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April
06' ATE
Question
1: George
Jones (B Flight)
EW
Vulnerable: South Deals and opens 2 Hearts
(weak)
West
Hand:
S
A82
H
J5
D
AK54
C
AQ84
What
is West's bid?
Panel's
Responses
Ken
Bland
Double,
it's not a perfect bridge world I would like to have 4 spades
but...
Tom
Kniest
Double;
nothing else makes sense.
Roger
Lord
Double.
A potential problem may occur when partner has 4 spades.
Playing a 4-3 fit should not be a disaster.
However, if partner holds 4 spades and a game-going (or slam-going)
hand, which may belong in notrump or a minor, he should start
with a cuebid rather than jump in spades.
Tom
Oppenheimer
My
vote is for double. You must take action with a hand
this good. You are not always dealt the perfect distribution.
I would prefer to have 4 spades but I won't be embarrassed
if my partner bids spades.
Nancy
Popkin
There
is no other bid than double.
Fran
Schiefler
I
will double, even though that would usually promise four spades.
There are worse things in bridge than a 4-3 fit :-)
Ed
Schultz
This
is just a normal take out double, yes you would like to have
a fourth spade, but it is still just a takeout double. You
should not consider any other call of an opening one heart,
two hearts or three hearts.
Karen
Walker
Double.
I believe Eisenhower was in office the last time anyone
absolutely promised 4 cards in the other major for this action.
En
Xie
I
would start with double. Double is not a perfect bid, but
others are
worse
from my point of view.
Milt
Zlatic
Double.
If partner bids spades, then I'll cuebid hearts. If you don't
play
Lebensohl, you're going to have to guess if partner bids a
minor.
Question 2:
Sheryl
Finkenstadt
(B Flight)
Regarding
defending against Precision (or ACOL, or POLISH CLUB, for
that matter) - when opponents greet us, there seems to
be a 90% chance they will immediately engage in a discussion
with each other about what to do over "One Club"
opening bid. So my question is...
"What is YOUR preferred bidding (defense)
when playing against a Precision pair when they open 1 club
(16+ HCP, forcing, artificial)? The 1C is the only strong
bid, as ALL other opening bids show less than 17 hcp."
BTW,
the discrepancy in HCP is OUR aberration: we open unbalanced
16+ hcp, but balanced 17+ (reserving vul 1NT for 14-16 balanced).
Panel's
Responses
Ken
Bland
2
a) Since everyone bids over strong No Trumps (15/17 hcp) now,
why not bid as aggressively over 10 forcing I like to use
"Hamilton" over big Club as well as No Trump openings.
2
b) Over precision 1D – 2D's can be natural (Not "Michaels")
Tom
Kniest
Crash:
X = 2 suits same color
1D
= 2 suits same rank
1NT
= 2 suits same shape
After 1C P 1D, X = same color
1NT
= same rank
2C
= same shape
One
of a major is natural. This system is best because most
of the time, the strong club bidder has a strong NT and the
major suit lead director and competition is safer than over
a strong NT. Jumps are preemptive.
This system is also effective over a strong 2C, but you're
one level higher.
Roger
Lord
My
system, which also applies to interference over opening strong
2 clubs, is too complex to go into here. You should feel free
to invent your own defensive bidding treatments, perhaps borrowing
some or all from your preferred actions over opening notrump.
The objective is to interfere with or preempt the opponents'
artificial system, while attempting to find a playable fit
of your own. Overcall and respond as high as or higher
than you can afford directly. A little distribution
helps, but high cards are not necessary.
Tom
Oppenheimer
I
play Mathe over a strong club..double is for the majors and
1 notrump for the minors. All other bids are natural.
I guess this is old school but that's the way I learned
it.
Nancy
Popkin
I
have had the most success with CRASH. A double of 1C
or of the 1D response says I have two suits of the same COLOR.
A bid of 1D says I have two suits of the same rank
(clubs and diamonds – OR – hearts and spades).
One heart and one spade are both natural. A
bid of 1NT shows that I have two suits of the same shape (clubs
and hearts – OR – diamonds and spades).
Partner jumps as high as he can stand, causing the opponents
much havoc.
