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mycroft, on Jun 6 2007, 01:05 PM, said:
I prefer defensive systems that tell a story to those that play guessing games, and here's why:
At the one level, you're not doing much of anything to a strong club pair.
At the two level, you're putting a crimp in things, but it's still dealable.
If you can get to the three level, however, now you're putting a serious crimp in things - especially since you've taken away their cuebid for 3NT.
Why does Mathe X=majors work? Not because 1C-X is a difficult bid to handle - as many say, it gives more options than 1C-P - but because when the doubler has both majors, 3NT is "in the picture" a lot more often than average, *and* with a good fit in a major, advancer can bid 3M.
In other words, you don't have to play lone wolf attacking the strong clubbers - they rarely can negotiate strength and strain in one call by responder, and 3M still takes away the stopper-ask cuebid for 3NT even if it's done by the strong hand's RHO.
Having said that, straight up Wonder bids (bid=that suit or the other three) are *very* effective. The chance of catching a safe place to land with either option is much higher than with many X or Y bids...
Michael.
At the one level, you're not doing much of anything to a strong club pair.
At the two level, you're putting a crimp in things, but it's still dealable.
If you can get to the three level, however, now you're putting a serious crimp in things - especially since you've taken away their cuebid for 3NT.
Why does Mathe X=majors work? Not because 1C-X is a difficult bid to handle - as many say, it gives more options than 1C-P - but because when the doubler has both majors, 3NT is "in the picture" a lot more often than average, *and* with a good fit in a major, advancer can bid 3M.
In other words, you don't have to play lone wolf attacking the strong clubbers - they rarely can negotiate strength and strain in one call by responder, and 3M still takes away the stopper-ask cuebid for 3NT even if it's done by the strong hand's RHO.
Having said that, straight up Wonder bids (bid=that suit or the other three) are *very* effective. The chance of catching a safe place to land with either option is much higher than with many X or Y bids...
Michael.
I never liked wonder bids. For starters, you have the single-suited hand a lot more often than the three-suited hand. The second point is that the 3-suited hand has a lot less offensive potential and if they start doubling you, you're in a whole lot of trouble. I just found that I didn't like bidding them, even at the 2-level, on the three suited hands, and then they became even more rare. I'd much rather play natural than wonder bids as then advancer can bounce the auction much easier, rather than always holding back in case you happen to have the 3-suited hand.
