Hiya Kimii, Yes, bidding 3C after transferring to spades (if partner hadn't super accepted) is a reasonable idea. This gives our partner more info in order to let them judge between 3NT or 4S. I do, however, have to agree that the downside to 3C is that it tells the opponents how to defend, and this is probably too expensive of a downside. I generally prefer an approach of 'bid more of your major or bid NTs' when you are interested in game after a transfer sequence. It is unlikely that a 5-2 spade fit will be a better contract than 3NT as this would have to be a very strange layout of our partner's points in order to make 3NT not safe. Something like a very strong doubleton in spades with one of the red suits completely wide open for NTs, and even in that case, it would probably need a 3-3 spade break in order for 4S to stand any chance. It's also worth mentioning that a club lead is not exactly unlikely against an eventual 3NT contract. Just because we have AKxx in our hand (which will be the dummy) does not mean that an opponent won't lead them. In NTs defenders tend to lead long suits, so whilst a red suit lead is certainly more likely than a club, I wouldn't go as far to say a club lead against 3NT is unlikely. Could easily be the case that the defender on lead's longest suit is clubs. Thanks as always for your thought provoking comment! Dom

Hiya Paul, Thanks for your comment. Whilst I understand your thought process behind voiding diamonds in hand at trick 2, this doesn't actually save us from a 6-1 heart break (the hand with the singleton heart also having 3 trumps) because the defence can win the diamond and then switch to hearts. This is bad for us because we have to either: Win the heart in hand with the Ace, cash 2 trumps and 2 spades and then attempt to cross to dummy with the KH (and we then suffer a ruff) Or: Win the heart on the table with the King and in doing so, get rid of the vital entry we need in order to play spades towards hand later. As such, I think the best play is to cash two top trumps and two top spades at tricks 2-5 (as I did in the video). You could then make the argument that voiding diamonds in hand is a good idea now, but then of course the hand that wins the diamond could play a third trump, killing the contract when spades are not 3-3. Therefore, we cannot really afford to lose a diamond at any stage and we simply have to hope that hearts are not 6-1, with the hand with the singleton heart also having 3 trumps. Hope this helps, Dom

@@learnmodernbridge101 thanks. i already commented on that(i was wrong). most of the bridgemaster level 4 and 5 hands are quite good.

Hiya Mike, Sorry to hear that you think the PIP distracts from the hand. We thought it added to the overall experience as you can see me talk about the hand at the same time. We will monitor thoughts on this closely and revert back to no PIP in the corner if we get more negative feedback on this feature. Glad to hear you love the videos though! Cheers, Dom

@@learnmodernbridge101 Thanks for talking the time to reply. And yeah, the videos are excellent. I played years ago and they’ve really reignited my interest.

at 30:50 I believe you should not cover with the queen, I'd prefer declarer to win the jack of diamonds, then having to run A K in diamond to empty out dummy's trump. ending in Declares hand with no way to cross over to the heart

@@KimiiiRaikkonen Hi Kimii, Yes, both reasonable ideas you have commented there! Trumping the QS (which is a winner) is a good idea to create an extra entry which allows us to finesse in diamonds immediately and therefore we can try the heart finesse later by maintaining the AC as an entry to do this. As for covering the JD lead from the table: it will usually be correct to cover an honour lead from dummy like this because it could establish a trick in the shape of the 9D or 10D with your partner, but as we can see in this instance it is futile whatever we do. Not covering here does limit declarer with regards to entries, but this is acting with the knowledge that covering the JD did not yield any extra tricks for the defence. As it happens on this hand, it doesn't matter what we do as the diamonds are positioned badly for the defence, but the hearts are sat well, so it all results in the same number of tricks - cover or not. I appreciate your point though, and always a good idea to think about these things rather than just do them because 'that's what you do'. Thanks for your thoughtful comments. Dom

@@learnmodernbridge101 I'm very happy for your answers. Makes it fun to comment and interact. Thank you

Glad you enjoyed it - exit transfers are one of my favourite conventions too! Dom

