[mikeh]

wank, on 2012-January-31, 20:17, said:

using 3♦ as a catchall is clearly inferior to using 2♠, otherwise you lose the ability to show a 6th diamond.

gnasher is obviously right about 3M-4m. bit surprised that mikeh considers this an issue tbh: yes some people get confused. equally, some people get confused over stayman and jump reply, if you search hard enough around the bottom tables of a swiss.

Well, it isn't an issue for me, i can assure you What I said was that I have seen pairs go off the rails here....and, guess what? We had several posts suggesting that, to those posters, 4m would be or could be a cue!

If regulars on BBF are that prone to what I see as a basic failure to understand bidding (sorry, but that's how I see this issue) then imagine how common the problem will be in the real world....and not merely at the bottom of the swiss.

Incidentally, for those disenchanted with normal FSF responses, years ago I played what was a very effective relay style, in which opener's responses showed specific patterns. This was in a walsh style in that opener's rebid of 1M was always unbalanced, thus reducing the number of patterns shown. The response structure was based on relative frequency of shapes, with the most common being shown first, the next most common by the 2nd step and so on.

Hence 1♣ 1♦ 1♠ 2♥ 2♠ showed 4=2=2=5, 2N showed 4=1=3=5, 3♣ showed 4=3=1=5 and for more extreme shapes we had two-way steps where responder could ask (so we might show a 4306/4036 with one step and responder could ask which).Responder could keep relaying or break the relay, setting denomination.

We also played a lot of relay in other sequences, which helped with memory work....the full-blown method allowed responder to then ask about controls, Queens, specific A/K location and, if the combined strength permitted such high-level asking, about specific jacks.

I may be able to find the notes if anyone is interested.

[Statto]

MrAce, on 2012-February-01, 17:20, said:

It also has a lot to do with what this means for pdship;

1♦-1♠
2♣-4m

I'm assuming this would agree trumps and be forcing with slam interest. But responder might want to look for 3NT (particularly as this is MPs) and/or find out more about openers hand (perhaps a 5-3 ♠ fit) before bidding 4m.

BTW, like the new boxing cat pic

[MrAce]

mikeh, on 2012-February-01, 17:52, said:

I may be able to find the notes if anyone is interested.

I am definetely interested. Are the notes in computer and can be emailed or on paper ?

[phil_20686]

Statto, on 2012-February-01, 20:33, said:

I'm assuming this would agree trumps and be forcing with slam interest. But responder might want to look for 3NT (particularly as this is MPs) and/or find out more about openers hand (perhaps a 5-3 ♠ fit) before bidding 4m.

BTW, like the new boxing cat pic

This should be a hand that responded walsh style and has 5+ card support for the minor and a singleton in partners other suit.

Axxx
xx
Axxxxx
x

for example would be super. If its strong enough in HCP for FSF you should do that instead.