have a working thirteen count without much in the unbid major and a passed partner, so game is unlikely unless he has the perfect hand — but if you open particularly solidly, then partner is much more likely to have that hand. (Notice that in the actual hand, he does.) In other words, if partner is very conservative about opening bids, I bid 3D at my first call.

Actually, even then it might be right to pass, as this is matchpoints. At IMPs, more likely to bid — might even bid 3NT straight away.

Given that you passed the first time, pass the second time is automatic. You know from the auction that partner has some stuff, so if you didn't want to defend you needed to bid the first time.

More I think about it I guess I agree with brrr.


Edit to add: Give partner a bit less and you're looking at +300 versus +130 (or worse). This is only an issue because pard had a fitting rock. Remember, a decent RHO can have a very broad range of hands — he does not need AKxxxx of spades and out by any means.

I would never bid 3D immediately

Re the Woolsey post — I don't know what all the notrump defenses are any more (and I never cared very much for some reason), but what's this one called?

• X — one minor; 2C is pass or correct
• 2C — both majors; 2D asks for preference
• 2D — diamonds + major; 2H pass or correct
• 2H — hearts
• 2S — spades
• 2NT — minors, or some bizarre shapely hand
• All else — to play; preemptive except for 3NT

Basically Landy but with a DONT-style 2D; I'm sure it has a name.

That reminds me: I played with my stepbrother at the club on Monday. We took third of ~13 (woot); one interesting auction was:

white/white

Ax x xxxx AJ98xx

P (1NT) – 2C (X)
2S (P) – ?

We play no conventional defenses against notrump, and actually had discussed that fact earlier that day so a misunderstanding is unlikely. Partner is a novice, though.

The double was not alerted, but in this crowd it was about 100% to be a stolen bid double. I also know that partner doesn't know this.

I elected 3C, in part because partner opens basically all six-card spade suit hands (we're working on that), but in retrospect I think pass was better. It turns out that keeping them out of 4H is impossible regardless, but I thought it an amusing problem nonetheless.

btw, If the auction continues with double on your left and hearts declared on your right, raised to game, what do you lead?


Edit: lol. I need to bid 3C, not 2C (and hope very hard that partner passes). Didn't see it until I wrote it down — I'm really rusty, I guess.

Maybe right. If pard is conservative enough that we should bid, we should bid 3NT.

Anyone up for bridge tonight?

It's a new night...

BBO LOLs

your partner seemed like a fine player

he played like a champ until trick 5...

So, he got you to the right spot, and was good for like 1/3 of the dec play. I think getting there like 66% is pretty good.