[helene_t]

awm, on Mar 27 2008, 05:16 PM, said:

Take the auction 1♥-2♣-3♥.
[....]
maybe it would be reasonable to play that over double, opener's 3♠ bid is artificial, denying spade length and trying to keep 3NT in play.

Sounds good.

[Edmunte1]

I completely agree with Mike's post.

Double sounds nice, but it's not. It lies about our spade length and it puts partner in an awkard position too often.
About 3NT, it seems pretty wild shot to me, but sometimes it may work. What i'd like to underline is, that even if 3nt makes and we skip it, we still can make 5♣ or 4NT. Preempts work and we have to take the middle road, the line that works more often.

[Cascade]

whereagles, on Mar 28 2008, 04:15 AM, said:

of course it is forcing

I play it non-forcing.

How do you bid with ♠ AKJxxx and out?

[Cascade]

mikeh, on Mar 28 2008, 05:20 AM, said:

Double, to me, is insane.

Yes, it is values with no clear bid, but it will reach 3N only when partner has a stopper, so that either 3♠ or 3N would work just as well. It will reach spades only when partner holds 4 of them, and then 3♠ works as well or better, and it will never find a 5-3 spade fit... unless we are planning on torturing partner with 4♠ over 4 minor by him. And, if he does pass, are we really going to be happy?

From the insane:

Your conclusion is not valid. We have many time played a 5=3 spade fit (or heart fit on similar auctions) where partner bid a three-card major in response to our double. Partner knowing you might double on this hand can bid a three-card major on a tough hand or one that is willing to play spades in Moysian.

Also having doubled and when partner repeats their minor we can bid 4♠ to show five spades. Since we did not bid 3♠ or 4♠ the previous round we are most likely to have five spades or six poor spades in a flexible hand for this auction and therefore partner will know to pull with a singleton.

In general after the opponents have bid and raised hence they have found their fit but we have not we are already behind. It makes a lot of sense to me to be able to make constructive but not forcing bids when we have an undisclosed long suit and no or only a partial fit for partner. This auction is not the ideal advertisement for this since the auction is so crammed at 3♥ nevertheless it still seems to work on a wide range of hands.

[mikeh]

'insane' was an overbid by me, and, on reflection, I agree that we might back into a 3=5 fit in spades when partner chooses 3♠ as a lesser-evil 'distortion'. But I don't change my view that double is the 3rd best call.

While partner may bid 3♠ on a decent 3 card holding, he'd need to be desperate to do so on xxx, and may well prefer to bid clubs on AKJxxx, as an example. Moreover, why on earth do I want rho on lead against a spade contract?

[cherdano]

I think double is clear IF 3♠ is non-forcing. I don't think Wayne and Mike would have any disagreement here if they played the same methods...

[benlessard]

3Nt wtp for me.

X will wrong side contract if partner bid 3 or 4S.

3S is asking for partner to raise with xx of spades. Partner would have X with 3136 and bad clubs. On this bidding either partner have 2S or 2D or hes got good clubs.

They might not be solid but still i prefer 3nt then 3S. If lho leads H with no hesitation then im going down because hes got the A of clubs but other then that my chances are pretty good.

[rogerclee]

For the resulters, partner has ♠Jx ♥Q ♦9xxx ♣AKQJTx.

4♠ has no play, 3NT is ice cold, and x will get a 4♣ from partner, which regardless of whether it makes, goes down less than 4♠.

I am convinced that 3♠ is better, just not on this one. Tough though; I'll give it around to some really good players and see what they say.

[Fluffy]

I don't like 3♠ because it makes too much emphasis in playing in spades. AKxxx is a good holding for spades, but it is also a very good holding for playing in NT or clubs.