We still end up in 3C though, right?

I think 3C ought to be forcing in that auction, unless you have specific agreements otherwise.

I guess if you can open that light, 2NT is a viable, but gross, option.

What is 1H-1S-1NT-2D? Natural? If so, and if 2C is invitational-plus NMF, you're going to run into problems in situations like this--or, correspondingly, in situations where you can turn the AD into the QD.

I'd highly recommend looking into a two-way NMF structure, where 2C is invitational NMF and puppets to 2D (which is theoretically passable if you wanted to dump there), and 2D over 1NT is game forcing.

Also, what's Chuck's 2D over 2C (as opposed to the actual choice of 2H)? I think I'd like that better absent any artificial meaning.

Ah, I didn't realize you meant 2C was artificial. (BTW, I don't like it much, as it makes natural bidding harder -- witness this hand. This sis a suit auction, not a notrumpish one, and suit auctions want natural bidding or shape-showing conventions -- strength isn't that important.)

In that case, 3C is clear imo. If partner leaves you there he has to have a terrible hand, and you might be in the right spot. A more interesting case occurs when he bids 3D over it -- you have no clearly correct call.

With partner's actual hand, I'm at a loss re why his rebid isn't 1NT, but maybe there's some conventional reason.

my rebid was 1NT. This was the type of hand I would open in precision but not sayc or 2/1

Never mind -- I'm getting senile.

In my favorite system that's actually a 1NT opening. Doing so with 5-2 in the majors is wrong more often than right -- but for us, a 1NT rebid would show 14-16, so we have no choice.

R/W IMPS

Chuck opens 2 in second seat, which shows 2-9 HCP with 5+hearts and 5+ in another suit. I hold:

A K 5 3 2
K J
A T 9 7
8 7

So, I bid 2 to try and find his other suit (although its likely clubs). He bids 3. Now, do I have enoughto bid 5, or should I leave it at a part-score?

EDIT: Just successfully executed a triple squeeze for the first time. The Kelsey books on squeeze play are really really spectacular.

P should be on the high end to open this unfav. AND in 2nd seat. 5D by me, hope for a non club lead (or an unlikely stiff club) so opps dont get 2 black suit tricks.

EDIT: I pass at MP's though.

Can someone quicly explain the the R/W part of every deal you guys describe? I assume it has something to do with vulnerability. I just can't quite decipher it.

R = Red = Vulnerable, W = White = Non-vulnerable.
R/W = We are vul, they are not.

Cheers.

Not sure, but I think I already passed 2H the first time. Given that I'm here, if 4D is invitational (and WTF else could it be), I'll try that. If you hold a gun to my head and make me pick between 3D and 5D, I guess I'll pick 3 just because I can't see the other table getting anywhere near 5D.

Holy crap my life I just found this thread. bridge.

Anyone ever go to the NABCs?

Yeah I don't think I let this go beyond 2h honestly. 2s-3d-4d seems reasonable but you might have trouble even making that. You certainly can't pass 3d here because this is about as positive as you could've gotten without him rebidding spades.

Also, any outside chance that anyone here is from Austin? Would love to have a competent partner for some live/online play once in a while since I'm likely to move there in about a month.

I'm surprised so many of you think 9 red suit tricks is going to be so tough. What kind of 2-suiters is partner opening at these colors in 2nd seat?

My only worry is that they take 2 clubs off the top, but (a) we might not get a club lead, and (b) partner, who is declaring, could have Kx, and (c) even then, there are hands in partner's range where we can pick up both red suits for 0 losers. With a stiff club (admittedly unlikely) or a non-club lead, I think 5D looks pretty good. I can't stand the thought of not bidding a vulnerable game here because I'm worried about -50 vs +130.

Atakdog sez hai der.

I'm kind of flaky, as Myrmidon can attest -- I never managed to get together with him while I was working in Houston five days a week last Fall, even though I intended to, but I actually live in Austin so it's a little different.

Haven't actually sat at a table in several years, but after the rust is wire-brushed off I imagine I'm competent by most people's standards.

