[smerriman]

johnu, on 2025-August-16, 12:46, said:

I checked the link. Brink was one of 3 out of 22 expert panelists who chose 3♣, not double.

Correct - not sure your point though? There was also a doubler who thought it was the easiest problem yet. Clearly a lot of disagreement.

[awm]

If you have 5-5 in the minors, unless your hand is very strong, you will often want to keep 3nt in the picture as a possible contract. This is a problem with bidding 3♦ followed by 4♣, which should be reserved for really strong hands (such that slam in a minor is likely and bypassing 3nt is not such a big cost). With a relatively minimum game force, it's often better to double, giving up on 5m/6m on an eight-only-card fit if partner has the required major controls for 3nt.

With 5-5 (or 6-6!) in the majors, it's different. You are generally willing to bypass 3nt, since 4M is likely to be a fine contract the vast majority of the time. Doubling will only help you if partner has FOUR card support for one of the majors, whereas bidding 3♠ followed by an appropriate number of hearts has a strong chance to find a fit when partner has only three-support.

Another thought is that partner occasionally leaves a double in when it looks like a misfit, and this is likely to be pretty poor when you have 6-6 majors (partner could easily have 3-3 and think there's no fit, since your double will frequently have 4-4 majors only, or possibly even 4-3 or the like since it's an awkward sequence).

[johnu]

smerriman, on 2025-August-16, 14:51, said:

Correct - not sure your point though? There was also a doubler who thought it was the easiest problem yet. Clearly a lot of disagreement.

Well, Brink's comment would have more weight if he was in the big majority of experts who doubled, or the 2nd biggest group who bid 3♦. If you are out on a limb, not as much IMO, even for a real world class player like Brink.

[diana_eva]

Huibertus, on 2025-August-16, 00:48, said:

A slow X to inform partner he shouldn't pass I assume?

jillybean, on 2025-August-16, 04:39, said:

This isn't the first time you've suggested that I use tempo to cheat at the bridge table.
I find it very offensive.

I think Huibertus meant that partner can't really "guess" they're not supposed to pass / convert the X, rather than implying anything about your methods or habits. I can see how it might have come across differently, though.