[gnasher]

Scoring: IMP

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2NT pass 3♥/4♦ 4♥
dbl pass ?

2NT was 20-22. You bid either 3♥, transfer, intending to show a two-suited slam try, or 4♦, showing a one-suited slam try in spades.

What did you bid on the previous round, and what do you do now?

[FrancesHinden]

p.s. if it's any help, you trust your partner. She* wouldn't double 4H, at red, just because she has Kxxx in hearts...

*It was a she at both tables. One is a current WMSG gold medallist, the other a frequent BBO forum poster.

[JLOL]

Saw auction wrong...

I would start with 3H, showing clubs is important not just because we might belong in clubs but it will help partner evaluate his hand if we have a grand.

After this double I would follow through with my plan and bid 5C. I will never stop short of 6.

[Phil]

With a 7-5, I'll go ahead and call this a single suiter via 4♦

Playing with the Goddess of Bridge, her double should indicate a hand that has some heart duplication, and is generally uninterested in slam. So I would expect a defensive minimum like Ax KTxx AKxx AQx or like Qx KQxx AKxx AQx. However, in spite of all of this wastage in the reds, slam is still pretty good.

What is 6♣ now? Any chance pard will mistake this for exclusion?

[orlam]

FrancesHinden, on Feb 5 2009, 01:00 PM, said:

p.s. if it's any help, you trust your partner. She* wouldn't double 4H, at red, just because she has Kxxx in hearts...

*It was a she at both tables. One is a current WMSG gold medallist, the other a frequent BBO forum poster.

I understand your point about the BBF poster, but why should we trust a random WMSG medalist?

[FrancesHinden]

JLOL, on Feb 5 2009, 06:15 PM, said:

Saw auction wrong...

I would start with 3H, showing clubs is important not just because we might belong in clubs but it will help partner evaluate his hand if we have a grand.

After this double I would follow through with my plan and bid 5C. I will never stop short of 6.

ummm.... if you start with 3H, transfer to spades, and it continues 4H x P to you, why do you think 5C is forcing?

Partner has denied much interest in spades, so how would you bid looking at, I dunno,

QJxxx
-
x
QJxxxxx

where you are just planning to play in a making game?

(Maybe you wouldn't have started with 3H on this hand, but what would you do?)

I would start with a transfer, planning to show it as a 2-suiter, as we are making 7C opposite the right 14-count. And on an uncontested auction I should get the chance to make an informed decision about what suit to play in.

After 2NT P 3H 4H x P a grand is much less likely due to partner's heart wastage and I think I would just bid 6C and partner will get the right general idea.

The more I think about this, the less certain I am, because I could be 5-6 for this (rather than 7-5) and we might not play in the right black suit. Opposite, say, Qx KQJxx AKx AQx I'd much rather play in 6S than 6C (although neither slam is a picnic opposite that).

[jdonn]

I think playing these methods I would have started with 4♦ then bid 6♣ next. Nothing is perfect or accurate, but at least that should get across that my spades are longer than my clubs rather than the other way around.

[mikeh]

I may just be babbling, but I would have started as a 2-suiter.. there is no law against partner holding Ax AQxx in the blacks, as one possibility.. since I am driving to slam anyway, it seems to me to make sense to maximize our chances of reaching the best spot.

Having bid 3♥, I think I would pull to 5♥ and then, if the auction permits, bid 6♣.

I am happy with my methods here, because this sequence should show a black 2-suiter with spades usually (see below) at least as good as clubs.

With a one suiter, intending both 5♥ and 6♣ as cues, I would have started with 4♦... therefore this 6♣ is natural.

With a two suiter with longer clubs, and the slam force I am showing, I think I would usually bid 6♣ over 4♥... altho I am a little worried that with grand slam interest and longer clubs, I might have had to bid 5♥ anyway.. to confirm the void.

On this sequence, Ax KJ10x AKx AQxx, for example, has an easy 7♣ call.