What now?

[whereagles]

I was actually serious. Your sequence of

 

1♦ 1♥ X 2♥

3♥ P 3♠ P

5♠

 

should (in a perfect world) suggest something slightly different.

I was being serious as well :P The point is this is not a perfect world, so sometimes you have to 'walk the dog' a bit, sort to say, before a bid like 5♠ becomes crystal-clear to pard.

 

Obviously, you could agree with pard that a straight 5♠ shows no heart control, whereas a delayed 5♠ would mean 1st round heart control and looking for good trumps. But I doubt anyone has this agreement.

[Free]

At our table, the guy bid 6♠. My p started ♥, I had AKxxxx and they went -1. Before the lead, I asked the player at my side of the screen what 4♣ and 5♣ was. He wrote "4♣ is control, partner thinks it's natural" :P

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

 

1) 1D is ok

2) 3S forcing, sorry 3H is ..., bid your suits

over 4S from partner, you can still 5C

showing first round control

3) abstain, partner will believe 4C is natural

=> 5C was to play

 

Marlowe

[P_Marlowe]

- Do you agree with 3♥ followed by 4♣ to find out about a ♥ control? Or what alternative would you use?

 

No, I would have rebid 3S.

This shows a huge hand, and is GF.  If pd signs off in 4S, you can respect that.

Suppose you had opened 1D, your partner had responded 1S and you jumped to 3S. That would be natural, invitational, non-forcing.

 

Why is 3S in this auction any different?

Hi,

 

it depends on the meaning of 2NT by opener in this seq.,

for me this would be lebensohl style, i.e. 3S would be forcing.

 

Marlowe

[Fluffy]

Definitely agree with 1D opener. I cannot think of an auction that would come up where you would be placed awkwardly.

There are several combinations, for example

 

1♦-(5♣)-p-(p)

 

or

 

1♦-(2♣)-X-(5♣)

 

or many otehrs that end in 5♣ :rolleyes:

[Guest Jlall]

Definitely agree with 1D opener. I cannot think of an auction that would come up where you would be placed awkwardly.

There are several combinations, for example

 

1♦-(5♣)-p-(p)

 

or

 

1♦-(2♣)-X-(5♣)

 

or many otehrs that end in 5♣ :rolleyes:

These don't seem awkward at all. In the first one I can bid 5S (yes I could go down but are you really stopping short of slam if you open 1S and it goes 5C p p ? You need extremely little to make slam, and even if you're off 2 top hearts they haven't led them yet).

 

The second auction where partner made a neg X, I would bid 6C. I'm not sure why 1S would place me in a better position.

 

I do know I'll get to the right suit in both of these auctions. Maybe the wrong level on the first one, but so might someone who opened 1S and they could also get to the wrong suit.

[junyi_zhu]

Definitely agree with 1D opener. I cannot think of an auction that would come up where you would be placed awkwardly. 2C will be awkward even if the opps never bid! Frequently you will never have distinguished a 6-5 hand from a 6-4 hand. In fact you'd need the auction to come up 2C p 2D p 3D p 3H or 2C p 3C p 3D p 3H p (and is it clear spade bids are natural here? probably but will partner also think that?) for you to be able to show 6-5.

 

After 2H you have a textbook 5S bid. If partner bids 6H, bid a grand (and hope he doesn't have the death holding of xxx in diamonds). If partner bids 5N or 6S then play 6S. If he has no control he'd pass.

 

The 3H bid on this hand is ambiguous. It just creates a game force and could be based on: 1 suited diamond hand needing a stopper, a strong minor suit 2 suiter, spade support. I think 18-19 bal with no stopper should X 2H. When you bid 4C you are indicating hand 2. 5C says ok, lets play 5C.

or a textbook 5H psyche if you are desperated for IMPs, hehehe

[Impact]

1D- (1H) X (2H)

?

 

I thought 5H is obvious and leaves partner in absolutely no doubt about what is going on.....

 

The actual auction is deserving of any poor result it received - and classic sign of alleged expert flexibility and hubris: instead of making a description which is easy opener determines to control events by manufacturing bids in the hope that a la Micawber something good will turn up.

 

THe essence of dialogue bidding (as opposed to relays: Q & A) is recognition of the need to change roles and surrender control when you can make a descriptive bid.

 

Once you have opened 1D and they bid H, when partner shows at least S tolerance (it does imply that doesn't it?) you are in great shape (pun intentional).

[HeartA]

4♣ is the bid that caused confusion. have to bid 5♠ now.