[iggygork]

Playing a variant of Precision in a club MP game with an expert partner, you hold:

Scoring: MP

---

Partner opens 1♦ (Nebulous, 2+ ♦, no 5 card major, good 11-13 if balanced, 15HCP or less otherwise), rightie overcalls 1♠.

a) Now what? Double would be negative, usually showing 4 hearts. If you do not negative double, what is the lowest heart spot with which you would (marked "x" above)?

b) Back in the real world, I passed. Now the auction continued (of course) Pass by leftie, double by pard (takeout, not necessarily extras, usually short spades). Pass on the right. Now what?

If you don't play Precision or a nebulous diamond, you can feel free to exchange the minor suits and have pard open a short club playing a five card major system with an intermediate (14-16) NT where 1C limits the hand to 15 HCP (hello old fashioned Recursive Diamond!).

I should let it be known that I got a cold zero on this board, in the interests of full disclosure.

Gorkem

[keylime]

I punt with 2S here asking if pard is on a heart-diamond/heart-club canape.

[awm]

Well you have to have agreements about this stuff.

I suggest that 1NT after the double should be asking for a minor suit preference. With a "real" 1NT bid you could've bid it right away, and using the delayed 1NT to show a "bad 1NT bid" opposite a limited opener seems a little silly.

In any case, a 2♠ bid is surely asking the better minor, right?

In Sam and my style, I would make an immediate double because we play transfers to majors, making a five card heart suit for the negative double a virtual impossibility (therefore it's much less likely partner will bid 2♥ on three).

[glen]

Some play a jump to 3♣ as both minors, to play - here, well it might reach a 4-3 minor contract, it could also compete against the quite possible 2♠ spot for the opponents

[the hog]

In the given sequence 2NT would ask for the minors. It has no other logical meaning.

[iggygork]

It is funny that you should bring up 1NT as a possibility after the takeout double Adam, that's exactly what I did, for better and worse. Then, the auction continued: 2S by LHO, pass, pass to me. I chickened out and passed it, and got a nice fat goose egg for -110 (LHO had Qxxx in spades and a 4-4-2-3 four count).

I am a bit surprised at the 2S and 2NT suggestions I must admit; nothing from my hand, nor the auction suggested that we could play and make something in a minor at the three level. Oh well, I will learn I guess.

[lowerline]

iggygork, on Oct 10 2006, 10:29 PM, said:

It is funny that you should bring up 1NT as a possibility after the takeout double Adam, that's exactly what I did, for better and worse. Then, the auction continued: 2S by LHO, pass, pass to me. I chickened out and passed it, and got a nice fat goose egg for -110 (LHO had Qxxx in spades and a 4-4-2-3 four count).

I am a bit surprised at the 2S and 2NT suggestions I must admit; nothing from my hand, nor the auction suggested that we could play and make something in a minor at the three level. Oh well, I will learn I guess.

I agree with 1nt, but I would have bid 2nt over 2♠.

[pclayton]

1N wouldn't occur to me; it wrong sides it.

I'd raise ♦'s at round 1 (yes I can see its Precision, but pard doesn't have 2♦ very often). Having passed the 1st time, I'd rebid 3♦ (safe since pard has short spades).

I am concerned with a 2335; so some sort of gadget would be helpful I guess.

[awm]

My suggestion of 1NT is after partner's takeout double. It seems fairly unlikely that we want to play in notrump when we both have fairly short spades, no suit to run, and probably not game values....

And a lot of precision players these days will open 1♦ with 1435 patterns, and will open 1♦ and double 1♠ also with 2434 patterns. So partner's double is no guarantee of a diamond fit. On the other hand, knowing that opponents are virtually sure to have nine spades, I don't think I would want to sell to 2♠ on this auction after partner's takeout double, and would try a 2NT call.

[cherdano]

Given the nebulous opening, it seems to me it makes a lot of sense to treat responder's double as takeout of spades (not just 4 hearts as in standard). I suppose what Adam was explaining is exactly this.

Arend

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

if the situation is the same, as if the opening
would be a short club, I raise partners minor.

I can live with a neg. X.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[lowerline]

pclayton, on Oct 11 2006, 11:25 AM, said:

1N wouldn't occur to me; it wrong sides it.

I'd raise ♦'s at round 1 (yes I can see its Precision, but pard doesn't have 2♦ very often). Having passed the 1st time, I'd rebid 3♦ (safe since pard has short spades).

I am concerned with a 2335; so some sort of gadget would be helpful I guess.

3♣ as pass/correct is such a gadget, but you won't be happy if partner has a 4432 with both majors...

Steven