[donmalex]

Playing 2/1 forcing 1NT no exceptions 1NT=15-17 2D=18-19 2NT=20-21 2C=22+

IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING THIS AS INDENTS WERE FOULED UP WHEN POSTED, EMAIL A REQUEST FOR 1C 1D ENQUIRY TO donmalex@aol.com and I will send you a GOOD COPY.

THANK YOU Don Alexander

1C = 13-17 HCP
1. 1c Possible Responses an Opening Bid of 1 Club
A. 1S = No 4 Card Major, Bid 1 NT
a. 1NT ► Responder is in control and will bid depending on combined points
i. Responder has 3-5 HCP, PASS►
ii. Responder has 6-8 HCP, & 5C or 5D, BID 2C or 2D
iii. Responder has 9-11 HCP, & 5C or 5D, BID 2H or 2S or 2NT (if Responder bids Spades he is showing 5 Diamonds, if Hearts he is showing 5 Clubs 13+9 = 22 HCP, makes 2NT or 3 of suite OPENER must decide final bid)
iv. Responder has 12-14 HCP, BID 3NT
v. Responder has 15-17 HCP, & 5C or 5D, BID, BID 3H or 3S or 3NT (if Responder bids Spades he is showing 5 Diamonds, if Hearts he is showing 5 Clubs, 13+16 = 29 HCP, makes 3NT or 5 of suite. OPENER must decide final bid)
B. 1D = Do you have 4 Hearts
a. 1H = 13-14 HCP, yes I have 4 Hearts.
i. Responder has 3-5 Total Points, PASS►
ii. Responder has 6-8 Total Points, Bid 2 Hearts
iii. Responder has 9-11 Total Points, Bid 3 Hearts
iv. Responder has 12-14 Total Points, Bid 4 Hearts
b. 2H = 15-17 HCP, yes I have 4 Hearts (when Responder is counting HCP, count 16)
i. Responder has 3-5 Total Points, PASS►
ii. Responder has 6-8 Total Points, Bid 3 Hearts
iii. Responder has 9-11 Total Points, Bid 4 Hearts
iv. Responder has 12-14 Total Points, Bid 4 Hearts
c. 1S = I have 4 Spades <4 Hearts
i. Responder has 4 Spades 3-5 Total Points , PASS►
ii. Responder has 4 Spades 6-8 Total Points, Bid 2 Spades
iii. Responder has 4 Spades 9-11 Total Points, Bid 3 Spades
iv. Responder has 4 Spades 12-14 Total Points, Bid 4 Spades
d. 2S = 15-17 HCP & 4 Spades <4 Hearts (when Responder is counting HCP count 16)
i. Responder has 4 Spades 3-5 Total Points, PASS►
ii. Responder has 4 Spades 6-8 Total Points , Bid 3 Spades to play
iii. Responder has 4 Spades 9-11 Total Points, Bid 4 Spades to play
iv. Responder has 3 Spades 3-5 Total Points, Bid PASS►
v. Responder has 3 Spades 6-8 Total Points , Bid 3 Spades or 2NT to play
vi. Responder has 3 Spades 9-11 Total Points , Bid 4 Spades or 3NT to play
e. 1NT = No 4 card Major but 4 clubs
f. 2C = No 4 card Major but 5 Clubs

