Pass, raise, 6D?

[Walddk]

[hv=d=s&v=n&s=sq6hq72dkqj984c75]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv]

 

You decide, somewhat aggressively, to open 1♦ 1st in hand at IMPs, and the auction proceeds (no interference):

 

1♦ - 1♥

2♦ - 2♠ 1)

3♥ - 3♠ 2)

4♥ - 5♥

?

 

1) Can be 3 cards.

2) Cue bid.

 

What is going on? Why didn't responder use Roman Keycard (1430)? What do you do now and why? Pass, 6♥ or perhaps 6♦?

 

Roland

[pbleighton]

Pass. Pd has made some sort of amorphous (to me) slam try, and I have no more than I promised.

 

Realistically, 5H probabably means something specific to pd, but:

1) I don't know what it is (raise to slam with good trump support is the only thing I can think of), and

2) My hand stinks.

 

 

Peter

[Rebound]

I'm getting the difinite impression partner needs help in the trump suit, i.e. A or K of ♥ at least so I pass.

[the hog]

Pass. Partner is missing a C control.

[Winstonm]

Pass. Surely this is asking specifically about a club control.

[Double !]

lol

 

is it possible that partner is 5-6 in majors, something like 5-6-0-2?

 

I am passing 5H. So, shoot me! I don't have a club control, and I suspect P will at least appreciate my 2 major suit queens. I keep telling people that I am a bidding dinosaur, but when P bids one suit, and then bids and rebids another suit (usually), I play P for 6-5 (if not 6-6) even though you said that 2S & 3S were cue bids. Whatever P is looking for, I don't have it.

[Walddk]

.... even though you said that 2S & 3S were cue bids.

I didn't say that. 3♠ is a cue bid, yes, but 2♠ is (semi)natural. A bid without risk, since responder knows that opener doesn't have 4 spades.

 

Roland

[HeartA]

Pass. Partner is missing a C control.

That's my thought, too.

[luis]

I think he is void in diamonds.

I pass, I probably don't have any single useful card.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

 

I agree with luis, Pass.

 

Looking at auction, opener denied a club control,

I assume the partnership plays serious 3NT,

i.e. partner cant ask about a club control, since I

denied one already.

He will have a void, in diamond, since he did not

use 4NT.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[cherdano]

I bid 4♥ and hope it makes.

[pclayton]

Pass. Roland are we playing wjs or sjs? Not that it matters much here, but we can tell if pard has a 3-7-0-3 or a 4-6-0-3 etc..

 

There are 3 clues that pard is worried about clubs 1) the 5H call instead of 4N, 2) the 3S cue which was fishing for the AC (else why not a direct 4N), 3) the lack of a 5C cue which is what he should bid if he held a diamond void, a club control and was fishing for something else like trumps or another spade card.

[Double !]

.... even though you said that 2S & 3S were cue bids.

I didn't say that. 3♠ is a cue bid, yes, but 2♠ is (semi)natural. A bid without risk, since responder knows that opener doesn't have 4 spades.

 

Roland

Roland

My sincerest apologies.

My eyes are very tired after a very long school year. I mis-read what you had written.

Yes. 3S is a free bid, but why can it not show 5-bagger? Opener denied 4 spades but Kx (or, in this case, Qx) could be a pretty good holding opposite a 5-bagger. Opener could conceivably taken a false preference to 3-H over 2-S. Whatever, I still regard 3S as asking opener if he/she has anything more to say? I guess a case could be made for rebidding 4D/3S to imply concentration of honors/ potential source of tricks. If I knew the right answer,......well, I await the wisdom of those more knowledgable than me.

 

 

Thanx for your contributions

DHL

[bearmum]

Dealer: South Vul: None Scoring: IMP

♠ Q6 ♥ Q72 ♦ KQJ984 ♣ 75

 

You decide, somewhat aggressively, to open 1♦ 1st in hand at IMPs, and the auction proceeds (no interference):

 

1♦ - 1♥

2♦ - 2♠ 1)

3♥ - 3♠ 2)

4♥ - 5♥

?

 

1) Can be 3 cards.

2) Cue bid.

 

What is going on? Why didn't responder use Roman Keycard (1430)? What do you do now and why? Pass, 6♥ or perhaps 6♦?

 

Roland

I Pass ( I presume P is looking for slam BUT my hand is minimum and I have nothing more to show ) B)

[han]

Also 4♥ for me!

[Fluffy]

5♥ is not forcing for sure, so I better pass when I finally have the option :(.

 

If I have to bet, I bet forpartner having 0733 with Qxx or less in ♣.

[Walddk]

Dealer: South Vul: None Scoring: IMP

♠ Q6 ♥ Q72 ♦ KQJ984 ♣ 75

 

You decide, somewhat aggressively, to open 1♦ 1st in hand at IMPs, and the auction proceeds (no interference):

 

1♦ - 1♥

2♦ - 2♠ 1)

3♥ - 3♠ 2)

4♥ - 5♥

?

