[Edmunte1]

Here are 3 boards from National Teams Championships. You're sitting South and you have to take bidding decisions related to heart suit.

1.

Scoring: IMP

1♠-(pass)-1NT*-(pass)
3♠-(pass)-?

*-forcing

---

2.

Scoring: IMP

1♠-(pass)-1NT*-(pass)
3♠-(pass)-?

*-forcing

---

3.

Scoring: IMP

1♠-(pass)-1NT*-(pass)
3♠-(pass)-?

*-forcing

---

[OleBerg]

1) The tough one. I choose 4♥, simply because it might be an easy make, where even 3♠ could be in trouble. The downside is, that I am quite vulnerable to a double.

2) I bid 1♥, a wtp for me.

3) This one i unfortunately have to pass. Not that I like it.

[Codo]

1. pass, I may miss something, hopefully I miss the occaisonal -500 too.

2. surely no wtp. 1 Heart is nice when we have fit and or the ability to show the clubs below the fifth level. Both is not certain. But I still try 1 heart. Make it 5/6 and it a wtp 2 NT. (Strong enough for that)

3. For me this is a wtp pass.

[hotShot]

Codo, on Feb 23 2009, 02:26 PM, said:

Make it 5/6 and it a wtp 2 NT. (Strong enough for that)

You mean instead of 6♥ and 5♣, holding 5♥ and 6♣ would make the difference?

[Fluffy]

I pass the first one, our hand doesn't play so badly in spades after all.

Second one is tougher, First thing that came to mind was 4♥ (no need to show clubs when opponents have diamonds), But I think I will still try 2NT followed by double.

Third one its an easy pass, the opponents are preempting themselves.

[Codo]

hotShot, on Feb 23 2009, 09:48 PM, said:

Codo, on Feb 23 2009, 02:26 PM, said:

Make it 5/6 and it a wtp 2 NT. (Strong enough for that)

You mean instead of 6♥ and 5♣, holding 5♥ and 6♣ would make the difference?

yes, that is what I meant. But with a longer major, I want to emphazise this.

[MFA]

1. 4♥. I have a very unusual hand and must hope for the best in 4♥. This is where the money is if we are right.

2. 2NT. I like to get my suits in immediately. There's a good chance that I can show a 6th heart later and my heart suit needs support. If they bid spades I can double. I'll take a second bid regardless of the auction.

Dislike the stupid "weak or very strong" treatment. 2NT should always deliver some strength and two reasonable suits and invite further action from partner. It should never be a worthless suicide attempt.

3. Pass. We have no bid that shows this hand type.

[Hanoi5]

4♥, which should be natural.

2NT, a strong michael's. If partner bids clubs (except at the 5 lvl) I'm tempted to bid hearts which should show 6.

Pass, too many hearts but too few HCP's.

[rogerclee]

1) 4♥. This is a good example of a situation where we should bid game because 3♠ could be going down anyway, so we really want to be in 4♥ even if it has around a 25% chance of making. The opponents never double anyway, they are too scared of partner converting to 4♠ when we have hit a bad trump split.

2) 2NT, I thought this was crystal clear, considering that we can later bid a large number of hearts to show how good this hand is.

3) 3♥, game is good opposite a weak NT with minimal waste in spades.

[fachiru]

1) Pass. Make the Q♦ into Q♣ and I try 4♠.
2) 2NT now to get the ♣ in the picture, followed by more ♥ bidding.
3) Pass. Yeh, I'd like to bid a non-forcing 3♥, but prd. may not like that joke.

[Phil]

1. 4♥. For the reasons Roger said. Furthermore, if pard bids 4♠, it might just make. Passing just seems really wrong at IMPs, where you are hoping for exactly nine tricks.

2. 1♥. No real problem. I will bid clubs up to the five level if necessary.

3. 3♥. I think you really need to get in on these hands with the spade shortness and any kind of excuse, and seven hearts is enough. I realize that LHO may make a buffet out of 3♥.

[kfay]

1) Tough... but I bid game. 4♥

2) I definitely 2NT this. My hand is so awesome. I will bid hearts later or maybe cuebid if partner does something nice.

3) 3♥. My partner's understand that I bid with shortness. When the bridge gods deal me a 7-card suit I bid it.

[Fluffy]

MFA, on Feb 23 2009, 02:17 PM, said:

Dislike the stupid "weak or very strong" treatment. 2NT should always deliver some strength and two reasonable suits and invite further action from partner. It should never be a worthless suicide attempt.

The weak or strong thing just says that, when partner bids 3X over 2NT, you have an easy decision to make (and not an impossible one).

That principle says that when you are not comfortable because you have no idea of what to do when partner bids 3x, you are often better placed by bidding 1♥ instead of 2NT.

There is many people who think that getting your 2 suits fast is a big winner, they obviously have a point.

Maybe this is another of those situations where you wanna bid as fast as possible, the better your opponents are. But putting yourself on a blind guess when the opponents ain't good is not worth it.

[bid_em_up]

1) Pass.

2) 2N.

3) Pass.

[jdonn]

1. 4♥, seems clear.
2. 2NT then bid hearts, seems perfect.
3. Pass, I really expect partner to bid too many bad games if I overcall on this now. That is my fear, not a 3♥ contract itself.

[Apollo81]

I'd push a little on all 3 hands:

1. 4♥ -- partner could still have Hx or 3-card support, and even if he doesn't he might pull to a making 4♠.

2. 2NT, then hearts

3. 3♥ -- IMO the risk of 'all pass lose a partscore or game swing' is higher than the risk of getting to a bad game.

[mtvesuvius]

I'm agressive on all of them except #3...

1. 4♥, may make... Partner is allowed to have a few ♥ for his 3♠ bid.
2. 2NT then some # of ♥ or cuebid... This is a huge hand, 1♥ may be right, but getting both suits in before the 5 level is extremely important imo.
3. I am not bidding this moth-eaten suit on the 3 level with a disgusting hand... 7 card suits may be called trump, but we can worry about that later. My only worry is the it will go (2♠) - P - (4♠) - X - (P) back to me... Partner could still have a good hand... xx Axx AQxx Axxx or something similar. But that's a risk I will take. I pass this, unwillingly, but I have to.

[Edmunte1]

1. In our match, both players passed 3♠ for down one. 4♥ was down 2+, but i think it's an worthy try. Partner held ♠AQJ9xx ♥J ♦Kxx ♣AQx
2. Both 2Nt and 1♥ worked well, reaching 4♥. My bid was 1♥.

3. For passers, would you have overcalled if you were non-vulnerable vs. vulnerable?

[bid_em_up]

Edmunte1, on Feb 25 2009, 05:28 AM, said:

3. For passers, would you have overcalled if you were non-vulnerable vs. vulnerable?

No.