David Stevenson
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It rather depends on what do mean by 5530 and how strong partner is. If partner is really weak you will be playing in 3C and if you mean 5=5=3=0 and he is not very weak you will be in a making 4H. In all sequences real misfits have a habit of getting too high, but if you underbid by opening a perfectly normal 2C opener with 1C because there might be a misfit you will miss a lot more games and slams than you will gain.
Bridge is a partnership game and it is well known that one of the problems with less experienced players is that they tend to treat strong hands as though they have to make all the decisions and do not consult their partners with the weak hands. Most sequences here will be made a lot easier for partner if you originally start by telling him how strong you are rather than lying about your strength by opening 1C.
I think opening 2C is perfect. When I play Benji I like to play a 2D response as a relay so I always respond 2D. This hand is a perfect example of how well it works after 2C 2D 3C 4C.
Please remember that if you play the double as penalties as Bernard recommends it must be alerted (and explained if playing on BBO). On the other hand a takeout double as many people play needs no alert.
A sit out is the same as not played so the software will not worry. It works out the final score as a percentage of the total score for that pair over the total possible score over the boards that pair played. So long as the unplayed boards have no score entered the results will be correct. The mistake would be to put in averages for the final two boards.
Please remember that penalty doubles are alertable. The invitational double depends on how you play it. If it is pure takeout, no problem, but if as some people play it shows at least a doubleton it is competitive rather than takeout and is alertable.
I think it is a takeout double, not a competitive double. A competitive double tends to suggest some sort of defence is possible and is alertable.
Acol is a four card major system. It can be and is playing in a wide variety of styles and methods. Because of the way Acol has developed many players play that the 1♠️ opening is only on a four card suit when 15-20 and 4333 so some players will open that 1♣️ and always have five cards when they open 1♠️. Because of their other arrangements, they might still call this Acol if it follows normal Acol arrangements otherwise. So I think Acol with a five card spade suit is just possible.
But if you are playing five card majors then that is not Acol because the whole basis of the system is different. So people who say they are playing Acol and five card majors are just wrong. The simple way that a lot of people in this country now play five card majors should just be called “Five card majors”.
There are two reasons why people go wrong and refer to Acol when it isn’t. First is that there is developing a simple five card major system without a real name. If only some leading player like Andrew Robson would promulgate it and call it “Robson“ it would be so much simpler. What it really is could be described as standard British five card majors.
Second is that a lot of players misunderstand the meaning of Benjamin or Benji as it is commonly known. They seem to think it refers to weak twos and also for some reason seem to think that the word Benji is always associated with Acol. Benji refers to the strong bids 2♣️ and 2♦️ and is designed so that a player can show eight playing tricks and also play weak twos. It can be played with several systems, such as Acol, standard British five card majors, SAYC or 2/1.
3C is semi-natural, ie it is natural in that it shows clubs but it is quite normal for it to be only three cards. Thus it does not need an alert.
When your partner opens 2N you have to give the range whatever system you are playing. Online with self alerts as on BBO and some sessions on RealBridge the only difference is that the player opening 2N says what it is. You must realise different people play different things and there will be a lot of players out there who play Benji but play a different 2N range. Also, of course, there will be people out there who have no idea what Benji means.
If you open 2C or 2D playing Benji and rebid 2N then the rules do not require you to announce a range. Playing self alerts online I would anyway since it cannot hurt.
Yes, certainly. Benjamin (oftener shortened to Benji or Benjy) means a 2D opening replacing the traditional Acol 2C and a 2D opening replacing the traditional Acol twos.
It is perfectly legitimate to play other twos but they are not Benjamin. One problem is that there is a common misunderstanding by which people think Benjamin twos mean Weak twos. But Benjamin refers to the strong openings which are played with Weak twos in the majors.
Yes, there is no penalty for an unestablished revoke. However there is the penalty of a major penalty card for a defender’s card that is exposed when it should not be.
If it is established then there is a one trick penalty assuming the defenders take a subsequent trick. There is no two trick penalty when the revoke card did not win the trick.
Having tried to run a test program using EBUScore my first impression is that if you put in average the final results are correct but the Cross Imps are not. If you put in Not Played the Cross Imps are correct but the final score is not. I shall keep investigating.
It is always interesting what constitutes an agreement and if your partner has never opened 1N with a singleton and you are very unlikely to you might think it is not common enough to count as an agreement. The other side of the coin is that if you are sure you would then probably it is an agreement. I shall leave it to you.
Since we seen to be telling people what we play, and just for interest (I am not suggesting people should follow what I do) our opening 1N varies by vulnerability and position. So with 13 to 14 points first and second hand nonvulnerable we open 1D with a 4=4=3=2 shape, ie we open a three card Diamond suit. So our 1D – 2C – 2D may be on three cards in that position. While I have known the sequence to be passed I cannot remember it ever being on a really poor fit. We also open 1N, whatever the range, with a singleton honour in a minor, and announce that.
If it was realised before the revoke was established, ie before North or South played to the next trick, South corrects his revoke and plays a club. South’s discard becomes a major penalty card. If South’s corrected club is a winner then he wins the trick but has to play his discard since a major penalty card must be played at the first legal opportunity. If he corrects to a losing club then West wins that trick and South must play his major penalty card at the first legal opportunity, with additional possibilities if North gets on the lead before the penalty card is played.
Note that it is just possible that after the revoke but before it was corrected West led to the next trick. If that is the case and it was then corrected West’s lead is put back in his hand without penalty and knowledge of that card is unauthorised to North and South.
