Swan Song

[whereagles]

If pard knows how to bid, 2♣.

If he doesn't, 4NT.

 

Note: if we have keys for slam, I'm following with 6♣ because if pard can't bid, he probably can't play them properly. So better play it myself :P

[bid_em_up]

Not that I am disagreeing with 2C here, but,

 

The downsides to 2♣ are that it is going to allow LHO to double and easily show his red suited hand at a low level and its unlikely to encourage partner who is likely looking at a stiff or two small clubs.

 

I'd really like to be able to bid 4N RKC here. Given that I can't, I slightly prefer Jacoby 2N (at least we might hear about partners stiff club, if he has one) and if we do, we stop in 4S. If we don't, now we can RKC over partners bid, and stop in 5S if necessary. Even if this goes minus, we may actually be taking a good sac undoubled with 4/5 of a red suit making the other way.

[han]

If 4NT were RKC I would still not use it, it is too likely that we are missing 3 important cards.

[Echognome]

So as most of the people here, I started with 2♣. Partner bid 2♥ and I bid 3♠ to set the suit.

 

Partner then bid 4♦. With this partner you play serious 3NT. Do you bid 4♥ or are you content with 4♠? Or do you do something else?

[pclayton]

If 4NT were RKC I would still not use it, it is too likely that we are missing 3 important cards.

Does that mean you are giving up over 4♠?

[Walddk]

So as most of the people here, I started with 2♣. Partner bid 2♥ and I bid 3♠ to set the suit.

 

Partner then bid 4♦. With this partner you play serious 3NT. Do you bid 4♥ or are you content with 4♠? Or do you do something else?

I had enough. Three keycards and trump queen needed for slam to be worth bidding. He would surely have bid 3NT with that.

 

Roland

[han]

So partner has no club control and we need at least ♠KQ ♥A ♦A to have a solid slam, that's a lot. I'd bid 4H though, if partner goes beyond 4S (and he certainly will with those cards) then 5♠ is very likely safe. If he signs off then we can comfortable pass.

[Walddk]

So partner has no club control and we need at least ♠KQ ♥A ♦A to have a solid slam, that's a lot. I'd bid 4H though, if partner goes beyond 4S (and he certainly will with those cards) then 5♠ is very likely safe. If he signs off then we can comfortable pass.

He can't have those cards, Han. He bypassed 3NT (serious). The 5-level is not necessarily safe.

 

If a hand with three keycards and trump queen isn't seriously interested in slam, he or she will have to judge better next time.

 

Roland

[Guest Jlall]

I would not bid 4H

[mike777]

So as most of the people here, I started with 2♣.  Partner bid 2♥ and I bid 3♠ to set the suit.

 

Partner then bid 4♦.  With this partner you play serious 3NT.  Do you bid 4♥ or are you content with 4♠?  Or do you do something else?

Matt why not rebid 2s and set the suit?

 

I was taught the whole point of 2/1 is too set trumps very low to make low level slam tries.

 

1s=2c

2h=2s(100% slam try for me)

3d=3s

?

[Echognome]

So as most of the people here, I started with 2♣.  Partner bid 2♥ and I bid 3♠ to set the suit.

 

Partner then bid 4♦.  With this partner you play serious 3NT.  Do you bid 4♥ or are you content with 4♠?  Or do you do something else?

Matt why not rebid 2s and set the suit?

 

1s=2c

2h=2s(100% slam try for me)

3d=3s

?

What pray tell do 3♠ and 4♠ mean for you?

[mike777]

So as most of the people here, I started with 2♣.  Partner bid 2♥ and I bid 3♠ to set the suit.

 

Partner then bid 4♦.  With this partner you play serious 3NT.  Do you bid 4♥ or are you content with 4♠?  Or do you do something else?

Matt why not rebid 2s and set the suit?

 

1s=2c

2h=2s(100% slam try for me)

3d=3s

?

What pray tell do 3♠ and 4♠ mean for you?

4s would be some dead minimum hand.(rare)

3s would be some huge hand, rare, and I am probably looking for a club cue often I guess and plan to blast to rck next.

