A very hard bidding problem

[clinton yu]

Sayc or 2/1 bidding system

 

You open 1♦, partner bids 1♠, what is your bid if you hold the following hands?

 

Hand A

♠432

♥AKQJ

♦X5432

♣2

If you open with 11HCP, X is J.

If you open with 12HCP, X is Q.

If you open with 13HCP, X is K.

 

Hand B

♠Y32

♥AKQJ

♦65432

♣2

If you open with 11HCP, Y is J.

If you open with 12HCP, Y is Q.

If you open with 13HCP, Y is K.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

 

In both cases, the choice is between 2D or 2S, …, and it comes down to partnership agreement,

I guess I would go with 2S.

 

With Kind regards

Marlowe

[fromageGB]

This is a basic position that all partnerships will discuss very early on. My agreement with all partners is to raise with 3 cards and a side singleton or void, except where there is a specific method to show 3 card support.

[hrothgar]

With hand A, I am happy to either

 

1. Open 1♥

2. Open 1♦ and rebid 1N

 

I lean towards 2 because I don't want to be taking club ruffs with Heart honors

I don't rebid crappy five card suits and will jump through a whole bunch of hoops to avoid doing so.

 

With hand B, I open 1♦ and make a spade raise

[FelicityR]

As I said in a previous post recently, when there isn't any other sensible bid available I am happy to raise 1♥ or 1♠ to the 2 level with three card support, and that includes three small in my own personal book. Rebidding poor opening suits isn't an option here.

 

What you have to remember here is that when partner bids 1♠ in reply to 1♦ his/her ♠s should be longer than any ♥ suit except if partner has a poor 5♠/5♥. If partner has 4♠/4♥ then they should mention ♥ first at the one level. Occasionally you will miss a 4/4 ♥ fit in preference to a 5/3 ♠ fit when partner has 5♠/4♥.

[nudnikbp]

Two spades. Although the spades are wretched, hopefully the club singleton and top hearts will compensate.

[miamijd]

There are some hands that are extremely awkward to have to bid. These are in that group.

 

With the first hand, I would make the dreaded three-card raise (I never raise on three unless there is no alternative), although I could tolerate 1NT NV (vul, there is just too much danger of being set a lot of tricks). With the second hand, I think the three-card raise is pretty clear.

 

Cheers,

Mike

[msjennifer]

Sir,we are familiar with such awkward to rebid hands.I shall rebid 1NT on the first and 2S on the second.Partner also has the same wisdom and is well versed with such situations Thanks.

[nige1]

[hv=pc=n&s=s432hakqjdJ5432c2&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1dp1sp?]133|200|

Disciples of bidding guru, Eric Crowhurst, would rebid 2♠,

rather than risk worse misdescription.of such hands [/hv]

[alloomis]

you can avoid this problem in advance by opening 1c with balanced hands outside the 1nt range. then 1d- 1m, 1nt is a 3card raise. [and a 5 card d suit]

[King_of_D]

How is this a hard problem?

As stated above, 2D or 2S is OK. I definitely prefer 2D, in case partner is 5-4 in majors.

[chasetb]

I also disagree in that I think both hands are easy - I have 3-card support with a singleton so I am raising to 2♠. I wish I could pass, but then I wouldn't have a partner to play with!

 

On a side note, I also thought about opening 1♥ on both hands, rebidding 2♦ if partner bids 1NT or 2♣. I do play 5-card Majors, but I much prefer AKQJ over 65432. If partner asks, we 'accidentally' put our ♦2 in with our hearts!

[Zelandakh]

you can avoid this problem in advance by opening 1c with balanced hands outside the 1nt range. then 1d- 1m, 1nt is a 3card raise. [and a 5 card d suit]

And 1=4=5=3? Many pairs that use an unbalanced diamond method prefer to use 1NT to differentiate minor suit length rather than as a 3 card raise and the majority of those that use a 3 card raise go with transfer rebids and 2♥ is then the alternative spade raise.