Balanced 4-count

[Finch]

NV against V, IMPs, playing with a regular partner you trust.

 

[hv=d=n&v=e&s=sq95h76dq1042c10953]133|100|Scoring: IMP

1♣ 1♥ P P

x 2♥ P P

x P 3♣ P

3♠ P ?[/hv]

 

1♣: in the context of 5-card majors, strong NT, open 1D with 4-4 in the minors (and 1C with 4=4=3=2 though not relevant here); sound opening bid style; 2C opening absolutely game forcing if unbalanced.

 

Your 3♣ bid was likely to have 4 clubs, although might have been 3433; with a 3343 you could have bid 2NT asking partner to choose a minor.

 

Opponents play strong jump overcalls.

 

Now what, if anything?

[whereagles]

4♠. Sounds like it's an ok contract if pard is bidding soundly, e.g., with somefink like

 

AKJx

xx

Ax

AKJxx

[paulg]

I don't think I can be blamed for bidding 4♠ here.

 

If partner was interested in 3NT then I would have expected 3♦/♥, so 3♠ should be offering choice of black-suit games.

 

Paul

[Finch]

I was pretty certain that 3S wasn't forcing.

[Chamaco]

I bid 4S, pard is a sound opener and has forced me to bid twice, plus, I do have extras compared to what I have promised by the bidding; so - if pard is indeed a sound opener - I think I owe him a bid, even if 3S is nonforcing (he has shown twice extras compared to his initial "sound" opening bid).

However 5m is a long way to go, so I'll give a shot to a moysian fit (at least te one who plays it is my pard).

 

So, given it's my choice, I guess 4S is the wrong spot :-)

[Codo]

What hand does pd have?

 

He cannot have a strong NT with a heart stopper, else he had opened different, or he had not X first time.

He cannot have a strong NT hand without a heart stopper, else he had not bid 3♠.

He does not have a black two suiter or a club one suiter, so he seems to have a real take out of Hearts, f.e. 4234. But even with this hand, his 3 Spade bid looks suspicious, because he had a 2 Spade bid avaiable instead of his second X.

 

But 3 ♠ must be natural, pd haas a strong hand without much High crds in HEarts, so he must have a diamond control.

 

I am sorry, but I am unable to imagine the real hand from pd, but 4 Spade to offer a choice seems to be right.

 

I promised nothing up to now and have a 4. trump and two beautiful queens.

[hotShot]

4♣

 

Partner opend 1♣, so he is not 4-4 in the minors, he did not open a strong 2♣ nor did he bid a strong NT. He has no ♥ stopper to bid NT later.

Instead of 2♠ he dbled again.

I don't think he's got 5♠ so we have no fit there.

 

Partner has long ♣ 4♠ is probably a long suit trialbid asking for some help in this suit.

 

So i guess he has about 20HCP 6♣, 3-4♠ and 3-4 cards in the red suits.

[Finch]

I'm not going to leave this here as long as I usually do, as I'm going to Verona tomorrow and I want give this as a play problem as well....

 

11 Votes so far, and no-one has voted for my choice at the table!

 

Yes, partner has a great hand with 4 spades and 5 (or 6) clubs.

We can pass 3S or give preference back to 4C, which he will probably pass.

As everyone has pointed out, we have a pretty good hand in context: four clubs, which we haven't completely promised, a great spade card, and a possibly good queen of diamonds.

 

If partner has a doubleton heart

 

AKJx

xx

Ax

AKQxx

 

we want to play in 4S

 

If partner has a singleton heart e.g.

 

AKxx

x

AKx

AQxxx

 

we want to play in 5C

 

How can we tell?

We can't.

 

So I bid 4H, asking partner to pick the right black suit game.

Partner picks 4S, so all the 4S bidders have ended in the same spot.

[Blofeld]

I voted for 5♣, but I like the idea of the 4♥ bid. Just didn't occur to me.

[jdonn]

The problem with 4♥ is partner will choose for the wrong reasons. He will think you want really good spades for him to bid 4♠, he won't realize you want him to decide based on his heart length. I agree that it's a choice of games though, so the bid should at least be considered.

[Finch]

That's true, but he'll certainly know that a doubleton heart is bad news for clubs (that's why he said he picked 4S when I asked him).

[Blofeld]

But 4♦ also looks to be a choice of games, so doesn't 4♥ focus attention on the heart suit?

[Finch]

That's an interesting point.

I hadn't even considered what 4D ought to mean (I only added into the poll to avoid missing a bid out).

[jdonn]

Admittedly making this up as I go to some extent, I think 4♦ brings diamonds back into the picture. You might be 2254 and have bid 3♣ the round prior. It seems a bit esoteric to me to have two bids offering a choice of games between the same suits.

[mike777]

"♣: in the context of 5-card majors, strong NT, open 1D with 4-4 in the minors (and 1C with 4=4=3=2 though not relevant here); sound opening bid style; 2C opening absolutely game forcing if unbalanced."

 

Wish I could have bid 2clubs the first round and assume pard promises 3clubs and will often have 4 for his opening bid? :P

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

 

5C.

 

partner cant have a 4 card spade

suit, he could have bid the suit over

1H, and over 2H.

he cant place me with a trap pass,

I would have hit 2H.

He also knows I dont have a 4 card

spade suit.

 

And 3S is forcing, it probably shows some

values.

 

I can bid 4C, but you did say more than once,

you dont like playing 4C, which holds true for

myself, i.e. 5C.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[Finch]

"♣: in the context of 5-card majors, strong NT, open 1D with 4-4 in the minors (and 1C with 4=4=3=2 though not relevant here); sound opening bid style; 2C opening absolutely game forcing if unbalanced."

 

Wish I could have bid 2clubs the first round and assume pard promises 3clubs and will often have 4 for his opening bid? :unsure:

Happy to raise clubs with 4 on this auction, but it should show the values for a raise to 2C - not two random queens outside clubs.

[mike777]

"♣: in the context of 5-card majors, strong NT, open 1D with 4-4 in the minors (and 1C with 4=4=3=2 though not relevant here); sound opening bid style; 2C opening absolutely game forcing if unbalanced."

 

Wish I could have bid 2clubs the first round and assume pard promises 3clubs and will often have 4 for his opening  bid? :P

Happy to raise clubs with 4 on this auction, but it should show the values for a raise to 2C - not two random queens outside clubs.

Yes, but what is that in competition? I used to think it showed some real values but it seems people raise one level in competition on 2 queens and 4 cards often nowadays. This is just one area of my bridge bidding that really confuses me. What does a simple raise in comp promise?