[Orla]

Playing weak NT .......
holding:
AQ93 .. AQ9 .. Q742 .. J5
Which suit do you bid first, diamonds or spades? Why?

holding:
AQ93 .. AQ9 .. Q72 .. J45
Do you bid spades first or a "prepared" club? Why?

holding:
AK93 .. AQ97 .. Q2 .. 845
Which major do you bid first? Always up the line?
Or with
AK93 .. Q452 .. Q8 .. A97
The more "biddable" spades?

What are the hard and fast rules? : ;D

Orla

[hrothgar]

I need to know a bit more about system other than just "Weak NT".
Holding hands with a 4 card major and a 4 card minor, I typically prefer systems that allow me to bid the major. However, there are other alternatives.

With that said and done

>holding:
>AQ93 .. AQ9 .. Q72 .. J45
>Do you bid spades first or a "prepared" club? Why?

This looks like a 14 count to me.
4333 shape suggests downgrading the hand, as does the high number of Quacks.

>holding:
>AK93 .. AQ97 .. Q2 .. 845
>Which major do you bid first? Always up the line?

Most systems show Hearts before spades.
There are exceptions. Some members of the Blue Team preferred bidding spades first, but such systems are relatively rare.

>AK93 .. Q452 .. Q8 .. A97
>The more "biddable" spades?

Q542 is still biddable.
No need to show spades first.

Quote

[the hog]

With both Majors, tend to open 1H. That way you will not miss a fit.
If you open 1S with 44?? your partner may bid 1NT and you miss your 4-4(5) H fit, as you will not bid again.

With 4 in a M and 4 in a m, I prefer to open the Major. That way you can find your Majors fit immediately without having to mis bid your hand.
What I mean by this is the following, with
AQ93 .. AQ9 .. Q742 .. J5
opposite
Kxxx Kxxx xx xxx
some might bid
1D 1H 1S 2S
I think this is appalling as opener is totally misrepresenting her hand shape and showing 5D and 4S, NOT a 4432 shape. Anyone who bids like this does not know how to bid properly imo. Balanced hands should be bid as balanced hands.

If we chose to open this 1D, our bidding would go 1D 1H 1NT to show 15-18 balanced and now we lose the S fit. For this reason we open it with 1S.

With a stronger hand and a 4324 shapeyou might elect to open 1D. The reason behind this is that you would raise a 1S response to 3S.

With AK93 .. AJ97 .. Q2 .. 845
You open a weak NT

There are other considerations. With some 4333, I might be prepared to open my weakest minor against some opponents in the hope of discouraging that lead against NT. Of course if you do this regularly it becomes an agreement and must be alerted.

With all of the above and NT rebids you should play some form of checkback or Crowhurst or whatever. Even playing Acol I have come to like the 2 way checkback where 2C is a puppet to 2D and caters for invitational hands, and 2D caters for GF hands. If this is too complicated, just play Crowhurst 2C.

[mink]

My way is: of two 4-card suits, bid the highest, but never spade. I do not mind bidding 1D - 1H - 1S with a balanced hand. Doing it like this, the 1S opening is nearly always 5 cards, which is nice to know - you can raise with 3 card support. If you bid 1C with 4=3=3=3, it is called Swiss Acol.

I do never care if a suit is "biddable" or not - all suits are biddable for me.

Karl

[Cave_Draco]

I agree with most of the responses... one thing to consider is your rebid!

"Balanced" is 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 or 5-3-3-2. With a 5-card major or 4-4 in the majors, there is an argument for delaying describing your hand as balanced. All other combinations should be described as balanced, either by bidding NT or rebidding in NT.

The Hog's comment about showing 5D & 4S is relevant, . Only with Clubs and Spades do you open the minor before the major.

The "Prepared" Club only really applies to 4-3-3-3 hands with a 4-card Spade suit, you could open 1S, but when responder replies 1NT or 2S? 2NT is misleading.
With <AQ93 .. AQ9 .. Q72 .. J45> you could open 1S, but change it to <Qxxx .. Axx .. Kxx .. AQx>?
Also bear in mind what 1C-3C means if you play Inverted Minors! Do you really want to be in 3C with the former hand?

[jeroencottaar]

I play Dutch Acol(strong 1NT) but for the rest it's pretty much the same. The whole system is pretty much based around the opening structure: longest suit and lowest from four card suits. You should never miss a fit(partner should always prefer bidding a major to supporting a minor). The only exception is if you play fourth suit as conventional(you might miss a spade fit then on a 4-4-1-4 so 1H is preferable instead of 1C).

[Free]

I play acol with a 1C-opening which is forcing for one round and a weak NT.

When we have 4441, we open the mid suit when singleton C or S, and otherwise the suit below the singleton. With two 4-cards, we open the lowest when the suits touch, and the highest when the don't touch (except 1C with C and S). Why we bid like this has all to do with our 1C- and 1D-opening, since 1C-1D-1NT means balanced 18-20 HCP and 1C-1D-1M only promises a 3-card M, and 1D-1M-2NT means 6+D. From the moment opponents intervene, we could get troubles with these openings, so we changed that.

The only difference with normal openings (highest suit first, lowest of two 4-cards) is that we open 1S with 4-x-4-x, and 1H with x-4-x-4 (x = 2 or 3). And after partner bids, our rebid is NT (or jump support, for example 1H-1S-3S).

The reason for all this, is when you open a 4441 distribution, you allways have a rebid (you show 5-4 but that's the smallest lie). And with two 4-cards to avoid problems with a 1D-answer of partner after a 1C opening. Next to that, if partner opens 1H and rebids in NT, he can't have 4 Ds. Same thing with 1S followed by NT => no 4-card C or H. But the most important reason is that you find a Major-fit faster, so you can explore game or slam faster since you normally have to rebid NT after an answer of partner.

AQ93 .. AQ9 .. Q742 .. J5
I'd open 1S. I hate it when partner opens 1NT with too many HCPs, so I won't do it either.

holding:
AQ93 .. AQ9 .. Q72 .. J45
1S again, no exceptions. If partner bids 2S, we bid 2NT and then partner knows what I have: 4-card S (not 5) and 15-17HCP. If you allways bid 1C with a 4-3-3-3 you play Dutch acol (or Swiss)...

holding:
AK93 .. AQ97 .. Q2 .. 845
AK93 .. Q452 .. Q8 .. A97
both times 1H. Otherwise it's hard to find the heart fit since 1S-2H promises a 5-card and you have to lie with your rebid. Also, after 1H, a 1S answer has priority, the longer minor can wait.

[the hog]

I play acol with a 1C-opening which is forcing

No you don't. You might play a forcing 1C opening, but you are not playing Acol.

[Free]

Ok, some kind of Polish club then... 1D, 1H and 1S is at least a 4-card, 1C normally 4+, but it can contain balanced hands with 18-20HCP or 25+HCP with at least 2 clubs. Happy now?

[mishovnbg]

Hi friends, can you add your comments about ACOL in post for intermediate/begiiner players "Misho's offer 4"?
Misho