I, too, would probably have passed 2H, but 4D looks right to me. Assuming two club losers (the only way there's no club lead is if they lead a trump, which is actually more likely after an invitational auction), partner needs the heart ace and diamond king for game to be good, and he will accept if he has them. Meanwhile, the likelihood of making exactly nine tricks is not so high that the invite isn't worth chancing.

I wonder whether we get to the slam when he has xx Axxxx KQxxx x? Actually, we do, as he will bid 5C over 4D (or at least I would -- after that auction the odds that he could have a club card and still like his hand is nil, so that bid has to show short clubs and a dead maximum -- though I suppose you could argue it would promise a club void).

Well, if you're hoping for partner to have Kx, that leaves a maximum of 6 HCP in the reds. If so we will have a red suit loser in addition, and that's if partner has a maximum.

Partner's more likely to have a stiff club than a stiff spade, but even with a stiff club it's not a lock. Is xx QT9xx KJxxx x a reasonable hand given the 2-9 HCP range? Yes, it is, and we're on a hook for game at that point. And it could be much worse.

Yes, partner COULD have xx Axxxx KQxxx x I guess, and we could be missing slam. But that's playing partner for a hyper-maximum.

Another suit combination reference: http://bridgehands.com/S/Suit_Combinations.htm

Played in one NABC like 5 years ago, I'd love to do it again someday.

V

Right. 1 red suit loser and 1 black suit loser.

I don't know. Maybe I just expect my partner to always have a near max when his range is 2-9 (!) at these colors. I think it's insane here to be coming in with < 6 in 2nd seat r/w at imps. So now I'm wondering if I opened xx/Axxxx/Kxxxx/x and partner invited game whether I'd accept. I mean, if my range is really 6-9, it's not clear that this counts as a max, even though I know all of my HCP are useful. Maybe I'd adopt the same "well, it's a vul game at imps" philosophy, but then why did partner invite in the first place? I dunno. Maybe I just can't get over the 2-5 part of the range being real here.

Wyman, it is not insane for partner to have 2-5 here if that is the partnership agreement, and they bid accordingly. It may not be the best agreement, but it certainly isn't awful, as it is a disaster (at IMPs) only when they go for 500 against a part score or 800 against a game. And given the existence of the second suit to which they can run when the hearts are stacked, this requires a fair amount of bad luck, and decent opponents.

Note that it also means that the 2S bid was fraught with danger and probably unjustified... unless you're correct that the actual range is not really as weak at v/nv as he's saying it is.

^^ Also, remember that second seat preempts are hard to double, because you need a combination of a maximum non-opener on the bidder's right and a trump stack in a non-powerhouse on his left, unless the opps play something other than normal takeout doubles. Meanwhile, the super-light opening plus the first-seat pass means that either partner has a good hand (meaning either the contract won't be a disaster or he;ll have enough of a hand to find a better spot, most of the time) or RHO does (meaning the obstruction is valuable).

BTW, to ameliorate the first issue (the opening being hard to double) I lie to play that in some auctions, probably including this one, RHO's double would be two-way: either pure takeout, or pure penalty. Advancer may have to guess, but he'll usually know what's going on based on his hand, and how scared opener's partner looks.

I don't disagree that it may not be a great range. I'm assuming the agreement is it really could be 2-9. If it's 6-9 at this vul/position, I'd expect to know that.

And, like I said, it's 1 red suit loser if partner has a maximum. If he has x xxxxx KQxxx Kx and you manage to get the club lead, you could have two heart losers anyway.

Going for 200 against a partscore or 500 against a game is still lose 3 -- and it's a huge disaster when it should have been your partscore (in diamonds, say), and you end up playing in 2h-1. Additionally, enough of the time, I'd expect this type of opening to help the opponents figure out when game is right/wrong rather than hinder, as they now have a lot of information about shape to process.

Anyway, if you're really playing 2-9 in all seats, you should invite here. It may already be too high, but the downside of missing the game is too great. I still think it's crazy to open with < 6 in 2nd r/w, though. I'm all for very light preempts in 1st/3rd, but 2nd not so much.