[thepossum]

Hi

I had two (for me) awkward hands in recent MPs playing 2/1
When I say awkward, I mean I could see likely/possible slams but the system would not necessarily get us there
They seemed awkward for other people too and the scores were weird and wonderful arrays of numbers

Hand 5

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Not happy that we play 3NT like that leaving no real room to explore
I went Qant but wonder if there are other options


Hand 9

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I debated 2 clubs GF or 1 spade forcing
What is the system bid and how do you then explore which slam given there may be a choice
I even considered 3 clubs (as did some others) but thought it undervalued the hand

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,
#5 if you play 3NT as 25-27, than you should play system on (your 2NT system), i.e. 4C Stayman and 4D / 4H as xfer.
4C should show values to stand 4NT, xfer may be weak.
Breaking the xfer should show fit, i.e. executing the xfer should deny 3 cards.

#9 you know the suit you want to play, i.e. bid 2 club and force it through, I would not bypass 5C.
3C means whatever it means, but takes away lots of space and gives p no breathing room.
It is an open question, if you even should show a 4 card spade fit, if opener showed up with 4 spades,
but majors rule and you play MP.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[thepossum]

P_Marlowe, on 2026-June-06, 01:56, said:

Hi,
#5 if you play 3NT as 25-27, than you should play system on (your 2NT system), i.e. 4C Stayman and 4D / 4H as xfer.
4C should show values to stand 4NT, xfer may be weak.
Breaking the xfer should show fit, i.e. executing the xfer should deny 3 cards.

#9 you know the suit you want to play, i.e. bid 2 club and force it through, I would not bypass 5C.
3C means whatever it means, but takes away lots of space and gives p no breathing room.
It is an open question, if you even should show a 4 card spade fit, if opener showed up with 4 spades,
but majors rule and you play MP.

With kind regards
Marlowe

I think the transfers in firsthand were Texas, not Jacoby, and quant was the end of the road
I nearly blasted 6 since it was one of those very gambling psychy type tourneys and sometimes you need to gamble
The system was very limited in where to go next. I should have done Texas

For the first one, yes clubs was better establishing clubs
My spade bid was followed by spade support
Clubs was obviously best slam but many ended in variants of doubled spades contracts

[P_Marlowe]

thepossum, on 2026-June-06, 04:12, said:

I think the transfers in firsthand were Texas, not Jacoby, and quant was the end of the road
I nearly blasted 6 since it was one of those very gambling psychy type tourneys and sometimes you need to gamble
The system was very limited in where to go next. I should have done Texas

<snip>

The question after xfer / Texas or whtever you call it, is: what does 4NT in the next round mean, if a fit was
established it should be KC, if the fit is still unclear, it should be quant.

[P_Marlowe]

thepossum, on 2026-June-06, 04:12, said:

<snip>

For the first one, yes clubs was better establishing clubs
My spade bid was followed by spade support
Clubs was obviously best slam but many ended in variants of doubled spades contracts

As long as the slam makes why not.
And if you hit a spade fit, you did hit gold, given the likely club shortage with
p, chances to find a 44 are certainly reasonable, but you will quite likely also have
a 4-1 trump break.

[thepossum]

Hi

Thanks for your responses

Sorry have been offline for a few days

EDIT please bear with me I seem to have forgotten handviewer syntax
EDIT 2 apparently not my problem. hands have disappeared site wide going a long way back - using hand editor for a while

Hand 1

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4NT did not score that well obviously. 4NT over Texas was Blackwood. Many people either blasted 6NT or found it via a slightly off shape transfer

Hand 2

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Strangely Hand 2 scored ok. Nobody found clubs. 3 clubs was passed. After the spade fit was unsure how to even introduce clubs. The top scores were weird and wonderful doubled spade games and even an unmakeable 6SX that made somehow