[kgr]

You play 5 cards M and 4 cards D. Opening 1C can be done with 2 card (4=4=3=2).
MP's
S/-
You sit North and have:
xxx
xxx
xxx
AQJx
And you hear the bidding: partner opens 1C and RHO Doubles:
1C-(DBL)-?
How do you rate 1NT, 2C, Pass?

[ochinko]

There was a recent poll by Ricard Pavlicek (rpbridge.net). The hand was simillar if not the same.

I don't consider 1NT a proper bid here. Our best contract may be in NT, but it certainly would be wrong sided if we bid it.

2C - 10
Pass - 1
1NT - 0

Petko

[Gerben42]

That's why you play transfers here:

1♦ = ♥
1♥ = ♠
1♠ = NT
1NT = minors
2♣ = natural
2x = weak jump

I vote 1♠

[whereagles]

I think I'd bid 2♣. btw 1NT seems ok too, but somehow my feeling tells me 2♣ is better.

[Al_U_Card]

1 NT in a weak field at MP might just fly.

2C standard raise feels right

pass somehow reeks of cowardice.....but if you are playing IMR......might be your only hope.

[whereagles]

Jlall, on Nov 1 2005, 02:52 PM, said:

Sorry but I think 1N is awful. For starters, your hand is not good enough. Secondly, do you really want to be declarer in NT? You get a lead coming through partner into the t/o Xer. 1N just doesnt make sense to me. I would bid 2C mainly to jam their auction and ensure a club lead, I can see pass as well.

Justin, think about it for a second. Getting a lead through opener's tenaces is only a problem at trick ONE. And we're talking 1NT, not 3NT.

[pclayton]

If I had a 1♠ transfer to show a 1N call, that would have more appeal to me. Playing NT from my side isn't attractive at all. Besides the lead, the defense will have a field day defending with the strong hand on the table.

Against that, sometimes 1N will slow down the opponents, who surely have values in the majors. And theres always benefit to getting to 1N first.

[Double !]

Hate 1NT: it wrong-sides the hand

I see nothing wrong with a simple 2-club raise (even playing 5542). If nothing else, it tells partner that you have support and, if you're very lucky, P might even now lead a club should P be on lead. If the hand belongs in 1NT from P side, well, stop playing strong NTs (lol). I would respond 1 diamond before I would bid 1NT with this hand. In fact, i feel that this is the only other viable option, especially if you play that the 1NT bid shows 8-10 or something like this. Bottom line: you don't want the opening lead coming through partner, you really don't have scattered values and tenaces, and you want partner to lead a club if on lead.

DHL

[Kalvan14]

I would not consider 1N : in my book, it is a much more serious hand. Pass is a bit shy, but could be a winning action; 2♣ has the advantage of giving a lead to pard, and is mildly pre-emptive. 2♣, without great joy.

[kgr]

---

1C-(DBL)-1NT-(P)
3NT-All Pass
My partner did bid 1NT and I raised to 3. East did lead a small Spade and opps did take 4 spade tricks, and 2 red aces. 3NT by South would only go -1 (If opps lead spades and do not discard any on clubs).
First I tought why did my partner bid 1NT and not 2C, then i remembered that we open 5542 and that my club could be short, but still it probably is better to bid 2C with the North hand. Even at MP's.
- the DBL shows that West probably has short clubs and long majors, which increases the probability of 4c Club at South.
- the DBL increases probability that bidding will not end with 1NT, therefor it is better to show the clubs immediatly.
- And like this hand shows: bidding 1NT does wrong side the NT contract.
Probably at MP's I still bid 1NT with the North hand without the DBL, but the DBL would rather point me to a 2C bid.

[whereagles]

jlall said:

I thought about some things like... 1N does not end the auction. We are only in 1N currently, until partner bids 3N. Then getting a lead through partner IS a big problem.

If pard bids 3NT, then he will have around 17-18 points, maybe more. Opps can only lead one time through dummy's strenght. For that lead to be a serious problem, you need:
a. LHO makes the right lead.
b. Having made the right lead, dummy's holding turns out to be vulnerable. For instance, if LHO hits AKx there's not much of a problem...

jlall said:

I thought about the fact that even if 1N does end the auction, having partner as dummy and RHO not on lead will definitely cost tricks on average. You may not mind blowing a few tricks here and there, but I do. When you only have about half the deck, this will often be the difference between making 1N and going set.

