This game is incredible and never ceases to amuse, amaze, frustrate me and get my adrenaline going. :)
For the last few months I have been focusing on my card play and judgement rather than trying to understand and add the latest convention to my card. The experts on BBO forums who have long told me to forget fancy conventions, concentrate on getting the basics sorted out and work on my card play are right!
No surprise, I\m enjoying my game a lot more and getting better partners.
Having said that, one convention I am thinking of adding, is Lebensohl – I think Wayne suggested it a while back and my reg BBO partner says that is the next one I should add.
Not related but here is a board I messed up and the subsequent words of advice from my partner:
NV, I held:
QJx
QT9xx
Axx
Kx
RHO opened 3S, I passed, pass, partner doubled – all pass.
quote
" remember this, an important principle: the template hand for a takeout double or reopening is 4441 or something close to it with shortness in opener's suit."
I hesitated on the first pass (TD, don’t shoot me) and was paralyzed on the 2nd, 4Hearts is blatantly obvious now. These hands always seem to trip me up, I double when I shouldnt, I bid when I should double or pass. At least here I think I got the first pass right, I need to study these hands more.
Still waiting for the snow and Christmas is around the corner, now where is that tree.
Back to the dentist on Monday to try another screw in my jaw!
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3 comments:
Before you add any convention, you should consider what gains you hope to make with it, what the (memory) cost will be, its frequency, and its impact on the rest of your system.
Most expert partnerships do play some form of Lebensohl. Often it is used when they overcall your 1NT opener, in responding to a takeout double of a weak 2 opener and, occasionally, after opener's 2-level reverse (e.g., 1C-1S-2H).
The big decision with Lebensohl is to decide whether FAST shows a stop in the opponent's suit or SLOW. That is, after 1NT (2H), does 3NT guarantee a heart stop or must you bid 2NT first with 3NT denying a heart stop.
I believe that SLOW might be better technically, but prefer FAST in case either of us forgets the convention.
But, if you decide to play it, you should make your own decision.
Hi Paul,
We obviously need more discussion. My bbo partners are casual so when we agree to play, we agree little more than ‘2/1’ or ‘sayc’ and hopefully discuss the finer points as they come up. I know, it’s a terrible way to play the game but it does seem to be the nature of online bridge and casual partnerships. I am guessing the people I play with have had successful, regular (offline) partnerships, are done with competitive bridge and want to play for fun and to help the occasional straggler like me. Maybe as I get better I will know what questions to ask my partners and be able to play a more refined system than ‘2/1’
Lebensohl; The notes I have been reading use the FAST approach where any 3 level bid promises a stopper, 2NT denies a stopper. I only knew of Leb over 1nt interference but I’ll look at using it over weak2 takeout doubles too.
Thanks
The problem here is figuring out what the double means. In a pickup game I would bid 4 hearts. However
I prefer to keep things simple and
double for penalty whenever possible.
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