[fred]

As far as I am concerned the only calls worthy of consideration are 4C and 6C. I personally prefer 6C because, in my view, the only advantage of 4C is that this call may facilitate an auction whereby you can bid 7C intelligently. However, this is not very likely. I think there is at least as much chance that a slow auction will help the opponents to find the best opening lead against 6C (if one exists).

I think that it is a fantasy to hope the bidding 4C will give you the information you need to stay out of a bad 6C.

I think that bidding 3D is not necessary (because 4C is clearly forcing) and that bids like 3D tend to result in confusion. The only advantage I see in bidding 3D is that there is a reasonable chance that this call will get doubled (thereby ensuring an opening lead against 6C that rates to be favorable).

Even if 4NT is clearly RKCB in your partnership (it would not be in mine) I think this is a poor choice (because you are going to bid 6C regardless of the response that you get - it is not possible that you are missing 2 keycards).

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[kenrexford]

Ditto, Fred.

I'd add in that any fancy cuebidding sequence after this auction will get muddled beyond belief, will add little, and will convince partner that you do not have A-A-A-, plus a stiff and J10x of trumps. I cannot imagine an auction to show this hand, nor any auction to find specifically what you need on the side.