the hog Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Listen jack, would you let a potential 4-4 diamond fit talk you out of splintering for your partner's 1♥ opening? No? Then why do you think it's ridiculous that I show my 5 card support for partner's primary suit and interest in slam all with one bid? I think your sarcasm is way overdone, and not helpful. Frankly, it always makes me think that you don't have any good bridge ideas, and that all you have to offer is negativity. But then again, this isn't therapy for that poor misfit Ron, it's a bridge discussion, so I digress. If you show your support now, you don't have to go through some 4th suit forcing auction just to get back to diamonds, and you don't have to worry about preemption as much. You also establish your singleton spade. It will be hard to do that later in the auction with everything else you need to catch up on. Here is a good bridge idea for you. A hand with a 4-4 fit and a 5-4 fit generally plays one trick at least better in the 4-4 fit. Therefore and for other reasons, I think it is absurd to splinter on this hand. After a splinter you will never get to play in Hearts. The other problem with a splinter is that you seem to play a splinter as an absurdly wide range. Ok Pd signs off in 3NT opposite your splinter - your move, as pd has no idea how strong you re except that you can force to game. Even more - pd decides to bid 3NT, showing a reasonable S stopper(s). You have the K of S. Wow, pd may well get a surprise when he sees this card. Also it is not difficult to construct hands where 3NT is by far the best contract opposite the S King, and poor otherwise. This is really enlightened bidding. I can imagine a beginner or low intermediate who has just discovered splinters producing that bid on this hand, but am surprised to see a regular forum member suggesting such a flawed bid as a serious alternative. If you want to fiddle with a splinter in your partnerships, go right ahead, but don't bring this up in a discussion where the op clearly wants some sensible advice. Sure if you play inverted raises can have a 4 card Major, then that is a good start, otherwise 1H is obvious. Perhaps it should not surprise me that you would use a splinter, because based on this comment, "& then try to drive to slam opposite the right number of keycards." you appear to have no idea whatsoever what as to what a splinter is supposed to be. Why splinter on this hand if you are going to bid a slam anyway? A splinter says that your partner now makes the decision. "Partner I have enough to force to game, I have support for you and I have a singleton in this suit. Do you like that?" Not "Stuff you partner, I have a singleton in S and I am bidding slam if you have the right number of kc and I don't give a fig about the rest of your hand". In my partnerships if pd does not raise H, a 4D bid shows D support. I realise that you might play this as a splinter, but I don't so do not need your convoluted 4th suit forcing to show d support - (Free lesson for you!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2000magic Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 I'd bid 1♥. If partner has four good (or even decent) hearts, it's likely that game or slam in the 4-4 fit will be better than game or slam in a 5-3 or 5-4 fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSGibson Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Here is a good bridge idea for you. A hand with a 4-4 fit and a 5-4 fit generally plays one trick at least better in the 4-4 fit. Therefore and for other reasons, I think it is absurd to splinter on this hand. After a splinter you will never get to play in Hearts. The other problem with a splinter is that you seem to play a splinter as an absurdly wide range. Ok Pd signs off in 3NT opposite your splinter - your move, as pd has no idea how strong you re except that you can force to game. Even more - pd decides to bid 3NT, showing a reasonable S stopper(s). You have the K of S. Wow, pd may well get a surprise when he sees this card. Also it is not difficult to construct hands where 3NT is by far the best contract opposite the S King, and poor otherwise. This is really enlightened bidding. I can imagine a beginner or low intermediate who has just discovered splinters producing that bid on this hand, but am surprised to see a regular forum member suggesting such a flawed bid as a serious alternative. If you want to fiddle with a splinter in your partnerships, go right ahead, but don't bring this up in a discussion where the op clearly wants some sensible advice. Sure if you play inverted raises can have a 4 card Major, then that is a good start, otherwise 1H is obvious. Perhaps it should not surprise me that you would use a splinter, because based on this comment, "& then try to drive to slam opposite the right number of keycards." you appear to have no idea whatsoever what as to what a splinter is supposed to be. Why splinter on this hand if you are going to bid a slam anyway? A splinter says that your partner now makes the decision. "Partner I have enough to force to game, I have support for you and I have a singleton in this suit. Do you like that?" Not "Stuff you partner, I have a singleton in S and I am bidding slam if you have the right number of kc and I don't give a fig about the rest of your hand". In my partnerships if pd does not raise H, a 4D bid shows D support. I realise that you might play this as a splinter, but I don't so do not need your convoluted 4th suit forcing to show d support - (Free lesson for you!). Thanks Ron, that was actually a very helpful bridge-related reply - and I apologize for my snarky response earlier. I recognize that a 4-4 fit may play better - that's always been the case. BUT - I don't let the fact that a 4-4 spade fit may play better stop me from splintering on AQxx KJxx x Kxxx if partner opened 1♥, and I've never heard anyone seriously suggest that. This seems to be only a slightly different situation. Also, I agree that splintering is typically a limit hand, but splintering can also encompass hands that have a follow-up plan over a sign off, and want to give partner an idea about what to do for grand slam. That is the hand I think I have. A singleton king is a negative feature, and never comfortable to splinter with, but I think making a bid that establishes a fit, a game force, and starts to describe our shape is a good idea before opponents, who have at least 9 spades between them, get involved in the auction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the hog Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 I also apologise. By the way, the opps may well only have 8 spades between them. Surely your partner can have 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSGibson Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 I also apologise. By the way, the opps may well only have 8 spades between them. Surely your partner can have 4. Damn those who can use addition effectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jillybean Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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