TWO4BRIDGE

I won't B-)

T/O ... 1 Opener ( out of 16 ) made the DBL... passed out ... 2♥X making . Some Responders bid 3♥ or 4♣ over 3♣, but ended up in just 5♣. No one else was in slam.

I felt partner had the nuts.... a hand that would have made a SJS w/o interference. So, right or wrong, I bid... 6♣ Partner's hand: A K J x x x J x x A K Q x

Interesting that partner "chickened out" upon finding ALL key cards + the trump Q . I guess he had 2nd thoughts... because of the "wasted" ♠ Ace.... and 30 hcp slams require a perfect fit. Your bidding was fine because of your max. Over your 3♥, I suppose 3♠ would not necessarily be taken as a cuebid for ♥ since partner may have had the "2NT invite" hand. And, now he is concerned about ♠-stop(s) . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Meckwell uses 4S! as regular kickback-RKCB for ♥ and 4NT! as Exclusion ( ♠-void ).

1S - ( p ) - 1NTF - ( 2H ) 3C - ( p ) - ?? Q x A x x x x x J 9 x x x

Wayne.... I think we are ready for the "full meal deal" .

Thx... I see it now.... Wayne was referring to phil_20686 's line in post # 9 ..... which doesn't work.

quiddity's line does NOT touch ♣... and after drawing trumps, his FIRST ♦ lead is low toward the 10 .

Re: quiddity's line ( post # 3 ): Am I reading something wrong? .... or are you ? What is the 2nd loser? Exiting with ♦Q sets up the ♦10 as a dummy entry to pitch the losing ♣ on the ♥ Ace .

After much agonizing thought, I too think quiddity's line is best.

6♠ Our 1st seat 4M preempts would be 8 cards and NO outside A ... ( and usually no K as well ). Keycard will do you NO good unless partner has the ♠ A K. And you still won't lose a ♠ if he only has the Ace and not the K . As has been pointed out, a ♥ lead may put you in jeopardy... missing the ♦ Ace as well. But maybe it won't be led, so I'll just blast.

6♥ Partner says he has BOTH 4 card Majors. Given my solid ♠ and the ♥ Q J , he must have the two top ♥honors. I'll keep my 5 card ♠ suit to use for a discard.

6♥. Opener has lots of stuff in his 5+♥ and 4+♦ suit ... with shortness in either or both blacks. And you have the 2 black bullets to go along with the double-fit.

You decide not to wait for another year and a half for the perfect shape for a Leaping Michaels over a 3-minor preempt. The structure you have in your tool kit is: Over 3-minor preempt: 4C = other minor and a major (4D asks major) 4D = both majors 4M = to play so the auction continues over ( 3C ) : 4C! - 4D! 4H - pass

RHO has no choice on his 3 Sp discards whether he is 4 4 3 2 or 7 1 3 2 . So, the answer must lie in the "order" of LHO 3 discards -- which Fred said were the 2 ( good ) Diam and a small Sp. If LHO were 5 1 5 2, would he discard BOTH ( good ) Diam 1st ... then another small Sp ? If LHO is 2 4 5 2 ( with 2 small Sp ) I think he might just discard the 2 ( good ) Diam first .

Of the SEVEN 4th suit Forcing sequences, there are only TWO where -- Opener has limited and -- Responder has not reversed. The one above is one of them. The other is: 1♥ - 1♠ 2♣ - 2♦! It also involves a 1♠ Response. Ken, I presume you would also use 2NT! over 2♠ by Opener to "agree Spades" .

But what if Responder doesn't have 5 cards ♠ and really wanted to make a GF, slammish raise in either of opener's 2 suits ( ♣ or ♦ )? How do you handle that after the 3S-jump ? Most here say 4♣ or 4♦ next by Responder are cuebids agreeing ♠. But Mikeh pointed out that they should be natural, support bids -- in essence cancelling out interest in ♠.

The more I think about it, the more I can't find fault with it . Because... if Responder didn't have 5 cards ♠ and his real intent was to show GF+ support in one of Opener's 2 suits, then he had an easy 3♣ or 3♦ over 2♠-- thus cancelling interest in ♠. And, as you said, 2NT! certainly is a " more intelligent allocation of space" than having to bid 3♠ over 2♠ to set trump.

The rest of us would ( or at least I would ) have to bid 3♠ to agree spades with 5+ cards . Any other3-level bid would deny 5 cards ♠, and 3♦ would agree ♦ just as mikeh said of 4♦ over Opener's 3♠-jump . [ That is why I don't like the 3♠-jump ] . 1D - 1S 2C - 2H! 2S ( 3 1 5 4 or better ) - 3S ( yes, agree ♠, I have 5+ cards; better than fast arrival 4S ) 4C ( cue ) - 4NT ( RKC for ♠ ) 5C ( 0/3 ) - 5H ( 2nd step = K-ask; 1st step would be trump Q-ask ) 6D ( ♦K, no ♥K or ♣K ) - 6S

When ♥ are agreed, I suggest using 4S! = kickback-RKC because it allows you to : -- make a ♥Q-ask BELOW 5H or -- make a specific K-ask with 5S ( thus allowing patner to bid 5NT with the ♠K . So, on this hand: 1H - ( 3D ) - 4D! - ( X ) XX - 4H [ no further interference ] 4S! - 5C ( 2nd step = 0/3 ) 5D ( next step = ♥ Q-ask ) - 6C ( ♥Q + ♣K, denying ♠K ; 5NT would show ♥Q + ♠K )

As long as long as you are on the same page as partner for a splinter, it reaps wonders on this hand. Unfortunately for me, 4♣ would be a fit-showing-jump in competition, and I would have to go with the 3♦! support-cue. But I think 6♠ will still be reached....

In Bridge and Romance .... the Q is always over the J . [ or follow eight-ever.... nine-never ] .

No science that I know of for determining 2 quick losers in a side suit after slam exploration in a minor and you find out you have 4 of the 5 key cards combined. [ For example there is no 5-of-trump equivalent as in Major suit slam exploration ] Opener may be: A J x J x x x A K Q x A Q

With so many foks here opening on less than "all elevens", I'm not surprised that you think you need a gametry over Upper Bergen. What gametry is there for 1H - 3D! ? I'm of the opinion that any new suit by Opener ( after Upper Bergen ) is a Ctrl cue bid ( yes, it is usually at the 4-level ) and slammish . Thus, without interference: 1S - 3D! 3H = cue bid, not a mere gametry. And, with the 3H interference, I would take the: -- DBL as Ht-Ctrl showing ( could be shortness ), slammish -- pass = no Ht Ctrl but solid opening, GF . -- 3S as a minimum or sub-minimum opening, non-forcing. -- 4C = cue bid, denying a Ht-Ctrl. -- 4S = to play ( for whatever reason ) .

Table 1 East: DBL was insane West: 4S was close to normal ( 3S would have done the job ) giving partner's reopening T/O DBL. North: Must have believed 4S was making and thought a white/red 5D would be a good save. N/S got "fixed" by the insane DBL. Table 2 Doesn't South know what "all over the place" preempts partner can make ? No way 3NT can be right even if 3C was bid on A K 7th....takes an entry to just get to the Clubs... doubtful 2nd entry even if Clubs split 3-3. N/S deserve each other.