Something fishy ?

[H_KARLUK]

[hv=d=s&v=b&s=sqt865hakq8dat97c]133|100|Scoring: XIMP[/hv]

 

W      N      E      S

                        1♠

P     1NT     P     P

X     2♥     3♥     P

?

 

Your opps allowed to open 4 card Majors.

Would you mind sharing your thoughts about 2♥ and 3♥ and what's your rebid ? Any comments would be helpful.

[Ant590]

Am I alone in playing the delayed double still as t/o of spades?

[Finch]

I'm very happy with the double, which traditionally shows a penalty double of spades.

 

The 2♥ bidder has long hearts and does not want to play in 1NTx. He may be very weak, certainly he was not strong enough to bid 2♥ over 1♠ (how strong he needed to be depends on the opponents' system). That is straightforward.

 

Partner's 3♥ is some sort of "master bid". We can only work out what he has by elimination:

 

- He can't have a particularly good hand with a long suit as he would have bid over 1NT

- It isn't natural. If he had hearts, he could have doubled for penalties.

- He could have bid 2S or 3S naturally over 2H, as we have shown long spades.

- He must have a lot of something, because he's suddenly forced us to play at the 3-level, at least.

 

I would guess he has extreme heart shortage, and is something like 4144, or 4045, or 3145 with a poor 5-card minor but extra HCP. With, say,

 

K97x

x

KQx

Kxxxx

 

he didn't really have a bid over 1NT but now he feels he is too good to compete in spades.

 

As for what I bid now, I don't know. 3S is simple. 4S is simple but may be an overbid. 4H is erudite. Anything else seems too obscure.

[H_KARLUK]

[hv=d=s&v=b&n=s7ht96543d652ck98&w=sqt865hakq8dat97c&e=sa92hjdqj8cq76543&s=skj43h72dk43cajt2]399|300|Scoring: XIMP[/hv]

 

W      N      E      S

                        1♠

P     1NT     P     P

X     2♥     3♥     P

3♠    P      4♠

AP