reopen?

[gwnn]

You hold

 

KQxx

KQJxx

xx

xx

 

And open 1♥ favorable imp's 1st seat.

 

1♥-2♣-p-p

 

Do you reopen?

[Blofeld]

I don't think I can bring myself to reopen here. I've got two clubs, which reduces the chances that partner is sitting for penalties.

 

(As an aside, I suspect that I wouldn't open this hand - but it's close; switch the majors and I'd be tempted.)

[foo]

You aren't even close to being strong enough to Reverse. Pass.

[karlson]

I think I would (with double). -180 here we come.

 

If your partner is wont to make a negative double with moderate hands with club length as well as spade length, then certainly pass is much more appealing. However, my style is usually to pass those hands (who knows, maybe at some point I'll be convinced that this is bad bridge)

[Guest Jlall]

pass

[jdonn]

Pass. Not only the doubleton club and the doubleton diamond arguing against double, but the no aces and total minimum.

[Halo]

Pass

 

I'd feel fine about opening. But I think I have bid my hand to the full.

[whereagles]

Pass. Aceless hand means no big penalty available, even if pard is trapping.

[pclayton]

Pass. Its possible pard has a penalty pass but its also possible LHO has a heavy overcall and they just missed game.

 

When neither is the case, this could be an ugly hand for us since pard is weak and we don't have a fit.

[mike777]

You hold

 

KQxx

KQJxx

xx

xx

 

And open 1♥ favorable imp's 1st seat.

 

1♥-2♣-p-p

 

Do you reopen?

Yes.

 

I assume partner knows we open on this.

 

If I only promise one quick trick I got more than a dead minimum.

 

If I am not going to reopen then I should not open in the first place.

[Codo]

1. Clear opening

 

2. Even without equal level conversion, I have no problem with any possible rebid from pd, as I can take 2 Diamond to 2 Heart and show this hand?

I cannot pass with both majors and no rebid problem, so I double, even if the shape in the minors and the quiet pd suggest a double.

[P_Marlowe]

Yes, ... 2H.

 

According to partnership agreement

I have to.

 

But I would not have opened the hand,

since this would violate my partnership

agreements.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[Finch]

If I am not going to reopen then I should not open in the first place.

I agree with the principle that once you open the bidding in 1st or 2nd seat, you are committed to reopening with shortage in the overcalled seat.

[Fluffy]

reopen as well

[Guest Jlall]

If I am not going to reopen then I should not open in the first place.

I agree with the principle that once you open the bidding in 1st or 2nd seat, you are committed to reopening with shortage in the overcalled seat.

Do you consider 2 to be shortage? Surely Hx is different from xx as well, with Kx the odds of partner having a trap is very low, and when you have 2 clubs the odds that they can run successfully dramatically goes up. I def agree with auto reopening with a singleton/void but I think a doubleton is a lot different.

[nige1]

You hold  ♠ K Q x x ♥ K Q J x x ♦ x x ♣ x x

And open 1♥ favorable imp's 1st seat.

 

1♥ (2♣) _P (_P)

??

 

Do you reopen?

IMO X = 10, P = 8

 

The 75% who pass include lots of big guns but I was relieved to find Frances Hinden among the protectors.

 

IMO your action depends on

• Partner's habits. Can partner pass 2♣ with opening values or better? :blink:
  Mine can and do :)
  
• RHO's guile. Is RHO capable of a sly pass with a mountain? :)
  Oh well, it seems I've taken that risk :) Another -800? :(
  

[gwnn]

So this happened in the Champions Cup Semi Finals (Parioli vs Bamberg), and Dano de Falco passed this out almost automatically. His partner (sitting on a 10 count with QJ9xx of clubs I think, waiting for his +800) actually hesitated for a while and the commentators were saying something like "look at how ethical he's behaving, it's a clearcut reopening double", and I thought that was at least an overstatement if not a misstatement... Bamberg got a +800 in the other room from another partial, so the Italians got a very bad result. Thanks everyone for the input (and sorry for not listing the popular "I abstain, there is no bridge without Flannery" option).

[dburn]

At the other table, Gromoeller for Bamberger Reiter opened 1♥ and heard double, redouble, 1♠. He doubled for penalty, and the vugraph audience was treated to the rare sight of Lauria going for 800.

 

The full deal was:

 

[hv=d=s&v=e&n=sa3ha10dk1074cqj752&w=sj97h98daq6cak1093&e=s10852h7652dj982c8&s=skq64hkqj43d53c64]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv]

 

We played this deal against Iceland. I was sitting out, and when I saw the auction proceed 1♥-2♣-pass-pass, I thought South would do well to reopen. Then I remembered a deal from the world championships in Yokohama, 1991, where an Iceman sitting South had a sub-minimum opening bid with two small clubs. He opened, and when 3C came back to him he passed and collected 300 in lieu of a vulnerable game. I have not the least doubt that the Icelanders vowed that this would never happen to them again.

[han]

David, I'm not sure what you mean by I thought South would do well to reopen[\I]. Are you merely saying that double would lead to a good result? Or are you saying that double is right and perhaps even that you would double with this hand if 3C came back to you?

 

Don't you consider it is a possibily that the icelanders concluded that pass was actually the right call and that they would pass again next time? Don't we all make correct decisions from time to time that lead to horrible results?

[dburn]

I mean that I thought South might not re-open - after all, several very strong players here have not done so, and I am not sure that I would have done so at the table.

 

Having said that, your hand is so bad that there is almost no chance that partner does not have a penalty double - what else can he have, given that the opponents have advanced only as far as 2♣? Unless, of course, partner belongs to that group of benighted souls who cannot make a negative double without four spades, in which case there is little hope for him or for you.

 

When the Iceman passed in Yokohama, I am sure he thought it was the correct call, and that his partner ought to have bid 3NT over 3♣ and not hoped for a reopening double. The position has, I have no doubt, been discussed among Iceland's top players (at least two of whom were among our opponents in this match) and I am sure they have concluded, as Frances has and as Gromoeller had in the match against Italy, that if you're going to open this, you're committed to reopening it or seeing it through in some other way.

[han]

Having said that, your hand is so bad that there is almost no chance that partner does not have a penalty double - what else can he have, given that the opponents have advanced only as far as 2♣?

 

How about an 8-count with 4 clubs headed by a single honor? Isn't that a reasonably likely hand to hold for partner? That would give the opponents what, 21 HCP and no fit?

[gwnn]

Thank you David for correcting my Swiss cheese-like memory. B)

[dburn]

How about an 8-count with 4 clubs headed by a single honor? Isn't that a reasonably likely hand to hold for partner? That would give the opponents what, 21 HCP and no fit?

Not really. You see, with most eight counts with four clubs to a single honour, partner would have doubled or would have raised hearts (especially if he could double with 3=2=4=4 shape, not being benighted).

 

One of the reasons mathematicians cannot count is that they are unable to conceive of, or ascribe a meaning to, an indefinite article such as "a"; they persist in regarding it as denoting "one". Wherefore they lose all sense of what is "reasonably likely", and...