2/1 Guidance. Best Bid

[FelicityR]

I held the following hand at matchpoints, we were vulnerable playing a simplified version of 2/1, and I couldn't decide what was the best bid after partner's 2♦ bid. And would you have bid differently without North's double? It'll be interesting as always to read your replies. I feel I made the wrong choice. (We play 1NT as forcing but with less than 3 card support for opener's major suit.) Thank you.

 

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[ggwhiz]

The 2♦ bid is not a 3 card suit when volunteered over the double and may well have modest spade length due to the fact that the opponents haven't bid them yet. That is unless lho has a powerhouse which I will hear about after I PASS.

 

If lho bids over this partner can expect short hearts and modest diamonds in my hand and compete with extra shape. If I decided to bid 3♣ next they would know whether to pass or go back to diamonds. That's how I would bid with reversed vul for sure but it's risky here.

[pescetom]

My head is a bit fuzzy after a 26 hand tournament, but it looks like I bid 2♠, all the more so after the double.

Partner knows I have only 3-card spades and that they must be pretty good... if he rebids one of his red suits then I pass, otherwise we have some chance in 3NT which is surely better than letting them play a partial in spades that might well make if South has a 4-card fit and clubs shortage.

[helene_t]

2NT for me. In terms of strength this hand is borderline between a discouraging 3♦/3♣ and an encouraging 2♠/2NT. I don't think partner has promised five diamonds and I don't want to bid this poor club suit at the 3-level, so I round up rather than down in order to to bid the most convenient strain.

[mikeh]

We have a misfit and our spade holding isn’t as good as it was when we picked up the hand. Lho’s Double suggests the spade king. Rho probably has long hearts we have no source of tricks. I’m bailing here. Easy pass at mps.

[The_Badger]

I'm really unsure about the best bid here, if any. I am sorely tempted to (very reluctantly) pass. I think the problem with encouraging with a 2♠ bid here - that feels the right bid which hopefully partner will be able to work out: good ♠ stopper and maximum 10-11, is that a 3NT contract may play badly. Without the X I would bid 2♠ automatically instead of the stringy ♣ suit. With the X it feels that everything is going to break badly, but wussy passes are not my style so 2♠ it is. Partner should have more beans and/or shape to bid over the X at adverse vulnerability so you cannot let him down by passing lamely.

[wuudturner]

Be very careful about bidding 2♠ here. That should arguably be treated as the impossible 2♠ bid, thus nice support for diamonds, a hand that improved quite a bit once partner bid 2♢.

 

I see a hand that does not fit partner. Length and values in the suits partner does not have. Worse, AQJ tight in spades, with the king likely sitting wrongly. So we will take 2 spade tricks, but there is no potential for taking more tricks. Even if partner does have the spade king, it will almost never be in a 4 card suit on this bidding, and that would waste the AKQJ of spades to take 3 tricks in the suit. Regardless, we have too many points in short spades, thus cards that do not contribute to establishing length tricks in the suit.

 

So this is a hand that has high card points, but points that fit poorly with partner. Look at the heart suit. Who has heart length? Probably South, so they are likely sitting poorly. You can visualize poor transportation between the hands. Avoid bidding notrumps on hands like that. It is a misfit, and rather than making a forward going bid, you want to get out of Dodge on misfits.

 

What does partner have? Did partner bid 2♢ on a 3 card suit? Partner had a valid call if they were 5332, or something like that. That call would have been pass. Partner does indeed have at least 4 diamonds. You never know, maybe 5 of them.

 

I would pass 2♢. You have some extra values. It is a contract that partner should be able to make, and plus scores are a good thing.

[LBengtsson]

2♠ artificial, relay

 

http://bridgewinners.com/article/view/the-impossible-two-spades/

[dsLawsd]

Looks like 2NT- warn partner of a possible misfit, BUT he knows I have spades as my longest suit. Other agreed upon system are OK.

 

But I dislike intensely the proviso that partner has less than 3 card support as it will make further auctions very testy.

[rmnka447]

A free bid of 2 ♦ over the double shouldn't be made with a minimum hand with 5 ♥/4 ♦. It's perfectly OK to pass with such a holding and let responder tell their story. So, I think it's more of a picture bid showing a very red hand.

 

Q empty 6th of ♣ with bad spots isn't a good holding either. Transport between hands may be a huge problem at NT. So, I'm another person who would pass 2 ♦.

[johnu]

Be very careful about bidding 2♠ here. That should arguably be treated as the impossible 2♠ bid, thus nice support for diamonds, a hand that improved quite a bit once partner bid 2♢.

 

Solid point.

