[etha]

Here is a simple hand. 1st position favourable imps.

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So I think the modern trend is to open these 3♣ but I am sure there are people that think this is a clear pass.


I am going to try by using computer A.I. to decide whether this is good to open or bad.


Feel free to do the same or to make any comments you like. One thing I can't do but someone might be able to is look for similar hands played in real games and see what the result is there.

[nige1]

Etha writes 'Here is a simple hand. 1st position favourable imps. So I think the modern trend is to open these 3♣ but I am sure there are people that think this is a clear pass. I am going to try by using computer A.I. to decide whether this is good to open or bad. Feel free to do the same or to make any comments you like. One thing I can't do but someone might be able to is look for similar hands played in real games and see what the result is there.'
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Good luck, Etha, with your challenging self-imposed task. IMO, as dealer, non-vul, at IMPs, a 3♣ pre-empt seems normal.

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[hrothgar]

I suspect that most people would chose to open 3♣

[etha]

Ok so the least reliable method I have is to give the hand to q-plus. Q-plus is about the 3rd- 5th best program available in terms of results in the world computer bridge championship. It does have some interesting features though for inputting your own bids and doing simulations.


So first I set the opponents to play take out dbls and leaping michaels and then I set the opener to aggressive, normal and conservative 3 level preempts.

It chooses to open 3 ♣ at all settings. Then it simulates what will happen if you pass, open 1♣or 3♣. 1000 hands is the max however so that's what I chose.


And the results at normal and conservative were almost identical -1.2 imps for 1♣ and -0.5 imps for pass. Aggressive led to 1♣ -1.0 and pass at 0.0 imps.


So that was quite interesting I'll see what happens using other methods later.

[etha]

Moving on to Jack. Jack is the best available robot. It has 8 different preempt settings. On the 3 most aggressive it bids 3♣. So I deal 100 boards setting our hand as East and dealing the others. Next I plan to get jack to play them all with the preempt set to main stream and then again with it set to aggressive, the least aggressive it can be and still open 3♣. I will set jack to use the settings it does in the world computer championship and using that cc by both sides. I'll be back with the results which may take a while.

[barmar]

FYI, GIB passes, both basic and advanced settings.

I'd open 3♣ in a heartbeat, but robots have no hearts.

[etha]

Ok so I completed the first playthrough of the 100 hands with mainstream set, but I made a slight mistake and it set ew to moscito and ns were playing sort of sayc.

Anyway then I tried to get jack to play its own tournament that had been created by this and it went what I've already played this and refused.
So I have to actually have a person not jack sat in a seat so I chose east cos then I just open 3♣ every hand and hit auto play. It is now using the right cc so we may get to see if playing a different cc matters more than the opening of 3♣. I'll redo it with the mainstream setting with the right cc so we can see.

[etha]

up to bd 42 going a bit mad might have to find an easier way.

One thing I have noticed is the preempter never bids again unless forced.

Is it normal to have a 4♣ raise either after a bid or not to suggest opener do something either bid on with extras to make, or to bid on with more shape (sac) or to bid on with no defence(sac) or to dbl with unexpected defense or some combination of these?

I seem to remember maybe Robson suggesting 3nt was either to play or I want to sac and 4♣ was trying to involve partner in the decision.


Can anyone tell me about these sequences. And does anyone play action dbls, which always seemed a recipe for disaster when I heard about them?

[etha]

ok got to 50 boards. 63 imps to the preempter. If I work out a way to do this quickly I'll try to see how mad we can go with the preempts and gain. I'll stick to 3♣ favorable first in. Not sure I can go as far as 5 card suits but 6 bad might be possible.

[cherdano]

In a high level match, I'd be shocked more by pass than by 4♣.

[thepossum]

I know I'm not as advanced as everyone else on this page but in the absence of the ability to bid weak 2C I would consider a light 1C opening to a 3C preempt

Of course it depends on seat, situation in tournament, scoring, vulnerability etc. But I seem to be different to everyone else on Bridge Base and my bids often receive scorn so I will bow to the majority saying it should be 3C

I do not believe 1C exagerrates the strength of the hand excessively

But just ignore me people