Kalvan14

looks like a poster boy for a splinter. Great suit, great controls in the blacks, singleton heart: if pard has no wasted values in hearts, there is a slam coming.

2♦. Being conservative is ok, but not this time

4♣, for me

6♠. Pard should have 8 spades for sure, if not 9, and a chicane. I believe that the chances to make this slam are pretty good (and 6♥X might not pay enough)

3♦. This comes out from not having opened this hand 2♣, you know. Anyway, with these 26 HCP I want to go forward. Try to show at least 21 :)

3♠: I've to say that it is a good suit

Pass. 3♣ would have been 5-5. Maybe double would have been better than 3♥, promising some defense too (partner might have a double of 3♠, and this hand should bring 3 tricks: at MP, it would make a difference).

4♠. Minimum, but good trumps and a diamond suit which can bring tricks. Edit: the only alternative (a weaker one, IMO) would be 3♥

My exact feelings. Why should I be afraid if pard bids 3NT?

There is no defense, and opening this hand either 1♠ or 1♥ can mislead partner. Who (btw) might also be misled by 5♥ [forward going, proposes a defense, gives a lead?]. Pass now, in any case

It's fine for a balancing 3NT

From a passed hand, 2♣ (Drury) followed by 2♠ is the best approach: this hand - with the honors concentrated in the majors - is a true maximum for a passed hand (and if it were a 53[14] I'd have opened it). From an unpassed hand, 1♠, followed by a jump to 3♥.

South. 3 As and a 6-card suit are not a minimum: 3♦, even if it is a free bid. N (with a good fit and singleton in ♣) should find the strength to rebid 3♥ over 3♦.

4♠: a maximum for my bid, 3 trumps and all my cards work

5♣, expecting to have to rebid 5♠ over the likely 5♦. Now if opener keeps the auction alive below 6♠, he clearly shows both red aces (or a heart chicane, btw). The problem should have been clearly pinpointed around the heart suit. Just to make myself clearer: even 6♣ should confirm 1st round control in both red suits. Pard might have Kxxx - AJxxx KQJx, and it is another hand which can play very well in 7 ♠. If pard has Kxxx A KJxxx Kxx, he should be happy enough with 6♠. I would understand the difference between 6♣ and 6♦ as a concentration of values, and possibly the need for a complement to play 7. 6♥ is something stronger [Kxxx - AKxxx KQJx] double-checking the trump suit consistency.

Agreed. It would be inconsistent to play a 1N rebid showing 11-13 and not open this hand. The 5-card suit and its texture compensate the presence of the 2 Js (which in any case pull some weight in NT).

Either we are back to an old thread (is 1m-1♥-1♠ forcing?) or there are special partnership agreements. I would not accept that this auction can come out of SAYC (or 2/1, too): opener has a nice 5-4-3-1, with 17 HCP. If you do prefer to downgrade the singleton heart, we are still around 19 total point. There are both shape and strength. Is this not worth a reverse?

X. The 2 spades are ominous. If they make, I'm going to chew up the 2 minor aces :)

2♦. 2♥ would be an underbid, and 3♥ is not this hand.

In the sandwich position, I do not blame my partner for passing (I might have overcalled 1♠, but it's touch and go). Thanks anyway for being the only one to have had the courtesy of addressing the problem I was posing.

The pass as dealer is fine. I disagree with the double on the 2nd round. The auction can easily come back at 3 (or 4)♠. This hand is good enough to start showing suits: I'd bid 3♦. If I was making a phone call, and someone subbed for me the 1st 2 rounds of bidding, now (fronting a balance 18-19 HCP, even with wasted values in spades) I would bid 4♦: clearly an "impossible" bid, can only show a red 2-suiter [if it is too unconventional for your tastes, try 3♠, followed by 4♦]

All this is nice, and true. OTOH, it is MP (and not IMP), and club matchpoints at that, against 2 oppos who are not the brightest stars in the sky. Pard may have a hand unsuitable for an immediate overcall. To make it short, I balanced with 1♠. Pard had AQTx Jxx Qxx Kxx, with my LHO holding Kx Txxxx AKx Axx. For once everyone had his bid (myself excepted <_< ). Playing in spades, 9 tricks are on the table (with a lil help you make 10). Oppos limit is 2♦; playing in hearts the room was making 4 or 5 tricks (mostly 5). The real issue IMHO is not finding a top in a club game. It is rather rethinking the conditions for balancing. A hand which plays in 2 suits (plus hearts :o ) should not be automatically passed because it has a strong holding in opener's suit.

The bidding was: 1♥-(X)-P-(2♦)-3♦-(P)-3♥-(P)-4♥ The tolerance for hearts was the 2nd bid by pard.

There are quite a lot of hand which are best played in 1NT (in particular when NT declarer is before the opener, who's on lead and with his honors submitted). When one line opens the bidding, the chances for the other line to get to game (much less to slam) are substantially lower than in an uncontested auction. I've no problems in accepting that there are hands where it would be nice and useful to have "systems on" when pard overcalls. But, as usual, it is a matter of probabilities.

I open this hand. Better to get in now than trying to catch up later. IMHO, it's easy for oppos to overcall 1m, but, for some reason, their auction is never as nice as when they open 1M. Cheers