What now?

[Free]

Playing against decent opponents you hold as dealer:

[hv=d=s&v=n&s=s954hjt93dtcakqt3]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv]

 

The auction starts:

pass - pass - 1♥ - 1NT

2♦! - 3NT - ...4♥ - 5♦

?

 

You always play decent openings, even in 3rd seat. You decided to bid 2♦ to show an invitational hand with ♥ fit. Partner tanked before bidding 4♥.

 

What do you think of the auction? What do you do now?

[Codo]

I would double. I have around two defensive tricks and I am on lead, so partner won'T spoil them with his lead.

[whereagles]

In my opinion, the hand is good enough to bid 4♣ over 1NT.

 

As it went, it looks like pard has an offensive hand with goodish hearts. It looks like opps guessed wrong, so dbl.

[OleBerg]

5♥, far from certain to be right, but so is everything else.

 

Would never have bid 2♦ on the previous round. If 4♣ is available as FJ thats it, if not 4♦.

[ewj]

5H for sure.

 

This hand was crying out for a 3 ♣ fit jump or 4♣ fit jump if you play that....

[wclass___]

It looks like opps guessed wrong

Why?

[whereagles]

It looks like opps guessed wrong

Why?

Because we have a bunch of hcps and they're at the 5 level.

 

Unless LHO's 3NT was for the minors or stuff, I think they're going down.

[mtvesuvius]

Definitely 5♥, it doesn't take much from partner to be correct. Axx AKQxx xxx xx which is a questionable 4♥ bid would work. I think that a double is very pessimistic. At MPs I think 5♥ will gain most often or at least get us an average. Pass looks good, but partner will have trouble bidding 5♥ on many hands that it will make.

[Codo]

Definitely 5♥, it doesn't take much from partner to be correct. Axx AKQxx xxx xx which is a questionable 4♥ bid would work. I think that a double is very pessimistic. At MPs I think 5♥ will gain most often or at least get us an average. Pass looks good, but partner will have trouble bidding 5♥ on many hands that it will make.

Of course rho could be kidding with a fake 1 Nt call.

But in any other case, partners hand is less pure.

 

So partners had seem to be shapely, maybe a two suiter.

[wclass___]

It looks like opps guessed wrong

Why?

Because we have a bunch of hcps and they're at the 5 level.

 

Unless LHO's 3NT was for the minors or stuff, I think they're going down.

I doun't like when someone states HCP as a reason (especially in A&E section)

Same with dogmatical reasosn about 5th level

There are no rules in this game.. only guidlines

 

Anyway, for the fact to be true you need also 4♥ to be down.

[whereagles]

I doun't like when someone states HCP as a reason (especially in A&E section)

Same with dogmatical reasosn about 5th level

There are no rules in this game.. only guidlines

 

Anyway, for the fact to be true you need also 4♥ to be down.

Well, and I don't like your attitude.

 

Anyway, I don't need 4♥ to go down. I need 5♥ to go down.

[OleBerg]

It looks like opps guessed wrong

Why?

Because we have a bunch of hcps and they're at the 5 level.

 

Unless LHO's 3NT was for the minors or stuff, I think they're going down.

I doun't like when someone states HCP as a reason (especially in A&E section)

Same with dogmatical reasosn about 5th level

There are no rules in this game.. only guidlines

 

Anyway, for the fact to be true you need also 4♥ to be down.

Don't be so harsh. There's a lot of advanced players who thinks that way.

[mikeh]

Doesn't anyone else think that there is something very strange going on?

 

LHO will be an honest person here.. 3N makes no sense otherwise. Partner didn't pscyhe... with a weak hand and enough heart length to make it worth saving in 4♥, he would have preempted. RHO is not bidding his partner's suit.. he can't know we have long clubs so he can't know that his partner has long diamonds.

 

So RHO probably made a comic 1N overcall, with a 7 or even 8 card diamond suit.

 

I wish I had made a 3♣ fit jump last time.. then I could pass. But I didn't, maybe because I didn't have that club in the bag.

 

I am going to bid 5♥, resorting to the adage of when in doubt bid one more... and I am surely in doubt.

 

If rho bid on long diamonds and a heart stopper, I rate to be unhappy, altho maybe then partner loses no spades. If rho was purely comic, then 5♥ is (I think) a favourite to make, and I think that on such a layout, we may be only +300 against 5♦

[jdonn]

Rho was obviously psyching and I'm glad to finally see it realized. Not only his strange 5♦ bid but what would 3NT be on if not clubs and diamonds and hearts? 5♥ for me. I'm glad he didn't simply overcall 5♦ directly, after which I would have bid 5♥ but been a lot less confident it was right.

[whereagles]

As I said, there would have been no guess had we bid

 

1♥ 1NT 4♣

[mikeh]

As I said, there would have been no guess had we bid

 

1♥ 1NT 4♣

I try not to splinter in an AKQxx suit... partners so often mis-evaluate :)

[Free]

As I said, there would have been no guess had we bid

 

1♥ 1NT 4♣

I try not to splinter in an AKQxx suit... partners so often mis-evaluate :)

That would be a fit jump.