 

Without an agreement to the contrary, I would expect a 2♠ bidder to have superb diamond support and xxx in diamonds is the worst possible support you could have to be raising when opener only promises 4 diamonds.

[PhilG007]

I held the following hand at matchpoints, we were vulnerable playing a simplified version of 2/1, and I couldn't decide what was the best bid after partner's 2♦ bid. And would you have bid differently without North's double? It'll be interesting as always to read your replies. I feel I made the wrong choice. (We play 1NT as forcing but with less than 3 card support for opener's major suit.) Thank you.

 

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Its a No Brainer I would pass 2♦ Partner has offered two suits as trumps and is asking for preference Obviously you choose diamonds over hearts

so you indicate your choice by passing 2♦

[maartenxq]

Hi,

 

I pass, ♣may be our best fit, but you also risk to hit partners x or void. Partner offers two suits I have moderate support so in the long run this will be best.

 

Maarten Baltussen

[cleveritis]

Oy vey some of these responses. Partner should almost always have extra values - he can pass here with anything balanced, he can xx with strong balanced, so this is likely 55 - and not an 11 count. So, can we make game and which? We have a crappy 10 count and a misfit - our club queen is likely useless, and the spade finesse is wrong, so it isn't really a 10-count. Plus hearts are probably breaking badly and offside... 3N might well get doubled if we force it. Pass is fine, 2N a distant second.

 

2S should be a big hand with diamond support. Ax, Qx, Ktxxx, Qxxx... (we want to keep 5D, 4H, and 3N in the picture).. 3S splinter (never happens but hey)... 4H - a hand stuffed with red suit values that has improved... remember also your LHO is unlimited - his X could be the first move on a monster too strong for simple overcall...

[mikeh]

Oy vey some of these responses. Partner should almost always have extra values - he can pass here with anything balanced, he can xx with strong balanced, so this is likely 55 - and not an 11 count. So, can we make game and which? We have a crappy 10 count and a misfit - our club queen is likely useless, and the spade finesse is wrong, so it isn't really a 10-count. Plus hearts are probably breaking badly and offside... 3N might well get doubled if we force it. Pass is fine, 2N a distant second.

 

2S should be a big hand with diamond support. Ax, Qx, Ktxxx, Qxxx... (we want to keep 5D, 4H, and 3N in the picture).. 3S splinter (never happens but hey)... 4H - a hand stuffed with red suit values that has improved... remember also your LHO is unlimited - his X could be the first move on a monster too strong for simple overcall...

I agree with your pass, and agree (strongly) with your comments on 2♠. However, your analysis of what 2♦ shows is, imo, about as wrong as it is possible to be.

 

While partner can and should pass with all balanced hands, he can and should bid 2♦ with all unbalanced hands, regardless of how weak he is (in the context of having opened the bidding).

 

Passing with, say, x AJxxx AJxxx Jx is insane.

 

Firstly, the last place in the world that we want to play is 1N doubled. Secondly, if they bid, they are surely bidding spades, since they have at least 9 of them. Would we not want to compete in diamonds? We might even have a save or, opposite the right hand, a game....picture xxx x KQxxx KQxx.

 

No, 2♦simply shows shape...it is at least 5=4 reds and likely not a maximum with 2=5=4=2 and honours in the black suits, but there is no reason to infer 5-5 nor any reason to infer full values.

[The_Badger]

While partner can and should pass with all balanced hands, he can and should bid 2♦ with all unbalanced hands, regardless of how weak he is (in the context of having opened the bidding).

 

Passing with, say, x AJxxx AJxxx Jx is insane.

 

Passing with rubbish when the opponents have the anchor suit, spades, and a known fit and can always outbid you is usually a sane option in my opinion. 2♦ vulnerable doesn't add anything to the party but just helps the opponents place the cards.

[HardVector]

Its a No Brainer I would pass 2♦ Partner has offered two suits as trumps and is asking for preference Obviously you choose diamonds over hearts

so you indicate your choice by passing 2♦

It's not a no brainer. You are assuming partner has a trash hand and you are just making a part score. Partner's maximum hand is an 18 count! In this sort of auction I'm going to keep it open with as little as 8 points to give partner a chance to show me 15-18. I'd bid 2n here. You may get partner to bid 3n with 14 and be in a bit of trouble, but if they have anything more, that's where you want to be.

[mikeh]

Passing with rubbish when the opponents have the anchor suit, spades, and a known fit and can always outbid you is usually a sane option in my opinion. 2♦ vulnerable doesn't add anything to the party but just helps the opponents place the cards.

 

We clearly live in different universes. To me, passing says I have a balanced hand. Since, with my example, I don't have a balanced hand, I am not passing.

