More embarrassing grist for your mills from over the pond:

A.  3N.  Presumably N has 6(+) clubs and according to BWS VI. A. (“The normal simple overcall maximum is 18 HCP with 5-3-3-2 distribution or the equivalent after trading off high cards for shape”) should have 19+ HCP.  If that’s true, 3N looks good unless W opened with 12 HCP and E has Kx(x) in spades and out.  Would E have raised spades with that over a x? We’re vulnerable at IMPs with the power hand over the opener, so my granny would expect me to bid 3N.

B.  x.  A little like A with the seats reversed.  Over N’s spade bid I can bid hearts (5 over 4 , if necessary).  N might surprise me with 3 .  One problem is if N passes the x, which is possible at this vulnerability (I guess). What will N do with xxx xxx xxx KQxx if W (with 7 or 8 spades) is silent over the x?  Actually, if W bids 3 over the x that will help me.

C.  Pass.  BWS II (forcing v non-forcing) seems to suggest that my pre-emptive 4 makes N’s pass of 5 non-forcing.   Same section (lead-directing doubles) “b) no special lead is suggested by a double: … (2) when some combination of dummy's suit, leader's suit, and doubler's suit is available.”  If I double, I will make partner squirm: that's far too impolite.

D.  Pass.  Pass and defend 3 or bid 3 ?  East looks likely to have 6 clubs and 6 HCP.  Roughly a 20/20 HCP hand, suggesting N has AKxxx in diamonds and a J or AQxxx and a Q with a singleton club in both cases.  We’re getting 2 diamond tricks, a heart, my club A, and prospects for a fifth (the club K could be right, partner’s Q is in hearts, or J in spades).  With that kind of layout in 3 , we get 4 diamonds, 2 hearts, only one club (am I really going to try a finesse with a singleton club in N?) and a spade if opponents lead them for us … ?  Pass and defending looks better.

E.  2 .  How valuable are my diamonds and the singleton club K?  The latter might deter a club lead at Trick 1, but only then.  Can I get diamonds going and still have an entry or be able to pull trumps?  All looks very doubtful at the moment, but partner has lots of options over 2 – game tries, 2N, pass – which will clarify matters.  Let’s give N the chance.

F.  4 /6N.  This feels like a NT slam.  With our power E must surely have the diamond A for a vulnerable overcall, so a direct 6N looks feasible. A bit ‘blunt instrument’ for the pros?  What if N is very shapely (65/66 with a diamond void) or E overcalled with seven diamonds with QJ?  Maybe 4 is best just now to give N a chance for another descriptive bid.  It’s not quite clear from BWS II what 4N would mean, but even if it is ace-asking, how helpful is N's response when holding 65 or 66 in the majors with a diamond void?

G.  1N/x.  We’ve not heard from W, so N could have a common-or-garden opening hand in which case we don’t really want to be playing in 2N.  That’s where we’re likely to be after a negative x is followed by 2 or 2 , unless I then bid 2 (and then I’ll find only two small hearts in support - yuck).  Over 1N partner has opportunities if he has a bigger opening hand.  1N could lead us to missing a vulnerable game in hearts at IMPs.  Perhaps I’m too pessimistic?  The pros with their better luck will double, find N with a 4-card heart suit and laugh all the way to the bank in some number of hearts.

H.  Diamond 4.  Am I crazy suggesting a low diamond and hoping E started with AJx?  N has the missing club honour, so he’ll get in at some point to lead a diamonds across E.  Either J seems too slow – we’re supposed to be aiming for fast tricks here, are we not?           

Thought I’d give Jock, the usual opening bidder, a breather.  My comments will be much less sensible than his, but they’ll provide easy targets.

A.  2 .  We’re close to slam territory.  I’m not keen on 3 as it takes up space and that’s partner’s bid, not mine.  I’d bid 2 as control to leave 3 available to partner to show/deny diamond control.  If partner bids 3 over 2 I can bid 3 to deny diamond control.  Either way we know at a low level if slam is possible. 

