Bid these

[Cyberyeti]

A couple of possible slam boards caused problems in our county match today. How do you cope with these.

 

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Game all, Dealer W, assuming you open 1♣ or 1♦, how do you bid this if a) N passes b) he bids 1♠ c) he bids 2♠ (weak). If you can open 2♣, N will pass.

 

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Dealer N, EW vul. At our table S psyched (and it wasn't the only table at which this happened), but assume you get a free run. Our auction was (1♥)-X-2♣-2♥(good raise)-3♣(zip)-4♦(KC)-4♥(still zip)-4♠(Q♣?)-5♣(still zip)-6♣

[xxhong]

A couple of possible slam boards caused problems in our county match today. How do you cope with these.

 

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Game all, Dealer W, assuming you open 1♣ or 1♦, how do you bid this if a) N passes b) he bids 1♠ c) he bids 2♠ (weak). If you can open 2♣, N will pass.

 

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Dealer N, EW vul. At our table S psyched (and it wasn't the only table at which this happened), but assume you get a free run. Our auction was (1♥)-X-2♣-2♥(good raise)-3♣(zip)-4♦(KC)-4♥(still zip)-4♠(Q♣?)-5♣(still zip)-6♣

 

Hand 1:

1C 1H

2C 2H (gf, 5+H)

3D(extra) 4D

4S(cue) 4N(cue in H)

5C(cue) 5H(cue HK)

6C(cue CK and even number of KC) 6D (missing one KC)

 

Hand 2:

3N(27-28, upgraded for good C) 4N(invite)

5C(natural) 6C

[Fluffy]

Hand 1 something like

 

1♣-1♥

2♣-2♦!

3♦-4♦

 

seems like a goos start

 

For the second one I have no clue. I would play 4♥ most likelly without the psyche after a transfer sequence. With the psyche I think raising to 6♣ was a bad gamble with west's hand, he doesn't remotelly know about the psyche and he has 1♠, 1♥ and half a club to lose. Partner hasn't made any move.

[Cyberyeti]

For the second one I have no clue. I would play 4♥ most likelly without the psyche after a transfer sequence. With the psyche I think raising to 6♣ was a bad gamble with west's hand, he doesn't remotelly know about the psyche and he has 1♠, 1♥ and half a club to lose. Partner hasn't made any move.

I think it's a better gamble than you think. What has partner got for his 2♣ bid ? He doesn't have 4 spades, he may not have 3 (not entirely sure what 2♠ is over 2♥, as with a heap and 4♠/5♣ I might well have bid 1♠). xx, xx, xxxx, xxxxx is plenty.

 

Without the psyche, we'd have bid:

 

2♣-2♦

3N (26-27)-4♦(♥)

5♣-6♣

 

Partner is showing 3 hearts to at least a top honour and 5 clubs to 2 top honours, and in this case that he also likes his hand a lot.

[Zelandakh]

I could open Hand 1 2C but it would be 10-14 natural rather than strong. Of course this hand is too strong for that, so:

 

1C = 15+ nat/bal or 18+ any

... - 2C = hearts and diamonds, GF

3D = 15-17 with 5+ clubs and 4+ diamonds

... - 3H = nat

3N = nat

... - 4D = nat, slam interest

5C = accept slam try, 2 keycards without DQ

... - 6D

 

I recently changed systems over a 1S overcall so part 2 is a nice chance to practise :)

 

1C - (1S)

... - 3C = 5+ hearts, 4+ diamonds, GF

3D = nat

... - 3H = nat

3N = nat

... - 4D = nat, slam interest

5C = accept slam try, 2 keycards without DQ

... - 6D

 

Part 3 is the toughest. Below is a first thought although I am sure it can be improved

1C - (2S) - 3H

3N - 4D

5D - 5H

6D

 

For Hand 2, I have not invested a great deal of effort in system for 25-28hcp hands as yet but as it is:-

 

1C - 1D = 0-8 any

1H = 18-20 any or 23+ bal

... - 1S = relay, most hands

3H = 27-28 bal without a 4 card major

... - 4C = major ask

4D = 3 hearts, 3 spades

... - 5D = strong slam try in hearts

6C = accept, and btw I also have 5 good clubs

... - P (at MPs I would be highly tempted by 6H though)

 

I am interested that you play (1H) - X - 2C - 2H as a good raise Yeti. How do you handle the traditional hands for the cue bid?

