[Walddk]

Scoring: IMP

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World class team game yesterday between Cayne (Nunes - Fantoni, Seamon - Cayne) and All Stars (Helgemo - Helness and Garozzo - Reisig).

You are South with your partner as dealer. He passes, RHO opens 1♠, you pass and so does LHO. Partner re-opens with a double.

1. Do you pass or bid? If you don't pass, what is your call?

2. If you pass, what do you lead? *

* If you pass, LHO will too but you don't know that of course.

Roland

[Halo]

I'm going to place partner with a reasonable hand - 9/10 count and a heart suit. It feels to me that when we have any penalty we are close to game in hearts.

I'm bidding 2S to show my overall strength and suitability for hearts.

[pbleighton]

4H.

Peter

[Free]

agree with Justin

[mikeh]

Nice problem: give me AQ975 of ♠ and I am passing: one lead through declarer, especially if partner has a good spot card, and we could be doing very well at the one-level... and I have an easy lead (♥K).

However, my spots are not quite up to the job.

2♠ would get the strength across, but I am not at all comfortable with my rebid over 3minor.. and that is almost certainly what partner is doing. I think 3♥ now is forcing.... otherwise one would bid 3♥ immediately.

And this hand is not sure to play well in 4♥ on a trump lead. Give partner a suitable x Axxx Kxxx Kxxx and we are a long way from 10 tricks.... not many losers, but not a lot of winners either.

So I content myself with an invitational 3♥.

[pbleighton]

Question for the 3H bidders:

What's the worst hand your partner is likely to have for his reopening double, especially as you are vulnerable?

Peter

[pclayton]

3♥ looks normal, and I was surprised by the table action. I have a sneaky admiration for 2N however.

[FrancesHinden]

I agree with mike (and others) that I'm not passing, I'd prefer better spades. Partner being a passed hand is also a danger signal for passing, because he's much more likely to be strongly shape-suitable but light in high cards.

3H is indeed the book bid, but I also have a sneaky respect for 2NT.

[mikeh]

pbleighton, on Jan 15 2007, 11:57 AM, said:

Question for the 3H bidders:

What's the worst hand your partner is likely to have for his reopening double, especially as you are vulnerable?

Peter

If the point was to make us 3♥ bidders reconsider, because we may have missed game... you have a point

The more I think about it (and this is something that maybe I should have done earlier), the more I think that game is going to be okay opposite almost all hands....provided that he holds Jxxx or better in ♥s.

But he will raise 3♥ aggressively (he knows we are vul at imps) and he MIGHT only hold 3♥s. Would you pass out 1♠ with xx AJx Kxxx Kxxx (assuming you'd pass that hand originally?..if not... xx Axx Kxxx Kxxx)

I think I was too pessimistic with my earlier example of x Axxx Kxxx Kxxx... since we know where the minor Aces are, we are favourite to make game if trump are 3-2....but that is a hand that would raise 3♥ to game anyway.

[Walddk]

Interesting views. As you may have guessed, Claudio Nunes did not go for any of the bids you suggested.

Scoring: IMP

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Nunes passed and led ♥K. 360. Some specs suggested that a low trump would have defeated it, but that's not true. No lead beats 1♠ but it could have been held to 7 tricks.

At the other table Michael Seamon opened the East hand 1♣, Garozzo overcalled 1♠ and was left to play there. Down 3 and 2 IMPs to All Stars.

Roland

[FrancesHinden]

I agree with mike (and others) that I'm not passing, I'd prefer better spades. Partner being a passed hand is also a danger signal for passing, because he's much more likely to be strongly shape-suitable but light in high cards.

3H is indeed the book bid, but I also have a sneaky respect for 2NT.

[Apollo81]

I'd go with 4♥. Partner isn't going to balance as aggressively at all red / IMPs as he would in other situations. I've also been brought up in the invite aggressively / accept conservatively school of thought at red IMPs. Invite should say "we can make game if you have nuts" I think this hand is a little better than that.

edit: I wouldn't have balanced with partner's actual hand

[whereagles]

I would have bid 3♥. Those minor suit queens look fishy to me on offensive.

[Winstonm]

I didn't get around to posting earlier on this thread but thought 2N probably the best bid - those Qx X 2 should be worth more in NT than hearts, and I really don't want to play a heart contract if partner has balanced with a 1354 pattern.

2N seems to suggest the value of the hand best - highly encouraging but not quite enough to bid game alone.

[Halo]

Partner has doubled for some fun. That's his choice.

Mikeh thought a minor bid over my (unpopular!) 2S would be a problem. Why?

[mikeh]

Halo, on Jan 15 2007, 02:46 PM, said:

Partner has doubled for some fun. That's his choice.

Mikeh thought a minor bid over my (unpopular!) 2S would be a problem. Why?

Because, as I think I said already, it makes 3♥ forcing....2♠ is NOT an attempt to get partner to bid notrump... his double denied that ability already, so we need to distinguish between a jump to 3♥ (I think we all agree that this is non-forcing but invitational) and the slow route of cue-bid then 3♥. Never use two sequences for the same hand... we don't have enough sequences available for bidding as it is

So in my opinion, 2♠ followed by 3♥ establishes a force...altho I admit that it is difficult to come up with suitable hands for the auction.

I just don't think that this hand is one of them.

[Al_U_Card]

Bid from the cheap seats....overcall 1S with 1NT.....gets you where you are going.

[zasanya]

Walddk, on Jan 15 2007, 12:43 PM, said:

At the other table Michael Seamon opened the East hand 1♣, Garozzo overcalled 1♠ and was left to play there. Down 3 and 2 IMPs to All Stars.

Roland

A side issue but....
What is the"correct" opening bid in a natural system with 5-5 in black suits and less than reversible values?