B.  3 .  3 is GF and I have a K extra for my reverse.  Should I just bid 6 ?  I’d like to know about partner’s kings.  With 8 HCP+, partner could have heart and club Kings and diamond Queen.  I can ruff one of my two spade losers if partner is 2443/2434.  If partner has the spade king too, would she/he have bid any differently?   A control bid of 3 allows partner to show spade or club control.  Cueing a suit holding of Kx(x..x) as dummy-in-waiting can be risky, but opposite a powerful hand (reverse, 2!C opener, 2N etc.) ought to be safe.

C.   2 .  I’m near the top of the range for my pass and East’s 2 may be good news for my K.  We have 3 as a fall-back, should partner do something other than raising spades.

D.  c5.  1N risks missing a 5-3 heart fit.  1 followed by 2 gives the wrong picture, but with this hand 2 in a Moysian doesn’t look too bad (said he with almost no experience of declaring successfully in Moysians).  I might be able to get the hearts going while partner’s clubs prevent me from getting tapped? Or a spot of cross-ruffing may be in order.  According to BWS, 1 – 1N is semi-forcing and at most game-invitational and 1 – 1N – 2N is invitational.  That looks ok to me: partner will raise to 3N with invite hand and pass otherwise.  Partner has a minimum of 7 minor suit cards, and we could well get a spade lead.

E.  3 .  Very tempting to bid 3N: all of partner’s high cards are outside spades, so I can rely on him/her for some club cover.  However, partner must be short in spades, making a heart fit probable.  In hearts I can ruff a couple of spades safely across West.  Of course, when partner continues with 4 or 4 , I’ll be cursing not bidding 3N.

F.  1 /xx.  The hint seems odd.  The perfectly natural bid of 1 to me naturally would be forcing.  After that if partner bids 2 , 2 or raises spades we’re ok, but what do I bid over partner’s 2 ?  A preference bid of 2 would be made on two small spots and 5/6 HCP, but partner would take 3 as 3c heart support and 10/11?  Perhaps redouble is a better start than 1 ? I have a couple of tens to make up the deficit and a heart bid later will show only two card support, and complete a pretty accurate picture of the hand.

G.  3 .  This looks good to me.  Where are the spades?  Partner has at most four, so EW have a spade fit.  Do we want them to find it?  No, if partner has only three spades and they are 5(W)4(E) or 63.  A 3 bid may well deter West bidding 3 with a 5c suit.  There’s also the possibility that EW have a double spade/diamond fit.  But our heart fit is at best 43.  So let’s just get in the way for now.

H.  Q .  I’m supposed to help partner’s major here.  He/she’s going to have 6 HCP at most, and more likely to have longer spades than hearts.  A low spade will kill one of partner’s honours (possibly the only one in the suit) to not much use.  I’m also keen to create an entry into partner’s hand so diamonds can be led across declarer.  A spade lead burning one of her/his honours ain’t gonna help.  So why not bang down the heart Q? 

On F, I bow to the wisdom of others.  Opening 1 means I'll be re-bidding  at the 4-level (assuming partner will respond and/or there's a red suit overcall).  Opening 2 means re-bidding  one level higher.

66 hands don't come up often.  Mind you, I can't remember the last time I pre-empted 3 .  I can imagine a scheme for opening 66 hands 3 , responder relays, then 3 shows the reds, 3 the blacks and 3N mixed.  If opponents make a suit overcall, x would show the other colours and 3N mixed.  Over 3N, responder bids Hx/xxx suits up the line (while holding the Book of Common Prayer) [making dodgy bids is bad enough - suggesting systems is way OTT, Ed].


   

Has anyone ever made an Exclusion KCB bid in partner's suit?

A belated Happy New Year! to everyone.  I'll just throw in my sixpennyworth on this one.  Yes, twice, both when I had a 2 opener.  After 2 relay and my rebid, the suit that partner bid might be pretty weak.  I remember one auction: 2 - 2 - 2 - 3 - 3 - 4 -5 (Exclusion). 

I can't remember the other auction, but I went off in the ensuing slam.

OK - a bit of time to kill before leaving for hol, so a brief return>

A.  4 .  Presumably 3 shows 55 in  , so we're heading for a diamond contract.  5 is too weak for this hand -- all my HCP are glistening with gold and I am max for the 1N response, so a stronger response looks better.

