So far, so good

[Hanoi5]

[hv=pc=n&s=saq6h3dkqt4cak743&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=pp1dd1h2s3h?]133|200[/hv]

 

This one may be easy, playing teams what's your bid? What is going on?

[rhm]

Making a takeout double with shortage in an unbid major scares me.

Even though it worked out well here it is a recipe for disasters.

 

Rainer Herrmann

[Cyberyeti]

You lost me at X, really don't like it, I prefer 1N or 2♣.

 

Now I bid 4♥, if partner has ♠KJ10xx, xxx, Axx, xx or similar he should realise how good this is.

[fromageGB]

I play partner for being longer and weaker, and am happy to stop in 4♠.

[Cyberyeti]

I play partner for being longer and weaker, and am happy to stop in 4♠.

 

Quite likely, but opener too often has an 8 count for my liking here

[billw55]

What is going on?

Apparently someone is fooling around. Not my problem, 4♠

[mike777]

given the OP, 4s now

 

to be honest I would have started with 2c.

[ArtK78]

4♠. I don't see anything wrong with the initial double. The hand is too good for a mere 2♣ overcall, and the shape is very close to a classic take out double.

 

I can always say I had a club mixed in with my spades.

[trevahound]

4♠. I don't see anything wrong with the initial double. The hand is too good for a mere 2♣ overcall, and the shape is very close to a classic take out double.

 

I can always say I had a club mixed in with my spades.

 

Art, did you read it as a t/o double of 1♥? I don't think any would object. Here I need to tell partner I had 3 diamonds mixed in with my hearts.

[ArtK78]

Art, did you read it as a t/o double of 1♥? I don't think any would object. Here I need to tell partner I had 3 diamonds mixed in with my hearts.

Yes, I did. Sorry about that.

 

Now the question becomes whether this hand is too good to overcall 2♣. It is a very good hand. Is it good enough to bid clubs over a heart bid at any level made by partner? This is a close choice.

 

I would not be overly upset a a partner who made the judgment that this hand is too good for a 2♣ overcall. In any event, the auction has worked out very nicely. I would still just bid 4♠.

[P_Marlowe]

4S.

 

Given that we only have 4 spades, I would have gone with 2C.

The strength is ok for a power double, but if they are silent

and partner bids spades, we can never be sure, we have more

than a 43.

[ArtK78]

4S.

 

Given that we only have 4 spades, I would have gone with 2C.

The strength is ok for a power double, but if they are silent

and partner bids spades, we can never be sure, we have more

than a 43.

I assume you meant that we only have 3 spades.

 

Playing a 4-3 fit is not the end of the world. This hand may play well in a 4-3 spade fit if partner has a good 4-card spade holding.

[P_Marlowe]

I assume you meant that we only have 3 spades.

 

Playing a 4-3 fit is not the end of the world. This hand may play well in a 4-3 spade fit if partner has a good 4-card spade holding.

Yes, the 4-3 is not the issue, and we dont have a problem, if partner

showes some strength, as in the given seq., when he freely did bid 2S.

The problem comes, if he responds 1S, opponents remain silent.

Do we raise, and if we raise, how high, or do we show our 5 carder.

 

Ending up in a 4-3 at the game level is ok, ending up at the 3 level

in a 4-3, when partner is broke, may not.

[Free]

The dbl is beyond my comprehension, so this problem doesn't really exist.

[gnasher]

Double seems normal to me. This hand really is too strong for any other action, and it doesn't look any more like a 2♣ or 1NT overcall than it does a double.

 

Now I'd bid 4♥ and then subside in 4♠. We might miss a slam, but it looks dangerous to drive the five-level - the opponents are likely to have some shape to justify their bidding, so there could well be a diamond ruff.

Edited February 26, 2015 by gnasher

[rhm]

Double seems normal to me.

That may depend where you live.

But I doubt that many in the Bridge World would double.

I feel uncomfortable when my partner makes a takeout double and I can not even rely on that he will have tolerance for my unbid major.

 

This hand really is too strong for any other action, and it doesn't look any more like a 2♣ or 1NT overcall than it does a double.

Now there are certainly rare hands, which are so strong you might have to double anyway.

However, I feel this hand does not qualify. You rightly claim it does not look like a 1NT overcall, but a 1NT overcall certainly promises less in an unbid major than a takeout double.

Not that I recommend a 1NT overcall.

Is it really so terrible passing a strong but not super-strong unbalanced hand with length in the suit opened by RHO?

 

Rainer Herrmann

[mikeh]

As a Canadian, and as someone who has huge respect for Kokish, no way would I ever make a takeout double of 1♦.

 

There are hands on which I would double even lacking tolerance for an unbid major, but they don't looknlike this one.

 

Partner is allowed to bid some large number of hearts, and should do so with shape, even without hcp. Thus my hand should offer play in 4♥ should he choose to make that call or should have a suit that I can bid. Neither exists here, altho this hand might be ok in hearts on a good day...but might be terrible.

 

If we can't stomach 1N, and I understand why, and we can't stomach 2♣, we arrive at that most under-appreciated call in bridge: pass.

 

Having got away with the double, or so it seems to me, I am going to tighten the noose I tried to place around partner's neck and bid 4♠. I just hope that he didn't have the misfortune to be dealt a 4 card suit :P Bear in mind that when he bid 2♠, he wasn't expecting this shape to appear in dummy.

[gnasher]

As a Canadian, and as someone who has huge respect for Kokish, no way would I ever make a takeout double of 1♦.

 

There are hands on which I would double even lacking tolerance for an unbid major, but they don't looknlike this one.

 

Partner is allowed to bid some large number of hearts, and should do so with shape, even without hcp. Thus my hand should offer play in 4♥ should he choose to make that call or should have a suit that I can bid. Neither exists here, altho this hand might be ok in hearts on a good day...but might be terrible.

How likely is it that a passed hand will be able to jump to 4♥, on a hand where we belong in some other game? I'm not saying it's impossible, but it seems a very low risk.

 

If we can't stomach 1N, and I understand why, and we can't stomach 2♣, we arrive at that most under-appreciated call in bridge: pass.

I don't like pass because it's quite likely to lead to an awkward guess later. For example, what will you do if it goes

[hv=d=w&v=0&b=8&a=pp1dp1hp2hdp2sp]133|100[/hv]

And there's also the risk of defending 1♦ when 3NT is cold.

 

Having got away with the double, or so it seems to me, I am going to tighten the noose I tried to place around partner's neck and bid 4♠. I just hope that he didn't have the misfortune to be dealt a 4 card suit :P Bear in mind that when he bid 2♠, he wasn't expecting this shape to appear in dummy.

Partner can't have only four spades. With four spades and invitational values he would bid 2♦, taking advantage of the fact that he's a passed hand.

Edited February 27, 2015 by gnasher

[all loomis]

don't sneer at the x, cc wei took taiwan to the runner-up spot in bb with 16 pt x's. for that matter, the blue team never paid any visible attention to t-o shape.