[CeciD]

I am a beginner and don't have a regular partner. I also don't know a lot of the "conventions". When I play in person with my parents, after partner's one no trump open, responder says "transfer two hearts" to mean he has good spades. Online you can't see what your partner is saying. How do I know if that two hearts meant 0-7 pts, 5+ hearts or good spades? I don't think partner can explain bid to me, right, just to opponents? If in doubt, what would you assume? When playing solitaire the computer tells me what each bid means. Wish we could have that in the relaxed room if the whole table agreed to it . Is there a website online to learn conventions, hopefully free?

[pescetom]

CeciD, on 2020-May-01, 10:56, said:

I am a beginner and don't have a regular partner. I also don't know a lot of the "conventions". When I play in person with my parents, after partner's one no trump open, responder says "transfer two hearts" to mean he has good spades. Online you can't see what your partner is saying. How do I know if that two hearts meant 0-7 pts, 5+ hearts or good spades? I don't think partner can explain bid to me, right, just to opponents? If in doubt, what would you assume? When playing solitaire the computer tells me what each bid means. Wish we could have that in the relaxed room if the whole table agreed to it . Is there a website online to learn conventions, hopefully free?

Bridge is a partnership game and you are supposed to have agreed with partner what openings and sequences of bids mean and to communicate these agreements to the opponents. So if you are playing that in response to 1NT a bid of two hearts is a transfer showing 5+ spades (which unlike most agreements is almost universal) then you should alert that to opponents if required by your local regulations - in any case you can't ask your partner what it means, nor can he tell you.

Of course when playing with a stranger and having no time to discuss things you are often in a spot to decide what his bids will mean and how he will take yours. You get some help from what people write in their profiles and as you get more knowledgeable about conventions and systems you will become better at guessing how each person bids and will interpret your bids. But ultimately it remains a bit of a mess unless you can both agree to play a system you happen to both know well.

The internet is full of free resources about bridge conventions. Wikipedia is becoming one of the best. Bridgebums, Bridgeyguys, Bridgehands are sites that describe many conventions. Richard Pavlicek's rpbridge.net is a great place to start learning bridge in general and not just conventions. Larry Cohen has a more modern approach and is good for intermediates.

The BBO GIB Robot plays a system that is a bit outdated and over-complex but still useful to learn if you play much on BBO. There are some rudimental system notes but as you say you can also learn what it is "thinking" by looking at the explanations it gives. Don't just read the explanation and act on it, but try to figure out why it gave that explanation - what is the agreement or convention behind it.

You will meet people who are rude when you do not play the way they expect. Don't worry about that. Have fun

[CeciD]

Pescetom, Thank you so much for taking the time to write this detailed reply and with such a quick turn around. I will certainly look at the resources you mentioned. I have in fact met a few rude people, which prompted the question. I can understand why good players wouldn't want to play with novices. Fortunately the vast majority of people I'm played with have been very friendly and understanding. Thanks again.