 

Not only may we be able to 'outbid them' but we already know that we probably don't want partner playing 1N doubled. Since much of the time our LHO is sitting there with long, chunky hearts and some cards, we may well end up playing right there. Yes, I see that we are missing the spade suit, but that doesn't mean, for sure, that LHO has spade length, If partner has a weak 1N hand (which on the OP he does not) and RHO has a big hand with spades, he starts with double. So passing gets us the worst of all worlds.

 

Of course, we could have Qxx AJxxx KQxx x and now we aren't so worried about the spade suit, but we still don't usually want to suggest playing 1N doubled.

 

We have to lay down dummy if it passed out, and probably won't like the result. Or we can pass and never find our diamond fit, whether to buy the partscore or push them one level too high or find our save or our making contract.

 

Bridge is a partnership game. When we have a way of showing our hand, at a safe level, we should do so. Shape is meant to be bid, if possible. It's surprising how often partner likes to know when we fit his suit, and we are rarely finding out if we say pass.

[miamijd]

Without the X, you pretty much have to bid 2NT. It has three ways to win as opposed to pass. First, partner might have a good hand where 3NT makes. Second, 2NT might make for a better score than diamonds. Third, partner could have 3-4 diamonds and NT might go down fewer tricks than diamonds do.

 

With the X, the question is what XX would show. I think it ought to be most hands (not wildly unbalanced ones) where we have the balance of power -- say a really good 16 or more. Those hands are also the ones where game will usually make opposite an invite. After all, if we have the BOP, we might want to BOP the opponents.

 

Thus, partner's 2D bid thus should show at least 5/4 in the reds with a hand that isn't super-strong. Sure, he might have a hand where 3NT or 5C will make, but at MPs, it's all about the frequency of gain, not the amount. With the Ks wrong and most of the suits breaking badly (the doubler figures to have the spades, clubs, and diamonds, and his partner rates to have hearts), I would take the low road and pass.

 

It's a harder choice in IMPs.

 

Cheers,

Mike

[The_Badger]

We clearly live in different universes. To me, passing says I have a balanced hand. Since, with my example, I don't have a balanced hand, I am not passing.

 

You are right there, Mike, because I perhaps don't have enough experience of 2/1 bidding this side of the Atlantic, and - my personal bugbear - the "one bid suits all" nebulous 1NT response to a major with such a wide variety of hands means that you have to bid out your hand whatever you have in it. I actually never considered that you could end up playing in 1NT doubled as a final contract (and that's stupid on my part, I agree) especially when the opponents have a known 9+ card ♠ fit.

 

However, on a Badger level, there's a bit of psychology involved in not bidding here too as the opponents think you are happy to play in 1NT doubled, and that puts pressure on them. Bidding gives the game away and lets North bid again, but at such an early time in the auction I'd rather put South on a guess (even with perhaps ♥ tricks over me) as to what North is actually doubling on. Is he doubling for takeout, the most likely scenario, or has a big balanced hand himself, a less likely scenario?

 

And yes, you are absolutely right, 1NT doubled going for -800 or -1100 would be an awful result but it's only one board at match points so its a risk worth taking. I might look differently playing teams.

[kanchi]

I विल क्ष एंड पास इफ़ स इन्साइड बाई प अधर्वायज़ I विल टके आउट तो क

[The_Badger]

I विल क्ष एंड पास इफ़ स इन्साइड बाई प अधर्वायज़ I विल टके आउट तो क

 

Any Indian players who can translate this into English better than Google Translate welcome :)

[dokoko]

2NT for me. In terms of strength this hand is borderline between a discouraging 3♦/3♣ and an encouraging 2♠/2NT. I don't think partner has promised five diamonds and I don't want to bid this poor club suit at the 3-level, so I round up rather than down in order to to bid the most convenient strain.

 

Why would 3♦ be discouraging?

[dokoko]

For me it's an obvious pass.

 

Partner promises 4+♦ and a limited hand (~11-15); if stronger he would jump to 3♦(nonforcing!) on a shapely intermediate hand or otherwise redouble. With a limited semibalanced hand he should pass, but if he is interested in competing over 2♠/3♣ he must bid while he has the chance.

 

BTW: Some posters tried to show values with a 2♠ bid which IMHO would need explicit agreement.

[pescetom]

BTW: Some posters tried to show values with a 2♠ bid which IMHO would need explicit agreement.

 

Why do you think this needs explicit agreement?

It looks perfectly natural to me.

1NT already denied both 3-card hearts and 4-card spades, so 2♠ must show good 3-card spades and deny 4-card diamonds, thus also showing weak 5+card clubs.