Explore this hand

[Aberlour10]

How to bid this to explore all chances this hand is giving...

 

N opens 1NT with

 

A103

Q83

QJ63

AQ2

 

S holding

 

KQ974

-

A98754

K4

 

Thanks for comments

[TWO4BRIDGE]

I have a system ( not my own ) that I have posted before, but sure to be criticized here in the B & I .... but here goes anyway:

 

1NT - 2H! ( transfer )

2S - 3D ( commonly used as 5+ cards, GF/slammish .. nothing startling here )

??

..3H! ( cheapest new suit = 4 or 5 cards ♦ and only 2 cards ♠ )

..3S ( 3 cards ♠, but less than 4 cards ♦ )

..3NT ( agree neither: 2 cards ♠ and less than 4 cards ♦ )

..4C! ( agree BOTH : 4 or 5 cards ♦ AND 3 cards ♠ ... SWEET !)

........[ In it's original form the convention used 4m! ( 4D! here ) to agree both -- I changed it to save "space" ]

 

After:

4C! - ?? because of the void, I think I would just blast to 6D, not 6S because of increased probability of ♦ ruff .

...........[ without the void, I would use a 6 Ace RKC ] .

[Finch]

The responding hand is strong enough to go past 3NT.

Everyone has their own pet methods, but if you aren't playing anything fancy I would simply bid my shape out: respond 3D (natural slam try) and then bid spades twice. So something like

 

1NT - 3D

3NT* - 4S

5C** - 6D

 

*no major to bid, a minimum with soft cards even though there is a diamond fit

**suitable for slam in diamonds opposite diamonds & spades, cue bid (4NT would be a sign-off, 5D would be a sign-off without a club control)

 

If you show your suits in the 'wrong' order you may find it hard to get to diamonds.

 

1NT - 2H (xfer)

2S - 3D (natural)

3S - 4D (more diamonds)

4S - 5C

6D

 

I am not sure if opener is worth a stronger move over 4D, but it shouldn't matter

[mike777]

Basically the same as Francis except a direct 3d would be invite so:

 

 

1nt=2c

2d=3d(gf)

3nt=4s

5c=6d

[Fluffy]

I think people is overcomplicating this, you transfer to spades, show diamonds later, and after partner shows 3 spades (with 3♠ bid) head towards 6♠ cuebidding or whatever you like. Is 6♦ better? yes but I don't think BILs should worry too much about this, just play in the fit you find first.

[Zelandakh]

There are 3 ways of handling this, to some extent depending on system. The first way would be to transfer to diamonds and then show spades twice. This should logically show a 6-5 hand. The problem with this is that you are not really showing extras, more of a choice of game, so it is not really suitable for this hand. There is also a second issue that many do not play a new suit after a minor suit transfer as natural.

 

A second option would be to start with Stayman and then bid 3D over a 2 of red suit response, finally to bid spades. This gets your relative suit lengths across but it is extremely likely that you will confuse partner with respect to the spades. For example, is 1NT - 2C; 2H - 3D; 3H - 3S really a 5th spade or just a grope for NT?

 

As Fluffy suggests, by far the simplest approach is simply to transfer to spades and then show diamonds. Here too, though, there are some issues of agreement to consider. Should Opener always agree spades with 3 or agree where they have the better support. The former is good if you regularly show both suits on game hands but the latter is better on slam hands. How about a bid to show a double fit? It is possible to use 4 of the other minor or 1 step above 4 of the minor for this - again not really B/I stuff but what else can 1NT - 2H; 2S - 3D; 4H actually mean?

 

Even once you have decided on a fit we need to think about what agreements are in place. Can South use Exclusion Key Card Blackwood? Do they even want to if they have it available? If the bidding starts 1NT - 2H; 2S - 3D; 3S - 4C; 4D, would 4H now be Last Train? If so we can use this to check on the heart situation without Exclusion. As it happens, on this hand partner will anyway deny a red suit control after 4C so we can safely RKCB. 1NT - 2H; 2S - 3D; 3S - 4C; 4S - 4NT; 5H - 6S looks like a decent B/I auction.

 

Finally, @Don: your method looks familiar to me - did you "borrow" one of my gadgets? :P I also think you could opt for 5H (can only be Exclusion 6KCB) over 4C in order to find the grand when it is right. And heck, why pass up any chance to use X6KCB when it is available? :D

[TWO4BRIDGE]

Finally, @Don: your method looks familiar to me - did you "borrow" one of my gadgets? :P I also think you could opt for 5H (can only be Exclusion 6KCB) over 4C in order to find the grand when it is right. And heck, why pass up any chance to use X6KCB when it is available? :D

You are right...again. Since I was going to commit to 6 anyway, I might as well use 6Ace-Exclusion as a chance for the Grand.

 

It should look familiar. [ I had picked up the method from IanD -- circa Dec, 2005 ] .

When I mentioned it here in earlier posts, you suggested an "optimization" of "right-siding" the minors ( rebid 3C! to show Diam ).

But with opening hand - opposite - "opening hand+ ", it probably doesn't matter.

Also, there is the possibility of using 3C! as "could be artificial" when holding a long Major and needing subsequent cuebid(s) before committing to slam .

[Aberlour10]

Thanks all for so detailed responses. Whatever an B/I asks here, the answers are always high quality stuff, makes this sub-forum really matchless in the virtuel bridge world. I think, its worth to propagate it much often in the BBO News