tfoerster

Absolutely not in 4th seat. The shortness in spades should be a clear warning sign: Opps may well be able to outbid you, since they have the boss suit. A common guideline for opening in 4th seat is the Rule of 15: Add number of spades to HCP and only open if the sum is 15 or more. Like most rules this is a good starting point for further analysis.

2C is a poor bid, in my opinion, not just because it is light but also because I have found 2-suiters to be difficult to bid after opening with 2C. The jump to 5C is atrocious, aweful, pick the most pejorative term you can come up with. Why take up so much bidding space when you have no idea if the hand belongs at 3N, 5, 6 or 7 clubs, 5, 6 or 7 NT, or somewhere else. Respond 3C, which is game forcing, and go slow.

minimize the risk of a spade ruff, in case they are 52. So trump to ace and another trump, loosing only to Kxx of trump with West. (Of course the trump finesse would not have worked then either.)

Science leading to a Moysian 4H contract, which makes whenever hearts split 33 (36%) and when you find the queen of diamonds on a 42 trump split (at least 24%).

Did you have a Stayman bid?

Why would you want to? Why give weak opps a chance with a psych that may backfire, when you are much more likely to beat them on skill? And, if you psych only against weak opps and your partner knows it, then your partner has unauthorized information. (Unless of course you tell your opps that you consider them weak and therefore will be psyching more than typical against them.)

Corrected a typo. :)

Assuming a 15-17 HCP range for 1NT opener, I'd bid 1H, with the intention of raising a 1S response to 2S. Swith the diamonds with the spade and I'd open, since I have no good response to 1S: 1N would be an underbid and 2N an overbid. Finally, if you and your partner have the understanding that after 1H - 1S - 2m promises only 3 of the minor, then I'm back to opening 1H. BTW: If declarer had 15 or 17 HCP, I'd always open 1H and rebid eithre 1N or 2N over a 2S response.

Here is one approach: 4C is RKC in hearts. Or, if you play Kickback, then 4S would ask for key cards in hearts. In both cases opener has the option of correcting 5/6 hearts to 5/6 NT, since opener promised only 2, and responder should not have 6 or more, since responder did not use Texas. Tom

No! But change the K of hearts to the K of clubs and I would, since you now have a promising source of tricks.