[Peridot0]

My pard opens 1 H, p, I bid 1 Spade, pass, pard bids 1NT. I have 14 points and 5 spades and 4D. I bid 2D, assuming that a new suit by an unpassed hand is forcing, and my robot pard passes! How can I show 5 spades and opening values?

[Stephen Tu]

It's a bug. Generally new suit by unpassed hand is forcing, but NOT after 1nt (1c-1s-1nt-2h is non-forcing), except if you are playing "new minor forcing" or some other checkback mechanism, in which case a new MINOR suit would be forcing (or 2c, or both 2c/2d depending on flavor of checkback agreed). But GIB is supposed to be playing new minor forcing, so 2d ought to have been forcing here.

Perhaps it is assuming 2c is forcing, but 2d isn't? You can hover your mouse over the bids before you click them to figure out what GIB thinks it's supposed to be. In any case they should fix this.

[Bbradley62]

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[johnu]

I don't remember GIB's bids in this sequence, but isn't 2♣ new minor forcing?

[barmar]

The lowest unbid minor is New Minor Forcing. GIB doesn't play 2-way NMF, so there's no reason for both 2♣ and 2♦ to be forcing when the opening bid was 1♥.

[1eyedjack]

In which case GIB describing 2D as 8+ total points with no imposed upper limit is misleading. Granted that with 8 total points it might not want to force.

It is a point that I made in a thread some months ago. I favour a protocol in which every call expressly commits in its explanation to the extent to which it is or is not forcing on partner to bid. It would be implicit that if next (opponent) bids then a bid that would otherwise have been forcing no longer is so as the forcer is guaranteed another bid.

I realise that space within which to contain an explanation comes at a premium. We might assume some defaults, ie NF if silent, or GF if an earlier bid was GF and we are below game. But defaults aside, the space consumed by the courtesy of adding ST, GF, F, INV, NF, TP appended to every explanation is minimal.