[Zelandakh]

bluejak, on 2012-May-24, 15:27, said:

If you check back in the thread this portion of it there was criticism of my methods, not the general methods, and saying what I had to do. I play a 1NT rebid as 13-17, thanks very much, and I see no reason to be criticised for it. I do not criticise other people's choice of system here on this forum.

I have no issue with your methods. You stated that you had no idea what problem CC was referring to; I tried to describe it to you. Your response mentioned nothing about a wide-ranging 1NT rebid which I also gave as a potential solution, saying only that it created a different set of problems, not that these problems were intractable. Anyway, I hope you can now see why CC regards this as a problem that makes it worth opening 1♦ on this shape. In that case you have a possible 2♣ rebid available instead. As always, what works best might be dependant on other parts of your bidding system so it is probably not helpful to consider the options in isolation (especially in the IBLF section!).

[ColdCrayon]

The more I talk about bridge, the more I learn; I wouldn't take what I said as a criticism of your bidding, let alone your person. But all of the systems loosely grouped under "Standard American" or "2/1" assume the following things: if you reverse, you're promising about an ace worth's greater values than a minimum opening and a longer first suit than second, and that if you bid NT naturally, you're promising a hand no more unbalanced than 5422. A lot of people won't even bid a NT with that.

A bid of 1♦ allows you to make a rebid of 2♣: a bid of 1♣ may force you to either reverse or bid no trump when neither describes your hand at all. If you take away the constraints I mentioned above then you have no problem, but you'll be playing an unusual system, and you'll have to alert all over the place.

[barmar]

ColdCrayon, on 2012-May-25, 15:08, said:

and that if you bid NT naturally, you're promising a hand no more unbalanced than 5422. A lot of people won't even bid a NT with that.

Lots of players are willing to make an exception if the singleton is in partner's suit, even if partner has only promised 4, especially if the singleton is an honor.

[bluejak]

ColdCrayon, on 2012-May-25, 15:08, said:

The more I talk about bridge, the more I learn; I wouldn't take what I said as a criticism of your bidding, let alone your person. But all of the systems loosely grouped under "Standard American" or "2/1" assume the following things: if you reverse, you're promising about an ace worth's greater values than a minimum opening and a longer first suit than second, and that if you bid NT naturally, you're promising a hand no more unbalanced than 5422. A lot of people won't even bid a NT with that.

A bid of 1♦ allows you to make a rebid of 2♣: a bid of 1♣ may force you to either reverse or bid no trump when neither describes your hand at all. If you take away the constraints I mentioned above then you have no problem, but you'll be playing an unusual system, and you'll have to alert all over the place.

First of all, I never said anything [and nor did you, earlier] about Standard American or 2/1: I play a perfectly normal system that is neither.

Second, I believe your presumption as to what is normal and what is weird is just wrong.

Third, I do not agree that I have to reverse with insufficient values: in fact I never reverse with 4-4, since a reverse guarantees five in the first suit.

Fourth, when I rebid no-trumps it is usually a suitable hand: exceptions are very rare and not based on a 4-4 in the minors problem, more likely to be when opponents bid one of my suits, which does tend to complicate rebids.

Fifth, none of my normal rebids are alertable, so sue me.

Sixth, when you make a system decision it is based on a number of relevant factors: the biggest mistake that people make is to assume one factor is paramount and ignore the rest. With respect that is what you have done with 4-4 in the minors. There are some hands on which a 1♣ opening is preferable, and it is not weird, just an informed decision.