B.  3 .  Gives partner a chance to show a diamond stop or 3c spade support.  We have 5 as a fallback.

C.  3 .  3 is tempting, but while these three top cards might look like a 4c support, I have to ruff diamonds with them.  3 would ask for spade stop, but I think we'd benefit from some space in approaching a putative 3N contract.  This choice shows my hand quite well too.

D.  2 .  Partner may well have spades, and possibly a stop but with a hand too weak to respond 1N -- say KTxx in spades and out.  He may be nursing four clubs with that too, or possibly four hearts.  Oh, I remember now why I was so poor at this quiz: it doesn't take long for unbridled optimism to burst out.  Still, ya can't deny ya true nature.  If partner doesn't have four cards in one of my suits, he can have great fun with 2N --- rather more fun than I would have in a Moysian 2 .

E.  4 .  Will take the hint, with 4 exclusion coming over 4 and 5 exclusion over 5 .  [That's enough rank optimism for now. Ed]

F.  5 .  Partner looks to have a singleton heart.  4 is far too wimpish from me and double risks sending an unclear message.  Some super-wake-up-partner bid is the ticket -- 5 ?  Probably better than 5N, cos over partner's 5 I can do something useful.  Quite what that would be eludes me just now.

G.  2N.   Presumably double would show 4c spades in BWS (though not so much in modern pro bridge judging from Salso).  I'm too weak for a cue bid.   2N is ok from an invite perspective, though Axx would be better as a stop. 

H.  Trump (9).  No idea what 2-1-points are.  East must have bid 7 with something like x Axx AQxxxx Kxx --- the club king allowing him to deduce that West holds the diamond king.  He'll be looking to ruff two hearts and possibly a club to come home.  Partner has no diamonds and at best only the club queen as a pretty card.  Leading a trump to make the ruffs complicated looks the only (and probably, fond) hope.  Which trump?  Do I really care??? Maybe the 9.

Occasional comments at the table about the usefulness of conventions prompted the inner geek to record hands over the 9 months.  Perhaps the results are of interest? 

I play 2/1 with a strong NT with my regular partners.  We don’t use Gazzilli or XYZ.  On 1081 hands we opened the bidding.  Here’s the breakdown by opening bid; 1M 324, 1m 479, 1N 140, 2N 15, Weak 2 61, 3x/4x 37, 2C 25. 

For the 324 1M openers, here’s how often conventions came up:

51: 2/1 (3c M support or other GF)
23: Bergen (4c M support, not GF)
10: Picture Bids
10: Jacoby 2N (4c M support GF)
8:  Game Try (long and short)
4:  4SF
3:  Splinter

I’m not promoting conventions or saying that this is the right suite.  I like Bergen because 54 fits play much better than 53 fits, but I know it’s criticised for landing 20/20 hands in 3M.  Having spent some time learning about Picture Bids, it was gratifying to see them come up as often as Jacoby 2N (which we all learn once we’ve weaned off the breast it seems).

For the 479 1m openers:

38:  Inverted minors
24:  Support x/xx
15:  4SF
7:  Checkback
7:  2/1 (only over 1D)

Support x/xx strike me as great as long as partner has a 5c M, but can cause trouble when she/he is searching for a bid when holding only 4.  Of course, I arrange these situations so that it is always my partner who plays the Moysians.  Nonetheless, support x/xx were useful for us intermediates.


For the 140 1N openers:

22:  Stayman
20:  Major suit transfer (2-level)
6:  Lebensohl
4:  Texas
4:  Minor Suit transfer
3:  Smolen
1:  Super-accept

My partners and I limit super-accepts to 4c support and max, which I personally think is too restrictive.  Oliver includes a range of super-accepts in OCP (I think) and I’ve seen many variations on vugraph.  It’s probably a topic to explore, so the statistic here could be misleading. 

Because we use a strong NT, we didn't get overcalled very often, so the very useful Lebensohl is under-rated by these stats.  If I could persuade my partners to play mini-NT green v red, I imagine Lebensohl would be much more important.

