apollo1201

MPs, red vs. green Partner deals and opens 1D, RHO passes, you bid 1H with Ax 8xxx QX9xx Qx That was the easy part. Now LHO sticks in a 2C overcall, partner splinters 4C (17-19 uncontested, but here...undiscussed), and RHO comes back to life with a 5C bid. Why can’t they just be quiet...so now?

Damn. I had noted 2 hands that I hadn’t played with my partner to ask her opinion and this one was one of them. I posted it here cuz we disagreed...but I forgot it was on the Sunday tournament. She was X while I was 3NT. I actually don’t wanna play H’s on X and partner is unlikely to bid NT when I have DA and opps are red. Clubs offer a potential source of tricks in NT. And too bad for S’s (that could break badly anyway if we have a 44 fit only). So I’ll post the 2nd hand too.

I guess (opening 12 counts in 5cM, if opening at 11 or playing precision, then it is an opening) that with a broken minor suit and the risk of burying H’s, I’ll pass as opener. Then it goes 2NT (20-21) 3C Stayman 3H (H’s) 3S (forcing raise, slam inv or better) 4C 4NT 5C (4 or 1) 5D (Q?) 5H (no) 6H (should not be too bad even if partner had Ax or Axx C) If opener says yes to Q (while not bidding 6D lol) then continue by 6C do you have sth nice in C for me, and if yes then 7H be it. True, if C’s behave, the QJ S produce 7NT w/o having to worry about the HQ. Relayers will probably have it!

MPs, green vs red for once but still preempted! RHO deals and opens 3D while you face: ATxx xx Ax AKQTx Your move.

On a given deal, anything could work. But statistically in the long run I think H will be safer. D are tempting but the spots are definitely too low and it could help declarer a lot. I obviously don’t know how to run a sim to back up what I say 🤣

I play (strong NT, 5CM) that opener’s X is indeed either 3-cd support *in a non-minimal hand* (eg. 5431 distribution, no 12-14 bal, just pass with that, partner could have a dreadful 6-count, and will have another round of bidding anyway), or strong hand with no clear call (eg. 18-19 w/o stopper, hand that would have bid 1m-1M-3m unopposed, etc.). Responder is supposed to bid as if facing a minimum opener: repeat 2M with 4 strong or 5 cards (or retreat to 3m with 3-4 card if less than 9-10), try 2NT w/ stopper and maybe some 9+-11, bid 3M with 5 cards and invitational values, etc. Or cue if holding opening values I guess (never had the case though). Opener will bid again if game chances exist (repeat minor or cue over the weakest calls, accept invites, etc.). Not sure detailed material exist but a pretty natural follow-up has been working so far for us.

The last sentence is f*** hilarious! Steve you made my day.

As the others pointed out, it is really a question of anticipation and judgment. With 4 HCPs in your hand and H suit vs. S, your side is not favorite to win the auction unless partner is strong. In that case just pass and show your support if partner « forces you » to bid e.g. with a X or cue bid or forcing calls. You also have to take into consideration that if partner is really strong he’ll drive to game or make a game try even if opps don’t compete and go down while if you pass you would have reached a safer level. If partner is moderately strong, you have to ask yourself do I want to encourage him compete. That is where the re-evaluation factor comes into play. Jxx xxx Qxx Jxxx Clear pass. All negative factors are combined in a H contract. No honor in partner’s suit, so he might have to face some trump losers. No ruffing value to take care of his losers in the minors. A useless SJ and dubious minors honors. xxxx Qxx QT9x xx 2H (except maybe red vs green). Nice Q in partner’s suit. No wasted points in S where partner is singleton if they support S. Two sources of potential help for partner, a doubleton and a concentration of values in a side suit. So yes, I wanna be in 3H if partner can bid them with my help. It should often be a more profitable spot for us. Your hand will often be in between, so if you feel ashamed tabling dummy then pass 😀

That is why with a weakish balanced hand partner will usually let the double and not take it out. X showed cards and decent support for other suits, so partner will only bid if he thinks he can make, otherwise his moderate strength and yours should be enough to set declarer. Weak unbalanced should probably take out as their lengths means doubler’s honors will score less tricks in defense, as opps will be short, and also their shape combined with support in partner’s hand strongly improve their chances of making a high-level contract. The issue is very weak hands with no shape. Ihad once a huge hesitation with an ugly ugly hand like xxx xxx Qxxx Jxx All red, MPs, partner Xed 4H. I passed, crossing fingers. We scored -790 but got a good mark vs all the 800s 😃 In the given hand partner is likely void, so likely won’t let the X. But it seems lots are Xing and praying.