On the other hand 1NT is a very precise bid which puts pard (who is unlimited) in an excellent position to judge the final contract.

jlall said:

I thought about the fact that if the opp do bid 2 of a major over 1N, partner will not be as well placed in knowing what to lead as if I had bid 2C. I thought about the fact that if they do bid 2 of a major over 1N and partner has 5 clubs, he may not compete when it is right to do so. He won't have this problem had I bid 2C.

Bidding 1NT guarantees 3 cards of clubs: with 3352 you usually bid 1♦, and with 4 of a major you usually bid that major. Actually, 1NT even has a tendency to show FOUR clubs because with 3343 you could have also bid 1♦.

The upshot is if pard has 5 clubs, it will very often be right to bid 3♣ over 2M. And if he has 2 cards in that major, it's probably even right to bid 3♣ on 4 cards only.

jlall said:

I thought about the fact that 1N overstates my values, and may get us too high.

1NT is from a good 7 to 10 hcp. I judge my hand to be worth a good 7 because of the concentrated club honors. You can argue I should take 1 hcp back because of the 4333 shape, but you know very well as I that in practice people never underestimate their hcp.

jlall said:

How much did you think?

I didn't need to think much because the principles of bidding strategy say that right-siding contracts has a VERY LOW priority. Shape and strenght come first. Location of high cards later. Priorities should only change if there are VERY strong hints that wrong-siding the contract is going to put you in trouble. I judge this case NOT to be one such case.

Come to think about it.. I manage to convince myself that 1NT is superior to my table choice of 2♣

[Al_U_Card]

If you chose to bid 2C and pard INVITED with 2NT, would you have gone on to game?

[Kalvan14]

Al_U_Card, on Nov 2 2005, 09:54 AM, said:

If you chose to bid 2C and pard INVITED with 2NT, would you have gone on to game?

I would bid 3N. My hand is a maximum for my bid of 2♣; pard will have 18-19 HCP, balanced, for his invitation. So game should be there (and will be played by the right side).

[mr1303]

Just a question, why did opener open 1C rather than 1D?

1) You much prefer a diamond lead rather than a club lead, should opps play the hand
2) When you open 1D, partner will know that you have 4+ diamonds, and will be happier about raising when he should.

Another point, I don't think this hand is worth 3NT after partner bids 1NT. It is aceless, and the take-out double marks the opposition strength as over the strong hand. I think 2NT is plenty here.

[kgr]

mr1303, on Nov 3 2005, 11:39 AM, said:

Just a question, why did opener open 1C rather than 1D?

1) You much prefer a diamond lead rather than a club lead, should opps play the hand
2) When you open 1D, partner will know that you have 4+ diamonds, and will be happier about raising when he should.

Another point, I don't think this hand is worth 3NT after partner bids 1NT. It is aceless, and the take-out double marks the opposition strength as over the strong hand. I think 2NT is plenty here.

- We open lowest 4-card. With 4-4 in the minors we will allways open 1♣. (Also remember our opening structure is 5-5-4-2). Do you think it is a bad idea to open 1♣ with 4-4 minors. More and more players in our club - playing 5cards Majors - move to opening 1♦ with 4 card ♦. They will open 1♦ with minors 4=4 or even 4=5 (5 card clubs). Do you think that is better?
- You are right that 2NT could be sufficient here...Maybe even open 1NT?

[Gerben42]

To the actual hand, I think that 18-count is bad enough to downgrade to 17 and then open 1NT instead.

In general open 1♦ with 4 - 4 in the minors, especially when playing 5542. Why?

Reason 1: Information. It is worth more to partner to know you have 4+♦ than 2+♣. Also, if the auction goes 1♣ - 1♦ - 2♦ you will know this makes the club suit at least 5 long.

Reason 2: Rebid. Normally this won't be a problem but consider a sequence
1♣ (1major) Dbl (pass)
Now what if you don't have a stopper in the major?

[david_c]

If we were talking about hands too weak to bid 1NT, I would completely agree with Gerben. But for hands which are too strong for 1NT I would tend to open 1♣, making it as easy as possible for partner to find a response. (Though perhaps I'm influenced by playing too much Polish Club.)

[han]

I'm delighted not to play inverted minors on this hand, so that 2C is available. What can be more perfect for this hand??

1NT is very ugly, playing inverted minors I would maybe bid 1D, depending on agreements.