[pilowsky]

As you all know I am not an advanced player but this hand struck me as interesting for two reasons. So I would like to get the opinion of the experts.

Moments ago, I found myself passing 1♥ out and gaining 1.6 IMPS when I was sitting South and robot West (NSv) made 1♥+3. Here is the West hand. My first question is: What is the appropriate opening bid for West in your system? I would tend to 2NT at the moment on this hand (taking my chances that the outstanding diamonds will distribute fairly) but I'm still finding my feet. As I write, the hand was passed out at 1♥ by 7 other players. Here is the West hand.

♠AQ

♥AKJ108

♦65

♣AQJ2


One unfortunate North was human, and interposed 2♦ with this hand:

♠J1063

♥62

♦AK10872

♣10

Because of this bidding sequence that enabled West to reach 4♥:

W N E S

_ _ P P

1♥ 2♦ P 3♦

Dbl P 3♥ P

4♥ P P P

Here is the link to the full deal. https://tinyurl.com/wanrmpj

Which brings me to my second question. If North was the dealer - and even if not - does this 'minor' problem illustrate why not using a weak 2♦ bid may be a good idea?

[hrothgar]

I would open 1♥, however, I tend to be quite conservative regarding whether or not I open 2♣ with a two suited hand

In this case, I hold Hearts and Clubs, and I am worried about the following auction

2♣ - 2♦
2♥ - 3♣

If partner bids 3!C as a second negative, there's no rebid where I feel happy

FWIW, I really hate a 2♦ overcall by North
Depending on vulnerability I'd bid 3♦ or potentially event four...

(The 4 card spade suit doesn't bother me, especially opposite a passed hand)

[Cyberyeti]

pilowsky, on 2020-March-06, 02:35, said:

As you all know I am not an advanced player but this hand struck me as interesting for two reasons. So I would like to get the opinion of the experts.

Moments ago, I found myself passing 1♥ out and gaining 1.6 IMPS when I was sitting South and robot West (NSv) made 1♥+3. Here is the West hand. My first question is: What is the appropriate opening bid for West in your system? I would tend to 2NT at the moment on this hand (taking my chances that the outstanding diamonds will distribute fairly) but I'm still finding my feet. As I write, the hand was passed out at 1♥ by 7 other players. Here is the West hand.

♠AQ

♥AKJ108

♦65

♣AQJ2


One unfortunate North was human, and interposed 2♦ with this hand:

♠J1063

♥62

♦AK10872

♣10

Because of this bidding sequence that enabled West to reach 4♥:

W N E S

_ _ P P

1♥ 2♦ P 3♦

Dbl P 3♥ P

4♥ P P P

Here is the link to the full deal. https://tinyurl.com/wanrmpj

Which brings me to my second question. If North was the dealer - and even if not - does this 'minor' problem illustrate why not using a weak 2♦ bid may be a good idea?

OK, I think there would be a split between 1♥ and 2N for the opener, at least 1♥ goes plus.

---

I think the 4 card spade suit put people off making the 3♦ WJO.

That said 4♥ is not a great contract, particularly when N has overcalled 2♦ as the black kings are quite likely to be wrong, but also if the spade K is wrong, you will need ♣Kx with south as you only have one dummy entry.

[apollo1201]

All these tenaces tend me to bid NT, but the hand is definitely worth an upgrade with a very good 5-cd suit and combined values (although the stiff AQ is a bit of a liability rather than an asset). So it will be 2C followed by 2NT, 22-23. And if RHO Xes the 2D likely reply, I can always bid 2H instead even if it shows a more one-suited hand than the one I have.
But I can live with 1H. Especially as 2NT will likely fail.
In all cases, and not a big fan of the 2D overcall, W going alone to 4D after partner merely shows some kind of H tolerance is puzzling.

[apollo1201]

All these tenaces tend me to bid NT, but the hand is definitely worth an upgrade with a very good 5-cd suit and combined values (although the stiff AQ is a bit of a liability rather than an asset). So it will be 2C followed by 2NT, 22-23. And if RHO Xes the 2D likely reply, I can always bid 2H instead even if it shows a more one-suited hand than the one I have.
But I can live with 1H. Especially as 2NT will likely fail.
In all cases, and not a big fan of the 2D overcall, W going alone to 4D after partner merely shows some kind of H tolerance is puzzling.