An aside: I like 2-way minor suit transfers [1N – 2S = clubs, 1N – 2N = diamonds] because opener can super-accept when holding Axx, Kxx or Qxx in the minor with the intervening bid [1N – 2S – 2N or 1N – 2N – 3C].  The statistics probably are right in this case, because I think 2-way minor suit transfers should not be used routinely when holding a 6c m.  In fact, there are three particular cases when they pay off:

1) Very weak hands, where 3m will be less disastrous than 1N.  (Hands like: xx xx Kxxxxx xxx or x xx xxx Qxxxxxx or xx xx Qxxxxx Qxx)

2) Weak invitational.  These hands are not the usual 8/9 HCP invite hands after a strong NT opening.  Instead, if opener has got the missing top honour, the minor suit will provide 6 tricks.  It is surprising how often 9 tricks can be won when responder has only 5 or 6 HCP.  Hands like: xx xxx KQxxxx xx or x xxx xxx AQxxxx

3)  Slam Interest.  These hands are strong enough to make 3N, but if opener has support for the minor, a slam is likely.  Again, like the invitational hands, slam can be made on less than the “usual” strength – 14 HCP opposite 15-17.  Hands like: x Axx Kx AQxxxxxx or Kx Axx xx KQxxxx

Whatever opener bids after 1), responder signs off in 3m.  If opener super-accepts after 2) or 3), responder bids game or slam (respectively), otherwise passes 3m or bids 3N (respectively).  Normal invite hands (8/9) and normal GF hands (10-13) should forget minor suit transfers and just simply aim for 3N.

OK, sorry for that mad digression: back to the stats and just to finish the opening hands.  RKC was used 18 times in these 1081 offensive hands, the Queen Ask 3 times, Exclusion twice.   After the 61 Weak 2 openings, Ogust/Feature Ask was used twice, a fast raise 37 times.

On 1099 hands they opened the bidding (they were playing strong NT): 1m/1M 825, 1N 149, Weak 2 68, 2N 31, 3x/4x 26

For the 825 1m/1M openers, we used;

43:  Two-suited overcall
35:  Weak Jump overcall
29:  1N overcall

I’ve not included simple overcalls, because they come up loads and are not really a convention. 

For the 68 Weak 2 openers, we used;

21:  Lebensohl
5:  2N overcall
1:  Michaels

Lebensohl has caused my partners all sorts of brain-aches, but I love it (but then I really liked the transfer Lebensohl Oliver uses) and it’s pretty simple – and came up often.

For the 149 1N openers, we used Cappelletti 28 times to show suits and doubled 7 times to show balanced strength.  Our opponents always used a strong NT.  Against weak or mini-NT some overcall from us would have been far more frequent.

That’s a lot of words for possibly not much useful material, but at least it means I’ve finished this little project.
   

Actually, the second four too, then I can do other stuff and wait for the derision:

E.  3N or 3 .  With clubs stopped, wouldn’t North would have bid 2N instead of 3 (say, holding 5143 or 5044)?  3N hopes he has a half stop.  Anything else?  3 as cue?

F.  Double.  Looks as if West is going to bid 2 anyway, so a bid which describes my hand accurately looks best.  2 would cover all manner of hands.  The double gives a better picture. 

G.  4 .  Non-vulnerable East can have tram-tickets.  Encouragingly, partner did not overcall 1 (he still might have 5 of them but his points there are weak) or 2 .  So perhaps he has 5 or 6 cards in the major suits.  If I don’t show 55 major holdings, the Great Dealer will decide they are wasted on me. 

H.  Spade A or Spade 6.  I’m with Jim – all other leads are going to kill partner or diamonds - so a spade it is.  Partner didn’t have a chance to cue, so I don’t know how good his hand is, just that he has three spades.  He might have the king, in which case the spade Ace will work.   But hold on ... a little voice has just whispered “suit preference lead.”  Some months ago this came up in the MSC; underleading the ace in suit you have bid and partner has supported hoping that partner holds the king.  There, if memory serves, a suit preference card asked for a lead back into a heart AQx tenace.   How about I lead the spade 6? Of course if spades are 4-1 and partner does not have the spade king this might be expensive, but partner will still know to lead a diamond when he is in.