[mtvesuvius]

All NV at IMPs partner deals and you hold:

♠J9xxx
♥T9xx
♦Jxx
♣J

1♦ - (Pass) - ?

[hanp]

I would.

[dicklont]

Pass.
I really, really like weak jump shifts, but this hand does not qualify.

[jdonn]

Respond.

[JoAnneM]

Change those jacks into an ace in one of the majors and I will bid.

[rogerclee]

I play a style that always responds at this scoring/vul, no matter what my hand is.

[kfay]

rogerclee, on Apr 29 2009, 11:24 AM, said:

I play a style that always responds at this scoring/vul, no matter what my hand is.

Good idea

[mikeh]

kfay, on Apr 29 2009, 11:28 AM, said:

rogerclee, on Apr 29 2009, 11:24 AM, said:

I play a style that always responds at this scoring/vul, no matter what my hand is.

Good idea

I assume that you alert that you play partner's 1 bid as forcing. Seriously.

I would also respond... but only because I have an easy rebid, and if he raises spades or rebids diamonds, I actually have a decent hand. Make it the same with 4=4=3=2, and I would pass.

[jdonn]

rogerclee, on Apr 29 2009, 11:24 AM, said:

I play a style that always responds at this scoring/vul, no matter what my hand is.

Probably not a good idea after a 3rd seat opener though.

[rogerclee]

jdonn, on Apr 29 2009, 09:42 AM, said:

rogerclee, on Apr 29 2009, 11:24 AM, said:

I play a style that always responds at this scoring/vul, no matter what my hand is.

Probably not a good idea after a 3rd seat opener though.

Yes, agree.

[cherdanno]

I play a style where I always respond non-vulnerable to 1m with 5431 shape, a 5-card major, and a fit for opener's suit.

[andy_h]

I would, but I think it depends what level you're at. I'd prefer not to teach a B/I to respond with this "junk". All's well if you can say that it's easy to understand its upsides and stuff, but the downsides are that they need to alter their judgement as opener when they need to sometimes 'cater' for partner to be responding light. And this alteration may confuse them even more.

[Apollo81]

There are many good things that can happen if you respond. The most likely is that you preempt your opponents out of their partscore or game, but getting to a making spade game or even 3NT is not totally out of the question. The only rebid partner could make that would make me really unhappy is 2NT, and even this can be overcome if we have a way to get out in 3♦.

[neilkaz]

This is a good hand for only 3 jacks. I'll respond if playing with a PD who expects me to respond with this junk, but otherwise pass. My experiences playing in MBC with random adv/expert pickups is that they will leave me after I respond with hands like this, but maybe that is a good thing.

[Apollo81]

FWIW I think I would have said roughly the same thing had we held the same shape with 0 HCP. The chance that we preempt the opps rises with such a hand, and the chance we have a game goes down.

[whereagles]

Pass. This is one reason why I like a light 2♣ opener style.

[jdonn]

whereagles, on Apr 29 2009, 01:03 PM, said:

Pass. This is one reason why I like a light 2♣ opener style.

The lighter your opening bids, the more good responding on this hand becomes.

[fred]

rogerclee, on Apr 29 2009, 04:24 PM, said:

I play a style that always responds at this scoring/vul, no matter what my hand is.

I am all for responding light when not vul and I would certainly respond with the hand in question. This is not because I would be afraid I might miss a game if I passed (though for sure that could happen), but because experience strongly suggests that responding makes life considerably harder for the opponents when it is their hand.

That being said, if you are really serious about "always" then I suggest you reconsider. For example, I think regardless of the vulnerability it is just bad bridge to respond to 1D with something like:

Kxx
xxxx
xxx
Qxx

The reason is that you are more likely to turn a plus into a minus (or a small minus into a big minus) then you are to keep the opponents out of a making game that they would not have reached had you responded.

I would rather respond with:

xxx
xxxx
xxx
xxx

because now the chances of the opponents having a biddable and makable game have increased substantially.

Of course my assessment of the likelyhood of various outcomes of various actions with various hands is largely a result of my own subjective experience (ie judgment). If your experience tells you to bid differently, you could well be "right" (whatever that means).

Do whatever makes you feel comfortable, but try to keep in mind that using words like "always" is dangerous. By doing so you are utilizing a rule as a surrogate for judgment thereby closing your mind to the benefits you might otherwise gain from your own experience.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[whereagles]

Sometimes the word "always" is appropriate. As in, "the only rule that always works is to think"

[Echognome]

It would also be interesting to hear what the planned response to 1♦ holding:

xxx
xxx
xxx
xxxx

or

xxx
xxx
xx
xxxxx

I don't think anyone likes to bid 1NT with either and the other option (besides pass) is to pysch a major.

Anyway, as per Fred, I think a style of "I will strain to respond to 1m if NV," makes sense.