[P_Marlowe]

benlessard, on Jul 11 2006, 03:37 AM, said:

1s isnt forcing. playing that as forcing put too much pressure on your partner when hes got a weakish hand with no stopper in the 4th suit and 3card support.


qxx
jxxxx
ax
xxx

1d---1h----1s---- ???

1s is your only plus score ... opps can make 2h but cant bid it and 2c fail on h ruff.



<snip>

Well, ... 1NT is still an option,
and that is what I would bid
with your given hand.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[Double !]

benlessard, on Jul 11 2006, 03:37 AM, said:

Why not reverse in the minors instead.

open 1c and rebid 2d.

something like 1c----1h----2d-----2s-----3s

this is the way to show 4144 IMHO.

because the majority of players that I know (admittedly, a limited sample) just do not bypass a 4-card spade suit at the 1-level. You'll never convince partner later on that you had 4 spades.

DHL

[HeartA]

I agree with what Stephen Tu says. I play it as semi-forcing and would rebid 1S with the hand.

[SoTired]

Agree with Stephen Tu also. Semi-forcing. I expect responder to bid again 99%. I play that a 2N rebid does not preclude 4 spades. I reserve the 2S rebid for more distributional 2-suiters, because I don't like opening 2C on 2-suiters.

[kenberg]

One advantage of non-forcing is this: When partner bids, your ability to interpret his action will be greater. If 1S is forcing then when partner bids you must allow for the possibility that he would rather have passed but is bidding only in deference to the agreement. If 1S is non-forcing and he bids, you know that he chose to. I suppose the main reason for making it forcing would be that you might end in 1S when some better contract is available. But this is rare. The rebid of 1S is seldom passed even if it can be, and when it is passed this usually works out fine. Of course hands can be set up, and perhaps even arise on occassion, where this is not true.

[P_Marlowe]

kenberg, on Jul 12 2006, 09:00 AM, said:

One advantage of non-forcing is this: When partner bids, your ability to interpret his action will be greater. If 1S is forcing then when partner bids you must allow for the possibility that he would rather have passed but is bidding only in deference to the agreement. If 1S is non-forcing and he bids, you know that he chose to.

If you play 1S as forcing, you know that 1H
was a bid he was making with values, and
was not a bid intended to improve the contract.

With kind regards
Marlowe