[jillybean]

Hi,
This is a hand I played with Richard I am south.
I don't play serious 3nt, and maybe I should. Could I have just been more aggressive and bid 6♠ ?

Scoring: IMP

---

West North East South

 -     1♣    Pass  2♠
 Pass  3♠    Pass  4♦
 Pass  4♠    Pass  Pass
 Pass  

[han]

I would not recommend serious 3NT. I still think that you should have better agreements about your strong jumpshifts. I think that this hand is easier to bid without a strong jumpsft.

[inquiry]

Confused.. 2♠ was strong I take it, already game force, and 3♠ implied support and some extra stuff. 4♦ seemed perfect, and your partner, at least imho is duty bound to bid 4♥ here as last train, showing a club control, and saying nothing at all about clubs.

Over 4♠ you have little choice but pass, partenr could easily be

---

Now if you are not playing LAST TRAIN, this is a trickier situation. (BTW, since you have a minimum 2♠ strong jump shift, even if playing serious 3NT I like the 4♦ cue-bid. )

A better start to the auction, I think is...

1C - 2S
3D - 3h
4C - 4D

Here, playing jumpshifts as either two suited with opener suit and bid suit, or one suited and my one suiter will be trumps. In this case, 3D agrees spades as trumps, and is cue-bid. Could also bid 3C if that would be understood as cue bid (with 2NT waiting to discover responders hand type...)

1C - 2S
3C - 3D
4C - 4NT
Slam bid

where 3C = cue, 3D = cue, 4C = cue (AK) and denies a heart control.

There are so many ways to get there....

[han]

Jlall, on Dec 13 2005, 04:55 PM, said:

can't get to all your 25 HCP slams that require a doubleton diamond in your hand. Anyways, yes I think you should have been more agressive but only because I would expect much more for a strong jump shift.

She was south.

[plaur]

I dont like the strong jump shift by South. I dont think the hand is strong enough. North should cuebid ♣ control with 4♥.
If south now has enough to go 4NT uhh... not sure. You have control in all suits but do you have the tricks? If you dont go for 4NT (over 4♥) partner cant move since he dont know about the ♥ control.

[hrothgar]

Quick note:

Jilly's comment that we weren't playing Serious 3NT is a decent clue that we weren't playing Last Train...

[jillybean]

Uggh, my fault. I’m not playing this as SJS, I am thinking 2♠ is showing 5+♠ 10+points.

I find these rebids very awkward when I can’t reverse to show extra values but I want to create gf ......and finding old habits hard to shake.

jb

[luke warm]

hrothgar, on Dec 13 2005, 05:57 PM, said:

Quick note:

Jilly's comment that we weren't playing Serious 3NT is a decent clue that we weren't playing Last Train...

heheh

i disagree with han's assessment of serious 3nt, and i agree with ben that even had you been playing it here, 4♦ was the bid.. i don't see any sure way to reach slam

[Robert]

Hi everyone

You cannot bid every makeable slam. Let the borderline slams go.

This hand makes because of the near miracle fits.

AKQ10xx x Kxx xxx and there are two losers.

AKQ10xx x Kx xxxx and there are two losers.

Do any of the proposed slam auctions stop short of slam with these holdings?

Did the 1C bid promise 3+ clubs or 2+ clubs?

If 2+ clubs were allowed because of a 4+ D opening

xxxx xxxx Axx AK Same shape and same honors and still two losers.

Regards,
Robert

[jillybean]

Scoring: IMP

---

 
Only 3 of the pairs did bid 6:

1♣:1♠
2♠:4nt etc

and one..

P :1♠
2♣:3♠
6♠

everyone else played 4♠ after an initial pass by North.

[han]

luke warm, on Dec 13 2005, 07:27 PM, said:

I disagree with han's assessment of serious 3nt.

I like serious 3NT (I like it very much in fact) but I think that it is more important to get all the basics clear first. Shaking off the old habit of bidding 2S with 5+ spades and a GF (yuck!) is a good start.

(I'm starting to sound like a Danish poster with a pipe, perhaps he is right after all)

[Double !]

Hi all

Just curious: Do others play 1C- 1S - 2S - 4H as splinter? if so, wouldn't this be a nice hand for it.

DHL

[Robert]

Hi jillybean2

4th suit 'forcing' is the normal convention used to create GF auctions 'without'
having to reverse or jump.

I do play serious 3NT and Last Train. Neither is needed for learning bridge.
The classic methods of bridge bidding(with minor tweaks) will serve quite well.

If conventions are later desired, they can be added 'after' prior agreement.

Hi Double !

A very good bid. That 4H jump is called a 'self splinter.'

That was the first example that 'popped' into my head for this auction.
1C-1S-2S-4H*
if this auction does not get you to slam, you are very unlikely to get there or the slam chances will normally be poor at best.

You do not want to use a 'self splinter' with a partner 'unless' a prior agreement has already been made.

Best wishes,
Robert

[FrancesHinden]

Jlall, on Dec 14 2005, 02:15 AM, said:

Hannie, on Dec 13 2005, 09:42 PM, said:

luke warm, on Dec 13 2005, 07:27 PM, said:

I disagree with han's assessment of serious 3nt.

I like serious 3NT (I like it very much in fact) but I think that it is more important to get all the basics clear first.

I agree, I still do not play it.

Neither do I.

[FrancesHinden]

I'm not entirely clear about the 2S response. It seems it wasn't a strong jump shift (which is lucky for Richard, because if it was a strong jump shift I was about to very rude about North's bidding).

I wouldn't worry too much about missing this one: it's a miracle fit. I can see only three ways of bidding it:
i) Guess (as in the auction 1S - 2C - 3S - 6S) - North had no idea if there were going to be 12 tricks or not
ii) Make a (very light) strong jump shift on the South cards, after which North is close to a slam force once a heart control comes to light
iii) Play some other bits of system that would happen to work well on this hand (such as 1C - 1S - 2S - 4H has a splinter as already suggested).

[jillybean]

Thanks, back to basics again.
I wish this thread would just go away.

[P_Marlowe]

Double !, on Dec 13 2005, 11:01 PM, said:

Hi all

Just curious: Do others play 1C- 1S - 2S - 4H as splinter? if so, wouldn't this be a nice hand for it.

DHL

Probably, but opener having opened this
cool 11count with 4-3-3-3 shape will hit the
brakes and bid 4S.

Of course he has lots of controls, but he has
a subminimum opening, to describe it nice.

Marlowe