[Cyberyeti]

I am interested that you play (1H) - X - 2C - 2H as a good raise Yeti. How do you handle the traditional hands for the cue bid?

Depends what you mean by the normal hands, I put good raise as that is what it is here, that was only one of the options. Basically it's a good raise to 3♣ or something very large. I'll bid 2N over that with a heart stop and a little more than I have here.

[Zelandakh]

Oh, ok. I think it is better to write what the bid means generally rather than which specific hand type you hold on this auction to better follow how the auction is developing. I think I would have bid 2NT rather than 3C over a 'normal' 2H personally but I guess this is a matter of style. Would 4D still be Kickback for you then (and if not the what else?!) or would you need to explicitly agree clubs first?

[Cyberyeti]

Oh, ok. I think it is better to write what the bid means generally rather than which specific hand type you hold on this auction to better follow how the auction is developing. I think I would have bid 2NT rather than 3C over a 'normal' 2H personally but I guess this is a matter of style. Would 4D still be Kickback for you then (and if not the what else?!) or would you need to explicitly agree clubs first?

Would still be kickback. I put it as a good raise because basically that is how I bid over it, if partner has something else, he's big enough to handle anything I do. The style is that 3♣ shows nothing, anything else shows at least some values. I'm anticipating 18-19 ish opposite, don't need much more for 2N.

[Zelandakh]

I thought about this a little more. The usual "weak" hand in the cue bid is 22 balanced and there might be an issue if this hand was held after a double-negative 3C which does not show extra club length. So I propose that it might be a good idea to switch 3C with the next step whenever the opps' suit is not spades. So, in this case 2S would be negative and 3C would show constructive values with spades and longer clubs. I think this would give you the best of both worlds without losing anything.

[rbforster]

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Game all, Dealer W, assuming you open 1♣ or 1♦, how do you bid this if a) N passes b) he bids 1♠ c) he bids 2♠ (weak). If you can open 2♣, N will pass.

Uncontested, I would have a convincing relay auction to 6♦ starting with P(!)-1♣(strong)-4♦(3046 with lots of strength). In these methods, N would need to open 1♠ or lose his chance since the relay would be past 2♠ on his next chance. If he opens 1♠, we would overcall 2N showing a <=4 loser hand with diamonds and another and seem likely to have an uncertain auction to 6♦ since at least we got diamonds into the picture immediately: P-(1♠)-2N(♦+?)-3♣-3♥-4♦... With a 2♠ opening preempt, I think I would probably overcall 4♥ which seems like to get driven to slam but that might well be in hearts requiring a lucky trump break. Would (2♠)-4♥-5N as pick a slam be reasonable on West's hand (assuming he was unpassed)?

 

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Dealer N, EW vul. At our table S psyched (and it wasn't the only table at which this happened), but assume you get a free run. Our auction was (1♥)-X-2♣-2♥(good raise)-3♣(zip)-4♦(KC)-4♥(still zip)-4♠(Q♣?)-5♣(still zip)-6♣

We would essentially have a strong 2♣ auction but I confess I'm not too sure about how the very strong balanced hands continue. Something like:

 

P-1♣ strong

1♦-2♣ negative, strong 2C hand

2♦-2N GF waiting, balanced and unlimited

3♦-3♥ transfer, accepted? (unclear, maybe 4♣ is a cue for hearts? then opener could RKC later)

3N - ?

 

I think probably 5 or 6 ♥ in an clumsy auction is most likely.

[Zelandakh]

rbf, what does the alerted pass mean, and why is East's pass on hand 2 different? As a general tip, if you play a forcing pass system where pass is always opening bid strength then you should always consider it an opening for overcall purposes regardless of what the conditions of bidding may explicitly say (since FP systems are often not considered). Your opponents will be more likely to intervene than normal to take away the space gained and to take advantage of the lack of a natural opening (similarly to a precision 1C).

[rbforster]

rbf, what does the alerted pass mean, and why is East's pass on hand 2 different?

Pass in 1st/2nd is a normal weak hand (0-9) OR a limited and unbalanced club hand (10-15), since 2♣ is a preempt. Pass is something like 90% weak so I estimated the opponents would bid or pass normally over it.

[Cyberyeti]

Pass in 1st/2nd is a normal weak hand (0-9) OR a limited and unbalanced club hand (10-15), since 2♣ is a preempt. Pass is something like 90% weak so I estimated the opponents would bid or pass normally over it.

 

N would open 2♠ weak in this case.