 

1) Can be 3 cards.

2) Cue bid.

 

What is going on? Why didn't responder use Roman Keycard (1430)? What do you do now and why? Pass, 6♥ or perhaps 6♦?

 

Roland

The deal is from the ongoing Nordic Championships in Denmark, and the Norwegian responder in the North seat bid 5♥ on:

 

♠ A74

♥ KJ865

♦ A5

♣ AK2

 

After a huddle for at least 5 minutes. I can understand his reasoning. He feared (rightly) that opener had no key card (5♦ playing 1430), and then there was no room to ask for ♥Q.

 

Was that too subtle or was it good thinking?

 

His brother passed 5♥ after a long think. The winning bid would have been 6♦, because West can't attack spades. At the other table the Swedes bid 6♥ and made it. It wasn't all that easy for East to lead a spade from 10xxxx, holding J109 in clubs.

 

At that table, responder had also cue bid spades.

 

Roland

[mike777]

Good grief responder has a giant hand and never outright supported D and took control of the hand...why make bridge so difficult? This hand should be a breeze to reach 6d...whether it makes or not is another matter.

[cherdano]

One problem is that usually 5♥ asks for control in the unbid suit when there is exactly one. Another is that if it does not ask for that, it usually asks to bid slam with 2 out of top 3 trump honors. And a 3rd problem is that if it doesn't ask for either of those, it might just be seen as an invitation based on general values. Which may be a little pessimistic with a 19-count facing a supposed opener and a double fit.

 

Arend

[coyot]

I would imagine my partner holding something like

AKx-Axxxxxxx-void-Kx.

 

The diamond void effectively denies him RKCB - any my bidding denies him the club cuebid. Based on bidding and my hand only:

 

Anyway, I'd pass 5♥ without much thinking because the only sensible explanation of this bid would be "partner, I need some trump honors and have no way of asking about them."

 

If he wants to play in diamonds (and cannot use RKCB with a small club doubleton), he can bid 5♦ instead of 5♥ - I will figure out that he has 3-5-3-2 and hopes to find a club stopper in my hand.

 

Seeing the actual hand of responder, I would prefer 5♣ bid after 4♥. I would expect partner to realize that since I am pushing to slam against two diamond bids, I have some use for diamond values - and I have shown stoppers in both black suits... He then sees working diamonds and heart queen and will hopefully bid 6.

[Finch]

I can't get terribly excited about this hand, because:

 

6H is not a very good contract (it needs hearts 3-2 or singleton 10/9 over, plus the ace of hearts not having 4 diamonds, plus the king of spades suitably placed).

 

Edit: I was going to add "or singleton ace onside" but in fact it's worse than that on a diamond lead, I think you basically need hearts 3-2 or they can screw your entries completely.

 

 

6D is slightly better contract, but also needs hearts 3-2 or singleton Ace, plus the king of spades suitably placed.

 

That makes both of them way under 50%.

 

OK, you can get the odds up to nearly 50% because they lead the wrong thing sometimes. But the more scientific and revealing your auction, the more likely they are to lead the right thing.

 

FWIW I think the 5H bid is indeed asking for good trumps, because he could have cue bid either minor over 4H and didn't; if he was after a control in one of them he'd have made another cuebid. I also think Qxx is marginal where "good" is concerned.

[han]

Perhaps responder with his prime 19-count and double fit should grab the bull by the horns and bid a slam, instead of letting partner make a decision they can never get right. Of course, kickback would also help.

[mikeh]

I'm with Frances in that I can't get too excited about a problem where the 'right' answer involves bidding a bad but making slam. However, the auction is very poor. Responder bid 5♥ to avoid the problem he would have encountered had he asked for keycards and got a zero response. He could avoid that by using kickback: 4♠ as keycard, but leaving that aside, he avoided one problem at the cost of creating another. In my view, the likelihood of partner misunderstanding the 5♥ bid was too great: look at the answers posted here B)

 

As for how he should have timed the auction, it is true that he had a horrible set of choices. 2♠ looks clear. However, 3♠ seems wasted: partner was not going to bid 4♣ unless he had both extras and a stiff or void♣, and it was highly unlikely that he could or would bid 3N. So the odds must have been 90% that 3♠ would fetch 4♥.

 

For my money, if responder planned his auction, he should anticipate the problem and jump to 5♥ over 3♥. That must focus on trump, since neither partner has cue bid at all.

 

But even better would be to adopt kickback!

 

Or, and here is a radical solution, require an opening bidder to hold an opening hand B)

[cherdano]

I can't get terribly excited about this hand, because:

I think the excitement is not about the result, but about the auction. I will assume that this is an absolute minimum opener. I think given the bidding, opener may still pass with hands (make ♠Q a king and add ♥T) where slam is excellent; so responder may have done better to drive to slam which is 50% even opposite this dead minimum.

 

Of course, if they had good agreements about 5♥, my point is moot. But this doesn't match with Roland's story (the long tanks etc.).

 

Arend