[lycier]

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As to a final contract,5♣ is not better than 3nt with balance in this hand,so here GIB make a strange choice of game.

[1eyedjack]

6♣ is the place to be, until you find out about the unlucky trump break.
Not saying that 5♣ is the best route to get there. But passing 3N is certainly not going to.

[johnu]

Why is South opening 1♣ with 17 HCP, 4-3-3-3, and nothing that looks like upgrades, instead of 1NT??? And wouldn't you want to play in 6NT instead of 3NT on a single dummy basis?

[manudude03]

5C is technically a slam try in GIBs system asking for decent trumps. Why it should be I don't know, but the point is it's not a choice of game.

[lycier]

johnu, on 2014-January-06, 07:39, said:

Why is South opening 1♣ with 17 HCP, 4-3-3-3, and nothing that looks like upgrades, instead of 1NT??? And wouldn't you want to play in 6NT instead of 3NT on a single dummy basis?

If you open 1nt with 17hcp,GIB will pass with 8hcp.when with 9hcp,GIB will make invitation.

[helene_t]

Is 5♣ forcing? With the north hand I would certainly want to be in slam opposite 18-19.

[hrothgar]

lycier, on 2014-January-06, 07:06, said:

As to a final contract,5♣ is not better than 3nt with balance in this hand,so here GIB make a strange choice of game.

Fist rule of psyching: When you miss describe your hand with your first bid, you don't get to criticize partner's followup bidding.

First rule of playing with GIB: Open 1NT when ever possible.

[johnu]

lycier, on 2014-January-06, 07:44, said:

If you open 1nt with 17hcp,GIB will pass with 8hcp.when with 9hcp,GIB will make invitation.

So what you are saying is that playing 15-17 1NT, you always upgrade a 17 point hand to 18, in essence playing a 15-16 1NT???

[1eyedjack]

johnu, on 2014-January-06, 10:05, said:

So what you are saying is that playing 15-17 1NT, you always upgrade a 17 point hand to 18, in essence playing a 15-16 1NT???

There is a grain of truth to this. A balanced GIB responder to 1N is virtually certain to hold 9 HCP when inviting, and I find that it is seldom right to reject the invitation. This does not stop me opening 1N on 17. Partner is not certain to hold an 8 count, and opening 1N generally gains when he does not.

[Bbradley62]

1eyedjack, on 2014-January-06, 07:12, said:

6♣ is the place to be, until you find out about the unlucky trump break.

Isn't 6NT superior to 6♣?

I wonder whether there's an ace-asking bid available over 3NT. If not, North should figure that 16HCP + 18-19HCP = slam all the time, never mind any invitational sequence.

[1eyedjack]

Y 6N