Too much time has elapsed

..since my last post.
I’m not sure where all the time has gone! I’ve been busy with my daughter skii racing and I learned to ski last winter! My poor knees but what a lot of fun, love it. We are hosting 4 international students at the moment and often an extra dog, I have been working a lot with my trainer, focusing on strengthening my knees and dealing with the other aches likely resulting from old motorcycle crashes. Bill has started working day/evening shifts, mainly evenings so that throws everything out.
I am working a little extra at the Homeless Shelter to cover summer but after some changes there Im finding feeding 60 is not the daunting task it was to start with. The crew is fantastic and its much more like fun than work.
Oh and I am providing before and after school care for a friends 2 children. All this keeps me out of a real job but also doesn’t leave much time for bridge and even less to write about it.

I have started to play 2/1 so in my next post I will start some notes.

Slammish with minors

Partner opens 1nt and you have slam interest and 55minors, what are you going to do?

SAYC deals only with slam hands containing 1 minor

1nt:2C
2x :3m

Discussion points

Here's a list of sequences I need to discuss with my p's


1S:2D
2S

1S:2D
2NT

1S:2D
3C

1D 1S
1N 3C


1M (X) 3M
1M (X) 2N

1x (X) XX

Feb24th

Unusual vs. Unusual
Forcing minor raise, criss cross?

Things to think about

"it can be dangerous opening lightish distributional hands when vulnerable"

Dont rebid 5 card minors

Dont cue shortage in suit partner has shown length ! (1st round)

A 2 over a 1 by a passed hand does not promise a rebid
or should it?I think I would like to play that it does promise a rebid. More rules to break, alter and discuss with a partner!

Simple sequences and my off shape 1nt

Before I go off too far delving into these fancy sequences, I best check my understanding of the basics.

This sequence is wide ranging 11-17 1M:1N 2m
1S:1N 2H is this minimum or the same 11-17?

So, my off shape 1nts that I have taken on without too much thought can be reined back in a little.

What SHOULD my off shape 1nt's look like?

Teams

I played my first teams match at the club last night and it was a lot of fun! After the first set we trailed by 1 imp, ater the second set the opponents had taken off and won by 20+ imps.

One memorable hand, I held 1453 16 count and Barbara opened 1C.

1C:1D
1H: ?

What is my bid, what is 3H here?
I thought 3H would be inviational but some were
saying that was the correct bid. Had we agreed to play strong Walsh then 1D would deny a 4 card major unless my hand is strong enough to force game, so here 3H would show 4hearts and have slam interest. But we dont have that agreement, so I didnt. :-)

I bid 1S then jumped to 4H after Barbara bid 1nt. Bad bid but right contract.

I'd like 1S in this sequence to be 4sf, saying nothing about Spades, I can bid spades again with a real suit gf but most people seem to play 2S as 4sf, that takes up a lot of room.

We are also having trouble the 1M:2m, I will bid 1M:2m 2M here with a 5card suit, poor hand but my partner is expecting 6 of the major and will put me to 3M holding xx when we would be better in 2M or 2nt. At the moment I dont know what to change here.

more bidding sequences

One of the sequences that I stumble over is finding a rebid after opening 1m and partner responds 2m. There has been much discussion on BBO forums about this, here is the link if you want to read more.

http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=18928&st=15


This is the method I am wanting to use, it probably needs refining.

1D:2C 2D stall, minimum hand 100% forcing (weak nt 11-12)
1D:2C 2N balanced 12-14 both majors stopped (no need for this to show extras)
1D:2C 2M 4=5 or better and ‘a king more than minimum' 15(14)
1D:2C 3N 18+ balanced

1S(2D)2H (P) (a random bid thrown in, one that came up at the club)
3C 15+

1C:2D is a strong jump or criss cross

1M:2m 2M Min, waiting. No other bid avialble, will most often be 5
1S:2m 2H min 5S 4H
1H:2m 2S full reverse 16(15)
1M:2m 3x good 5/4 15+
1M:2m 2N blalanced, both majors stopped (12-14, 13-15?)

Note: the same problems do not occur over 1S:2H as there is never a reason to bid 2H on a 4 card suit.


1S:2H 4H min 11-12 54xx ideal 53xx
1S:2H 3H game forcing 54xx 53xx

Do we always want 4 card support here?

1H:1N 2D is wide ranging 11-18

1 m:1 any 3 m = 16-18 with good 6 card minor


How do you respond to partners 1m with balanced 11-12, 13-15 hands?

1m:2nt = 13-15 forcing

1C:1D 11-12 with a 3card suit if need be. 3334 2335?
1D:1nt with a 11 count and pray
1D:2nt with a 12 count and pray
or bid a 3 card major; always 1H with 3343 or 3334

I dont pretend to understand all this yet, maybe in time.