awm, on 2012-April-21, 21:02, said:
(1M) - 2M - (Pass) - ??? What is 2M? If Michaels (which is popular) how do you ask for the minor (some play 2NT, some play 3♣ pass/correct)?
You can also play both of these as asking for the minor but that 2NT also asks for range at the same time, ie 3m = that minor and min; 3
♥ = clubs and max; 3
♠ = diamonds and max; others = very strong. That also gives you either 3
♦ or 3M-1 to use as a good raise of partner's major, particularly useful when they have spades ((ie 1
♠) - 2
♠ - (P) - 3
♦ = good heart raise).
As for questions, I think the first question is which basic system to play and which basic carding method. Which follow-up questions come will depend on these - the questions one would ask for Acol are very different from those for 2/1 or strong club. For example, when agreeing Benji Acol the first question I usually ask is what range the auction 2
♣ - 2
♦ - 2NT shows since this is pretty fundamental and everyone seems to think their version of Benji is standard for this.
If playing (serious) MP with a brand new partner and with very limited time I think it is actually more productive to get on the same page for competitive auctions and defensive carding than anything else since this is where there are the most gains are to be made. You can usually get by with vanilla 2/1 or Acol with a handful of simple conventions for undisturbed auctions. If just playing casually then it is probably ok to see how things go and discuss specific things as they come up.
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