C. 1H = Do you have 4 Spades
a. 1S = 13-14 HCP, yes I have 4 Spades
i. Responder has 3-5 Total Points, PASS►
ii. Responder has 6-8 Total Points, Bid 2 Spades
iii. Responder has 9-11 Total Points, Bid 3 Spades
iv. Responder has 12-14 Total Points, Bid 4 Spades
b. 2S = 15-17 HCP, yes I have 4 Spades (when Responder is counting HCP, count 16)
i. Responder has 3-5 Total Points, PASS►
ii. Responder has 6-8 Total Points, Bid 3 Spades
iii. Responder has 9-11 Total Points, Bid 4 Spades
iv. Responder has 12-14 Total Points, Bid 4 Spades
c. 1NT = No 4 card Major
d. 2C = No 4 card Major but 5 Clubs
D. 1NT Responder (prefers the minor Suites)
a. 13-14 = 2C
i. Responder has < 9 Total Points ►Pass
ii. Responder has 9-11 Total Points ►Bid 3C or 2NT
1. Opener 15-17 HCP ►Bid 3NT
iii. Responder has 12-14 Total Points ►Bid 4C if combined total HCP = 25 Bid 3NT
1. Opener has 15-17 HCP ►Pass or Bid 5C
E. The following shows 6 and 7 card suites in response to OPENERS 1 Club bid. Add the number of support cards to responder’s suite and for each over 8 add 4 points to your hand.
F. 2C = 7+HCP & 6 Clubs 3C = 7+HCP & 7 Clubs
G. 2D = 7+HCP & 6 Diamonds 3D = 7+HCP & 7 Diamonds
H. 2H = 7+HCP & 6 Hearts 3H = 7+HCP & 7 Hearts
I. 2S = 7+HCP & 6 Spades 3S = 7+HCP & 7 Spades
2. OPENER has bid 1NT or 2C in response to PESPONDERS 1D or 1H.
a. If RESPONDER has <9 Total Points. PASS and play 1NT or 2 Clubs
b. If RESPONDER has 9-11 Total Points, & a 5 card Major, bid 2 of your Major Suite.
i. If Opener has 2 or 3 of the bid Major Suite, bid 3 of Responders suite.
c. If RESPONDER has 12-14 Total Points, & a 5 card Major, bid 3 of your Major Suite.
i. If Opener has 2 or 3 of the bid Major Suite, bid 4 of Responders suite.
ii. If Opener has 15-17 TP & or 3 of the bid Major Suite, bid 4 of Responders suite( ? Slam)
d. If RESPONDER has 6-8 HCP & 4+Clubs bid 2 Clubs.(This is a Sign Off Bid) (Opener will have 4 Clubs)
e. If RESPONDER has 6-8 HCP & 5 Diamonds and <4 Clubs bid 2 Diamonds to play
f. If RESPONDER has 9-11 HCP &< 4Clubs & <5 Diamonds bid 2 NT
g. If RESPONDER has 12-14 HCP &< 4Clubs & <5 Diamonds bid 3 NT












1D = 13-17HCP
3. Possible Responses to an Opening Bid of 1 Diamond (Must have 4+ Diamonds)(semi-forcing)
(A rebid of Diamonds does not indicate 6 Diamonds only 5.)
A. PASS►Responder has 3 Diamonds & <6 total points.
B. PASS►Responder has 4 Diamonds & <6 total points.
C. 1H (forcing) Responder has 4+ Hearts
a. Opener 13-14 TP & 4 Hearts, Bid► 2 Hearts
i. Responder has <9 TP ►Pass
ii. Responder has 9-11 TP Bid ►3 Hearts
iii. Responder has 12-14 TP Bid ►4 Hearts
b. Opener 15-17 TP & 4 Hearts, Bid► 3 Hearts
i. Responder has 9-11 TP Bid ►4 Hearts
c. Opener has13-14 TP & 4 Spades & <4 Hearts. Bid 1 Spade.
i. Responder has 4 Spades <9 TP ►Pass
ii. Responder has 4 Spades 9-11 TP Bid ►3 Spades
iii. Responder has 4 Spade 12-14 TP Bid ►4 Spades
d. Opener has15-17 TP & 4 Spades & <4 Hearts. Bid 2 Spades.
i. Responder has 4 Spades 3-5 TP Bid ►Pass
ii. Responder has 4 Spades 6-8 TP Bid ►3 Spades
iii. Responder has 4 Spades 9-11 TP Bid ►4 Spades
D. 1S (forcing) Responder has 4+ Spades & <4H
a. Opener 13-14 TP & 4 Spades, Bid► 2 Spades
i. Responder has <9 TP ►Pass
ii. Responder has 9-11 TP Bid ►3 Spades
iii. Responder has 12-14 TP Bid ►4 Spades
b. Opener 15-17 TP & 4 Spades, Bid► 3 Spades
i. Responder has <9 TP ►Pass
ii. Responder has 9-11 TP Bid ►4 Spades