[Echognome]

So as most of the people here, I started with 2♣.  Partner bid 2♥ and I bid 3♠ to set the suit.

 

Partner then bid 4♦.  With this partner you play serious 3NT.  Do you bid 4♥ or are you content with 4♠?  Or do you do something else?

Matt why not rebid 2s and set the suit?

 

1s=2c

2h=2s(100% slam try for me)

3d=3s

?

What pray tell do 3♠ and 4♠ mean for you?

4s would be some dead minimum hand.(rare)

3s would be some huge hand, rare, and I am probably looking for a club cue often I guess and plan to blast to rck next.

Why do you use them so rarely? Seems that they wouldn't be the best use.

 

It's a whole separate argument whether 2♠ shows 3 card support, but it seems that it shouldn't necessarily agree suit. What if partner is about to show you some club support next. Can't partner be 5=4=1=3 and you 3=1=3=6?

[ArtK78]

It would be great on this hand to be playing some sort of control asking bid below the level of game, as you have a great hand for a control ask. Failing that, I bid 2♣ and then 2♠ to set the trump suit and, hopefully, start a cue bidding auction. If partner shows any signs of life I will bid RKCB. I want to attempt to determine if the 5 level is safe before using RKCB.

 

RKCB could be totally wrong on this hand if partner has no clubs. Otherwise, you should be able to handle everything.

 

As for the meaning of a jump to 3♠ after bidding 2♣, maybe that should be RKCB in spades. It certainly doesn't make much sense for it to be natural.

[skjaeran]

I would not bid 4H

Me neither. 4♠ is what I've got now as partner bypassed 3NT.

[han]

He can't have those cards, Han. He bypassed 3NT (serious).

Yes he can, my partner can. Bidding 3NT shows serious extras, KQxxx Axxx Axx x is not enough, especially not when partner has shown clubs.

 

I do agree with you that partner is not likely to have those cards, and I guess you are right that the risk of going down in 5S is larger than the risk of missing a making slam.

[Echognome]

As it happened, the hand was:

 

[hv=d=n&v=e&n=skqj65hqj74daqj5c&w=st84ht98653dk8ca9&e=s3hakdt97643cjt86&s=sa972h2d2ckq75432]399|300|Scoring: IMP

1♠ - 2♣

2♥ - 3♠

4♦ - 4♠

All Pass[/hv]

 

It happened to make 12 tricks.

[han]

So looks like you had a good auction to a good spot.

[Echognome]

So looks like you had a good auction to a good spot.

Yeah. Just thought it an interesting hand. It felt a bit like 2♣ was a psych. It certainly doesn't have the high cards normally promised for a 2/1.

[jdonn]

It felt a bit like 2♣ was a psych. It certainly doesn't have the high cards normally promised for a 2/1.

You had a hand that is obviously worth a game force, so you made a game forcing bid in your seven card suit. You psychers are ruining the game!

[Walddk]

So looks like you had a good auction to a good spot.

Yeah. Just thought it an interesting hand. It felt a bit like 2♣ was a psych. It certainly doesn't have the high cards normally promised for a 2/1.

Who cares about high cards? You make slam 78% of the time opposite as little as

 

♠ Kxxxxx

♥ Axxx

♦ xx

♣ A

 

The only problem with responding 2♣ followed by spade support is that opener may not show ♠Q to a keycard ask (5♦ = 3) and 5♥ "do you have trump queen?", simply because he can't be certain that responder has four spades.

 

Give opener one spade less and you do not want to bid slam.

 

1♠ - 2♣

2♥ - 3♠

4♣ - 4NT

5♦ - 5♥

??

 

Opener will now deny ♠Q whether he has five or six spades, unless 3♠ is agreed as four, 2♠ as three. I doubt that many have that agreement.

 

2♣ with the example hand is just common sense. If anyone thinks he/she doesn't have a game force opposite 1♠, his/her judgement can only be described as poor. There is no guarantee that even 4♠ will make, but you can't stay out of game with that hand.

 

Roland