That is the famous Diamonds Issue. Clubs leave more space to bid stoppers while probing for 3NT. The solution (that can lead to some difficult auctions when a more natural style would fare better) is to play a 2-way 3M: - 3H being either natural 5+S 4+H or I stop H but not C - same for 3S (a strong 5-cd or 6+ suit, or I stop C but not H) Over 3H, opener bids 3S with a fit, and 3NT with C stopper but no fit. If he has none, then he just rebids his Ds I guess... Over 3S, responder bids 4S or a control if his S were real, or 3NT if he was just looking for a C stopper, and opener can sit or move out depending on his C holding, eg he can propose a Moysian 4S or re insist on his Ds. Similar mechanisms can be agreed in situations like 1M-2D-3D or after a 1NT opening, M transfer and secondary D suit shown by responder.

No alcohol yet, but it will explain later on how the balancing happened 😉 By the time I was to bid, someone brought in warm foie gras toasts and glasses of wine. By the time we finished and resumed game, vulnerabilities somehow had rotated and I had passed (!). Everyone around the table had the gut feeling sth fishy was happening but partner now green vs red took advantage and balanced with 4S which I suspected after passing came from a 2-suited, 4NT, 5C and T9xxx - xx Jxxxxx here it was...for 12 tricks, à good laughter and a redeal.

Actually I meant 2C as others pointed out. Where I could always stay stuck in a 33 fit 🤣🤣🤣

So that partners knows it is penalty (LOL). I held against green opps while red in a friendly IMP duplicate at home the following 2NT opening hand but LHO had dealt, and his 1H opening was quickly raised to game by RHO. At these colors, and against good friends, a 5-cd fit, one « goodie » and a singleton are more than enough to propel partner at the 4th level. What now with AQ QJx Axxxx AKx I can’t just sit there collecting 50s, but: - X is take-out and partner will not have the weakish balanced hand to leave it in - 4NT is for minors (even if natural, I wonder where I could find those 10 tricks) - and 5D...oh well did you see a D suit in my hand, really? The rest of the sequence will be given after your comments to avoid too much disapproval🤣

(delete duplicate)

IMPs all green, you deal and pick up Ax KJ98xx xx AKx When opening, you often need to anticipate the follow ups of the bidding sequence. Some probably might have opened 1NT because the H are a bit light to rebid at the 3rd level over 1S or 1NT. Issue would be even trickier I guess with 36 in the M. Anyway, partner bids 1S and not playing anything fancy, what is best? 2H, 3H, 2D maybe? Not that it changed much the outcome here though (I chickened out and bid 2H as just green so less IMP and she could be light, she bid 4H and slam was way too far away).

Same as others. Nice hand with concentrated values with H and C however no Mikael first implies no 55, so 64 then. I suspect 1534 could be ok if really good H/C and max Jxx D, or 2524 that was just short of a power double, but those cases are probably rare so a minimum hand could be x KQxxxx xx AKxx

2 very good, detailed and pedagocial answers from masters. Guys, just waouh from me tonight!

There was a concept of biddable and repeatable suits too. And even non-biddable suits also, that became biddable if the hand had another suit. Anyway I think with only 1 biddable suit she would need a small extra vs. 2 1/2 QT so she would likely pass this one haha.

Could partner have Qx Axx KQxx AQxx (or a bit less) and feel thrilled by your (slightly stretched) jump rebid? And overcaller having H KQJ 6th + CK? Or could he have a 3-cd fit in a rather flat hand? If X doesn’t deny a fit and cue-bid promises 4-cd support? He was planning to rebid 4S no matter what but is max (15-16) and expects a rich hand from your rebid? Else I don’t see.

I really see no reason to downgrade the hands. There are some much worse balanced 12-counts, while here, you have 2 suits, headed by AQ and KQ. If you pass, you will probably not be able to catch up later. My grandma counting 2.5 Honor Tricks with 2 biddable suits would even open without the SJ 🤣🤣🤣

Without the full sequence it is hard to tell but given you probably showed the hand belonged to you in the biddding, X is just a way to say they are going down and I don’t think we can outbid them unless you have some nice extras. You have forcing passes otherwise when you would like to bid more.

So true!!😮

Does 2m deny a 4-cd Major? I know a pair who allows 4cM and their structure allows finding back the M fit.

It cannot be a sign-off as responder could have bid 2H. Actually there is no sign-off bid except pass, as opener could be just below a jump shift to 3C, eg have 17 or a bad 18, and responder could be 9-10 with 4 or 5 spades and 2 hearts. On most 16+ hands, opener is likely to make another move above a 2H preference. Some pairs even have accepted to hide a side S suit with non GF hands when they have a H fit, so for them, the sequence is highly slam invitational. But most common treatment is game invitational, and opener with an ill-fitting minimum is encouraged to pass.

Would partner splinter with SK, HAK and DA? That seems a lot for an aggressive splinter that I see more like l have a good fit, 2 or maybe 3 interesting cards, and a hopefully useful singleton, do hands fit well for slam? Maybe Kxx Axxxx Qxxx x. In all cases we have lots of C losers to ruff, are missing HAK and another A, and partner doesnt have a mentionnable suit of his own to take care of the clubs (unless we can Xruf all). So I have difficulties in bidding sth other than 4H. But 4D if my view of aggressive is actually too aggressive haha.