Hiya, This is not an opening bid but an overcall. If you watch the video again you will see that an opponent had just opened 1D in front of this hand. Hope that helps, Dom

I'll try to slow down in future vids! Dom

Hi William, As I commented below when you suggested not opening this 12 count with a singleton Q a few months ago - I just don't like it. If you have 12 points, you should be opening in my opinion. I can see your argument that the Q 'isn't worth it's full weight' but I believe this kind of tinkering overcomplicates the idea of when to open and gives too much flexibility to 'how you feel' about a hand. You have to stick to basic rules and structure when bidding as it is a language, and you cannot afford to step too far away from your agreed language with your partner, otherwise you will not communicate well and will end up the wrong contract too often. I also don't think the 19 point hand (North) has underbid. They could not find a fit so the only real possibility of a slam was in NTs, and without a long suit 'running' between the two hands, you will usually need in and around 33 points for 6NT (as you will have heard me say in the video). Given that the opener has limited their hand in the auction, and no fit has been found, I think North's approach to take the safe game is a perfectly reasonable one. Yes, 6NT could make but without a fit and without 33 points, it won't often. Hope this helps, Dom

Hi Anthony, You can indeed play this 1NT artificial overcall (known as a Sandwich NT) but it is usually shorter in the minors, so in this case it would be 4/4 or 5/4. I think given West's 5/5 shape, it makes sense to jump to the unusual 2NT as it is more pre-emptive and describes their hand more accurately. Cheers, Dom

Hiya, This was one of our first ever videos so apologies for the background noise. I hope you watch another, more recent, video of ours and you will see that the production quality is much much better. We keep this video uploaded just because we think that the more bridge we have on here, the better! Cheers, Dom

@@learnmodernbridge101 Thank you so much for your videos, it is very helpful.

@@loretomurraylm Glad you like em! Dom

Hi William, Thanks for your comment. Whilst I understand the theory behind not pre-empting with a 4 card major outside, this is not something I subscribe to. The idea, of course, is that you might miss a fit in your 4 card major, but I have found that in practice this is not often the case, and even when it is, playing in your 7 card suit can still be the correct spot. I am quite an aggressive player, so I like to pre-empt whenever I can! Hope this helps, Dom

Glad you enjoyed it! Dom

Lots of half an hour long videos being uploaded still! Dom

@@learnmodernbridge101 Yes, I know. I love the longer ones. Just pulling your leg!

@@andrewwebb9426 Haha you got me good! Dom

Hi Toto, Thanks for your comment. It wouldn't necessarily work out badly on this hand to duck the KS, but it would leave East with just 1 trump left so declarer could now just ignore trumps and play on side suits instead, based on the 'rule of 1' ( allthingsbridge.co.uk/the-rule-of-1/ ) . In this hand, this wouldn't actually matter as declarer is doomed to fail (unless East helps them by leading a club from their hand), but generally speaking it is not normally good defensive play to leave yourself with only 1 trump which is the master trump because declarer can now leave you with that master trump, forcing you to ruff in with it instead. Hope this helps, Dom

Thanks for your kind words, glad you enjoyed it. Yes, you are right the contract could be beaten but it would require incredibly psychic defence to do so. It first needs South to lead a diamond (and not the suit that their partner had bid on their own at the 5 level!) and then when North wins the AH they would then need to UNDERLEAD their AKQ of clubs over to South's Jack of clubs for South to then lead another diamond for North to ruff. This defence is so psychic that I would be convinced my opponents were cheating if they came up with it! Cheers, Dom

@@learnmodernbridge101 Yes, indeed. That's why I added the smiley.