E. 1NT (forcing) Responder has <4S, <4H, <4D, 4+C
i. (when Responder bids 1NT, Opener can make a cue bid of 2H or 2S, therefore 2H = 15-16 & 2S = 17-18 Total Points)(Now Responder can decide at what level to play NT or Clubs the best suite match.)
b. Opener 15-16 Total Points Bid ►2 Harts
i. Responder has <9 HCP Bid ►2 NT
ii. Responder has 9-11 HCP Bid ►3 NT
c. Opener 17-18 Total Points Bid ►2 Spades
i. Responder has <9 HCP Bid ►2 NT
ii. Responder has 9-11 HCP Bid ►3 NT
d. Opener 13-14 Total Points & 4 Clubs. Bid 2 Clubs.
i. Responder has <9 Total Points ►Pass
ii. Responder has 9-11 Total Points ►Bid 3 Clubs
iii. Responder has 12-14 Total Points ►Bid 4 Clubs or 3NT
e. Opener 15-17 Total Points & 4 Clubs. Bid 3 Clubs.
i. Responder has <9 Total Points ►Pass
ii. Responder has 9-11 Total Points ►Bid 4 Clubs or 3NT
iii. Responder has 12-14 Total Points►Bid 3NT or if 14 may bid 5 Clubs
f. Opener has 5 diamonds, Bid 2 Diamonds.
i. Responder has 3 Diamond & <9 Total Points ►Pass
ii. Responder has 3 Diamond & 9-11 Total Points ►Bid 3 Diamonds
iii. Responder has 3 Diamond & 12-14 Total Points ►Bid 3NT or 4 Diamonds
iv. Responder has 3 Diamond & 15-17 Total Points ►Bid 3NT or 5 Diamonds
F. 2C (forcing) Responder has <2D <4S <4H & 5+ Clubs
a. Opener has 3 Clubs ►Bid 3 Clubs
i. Responder has 12+HCP ►Bid 3NT
G. 2D Responder has 4+ Diamonds & 6-8 Total Points.
a. Opener should ►PASS
4. Openers 1NT bid in response to 1H, 1S bid by responder to the opening bid of 1D
a. Opener Bids 1 NT = No 4 card Major & no 5 card minor.
i. Responder = 2-5 Total Points & no 5 card suite ►PASS
ii. Responder = 6-8 Total Points & 4 Diamonds ►Bid 2 Diamonds
iii. Responder = 6-8 Total Points & 3 Diamonds ►Bid 2 Diamonds
iv. Responder = 9-11 Total Points & 3-4 Diamonds ►Bid 2NT
v. Responder = 12-14 Total Points & 1-4 Diamonds ►Bid 3NT
b. Opener Bids 2 Diamonds = 5 Diamonds ►with 15-17 Opener can raise below bids 1 level
i. Responder should compute HCP 19=1NT, 22=2NT, 25=3NT Play NT if possible otherwise play a suite contract with Total Points 19=2, 22=3, 25=4, 28=5 Opener 15-17 HCP ►Bid 5C or Pass

[mikeh]

You seem to have joined almost 3 years ago, but this is your 3rd post, so either you don't come here often or you have been reluctant to post.

In any event, I will try to be polite, but you can expect some less polite comments if anyone is concerned enough to bother writing.

Your method is unplayable. I don't even have to read all of it to know that.

For example, 1♣ is limited to 13-17 hcp. Why? What do you open with 18? I see you say 2♦ 18-19 but those good players who use that approach generally use it for balanced hands (the Mexican 2♦ convention) so what do you open with shape and strength? I promise you: using 2♦ to show ALL hands with 18-19 hcp is a profoundly silly idea.

Then we see a 1♠ response denies a major and, if I understand correctly, opener is to bid 1N.

why? what is opener to do with a distributional hand? Why does 1♠ force 1N? That is just silly. Is your opener never allowed to have distribution?

Then we see that a 1♦ response asks opener if opener has 4 hearts. Why? if the purpose is to find hearts, why not have responder bid them?

Then we see that all subsequent bidding is to be guided not by what cards one holds, and in what suits, but by adding up points. That is a sure sign that the system designer doesn't know very much about the game. I know, that will seem rude, but it is true. There is no way to be really gentle in commenting without lying and I hope that you value truth more than false assurances.

I strongly recommend that you buy and read some basic books on bridge bidding and try to understand the principles that underlie all natural bidding methods and even, to a degree, some of the more complex, artificial methods...since most methods that have complex artificialities built in also have many natural sequences for hands that don't fit the artificial bid constraints (eg some complex precision methods are replete with artificiality after a 1C opening but are basically naturalistic after 1M).

It is good that you are sufficiently interested in the game to spend the time thinking about it, but this idea of yours is simply unworkable for many, many reasons.....not only the few I touched on above, not only the fact that your method seems to assume that the opps are bound to never interfere, but for a lot of reasons.

[Vampyr]

We all know that the place new conventions and systems are evaluated is the Secret Bridge Olympics.

[mikeh]

 Vampyr, on 2014-September-22, 17:05, said:

We all know that the place new conventions and systems are evaluated is the Secret Bridge Olympics.

where's han when we need him

[Lord Molyb]

Looks like a real mess to me. No point in doing all of this as far as I can tell?

[steve2005]

Transfer Walsh is a well developed system. It has 1♦/1♥ response to 1♣ showing ♥/♠.

This isn't well thought out, better to use a full system and make some modification to suit you.

[aguahombre]

 steve2005, on 2014-September-22, 21:16, said:

Transfer Walsh is a well developed system. It has 1♦/1♥ response to 1♣ showing ♥/♠.

This isn't well thought out, better to use a full system and make some modification to suit you.

Maybe when y'all are finished bagging on the OP's system, someone can explain what gains T-Walsh possesses to offset the extra tool given to the opponent in fourth chair.

