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kfay

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[hv=d=n&v=b&s=sak95hak10976d9ckj]133|100|Scoring: MP

3-(P)-?

 

You don't play anything special.[/hv]

 

[hv=d=n&v=b&s=sak95hak10976d9ckj]133|100|Scoring: MP

3-(P)-?

 

You don't play anything special.[/hv]

 

[hv=d=n&v=b&s=sak95hak10976d9ckj]133|100|Scoring: MP

3-(P)-?

 

You don't play anything special.[/hv]

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First one. I play "nothing special." Does that include Blackwood? If I play absolutely nothing, I suppose partner promises two of the top three clubs, so I'd blast 6. Otherwise, I'd ask questions.

 

Second one. 4, if that is to play. 3...4 otherwise.

 

Third one. 3. I need partner to have the diamond Ace to make this an odds-on slam, I think.

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Not sure why 3S should be natural on 3. The frequency of a void is probably low enough...

That you would want to use the higher off-suit bid to show it?

Well, it depends on what you can show with 3S and what you lose with having 3S show a void, what 3 means etc. I have no clue...

 

If someone were to pull 3S (without agreement) on me on that sequence, I would take it as a cue, though. Probably not ideal, but keeps the memory load low I suppose.

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More analysis:

 

On the first one, 3 would be more appealing IF we played something special. We don't. As a result, it seems to me that bidding 3 risks making it difficult to use RKCB for clubs. Playing something special, this is not a problem as much. If partner raises hearts, 4NT is RKCB for hearts. If partner does not raise hearts, then for me 4 is RKCB for clubs. That works wonders.

 

On the third one, the reason that I bid 3 is that I play that anything new is a cue. Not playing that, I suppose that 4 makes sense. But, I don't like that with a worthless doubleton in diamonds. 3 suffers from that same problem, as partner cannot really tell whether I have xx or KQx or AKx in diamonds.

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First: 3. We're certainly bidding game, and we're likely bidding a club slam. Let's get some more information before we take any more decisive action.

 

Second: 4. Even if partner provides zero help, we'll likely make 3. I don't think it's right to play partner for zero help.

 

Third: 3, by process of elimination. We can't bid 3 (that shows a 6th heart), 3 (that shows spades), or 3NT (that shows a diamond stopper). The only other call we could make is 4, and there's no reason to bypass 3NT or take up that much space when we've got a cheap 3 call available.

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3, 4 weren't too hard.

 

On (3), playing "nothing special" I assume to mean a casual partner. In which case I would worry that 3 might be interpreted as a control. Ergo I bid 4. Admitedly, I would not think of 3 as natural. But why allow room for doubt when I can be 100% clear.

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What is going on here, how many people have been talking to Rexford in private? Since when do you need to hear about a bid being natural before you assume it is natural?

Actually, you don't have to talk to me on that. It seems that a corollary to Eric Kokish applies. Kokish says that the third suit call is often shortness. If one call shows two suits, then a corollary would suggest that the next call is shortness.

 

In fact, this is a relatively common theme. Transfer, show second suit, then show shortness, for example.

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The auction 1NT - 2D - 2H - 3C - 3H is extremely different. In that auction, there is a heart fit. Showing shortness is a very good idea. Also, since you are already in a GF you don't need a bid to say "I am strong, where should we play?".

 

In our auction, we haven't found a fit yet. We might want to play in clubs, hearts, spades or notrump. Having 3D as a probe is important, and if we can't bid spades naturally, we can't find our spade fit.

 

In a sense the auction is more similar to 1S - 1NT - 2D - 2NT - 3H, which everybody I know plays naturally, not as a cuebid.

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The auction 1NT - 2D - 2H - 3C - 3H is extremely different. In that auction, there is a heart fit. Showing shortness is a very good idea. Also, since you are already in a GF you don't need a bid to say "I am strong, where should we play?".

 

In our auction, we haven't found a fit yet. We might want to play in clubs, hearts, spades or notrump. Having 3D as a probe is important, and if we can't bid spades naturally, we can't find our spade fit.

 

In a sense the auction is more similar to 1S - 1NT - 2D - 2NT - 3H, which everybody I know plays naturally, not as a cuebid.

Actually, showing shortness makes finding a spade fit easier, in the sense of more flexibility where you need it, and a more natural follow-up. Let me explain.

 

If calls are natural, then overcaller can only bid 3 with a three-card suit, right? 3, presumably, can be a two-card suit, either for patterning purposes or for a notrump probe, as actual pure length in the minor is less important. This creates a pinch if overcaller has 2-0 or 2-1 with longer spades and wants to probe or pattern.

 

If calls are shortness, this is solved. 3 shows shortness in spades and suiggests either notrump probe or pattern, where technical length in diamonds is less important. 3 shows shortness in diamonds, and hence infers some length in spades, whether for strain, pattern, or probe. Advancer can cater to this more easily because he now has a 3 call to suggest strain interest.

 

In the "bid length" scenario, artificiality kicks in at this point. If 3 showed diamonds, and hence shortness in spades, Advancer's 3 repkly cannot make sense as natural and must therefore have some surrogate meaning (offering diamonds as a strain?). This becomes convoluted.

 

Plus, in the end, shortness seems to allow spades to be focused as a possible strain more easily, whereas natural focuses diamonds as a strain more easily. I think I'd rather focus spades, personally.

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Actually, showing shortness makes finding a spade fit easier, in the sense of more flexibility where you need it, and a more natural follow-up.

That happens to be true in this sequence. It wouldn't be true in this very similar sequence

 

  (1) 2NT (pass) 3

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[hv=d=n&v=b&s=sak95hak10976d9ckj]133|100|Scoring: MP

3-(P)-?

 

You don't play anything special.[/hv]

 

Dealer: West
Vul: E/W
Scoring: MP
[space]
AQ1097643
K10
AJ3
(P)-2-(P)-?

 

Dealer: East
Vul: None
Scoring: MP
[space]
AQJ107
43
AKQJ87
(1)-2NT-(P)-3

(P)-?

 

Plan?

1) 3 is forcing right

2) 4

3) 3 should be a qbid right

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Plus, in the end, shortness seems to allow spades to be focused as a possible strain more easily, whereas natural focuses diamonds as a strain more easily. I think I'd rather focus spades, personally.

Maybe I'm silly to assume there is about a 50% chance the 4th suit is higher than the opponent's suit, and a 50% chance it is lower.

 

Also, to your earlier post, if we had KQx or AKx of diamonds and were good enough to bid again we would probably rebid 3NT.

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