[ArtK78]

Hairy_Scot, on Jan 5 2009, 08:16 PM, said:

Based on the responses so far it looks like Ghestem is out of favour or not widely used, yet this would appear to be an ideal hand on which to use it.
Pard will know your suits, and if ops come back in over the 3♣ you still have time to force with a ♠ bid.
If ghestem not an option, then 1♠ followed by 6♦ would be my choice.

Yes - Ghestem is the obvious call with 12 tricks in hand.

I may be in a minority, but I believe that the main point of this hand is to not let the opponents know that you have two suits. You do not want to encourage a sacrifice when you expect to make at least 12 tricks in one of your two suits.

I decided that making a small slam in spades and giving up the chance of finding a grand slam in diamonds was worth it if I could convince the opponents not to sacrifice against 6♠. So, when 3♥ came back to me I bid 6♠. It turns out that 7♦ is cold, as partner has a single spade and Jxx of diamonds. The Qx of spades is offside, so you will most likely go down in 7♠ if you bid it. I made 12 tricks in spades.

A bad result? HARDLY! Our teammates were allowed to play in 6♥x down 800. I don't understand why my hand allowed the opponents to play in 6♥x, but that is not the point. The point is that while 7♦ makes, there is no way that the opponents are going to allow you to play it there. They are white against red at IMPs. How can they not take out insurance against a grand? 7♥x goes for 1100, and I scored 1430 in 6♠.

The opps are less likely to sac against 6♠, because they have no idea what is making on the hand. On the one hand, how can they know that I am making 6♠? On the other hand, how can they know that I am not making 7♠? The 6♠ bid, concealing the diamonds, makes it very difficult for them to work out that it is right for them to bid 7♥.

Everyone that I gave this hand to bid either 6♦ or 7♦ on their next turn to bid. It is my contention that the opps will sac over either one once they know that you have a massive 2 suited hand and that your slam bid is not a shot in the dark.

[Cascade]

There is something to be said for going plus by playing the hand with this sort of hand.

However

1. You don't know 6♠ is making - this will be a disaster if you cannot make 12 tricks but have a slam in diamonds

2. The opponent's haven't announced a fit so it is far from certain that they will sacrifice.

3. If I bid 1♠ then 7♦ on this sort of hand I do not know that a grand is making. If I knew I might be able to take some other action rather than risking 1♠ being passed out. I am happy for the opponents to dive when I cannot make 7♦.

4. It will be hard for the opponents to dive over 7♠ which must have excellent prospects. Showing both suits and bidding to at least 7♦ will give me the best chance of getting to 7♠ when that is the top spot (other than just bashing 7♠.

[mikeh]

I don't understand why, at round one, we should be planning a way to stop the opps bidding 7♥. Rho opened a club, not a heart, and while it is true, it seems, that LHO held 7 of them, the odds of that are precisely balanced by the odds of our partner holding 7 of them... which would make the save questionable at best

Moreover, last time I checked, spades outranked hearts...so why not involve partner... ? Yes, on the actual hand, settling for 6♠ worked, but that is a pretty weak argument

[Hairy_Scot]

ArtK78, on Jan 6 2009, 06:10 PM, said:

Yes - Ghestem is the obvious call with 12 tricks in hand.

I may be in a minority, but I believe that the main point of this hand is to not let the opponents know that you have two suits.  You do not want to encourage a sacrifice when you expect to make at least 12 tricks in one of your two suits.

I can understand not opening the door for a potential sac, but at this early stage in the bidding I believe it best to give pard as much info as possible (even if it means giving opps the same info). The Ghestem 3♣ crowds opps a bit and gives pard the opportunity to show support. OK, if pard bids his preference then the wrong hand may wind up as dummy, but at least you know where the fit is.
There is also no certainty at this early point that the opps will sac, and since I would have no idea of their holding I can see no sense in assuming that a sac will be attempted.

[Cascade]

Hairy_Scot, on Jan 6 2009, 09:36 PM, said:

ArtK78, on Jan 6 2009, 06:10 PM, said:

Yes - Ghestem is the obvious call with 12 tricks in hand.

I may be in a minority, but I believe that the main point of this hand is to not let the opponents know that you have two suits.  You do not want to encourage a sacrifice when you expect to make at least 12 tricks in one of your two suits.

I can understand not opening the door for a potential sac, but at this early stage in the bidding I believe it best to give pard as much info as possible (even if it means giving opps the same info). The Ghestem 3♣ crowds opps a bit and gives pard the opportunity to show support. OK, if pard bids his preference then the wrong hand may wind up as dummy, but at least you know where the fit is.
There is also no certainty at this early point that the opps will sac, and since I would have no idea of their holding I can see no sense in assuming that a sac will be attempted.

If you bid Ghestem and then bid 6♠ will partner interpret this as offering a choice of Grands? (assuming partner passes over some heart bid)