PhilKing

FYP B-)

My tuppence worth on why this is a clear double .... I have looked at more of these preempts from high-level bridge than possibly anyone else using my hands database. It is not stored in a way that I can prove anything statistically, but a couple of points have struck me: 1. The opponents don't tend to double us nearly enough when we step out of line. 2. Quite often when we get too high, it turns out they were making 3♠, so we pick up an imp or two from the save. If you made the club jack a small one I would still double.

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I'm not out the game - my double of 2♠ shows, of all things a takeout double. But crucially, when partner has a minimum, we get to stop on 3♣. I may be slightly biased, since I do not have any strong balanced hands in my 1♣ opening, so my double almost guarantees diamonds (because I can bid 2NT to show a good 3♣ or better rebid). One big advantage of 3♦ FG is that when we do have the strong hand, we can have simple effective slam auctions, and straightforward decisions if they compete further. Sure we can just keep doubling on a hand like this, but it doesn't show a 46 powerhouse - partner will just pass our second double way too often in my experience. The "reverse is NF" brigade just seem to be turning normal principles on their head here. I could live with 3♦ as a one round force here, but not unless playing one of my gadgets - with a hand that wants to stop in 4m partner starts by cueing 3♠ asking for a stop, and then removes 3NT to 4m to show weakness. Slam hands bid four of either minor forcing directly. Anyway, I am willing to wager that no one in the entire history of bridge has ever stopped in 3♦ in this sequence when that was a remotely rational thing to do.

It's difficult to guess the "double dummy" answers without knowing the bidding assumptions made by the person running the simulation.

I just don't see the problem. Bidding 4♥ in sequence 1 looks like an excellent description of our hand - extra values, very long hearts, secondary clubs.

I think 3♦ is forcing (game forcing, in fact), so I will do that (if I did not want to force, I would double for takeout and pass the response). One could argue that you could double and bid 3♦ next round to force, but I think that is a false argument, since it presumes our opponents never do anything inconvenient, such as bid more spades.

Really?

Yep. I don't hate an immediate jump to 5♥, but I think 4♥ edges it. My ambition is just to defend a non slam, and to do that I want to catch leftie with a heavy 4♠ bid.

But there was no MI - there was only an incorrect announcement. SB still knew North was 12-14, so was not materially misinformed as to the opponent's methods. By changing his announcement back to 12-14, South can simply use the Nunes defence and say he temporarily lost his mind.

The time to bid 5♥ was last round - not now.

Our friend the Secretary Bird was hardly duped as to the range of 1NT, since if he did not know that North intended it as 12-14 (and therefore South had corrected the range in error), he would not have allowed the OBOOT. But if is allowed to trap the opposition is this way, South's correct strategy might be to change his description to 15-17 (as he did), and then change it back to 12-14 after SB allows the OBOOT. SB would now be allowed to change his call, but perhaps not his decision to allow the call.

I think I've been running at about 13 for the last few months at rubber bridge, but I have a sneaking suspicion it won't last. In fact, I have probably just bocked myself. :(

It's just natural as far as I'm concerned.

If I bid 3♥ and pard bids (for instance) 4♥, 5♦ would be undiscussed, but I guess a cue for hearts. If I want to cue hearts, I have to jump to 4♥ over 3♦ (usually showing the ace). I don't see why 3♥ then 4♦ is not just natural (64 or good 54).

No - we are missing 6 spades (they are only missing 5). B-)

Do not jump to 5♦! In my view it's a pretty significant mistake to play "fast arrival" in the minors. I prefer to use it to show a mild slam try with good trumps and not much else. But that's not the main reason it's a mistake - the silver bullet is that you often need to give partner the chance to offer 4♠ as a contract. So I would raise to 4♦ here, and pass if he continues with 4♠ holding something like: ♠AKJTxx ♥Qx ♦AKQx ♣x

You should convert to 6♥ here exactly never. Partner is not offering you a choice.

Well Fantunes don't do it (they open 1M) so it ain't really Fantunes. B-)

I still don't get what he does with a 54 12 count though. Just curious. My understanding of the Fantunes type methods is that you do not have to hold extras when you hold both majors for a one opening. Anyway, it's potty for North not to go on. It's not just that he has a fifth trump - just think about how much stronger this hand is on the auction so far than if the majors are reversed.

I'd pass at any vulnerability. Why? Only 3 bad trumps. Unless we have a big diamond fit, a trump could lead to as much as 5 down. Reasonable defence. If parner is 5224 or similar with some stay honours in the minors, they could easily be going down. But there's no great need to overthink this - as a rule of thumb, we can allow us to be pushed one level higher in competition, and since we only had an average raise to Two Spades, bidding Four in this spot is just wild.

What does North do with a minimum 54M hand?

Not in traditional methods, which still pertain at rubber. If I had the auction 1♣-1♠-2♥with Zia or Gunnar, then 2♠,2NT or 3♣ could end the bidding. And in the given auction, I would certainly interpret 3♦ as an attempt to play. Reverses promising another bid was certainly not a British concept, and absent of playing modified Blackout or Lebensohl, my guess is that minimum bids in no trumps or previously bid suits are still non-forcing in most local duplicates.

Isn't it better to use 3♥ to show, er, hearts? And I'm not just talking about after they ran - the reopening double is absurd. I think it is a huge mistake to reopen with a double on a shapely hand of modest strength. I get that you can easily invert double and pass after they run, but taking it this far is a joke.

This may be a transatlantic thing - opposite a British partner, there is a pretty good chance 3♦ will end the bidding.