 

We are building a partnership and didn't discuss this sequence. That's why 2♦ was chosen instead of 3♣ or 4♣... :)

[whereagles]

Indeed. Thing is, it was a fit bid :)

[skjaeran]

5♥ seems like the best bet for me.

[wclass___]

Anyway, I don't need 4♥ to go down. I need 5♥ to go down.

Sorry, but i doun't get what you mean.

How is LHO's decision to bid 5♦(guessed wrong) connected with assumption that 5♥ goes down?

[andy_h]

Is 3C/4C fit jump really going to help out partner that much? Is partner meant to like his x/xx/xxx of clubs? I understand it is "getting our hand off our chest" but how is partner going to evaluate those club holdings? I guess xxx isn't so bad since we're leading through the supposedly real 1NT hand.

I'm tempted to just have bid 4H over 1NT given we don't open light in 3rd seat. I'm also guessing 2NT over 1NT is also undiscussed. I'm not saying I dislike 3C, just wondering if it's that beneficial.

 

Anyway, I will defo bid 5H given how the auction has proceeded. Although it's blatantly obvious that RHO has psyched given the 5D bid, I would ideally prefer a pass then 5H over partner's x if my pass was forcing inviting slam.

[mikeh]

Is 3C/4C fit jump really going to help out partner that much? Is partner meant to like his x/xx/xxx of clubs? I understand it is "getting our hand off our chest" but how is partner going to evaluate those club holdings? I guess xxx isn't so bad since we're leading through the supposedly real 1NT hand.

I'm tempted to just have bid 4H over 1NT given we don't open light in 3rd seat. I'm also guessing 2NT over 1NT is also undiscussed. I'm not saying I dislike 3C, just wondering if it's that beneficial.

 

Anyway, I will defo bid 5H given how the auction has proceeded. Although it's blatantly obvious that RHO has psyched given the 5D bid, I would ideally prefer a pass then 5H over partner's x if my pass was forcing inviting slam.

The benefit of the fit-jump is that it may well create a fp scenario.. whereby we could pass while not fearing that the next thing we hear woould be 'your lead'.

 

In this auction, I very much doubt that 2♦... good raise to 2♥... comes close to establishing a fp, even after partner's 4♥ call. Maybe it does, maybe it should, but are we certain that both of us think it does.

 

While I would use 4♣ as a splinter and 3♣ as fit, in this auction, I concede that 4♣ fit would be better, since it shows a gf hand...and it would have either silenced rho or generated a double... now rho's diamond bid would be known BY ALL to have been a psyche and we would be in a fp situation for sure.

[Apollo81]

I would have bid 4 of a minor over 1NT. Which one depends on whether we're playing fit jumps or splinters in this situation. I don't think the 2♦ bid did our hand justice, which is why we have a problem now.

[OleBerg]

Is 3C/4C fit jump really going to help out partner that much? Is partner meant to like his x/xx/xxx of clubs? I understand it is "getting our hand off our chest" but how is partner going to evaluate those club holdings? I guess xxx isn't so bad since we're leading through the supposedly real 1NT hand.

I'm tempted to just have bid 4H over 1NT given we don't open light in 3rd seat. I'm also guessing 2NT over 1NT is also undiscussed. I'm not saying I dislike 3C, just wondering if it's that beneficial.

 

Anyway, I will defo bid 5H given how the auction has proceeded. Although it's blatantly obvious that RHO has psyched given the 5D bid, I would ideally prefer a pass then 5H over partner's x if my pass was forcing inviting slam.

The benefit of the fit-jump is that it may well create a fp scenario.. whereby we could pass while not fearing that the next thing we hear woould be 'your lead'.

 

In this auction, I very much doubt that 2♦... good raise to 2♥... comes close to establishing a fp, even after partner's 4♥ call. Maybe it does, maybe it should, but are we certain that both of us think it does.

 

While I would use 4♣ as a splinter and 3♣ as fit, in this auction, I concede that 4♣ fit would be better, since it shows a gf hand...and it would have either silenced rho or generated a double... now rho's diamond bid would be known BY ALL to have been a psyche and we would be in a fp situation for sure.

Actually it makes a lot of sense that a fitbid should not establish a force. It should simply say "I have thrumph support and this suit, if it fits your hand, compete if the opponents bid." Whether partners bid will be to win, or as a good sacrifice, is not immediately known.

 

On the actual hand, I would feel quite comfortable to make a "penalty" double of 5♦, if I had already shown that my values were concentrated in hearts and clubs.

 

Thus a 4♣ bid could be the hand in question, but also something like:

 

♠ xx

♥ Jxxxx

♦ x

♣ KQJxx

 

This hand would of course simply pass 5♦.

[cherdanno]

A fit jump would never create a forcing pass for me here. I am a passed hand and partner is a 3rd seat opener. On top of that, the point of the fit jump is to describe the hand reasonable well, so that partner can make the final decision. He may well have a strong opinion that our best guess is to let them play undoubled.