[jocdelevat]

I posted the 2 hands because for some time I got invited to play in tourney by players with higher level than mine and then receice a lot of criticism from them during the tourney. I do not understand why someone make an invitation to a weak player then gets upset about his play. Why he didn't invite a player same level as him or better. I'm open to advice and you can even be rude if you are right about what you are saying then I do not care.
I receiced that "advice" for the second hand(posted here) and I thought was something I didn't know because I made contract. Why criticize for a mistake that didn't exist especially when you know I'm the weaker player and you invited me.
The first hand posted here I played as he require and open 1d then opps overcall even twice and bid as I never open. I can say we got lucki to set them -1 in their 2sx contract.

[jocdelevat]

the full hands:

Scoring: IMP

---

West North East South

 Pass  Pass  1♦    Pass
 Pass  1♠    1NT   Pass
 Pass  2♥    Pass  2♠
 Pass  Pass  Dbl   Pass
 Pass  Pass  

Scoring: IMP

---

West North East South

 -     1NT   Pass  2NT
 Pass  3NT   Pass  Pass
 Pass  

[han]

jocdelevat, on Mar 6 2008, 04:24 PM, said:

I posted the 2 hands because for some time I got invited to play in tourney by players with higher level than mine and then receice a lot of criticism from them during the tourney.

You are completely correct, it is not right to get upset when you invite a beginner/intermediate player and they play like an beginner/intermediate player. At the same time, not getting upset when your partner makes mistakes that from your perspective are almost impossible is not always easy. So while getting angry is very bad, I can certainly relate to it.

On the first hand your bidding was really wrong. 1♦ as suggested by the advanced player is very bad to start with. Then 1NT when partner has passed shows about 18-19 points, you had 15. Given that you have already shown a hand much stronger than you have, you really should leave it up to partner to decide whether to double or not.

[barmar]

One the 2nd hand your 1NT opening was fine. However, your 3NT bid was wrong; 2NT asks you to bid 3NT if you have more than a minimum, but a 4333 with 15 HCP is about as minimum as they come (not counting upgraded 14-counts). It looks like it makes due to a lucky lie of the cards -- the ♦s block and West is squeezed on the run of the ♣s. But just because a contract makes doesn't make the bid correct, it just means you got away with it this time.

[matmat]

barmar, on Mar 6 2008, 06:05 PM, said:

One the 2nd hand your 1NT opening was fine. However, your 3NT bid was wrong; 2NT asks you to bid 3NT if you have more than a minimum, but a 4333 with 15 HCP is about as minimum as they come (not counting upgraded 14-counts). It looks like it makes due to a lucky lie of the cards -- the ♦s block and West is squeezed on the run of the ♣s. But just because a contract makes doesn't make the bid correct, it just means you got away with it this time.

not to mention that the 2N bidder has not heard of the myriad of ways to locate a 44 major suit fit.

[helene_t]

It makes life so much easier when you open 1NT. You have described the strength and shape of you hand so now p can make an informed decision.

Opening a suit denies a 15-17 balanced. Therefore you get to all kind of hopeless auctions when failing to open 1NT with such a hand. For example if it goes
1♦-1♥
?
You are too weak for 2NT and too strong for 1NT. Now if you happen to have a four-card spades you can postpone the problem by bidding 1♠, but then it continues
1♦-1♥
1♠-1NT
?

and now you are too strong to pass but cannot bid anything. And many other auctions will cause similar problems.

Actually it can be a consideration to open 1NT with a slightly unbalanced hand (say 6322 or 5422 with a long minor, or more rarely a 4441 or 5431 type) if opening a suit would lead to rebid problems. The converse, failing to open 1NT with 15-17 balanced, is never an issue. Just always op 1NT.

[FrancesHinden]

I don't want to confuse matters too much, so I start by saying that it's obvious to open both hands 1NT.

However, I think some of the scathing comments directed at the advice not to are slightly harsh.

As hrothgar explained, it used to be the case that people actively tried hard not to open 1NT. It used to need a strong (more like 17-19) balanced hand with good stops in every suit. Look at bidding from the 50s and you will see people with strong balanced hands happily bidding out both their suits (in fact you still see many people opening 1C and rebidding 1S with a minimum 4324).

That's not the case any more; as bridge has evolved people have found that it is better to describe the overall nature of the hand (balanced vs not balanced).

So the advice you got was (very) old-fashioned and hence wrong by today's standards.

The reason I've written all this out, is that when someone gives you one piece of bad advice, it is normal subsequently to downgrade other advice you are given. However, this person may still be a good player and their advice on competitive bidding or play or defence may still be very good (it may not be, I don't know). Don't mark them down as not worth listening to on the basis of this individual comment.

Quote

One the 2nd hand your 1NT opening was fine. However, your 3NT bid was wrong; 2NT asks you to bid 3NT if you have more than a minimum, but a 4333 with 15 HCP is about as minimum as they come (not counting upgraded 14-counts). It looks like it makes due to a lucky lie of the cards -- the Ds block and West is squeezed on the run of the ♣s. But just because a contract makes doesn't make the bid correct, it just means you got away with it this time.

Your bidding was fine on the second hand, but I would have driven to game via Stayman on partner's hand. 3NT was a perfectly good spot, if the club finesse is right it has 9 tricks.

[han]

It's a peculiar sport where players who haven't paid attention since the 50's are giving advice to beginners. Any tennis coaches that still recommend an underhanded service?