[mycroft]

It absolutely is off-topic, but thread drift is a thing, so...

As a weak NT player, I *love* when they play "equal or better". Partner has a decent 6-count, and wonders if we're going for x00 into nothing (wherever we end up, when partner has 15, 16 or so), or whether they are going to have to defend tight just to avoid the overtrick (if partner has a decent flat 12 or 13). Or partner has a good 9 or 10, and wonders if they're getting us enough (especially when we've found our suit) or if they have game - or just assumes "equal" and "takes the points".

We play the weak NT to take (some) pressure off our 1m openers; the fact that it is both very descriptive and somewhat preemptive is just a bonus. Anything the opponents can do to make the preempt *better* seems good for us.

The only thing better than "equal or better" is "takeout", frankly. (It happens. A lot. No, I can't understand why either.)

And with a weaker NT, it's even weirder. Why would you *double 1NT* with a hand you would have passed if they hadn't opened? But some do...

Having said that, we play "rescue system on" no matter what the double means. I've converted a conventional double more than once...

[blackshoe]

pescetom, on 2025-March-11, 16:32, said:

FWIW (and to confirm taliban status) I do think it is unethical to defer resolving the agreement and updating your partnership documentation.

Are you accusing me of something?

[akwoo]

mycroft, on 2025-March-12, 10:44, said:

The only thing better than "equal or better" is "takeout", frankly. (It happens. A lot. No, I can't understand why either.)

I understand perfectly why "takeout" happens a lot. Remembering your bridge agreements is hard (whether it's because it's genuinely hard or because you don't want to put that much effort into it). It's not so bad to remember that all low level doubles are for takeout, but now if you have to remember that doubles of 1N are an exception, that's hard, especially if the exception almost never comes up. (If you're almost always playing against strong NT, and your defense is "natural" (but in practice your defense is "pass"), the exception almost never comes up.)

[mycroft]

Okay, sure.

But Takeout of what? has always been my question.

[blackshoe]

Takeout of Notrumps. :-)