Fran
Schiefler
I
know only one convention to use over the Precision 1C opening
- Mathe, which uses a double to show both majors, 1NT to show
both minors, and other bids being natural. I will be happy
to learn of others :-)
Ed
Schultz
My
regular partners and I play CRASH with transfers in the direct
position. We play this over a forcing and artificial one club
as well as an opening two club opening.
Karen
Walker
I
play CRASH, which can show two suits of the same C olor
(Double to show reds or blacks), RA nk (1D overcall
to show minors or majors) or SH ape (1NT to show the
pointed suits [diamonds-spades] or rounded suits [hearts-clubs]).
The CRASH structure can also be modified
slightly and used after 1C-Pass-1D (Double shows color, 1NT
shows rank, 2C shows shape).
This is not a convention for timid
or forgetful players. Since partner does not know which exact
suits you hold, the follow-up auctions can be very tricky,
and they require strong hand-evaluation skills. Essentially,
partner advances by immediately jumping to the highest level
that will be safe no matter which of the two possibilities
you hold. You are then expected to correct if he did not bid
one of your suits.
En
Xie
There
are many conventions against Precision 1C opening bid. It's
hard to say which one I prefer. I think understanding why
you use it and when you use it is more important. Every convention
has some merits but none of them works perfectly against a
well-designed Precision system. Natural bids might work as
well as the conventions we have so far.
Milt
Zlatic
I use double for the majors and
NT for the minors. All other bids are natural
including 2C. I'm sure there are
better treatments but this is simple.
Question
3: Anonymous
(A Flight )
You
are dealt the following hand:
S
K10x
H
K10x
D
AJ
C
KQJxx
What
do you open and why ?
Ken
Bland
Tom
Oppenheimer playing with me held this hand. He opened 1 Club
then jumped in No Trump, reasoning his hand was to good for
1NT. His 1Club opener allowed us to reach a Slam in Spades.
Tom
Kniest
Open
a club and jump to 2NT. Hopefully you have a system
to sort out major suit length over 2NT if partner responds
a major. The fifth club, strong tenace positions, and
prime values argue for the bigger bid.
Roger
Lord
1
Club. The hand is too good for a 1 notrump opening
when the range is 15-17 or 14-17. You have enough potential
tricks with the club suit, not to mention the tens, to open
1 club and strongly rebid no trump.
Tom
Oppenheimer
I
guess it is not fair for me to answer this one because I know
the result.
I
held this hand (minus the 2 tens) on Sunday at the Gilbertsville,
Ky sectional. I opened 1 club and rebid 2 notrump over
a spade. This enabled Mr. Bland to bid a slam that
was missed at the other table where one notrump was opened.
The bottom line...I believe that a prime 17 count with
a good 5 card suit is too good to open 1 notrump. I
also open 1 notrump with balanced hands with a five card
major.
With a good 17 count with a good major suit, I believe
it is preferable to open one of a major and raise the expected
1 notrump forcing to 2 notrump (or jump to 2 notrump if the
auction proceeds 1 heart pass 1 spade pass.
Nancy
Popkin
I
would open 1C and then jump to 2NT over whatever my partner
bid. Usually this bid requires 18 points minimum, but
I have redeeming features that make up for the missing high
card point. I have two tens and most importantly, I
have a good five-card suit.
The
advantage to opening 1NT, however, is the preemptive value;
although it seems today that EVERYONE is bidding over 1NT
anyway.
Fran
Schiefler
The
obvious opening bid is 1NT. Am I missing something
here?
Ed
Schultz
Playing
15 to 18 point one notrump opening I would open 1NT, but playing
15 to 17 point one notrump openings as most of us do, I would
open 1C and jump to 2NT over partner's one level response.
I would bid 2NT over partner's 1NT response or partner's 2C
raise. This hand is simply a bit too strong to open 1NT playing
15-17. Prime cards and the good five-card club suit.
Karen
Walker
With
a strong 5-card suit and 17 points, this hand will play more
like 18 pts. than 15, and that,s too much power for a 1NT
opener. I would open 1C and plan to make a jump rebid
to 2NT over partner,s response.
En
Xie
1C
bid would be my choice. With good club suit and two 10s, this
hand is too good to open 1NT if the range of your 1nt opening
bid is 15-17hcp. In other words, this hand is worth more than
17hcp.
Milt
Zlatic
Open
1C intending to rebid 2NT. This hand is worth much more than
17pts due to the good 5-card suit and body points for the
10's.
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