[Echognome]

Here is the first hand from the recent par contest I held. I want to keep the bidding separate from the play, so I am going to put the play problems in a separate forum (Advanced and Expert forum).

Scoring: IMP

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In a natural system, what can North rebid after it goes 1♣ - 1♠ - ? You really like spades, but are too good for 2!s raise and don't have the appropriate hand pattern for a 3♠ raise. You only have 3 trumps, so a splinter is out. You can rebid your clubs, but partner may end up passing on a bad day. Some have a gadget here to show the good hand with 3 card support. Others wing it and hope for the best. As it turns out, partner is going to force you to game anyway, and you will be able to explore slam. Most pairs had a couple of awkward calls along the way, but managed to bid the pretty good slam. Well done.

[Fluffy]

I also think 2♣ rebid is the best for natural methods

[awm]

I tried a 3♣ rebid here. The seventh club was a pretty big card in my mind, as this gives us play for 3NT opposite a lot of hands in the 8-10 point range which include a heart stopper. Elianna bid 3♠ (forcing, showing six spades) and I raised to 4♠, after which a cuebidding auction got us to the slam.

[Cascade]

This hand was good for our methods but then the wheels fell off. Somehow we managed to survive.

Pam and I bid ...

1♣ 1♠
3♣ 3♦
4♥ 4NT
5♠ 6♠

3♣ showed six clubs and three spades and extras

3♦ is a cue for spades (or possibly a try for NTs)

4♥ Pam intended this as showing a void but I thought it might be a singleton.

4NT intended as Blackwood. Maybe Pam took it this way we didn't discuss this bid.

[Fluffy]

Cascade, on Dec 12 2005, 02:30 AM, said:

3♣ showed six clubs and three spades and extras

I've seen this convention a couple of times, and I always wondered... how do you handle 15-17 hands without 3 card support?

[inquiry]

Hannie and I also started

1♣ - 1♠
3♣ - ?

Where 3♣ shows a good six card plus suit, and three card support for partner. Unlike Cascade and Pam's auction, however, we ended up in 4♠ when over 3♣ partner choose to "signoff" in 4♠. Without a diamond control, I thought I could do no more.

As for Fluffy's question about good "15-17" with out three card support. There are only a couple hand types. Balanced (doubleton), open 1NT. Two suiter reverse. The problem hand you are thinkng about is the one suiter. NT rebids are out, jump rebids are out. Here you will need a toy. The one I use is new minor forcing by opener. The downside for instance, you are unable to play 2♣ on auctions like....So all bidding contest were 2♣ is the last best spot, if opener doesn't open 1♣, I will never get to best spot.

1D- 1M - 2C

Ben

[Gerben42]

Fantunes system auction starts with:

1♣ (nat. or balanced)
- 1♥ (♠)
2♣ (not Roth here, just minimum opening strength is higher)
- 3♠ (Game forcing with 6+♠)


4♣ (control, a hand that would want to play ♣ only would not rebid 2♣)
- 4♦ (control)
5♥ (Voidwood)
- 5♠ (two)
6♠ (thanks)

[han]

I decided to sign off in game because we don't have any agreements about follow-ups after 1C-1S-3C. I figured that I needed heart shortness from partner to have a play for 6S, but I didn't know how to find out about that. I didn't want to risk an ambiguous 3D, but I think we would have found the slam if I had.

[mikeh]

I would have been with Justin on the 2♣ rebid.

BTW, the 1♣  1x  2♣ sequence is not good for standard methods and all good partnerships should have a tool to move forward: I think the vast majority would use the artificial 2♦ gadget, over which 3♠ is a nice description. Partner's 3♦ bid sure upgrades the hand.

[Cascade]

Fluffy, on Dec 13 2005, 04:00 AM, said:

Cascade, on Dec 12 2005, 02:30 AM, said:

3♣ showed six clubs and three spades and extras

I've seen this convention a couple of times, and I always wondered... how do you handle 15-17 hands without 3 card support?

We play

1x 1y
2NT shows around 15+ with a six-card suit and with shortage in responder's suit.

This is forcing 100% since we are no worse off that if opener rebid 3x. Therefore the weakest response is 3x and this does not promise support. It just says I would have passed if you had rebid 3x.

New suits are either NT probes or a second suit if rebid. This is a big advantage of this method as for example over

1♥ 1♠
3♥

a new suit would be a cue-bid so we are stuck when we have a useful two suiter.

but over

1♥ 1♠
2NT

there is room to show a two suiter and to cue - for us a jump new suit is a cue for opener.

3 of responder's suit is natural and forcing showing a six-card or longer suit

3NT is to play

Now the question is what do we do with 18-19 balanced hands. We play a Mexican 2♦ opening. We have been doing this for about a year and we are quite happy with the results. Occasionally we get to a silly 2NT but some of the time when that happens 1minor (or 1Major) would be passed out and not be a great contract anyway. We have even had the results where 2NT -1 (or -2 not vul) was a pickup against the opponents part-score.

Over 2♦ we play a combination of our structure over 1NT and 2NT.

Direct bids at the three level are our structure over 1NT.

We use 2♠ as a puppet to 2NT and then we play our structure over 2NT. In fact this structure is a little enhanced - transfers to a major are always one-suited since with two suited hands we play 2♥ shows spades either weak or two-suited and 2NT as either weak with clubs or two-suited with hearts.

[inquiry]

Hannie is correct, we never discussed the follow up after

1m-1M-3m showing a strong six card plus suit and three card support (not forcing).

Like after any fit bid, the following rules apply.

1) New suit is forcing
2) Jump in new suit is splinter
3) 3 of the original major shows 5+ in that suit, not forcing. But the jumper with a side void is not barred from raising, especially if his minor is headed by AK.
4) Game bids are signoff

Some of this is clear, but the new suit is ambigious for the time being. Responders new suit might be cue-bid slam try or might be 3NT exploration. I treat it first, always as an attempt to get to 3NT.

On this hand... 1C-1S-3C-3D-4H!, here I play this a void. I play 3H here as stiff, if I had SOMETHING useful in hearts, over 3D, I would bid 3NT. This is less clear if the bidding had been 1C-1S-3C-3H-4D.. here 4D would be either a stiff or a void, because once again, with a diamond stoppper, I would have bid 3NT.

[Cascade]

We have the following scheme after 1x 1y 3x

Note this auction is Non-Forcing

We want to be able to do the following things ...

Play a part-score in opener's suit - Pass

Play a part-score in responder's suit - 3y to play, NF

Play game in opener's suit - 4x if hearts or 5x

Play game in responder's suit - 4y if a major or 5y if diamonds

Make a slam try in opener's suit - 4x if a minor (see below for hearts), this is natural and forcing

Make a slam try in responder's suit - new suit. This is definitely a cue above responder's suit at the three-level. A suit below responder's suit can be a NT try but this is rare as we tend to bash 3NT attempting to withhold information from the defense.

1♥ 1♠
3♥

We don't have a forcing raise of opener's suit so we have to adjust as follows ...

4♣ slam try in hearts - general cue does not promise any particular club holding
4♦ slam try in spades - general cue does not promise any particular diamond holding.

[luke warm]

relay goes

2c : 2d (relay)
2s : 2nt (mid shortage : relay)
3s : 4c (3037 : control ask)
4s : 6s (4 controls outside of hearts)