[1eyedjack]

Scoring: IMP

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Uncontested auction at both tables.
At table 1
1N-2H(tfr)
2S-3H
4D-4H
P

At table 2
1H-4H
P

Suggestions?
Or is this just such a miracle fit that you simply pay off on these hands?

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

#Table1
Opening 1NT with a 5 card major is a style issue, so
given the opening, I dont think that you can find the
double fit, hence you will miss the slam.

# Table #2
The auction is ..., 1S instead of 4H is clear.
You are too strong for the 4H bid to be preemptive,
for that matter you hold spades, in which suit they
want to compete?
And the hand is too weak to be sure, that you are making
4H, so the 4H bid has nothing to win.
The 1S bid may or may give you a chance to find the
double fit, but it does not matter, if you would have
found the slam.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[1eyedjack]

I think you are possibly being a bit unfair on South at table 2. Personally I would have responded 1S also, but I can certainly envisage hands where an immediate 4H would gain. When sacrificing it certainly helps if your suit outranks the opponents, but it is not always compulsory.

It is not hard to construct a hand where 4H is the limit our way and 5C is a profitable sacrifice (or even making contract although I agree that is very unlikely), and where an immediate 4H raise may buy the contract where a slow route does not.

[P_Marlowe]

1eyedjack, on Oct 19 2008, 07:25 AM, said:

I think you are possibly being a bit unfair on South at table 2. Personally I would have responded 1S also, but I can certainly envisage hands where an immediate 4H would gain. When sacrificing it certainly helps if your suit outranks the opponents, but it is not always compulsory.

It is not hard to construct a hand where 4H is the limit our way and 5C is a profitable sacrifice (or even making contract although I agree that is very unlikely), and where an immediate 4H raise may buy the contract where a slow route does not.

Ok, I agree, I am slightly unfair, may be the forum
starts to transform me, ... but not much.
But I will even admit saying that this is a style issue:
If you bid this way, you accept also that you pay of,
when 4H turns out to be a fantom sac. or if you happen
to have a slam, the later is a remote possibility.

But anyway, after 4H you are dead, there is no way to
find the slam, even if we make openers hand stronger,
because responder may be also a weaker, hence opener
wont move.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[mike777]

1h=2s(good h invite,12-13, stiff somewhere)(2s does not show spades)
2nt(asks)=3c=(stiff C)
3d=3s
4s(rkc for H)=5c(1-4)
6h

or
1h=2s!
2nt!=3c!
3d=3s
3nt(serious slam try)=4s(rkc in h)
etc

I play style where I do not open strong 1nt with 5 card major and side suit of xx.

[fred]

1eyedjack, on Oct 19 2008, 11:49 AM, said:

Or is this just such a miracle fit that you simply pay off on these hands?

Yes (unless you happen to be lucky enough to have a perfect bid in your arsenal that makes this combination easy - if you do I suspect you could probably find a better use for that bid).

If you get to all the magic slams you will also find yourself getting to slam and going down far more often when the fit is less than magical.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[Cascade]

We would get there on the strong NT auction (except that we do not play strong NT in first and second seat) but not on the 1♥ auction.

1NT 2♥
2♠ 3♣* showing our singleton
...

there is no stopping north now

3♥ 4♥
4NT* 5♥**
6♥

* spade cue
** nothing to cue

4♥ also showed no strong slam interest but north has the perfect hand. When South cannot cue clubs or diamond she must have good spades so north can raise.

Over a 1♥ opening our policy is to raise immediately and this hand is just too difficult to find the source of tricks.

1♥ 3♣ Splinter
3♦* 3♥**
...

* relay (no singleton)
** any invite

Perhaps north could try again or south may upgrade to a GF but I fear we will never find the source of tricks with an ace and a king missing that is needed to bid the slam confidently.

[cherdano]

Showing slam interest with the South hand opposite the North hand seems a wild overbid to me. So I don't understand Cascade's auction.

[kenrexford]

The first auction is ridiculous, frankly.

Opener bids 1NT, and Responder transfers to spades.

Opener makes a non-super-acceptance 2♠, and Responder bids 3♥.

If 3♥ was invitational only, then Responder is out of his mind. Openerjust make a slam move opposite an invitational bid, and Responder has a GF bid with a stiff club, the suit not cuebid. I'd almost just bid 6♥ without asking any more questions.

If, however, 3♥ was GF, then Opener is too good to pass. I'd make one more stab by bidding 4♠.

[1eyedjack]

I confess that having discarded strong jump shifts and weak jump shifts as both being non-optimal in my view (whilst acknowledging that each has merits) I have been wondering which is preferable between fit-jump-shifts showing support + a source of tricks, or mini-splinter jump shifts. There may be room for both, provided of course that the opponents remain silent. A big IF.

I am coming round to the view that the cheapest jump shift could be used to show a source of tricks in an unspecified suit, and the others can show the minisplinters. After the cheapest jump shift partner can ask for the suit. If the opponents intervene then their intervention is likely to give a good clue as to the location of your suit. The other obvious alternative is for the cheapest jump shift to show an unspecified minisplinter and the other jump shifts to show a good side suit with fit for opener. I think I marginally prefer the first alternative, but I am not sure, and there may be a third alternative better than both.

Under such a method, I think I would prefer to show the Spade suit than the Club shortage on this hand, but in reality both are a requirement for slam, so I doubt that I would get there this time.

[Cascade]

cherdano, on Oct 20 2008, 08:23 AM, said:

Showing slam interest with the South hand opposite the North hand seems a wild overbid to me. So I don't understand Cascade's auction.

South didn't specifically show slam interest.

The 3♣ bid is simply game forcing with a stiff club. It is dual purpose it helps with choice of games decisions and is a springboard to slam.

It turns out that many hands with minimum GF values opposite a balanced hand with nothing at all wasted in the short suit have excellent play for slam provided we have enough key-cards.