Hiya, I would play 3H as a 'Michaels Cue Bid' here which would show 5/5 in spades and a minor. Not quite the hand shown, but not far off! The problem with leaping to an unusual 4NT as in the video is that it is possible your side could have made 3NT, but it is hard to know that. The beauty of the opponent's weak 2 opening being seen here. Cheers, Dom

Hi Andrew, Thanks for your comment. I assume you mean the videos where I was playing bridge as all 4 players? We are still recording those, with more to be uploaded very soon. The online videos are just another version of content that we are uploading as it is easier to make and gives us more bridge to show on the channel. Hope this helps and thanks for your kind words :) Dom

@@learnmodernbridge101 Thanks Dom. I follow your videos avidly. Always something to learn in bridge! And you are an excellent teacher. I don’t always totally agree, mind. The first time I drew the attention of my own bridge group to one of your videos was as an example where everybody lost but it was just a question of by how much. I understand about competitive bridge but the bridge I encourage in my own little group is old-fashioned ‘social bridge’ where we actually enjoy playing. I’ve referred to many of your videos since then in a more positive way, however! I do sometimes wonder if you can retain your partners for very long, though?

I suppose it depends what you are playing the game for. My idea for this channel is pursuit of improvement so there will always be some air of 'competitiveness' to that end. However, I think the game of bridge is a brilliant social game, and not one that needs to be taken seriously at all! Just like all games or sports, I suppose. When I play, I like to think my partners are having as much fun as me! Cheers, Dom

Hiya, These games are played on BBO. Cheers, Dom

Hiya, Yes, not unreasonable to not count the QD and therefore not open the hand. It would indeed lead to the sequence you are suggesting with an overcall in hearts from West and then an Unassuming Cue Bid from East. This leads to East-West getting to the same game of 4H. As for the lead: I do not like 'top of nothing' leads as this can be misleading as to whether you have two, three or four (or more!) cards in the suit led. I play that you only lead top of a doubleton, so with more than 2 cards in the suit and no honour (as the case here) you have to lead the second card down and then follow on the next trick in that suit with the highest card. Of course, this is just partnership agreement and most things are reasonably effective as long as you agree with one another. This is just my preferred method based on experience of what has worked best for me. Hope this helps, Dom

Hi Andrew, In this particular circumstance, West does not need to worry about their partner's rebid (reverse or not) as their hand is strong enough to force game. Irrespective of East's rebid, West knows that they can always bid spades to show their 5:4 shape as they are strong enough to do so. If you lack points, that is when you need to be worried about overbidding and where reverses come into it. As it happens, it is not always necessarily the best system to play reverses as you lose the ability to show your 5:4 shapes and lose the fact that a rebid of a suit is always 6+ cards. As with most things in this game, it is trade-off! Hope this helps, Dom

Hi Andrew, If you re-watch the video you might hear me say why I was avoiding a diamond lead, you might have missed it! It is because the declarer has a feature in diamonds (we know that from the bidding) so leading away from the KD is risky and will only work if you find your partner with a diamond honour which is quite unlikely on their auction. Dom

@@learnmodernbridge101 whoops, sorry!

Great to hear it, glad it was helpful! Dom

Not my choice of bid, I agree! Even though I do like bidding as much as possible haha. Dom

Wholeheartedly agree with your comments. I don't think this partnership were playing Lebensohl so it was more of a lucky punt to 3NT! Dom

Haha fair comment. I think I meant it is unfortunate that they can no longer bid - I like bidding! Dom

There are ups and downs to playing ACOL, I agree, however, responding at the 2 level with an 8-loser hand is completely normal and safe. Make it a 9-loser and now a 2 level response is a stretch. Hope this helps, Dom

Yes, it's always ACOL, unless otherwise stated.

Thanks Andrew. Glad to hear you are enjoying the videos :) Dom

Hi Eric, Thanks for your comment. Interestingly, I think that West would have probably bid the same 2S bid as a weak jump overcall, and unless N-S were playing 5 card majors, I dont think North has a clear bid. So the end contract would probably be the same! Cheers, Dom

Hi Jim, Thanks for your comment. A double would not show a spade fit and instead would show the other unbid major, in this case hearts. This would be called a 'negative double' and would not represent our stong spade fitting hand here. Cheers, Dom

Glad you liked it Allan! Dom