[ennaji]

Free, on 2013-March-16, 08:39, said:

Hi Joris, welcome to the forums and thanks for writing about this topic. My partner and I are thinking about adopting the method because it does sound interesting. That's why I started a discussion here, to see if there's anything we've missed.


Even the invitational hands WITH fit aren't handled in a good way either imo. 2♥-3♦ as an invite with either M doesn't sound attractive. But I was wondering if you use 2♥-3♠ a lot for preemptive purposes. If not, then isn't it better to play this sequence as some invitational hand (like INV with 5+♠), and make 3♦ more ♥ oriented (or possibly some ♠ invite with exactly 4♠ looking for the best contract)?

Thanks for bringing the theory abroad!

A good idea to use 3♦ for invitational with hearts only. In fact it is not a big difference from what I already play, since opener is allowed to bid 4♠ over 2♥-3♠ with a decent hand with four spades. For other readers, the schedule I published in the article was:

2♥-3♦ (invitational for 4M)

3♥: minimum for hearts (if partner bids 3 spades, you can still raise)
3♠: maximum for hearts, minimum for spades (I would not use this often as a spade contract may be wrongsided and you may give information about your shape)
3NT: maximum (if partner has a general slam try and were just looking for (super)min/max he can bid 4 clubs for hearts and 4 diamonds for spades).

Frankly, I haven't seen the bidding 2♥-3♠ as barrage so far, so I think it is OK to remove the 3♠ response after 3♦. That would mean that we will bid 3♠ with an (light) invitational hand. I still think it's good to bid 3♦ with a strong invitational hand. You can show the spades after 3♥ MIN with 3♠ and bid 4♠ after 3NT MAX (or 4♥ MAX if you prefer to play it that way) and it doesn't give up anything.

Oh, and another advantage of the K2 compared to 2♦/2♥ as majors: the bidding is more likely to end after 2♥.

My favorite bidding sequence of the convention is 2♥-3♥, which is putting a lot of pressure on the opponents. What should double mean? Take out with spades? Take out but having spades is not necessary? Just points? I don't know the solution and I'm glad not to face that problem. Yet...

[ennaji]

Free, on 2013-March-16, 08:39, said:

...and make 3♦ more ♥ oriented (or possibly some ♠ invite with exactly 4♠ looking for the best contract)?

I think the goal you are aiming for with this agreement is too small.

With a good invitational hand I rather prefer to (slightly) overbid with 2NT and struck gold if partner shows an interesting distribution. Sometimes you can end up in a nice five in a minor or even slam like in my example on the previous page.

[gnasher]

The 3♣ response seems a bit wasted. It's only useful if you're 5-5 in the minors, as with 31(54) you'd probably just pass 3♥ rather than risk a 4-3 fit.

Instead, what about
3♣ = invitational with 4+ spades. Then 3♦ = maximum without 4 spades, 3♥ = minimum without 4 spades, 3♠ = minimun with four spades, 4♠ = maximun with four spades.
3♦ = invitational with heart support.

[ennaji]

gnasher, on 2013-March-16, 10:14, said:

The 3♣ response seems a bit wasted. It's only useful if you're 5-5 in the minors, as with 31(54) you'd probably just pass 3♥ rather than risk a 4-3 fit.

Instead, what about
3♣ = invitational with 4+ spades. Then 3♦ = maximum without 4 spades, 3♥ = minimum withiut 4 spades, 3♠ = minimun with four spades, 4♠ = maximun with four spades.
3♦ = invitational with heart support.

Nice thinking, gnasher. How about:

2♥-3♣ (inv, 4+ spades)

3♦: 3 spades, 4+ diamonds, minimum (NF)
3♥: 3 spades, 4+ clubs, minimum (NF)
3♠: 3 spades, 4+ diamonds, maximum
3NT: 3 spades, 4+ clubs, maximum
4♣ and higher: 4 spades

This would give the opportunity to play in 3 diamonds or 3 hearts when there is no spade fit. It also tells something about the shape, which may be interesting if responder is interested in playing a 4-3 fit (which often is the case after 3♣). However, the solution may be too difficult for a problem that is not very frequent.