Is the ability of opener to show 3-card support for responder if fourth chair passes really a big deal?

[BillHiggin]

 aguahombre, on 2014-September-22, 23:55, said:

Is the ability of opener to show 3-card support for responder if fourth chair passes really a big deal?

imho, no. However, the ability to quickly and cheaply show a minimum balanced hand is a big deal, and that is what most transfer walsh systems are doing.

I know some early transfer walsh systems did specify acceptance to show 3 card support, but by far the more common approach is simple acceptance shows minimum balanced hand with less than 4 card support.

[aguahombre]

 BillHiggin, on 2014-September-23, 04:26, said:

imho, no. However, the ability to quickly and cheaply show a minimum balanced hand is a big deal, and that is what most transfer walsh systems are doing.

I know some early transfer walsh systems did specify acceptance to show 3 card support, but by far the more common approach is simple acceptance shows minimum balanced hand with less than 4 card support.

I guess there is a lot more to it than that, since a 1NT rebid to show a minimum balanced hand with less than a 4-fit seems reasonable in std.

[mikeh]

 aguahombre, on 2014-September-22, 23:55, said:

Maybe when y'all are finished bagging on the OP's system, someone can explain what gains T-Walsh possesses to offset the extra tool given to the opponent in fourth chair.

Is the ability of opener to show 3-card support for responder if fourth chair passes really a big deal?

This is a big topic.

One of the main effects in a well-designed T-Walsh style is the ability to save or compress bidding space.

For example 1♣ 1♦ 1♥


where 1♥ shows a balanced 2-3 card support hand, with the values that would otherwise be shown by rebidding 1N, allows responder a 1♠ call, that can be used in various ways according to system preferences. Personally, I use it as natural, less than invitational. This avoids the dilemma in std of what to bid over a natural 1♥ response with a balanced hand and 4 spades....yes, I know, most players don't even see what the problem is but there are compelling reasons to bid 1N. As it happens with T-Walsh the issue doesn't arise...we get the best of both worlds.

And here is a low-frequency but very useful sequence:

1♣ 1♦/♥ 1N by opener. Since 1N rebid hands would accept the transfer (or bid 2M with 4 card support) 1N can be used for hands that in standard would jump to 2N.

This buys an entire level of bidding space on powerful hands, which is a significant edge in game/slam decisions.

The corollary to that is that one no longer needs 2N as a balanced strong hand, so it can be used for hands that are difficult to bid in standard. In my 2 T-walsh partnerships we use this for the Bridge World nightmare hand, tho I am casting around for other uses.

The space-saving notion is part of why the transfer principle is so effective. Transfers can be used in many situations....responding to overcalls, dealing with competition, including some overcalls and all takeout doubles, and so on.

[PhilKing]

 mikeh, on 2014-September-23, 09:37, said:

This is a big topic.

One of the main effects in a well-designed T-Walsh style is the ability to save or compress bidding space.

For example 1♣ 1♦ 1♥


where 1♥ shows a balanced 2-3 card support hand, with the values that would otherwise be shown by rebidding 1N, allows responder a 1♠ call, that can be used in various ways according to system preferences. Personally, I use it as natural, less than invitational. This avoids the dilemma in std of what to bid over a natural 1♥ response with a balanced hand and 4 spades....yes, I know, most players don't even see what the problem is but there are compelling reasons to bid 1N. As it happens with T-Walsh the issue doesn't arise...we get the best of both worlds.

You should flip 1♠ and 1NT in this situation - use 1♠ as a puppet to 1NT and 1NT as non-forcing with spades. This has another spin-off benefit, since you have an extra layer of bidding via the puppet. Basically, after opener bids 1NT you use your usual kit, but direct bids are now free for a few small pick-ups:

2♣ to play
2♦ 5♥4+♦ weak
2♥ 4♠5♥, weak
etc

And it also gives you an easy way of choosing who plays 3NT.

[billw55]

Perhaps the aol.com address is an indicator.

[Vampyr]

 billw55, on 2014-September-23, 12:10, said:

Perhaps the aol.com address is an indicator.

Of what?

[MickyB]

 PhilKing, on 2014-September-23, 09:43, said:

2♥ 4♠5♥, weak

I'm guessing you'd just pass 1H with this at IMPs? Obviously it's more useful at pairs.

[fromageGB]

 MickyB, on 2014-September-23, 15:15, said:

I'm guessing you'd just pass 1H with this at IMPs? Obviously it's more useful at pairs.

A very important point you raise here. For me a weak 54xx or 45xx hand responds 1NT, but my methods are predominantly geared to finding major fits at all strengths, as my main game is MPs. If I were playing IMPs I'd probably want different methods, and would then also include 5 card majors in a 1NT open!