I made a big mess of this hand

[AL78]

Acol, 3 weak twos, weak NT, Swiss pairs:

 

[hv=pc=n&s=st8hk84dk654caqj3&w=s72haqj976dat2c72&n=saq9653hdqj8ck986&e=skj4ht532d973ct54&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1sp2c2h3hp3nppp]399|300[/hv]

 

I was North. I bid 3♥ thinking at the time it should show a good hand with club support but realised after it could just be fishing for 3NT and partner will bid 3NT with a single stopper and a balanced hand. I wanted a way of fishing for either 3NT, 4♠ or 5♣ but I couldn't think of a way of doing it in a forcing way. Needless to say two down was a joint bottom as most of the field are in 4♠. What should I have done?

[DavidKok]

2♠ looks better to me. You really don't have much of a good hand, and I don't like making a takeout double with a void and undisclosed spade length.

[Cyberyeti]

2♠ looks better to me. You really don't have much of a good hand, and I don't like making a takeout double with a void and undisclosed spade length.

 

Why not support partner's clubs ? If partner has say x, QJx, Kxxx, AQxxx you might not be getting desperately rich out of 4♥ which he will double, but you could easily be making 5 or 6♣.

[apollo1201]

How many cards does freely mentioning the S in Acol promise?

 

If 6, 2S is fine, and you can support C later if need be or if partner doesn’t look interested. If it promises 5 only, bidding 3C might tell partner even more about your hand (if it could be a strong NT hand with 44 blacks, oh well… but I’m really unfamiliar with 4 cM).

 

In all cases, if you think partner is balanced and has 2-cd support for S, you should retreat to 4S.

 

In all cases, I believe the 3H cue-bid is a bit excessive with your hand, yes the shape is powerful, but the overall strength is not that high - should be GF and you don’t have enough facing a 2/1 Acol-style

[Cyberyeti]

How many cards does freely mentioning the S in Acol promise?

 

If 6, 2S is fine, and you can support C later if need be or if partner doesn’t look interested. If it promises 5 only, bidding 3C might tell partner even more about your hand (if it could be a strong NT hand with 44 blacks, oh well… but I’m really unfamiliar with 4 cM).

 

In all cases, if you think partner is balanced and has 2-cd support for S, you should retreat to 4S.

 

In all cases, I believe the 3H cue-bid is a bit excessive with your hand, yes the shape is powerful, but the overall strength is not that high - should be GF and you don’t have enough facing a 2/1 Acol-style

 

I suspect it shows 6 over the overcall (and if you open 1N with 5332 unopposed), but I suspect many pairs have not discussed whether it JUST shows 6 or it shows extras.

 

For us 3♣ would show 5-4 but we open 1♣ with 4(32)4. If you open 1♠ on those, depends what a 2N rebid shows, if this is bid on all strong NTs with a stop and you double on strong NTs without, then 3♣ would still be 5-4.

[nullve]

For us 3♣ would show 5-4 but we open 1♣ with 4(32)4.

So when do you open 1♠ with only 4?

[AL78]

Why not support partner's clubs ? If partner has say x, QJx, Kxxx, AQxxx you might not be getting desperately rich out of 4♥ which he will double, but you could easily be making 5 or 6♣.

 

I thought of that but thought 3♣ understates the hand a bit, and partner could easily pass when we have 5♣ on. I wanted to make more of a noise than that whilst keeping 3NT as a possibility.

[Cyberyeti]

So when do you open 1♠ with only 4?

 

4333 15-bad 19, yes we could play a 5 card spade with very little loss