[Fluffy]

Scoring: IMP

W - N -  E - S
 - - 1♣ -ps-1♠
3♦-3NT-ps-??

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[gwnn]

call me a pedant but I still don't think this is a reopening situation let's just try 4NT.

[matmat]

do you have the auction right? am i really opening over p's 3NT?

[655321]

How, indeed?

Anyway, I agree with 4NT.
Partner was under some pressure, but 4NT is likely to be cold even opposite a minimum.    Partner can move, or not, as he sees fit.

4♣ is a reasonable bid too. If you plan to drive the hand to slam 4♣ is the way to go.

[Echognome]

Partner's likely hand type is 18-19 balanced. With suits likely splitting foul, I'm going to be content to rest in 3NT.

[pclayton]

Tough problem, but I'm going to make one try. 4♦ sounds like a self-cue for spades, so thats out. 4♣ I think it reasonable, with the intent of passing 4N if pard wants out.

4N is a sensible alternative, but I'm not sure I want to try for 6N with 19 opposite my 12 although it could be right. 6♣ feels like it's still in the picture. Give pard a perfectly normal: Kx, Axx, KJx, AKxxx and I like my chances.

[jdonn]

No reason partner has to be balanced here, he could have long clubs or short spades or whatever. I would bid 4N here hoping to hear 6C.

[Codo]

I think the most common hand type is a runnig club suit and the King of diamonds and one or two other useful cards. If pd has just xx,Ax,Kx,AKQxxxx we are cold for 6 NT. But how to find out?
I voted a quantitative 4 NT but this won´t help partner, so I changed to the 4 Club camp. If slam is on, I often will convert 6 Club to 6 NT.

[brianshark]

If there's a slam, I think it's likely to be in clubs more often than NT. So I might lean towards 4♣ rather than 4NT. But I'm definitely not converting 6♣ to 6NT regardless of what I bid first. (eg. x,Qxx,Kx,AKQxxxx)

[SchTsch]

4NT

I'm not passing this one, and don't think it's up to me to guess what did my endplayed partner bid 3NT with. So I'll just bid my hand. I have a balanced invitational hand so 4NT it is.

[Roupoil]

I would try 4♣. I think partner rates to have a really nice club suit for his 3NT bid without aces, so 6♣ is not far away.

[pclayton]

Reconsidering this problem a day later, if pard is going to accept 6, wouldn't he bid 6♣ over 4N with 5 good clubs? 4♣ really sounds like 4 card support.

Change mine to 4N please.

[cherdano]

pclayton, on Jan 10 2008, 09:50 AM, said:

Reconsidering this problem a day later, if pard is going to accept 6, wouldn't he bid 6♣ over 4N with 5 good clubs? 4♣ really sounds like 4 card support.

Change mine to 4N please.

A jump to 6♣ sounds like 6 good clubs to me. Partner didn't promise a balanced hand. He might bid 5♣, though.

[P_Marlowe]

Pass, wtp.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[kfay]

cherdano, on Jan 10 2008, 11:03 AM, said:

pclayton, on Jan 10 2008, 09:50 AM, said:

Reconsidering this problem a day later, if pard is going to accept 6, wouldn't he bid 6♣ over 4N with 5 good clubs? 4♣ really sounds like 4 card support.

Change mine to 4N please.

A jump to 6♣ sounds like 6 good clubs to me. Partner didn't promise a balanced hand. He might bid 5♣, though.

Maybe this auction has some different connotations but I've always played that you bid 4-card suits up the line over a quantitative 4NT and jump in 5-card suits. Without specific discussion otherwise this is still my agreement so while 6♣ might sound like 6 I think it only promises 5.

[pclayton]

kfay, on Jan 10 2008, 10:45 AM, said:

cherdano, on Jan 10 2008, 11:03 AM, said:

pclayton, on Jan 10 2008, 09:50 AM, said:

Reconsidering this problem a day later, if pard is going to accept 6, wouldn't he bid 6♣ over 4N with 5 good clubs? 4♣ really sounds like 4 card support.

Change mine to 4N please.

A jump to 6♣ sounds like 6 good clubs to me. Partner didn't promise a balanced hand. He might bid 5♣, though.

Maybe this auction has some different connotations but I've always played that you bid 4-card suits up the line over a quantitative 4NT and jump in 5-card suits. Without specific discussion otherwise this is still my agreement so while 6♣ might sound like 6 I think it only promises 5.

This isn't a typical NT auction. Pard could be a big balanced hand, or he could be a strong hand with a source of tricks in clubs.

Arend makes a good point- 6♣ very well could be 6. 5♣ could be 5. 5N could be 4-4 in the minors perhaps.

[rbforster]

Isn't it possible that partner might have 3 spades for us? Double would have been penalty by opener, so he may be forced to bid his strength/running clubs in preference to showing spades. Maybe Kxx Ax Kx AKQxxx?

I voted for 4♦ hoping it would be a generic strong forcing bid (rather than a specific cue or something), aiming to get a strain preference for spades vs clubs and then invite slam.

[Fluffy]

I didn't like 4NT because I felt our hand was very well suited for a trump contract.
But there ain't any better solution.

Partner had

Qx
AJx
Kx
AKQxxx

After murking the waters with 4♦ and an obscure round of bidding, my partner showed some sanity and just jumped to a practical 6♣ wich ended the auction.

[mr1303]

Does partner need to be as good as this for 3NT?

I think any hand that would have bid 3C and has a diamond stop would be sufficient.