[Left2Right]

What say we rely on the advice of two real experts: Mike Lawrence and Richard Pavlicek.

In one of his books that I can't lay my hands on at the moment, Lawrence advises that we open the major rather than notrump when holding both a strong 5-card major and a bad doubleton.

Pavlicek recommends upgrading your hand when holding enough "Aces and Tens." Click this.

Putting these together, my auction goes
2♣ - 2♦(1)
2♥ - 4♥(2)
all pass

(1) 0-1 control count
(2) Rule of Quick Arrival

Note how clean and simple both partners make the auction for each other.

A second negative is not appropriate when holding game complement. East holds the 8's complement in opener's major and three support points -- enough for game but not enough to suggest a slam opposite a presumed minimal two-club opener.

[pilowsky]

Thank you - I'm just reading Lawrence's book on doubles now. I'll add that to my list.

[fourdad]

Left2Right, on 2020-March-07, 09:44, said:

What say we rely on the advice of two real experts: Mike Lawrence and Richard Pavlicek.

In one of his books that I can't lay my hands on at the moment, Lawrence advises that we open the major rather than notrump when holding both a strong 5-card major and a bad doubleton.

Pavlicek recommends upgrading your hand when holding enough "Aces and Tens." Click this.

Putting these together, my auction goes
2♣ - 2♦(1)
2♥ - 4♥(2)
all pass

(1) 0-1 control count
(2) Rule of Quick Arrival

Note how clean and simple both partners make the auction for each other.

A second negative is not appropriate when holding game complement. East holds the 8's complement in opener's major and three support points -- enough for game but not enough to suggest a slam opposite a presumed minimal two-club opener.

The only thing I would add to the above is:

I avoid NT openers when there are 2 doubletons, and,

adding 1 point for the fifth heart makes a 2C bid easy!

[Cyberyeti]

fourdad, on 2020-March-08, 04:00, said:

The only thing I would add to the above is:

I avoid NT openers when there are 2 doubletons, and,

adding 1 point for the fifth heart makes a 2C bid easy!

Depends on your agreements, we play 2♣ FG unless followed by 2N (thru kokish or not), so bidding it as a heart hand would overstate it.

[pescetom]

Cyberyeti, on 2020-March-08, 15:53, said:

Depends on your agreements, we play 2♣ FG unless followed by 2N (thru kokish or not), so bidding it as a heart hand would overstate it.

That is fairly standard, even mandated by some RAs at certain levels of play.

[pilowsky]

Thank you. That was sort of the point of my second question since I am thinking of switching to Benjamin two's where 2♣ is not absolutely GF, but handles the off-shape hands that are unsuitable for 1NT or 2NT. 2♦ is reserved for hands that are absolutely GF. That would leave 3NT as 'gambling'. As you know tons of books and articles are written about this stuff and I'm only just starting to get my head around it - lots of fun to be had yet. Anyway, as you say, it all depends on agreements and when you play with robots - you have to do what they say!

[hrothgar]

pilowsky, on 2020-March-08, 16:19, said:

Thank you. That was sort of the point of my second question since I am thinking of switching to Benjamin two's where 2♣ is not absolutely GF, but handles the off-shape hands that are unsuitable for 1NT or 2NT. 2♦ is reserved for hands that are absolutely GF.

If I wanted to switch over to a method that the world had discarded 40+ years ago, Benjamin twos would not be my first choice

[Cyberyeti]

hrothgar, on 2020-March-08, 16:31, said:

If I wanted to switch over to a method that the world had discarded 40+ years ago, Benjamin twos would not be my first choice

Still widely played here, but not by top players

[pilowsky]

That's me - not a top player :-)

[miamijd]

1h is fine with this hand. If it goes all pass, you likely don’t have a game That would be my choice

2c is OK too. I would follow with 2NT (I play Puppet here).

Opening 2NT is not good, because it gains nothing. If partner can respond to 2nt, he likely can respond to 1h. OTOH, when you have 2 suits, 2NT can be a slam killer.

[marklaf]

I would probably bid 1 heart at match points and 2c at imps--I agree with most of the comments---I see no reason to overcall with the opponents hand 2D only helps the opponents