[jerdonald]

BBO forum,
If my partner or I open 2 diamonds(none of the standard conventions)
and the responder bids 2 Spades it's a transfer to 2NT. When this
sequence occurs we alert "transfer". Should we be alerting
"transfer to no trump"?

Jerry D.

[mgoetze]

Almost certainly you should alert, not announce, such a bid. If asked you should give a complete explanation of what the bid shows, not just what it asks opener to do. For alert questions, you should always specify which jurisdiction you are asking about.

If you're asking what to do on BBO, try the "General BBO Discussion" forum.

[barmar]

In most jurisdictions that have announcements, the "transfer" announcement is only used for normal Jacoby and TexasTransfers over NT bids. If you play transfers in other situations, they should be alerted, not announced.

[frisbee]

In an ACBL tournament, Partner would "Alert" the 2♠ response (and not explain the Alert unless asked). Of course, in an ACBL tournament (following GCC), you would not be allowed to use your home-grown 2♦ special opener.

On BBO, if I understand your auction correctly, the 2♠ bidder should provide a much more descriptive explanation since it is clearly not standard (or allowed?). As mgoetze mentions, this should be posted elsewhere for what to do in a BBO tournament.

[barmar]

frisbee, on 2015-August-09, 07:34, said:

On BBO, if I understand your auction correctly, the 2♠ bidder should provide a much more descriptive explanation since it is clearly not standard (or allowed?). As mgoetze mentions, this should be posted elsewhere for what to do in a BBO tournament.

Except that explanations on BBO are normally entered into the tiny "Explain" box while you're bidding. Players aren't generally expected to put a long-winded explanation there, so you usually put a short summary (for a transfer, you can just say what suit it shows). If the opponents want more details, they can ask for it.

[frisbee]

You can type what your bids mean down in the chat section (where the arrows are) and then easily send that to both opponents (your partner will not see your description) ... at least you can on the DOS version, I do not know about the BBO web version. I see too many problems with simply typing "Transfer" and would definitely explain the bid more completely. You must explain to the opponents everything that your non-standard bids mean. Let's not turn BBO into a poker game.

[barmar]

Chat isn't saved in the hand record, so the "Explain" box is generally preferred. But whether you use chat or the explain box, you generally have to be terse to avoid taking forever to make the bid.

[frisbee]

If my understanding of this convention/sequence is correct, I would suggest that the 2♠ bidder type "beginning of an asking sequence" in the Explain box. Then Partner will bid 2NT and type "Forced" in the Explain box. That would satisfy me and I could ask relevant questions, if necessary, since I would now understand what is happening. (Again, this is problematic only in non-ACBL BBO games, because this convention/sequence is not allowed in ACBL games.)

[Zelandakh]

If 2NT is forced then it is a puppet and not a transfer. On BBO it would be reasonable to type "puppet to 2NT" but in real play I would expect an alert and, upon request, a more detailed description of what hand types the 2♠ bidder can hold.

[steve2005]

frisbee, on 2015-August-09, 07:34, said:

Of course, in an ACBL tournament (following GCC), you would not be allowed to use your home-grown 2♦ special opener.

What 2♦ is wasn't specified but I can think of at least one convention allowed by GCC the original Mexican 2♦. 18-19 balanced. This uses 2♠ as a puppet to 2N. There could be others but would pretty well have to be strong 15+ pts.

[blackshoe]

steve2005, on 2015-August-15, 07:35, said:

What 2♦ is wasn't specified but I can think of at least one convention allowed by GCC the original Mexican 2♦. 18-19 balanced. This uses 2♠ as a puppet to 2N. There could be others but would pretty well have to be strong 15+ pts.

"Original". Hm. I'll have to look that up.