[fachiru]

Scoring: IMP

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N deals and opens, opps. silent. It went:
1♥-2♣
2♥-4♦
4♥-pass

Normally spinters are good tools for slam, was it ill adviced here?
Should N like his hand and do more than 4♥ or perhaps S can move on by cue or ace asking?

[kenrexford]

As a general observation, a splinter is not quite sufficient to describe responder's hand. Responder is too strong to just splinter.

Furthermore, a one-under splinter is the toughest. 4♦ leaves no room between 4♦ and 4♥ (game) to explore things. Had the splinter been even 4♣, for instance, then Opener would have the ability to bid 4♦ to say, "I'm thinking about it..." 4♦, in contrast, makes Opener go-or-no.

Knowing what alternative makes sense requires knowing what you play. 2/1 GF?

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

No wastage, i.e. I would not worry to much, about missing the slam.

I would have bid either 2S or 3H with your hand.
Both bids have the advantage, that they keep the bidding lower and
alowe opener to describe his hand.

Most likely 3H is the better bid, because it simplifies the later auction.

3H gives opener the most room to show

#1 no slam interest
#2 mild slam interest
#3 heavy slam interest

And it allowes him, to show side values, in the actual scenario opener
can bid 4C as a cue, the Queen is worth a cue, because it is in partners
known long suit. It also denies a cue in spades.

Now responder can either make another move with 4D, which he most
likely should since clubs will produce 4 tricks most of the time, or sign of.
Over 4D opener can and should move forward.

But 4D is not mandatory.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[jdonn]

I think south was too good for the splinter, but that's not why slam was missed. What was north smokin?

[kenrexford]

jdonn, on May 12 2009, 11:13 AM, said:

I think south was too good for the splinter, but that's not why slam was missed. What was north smokin?

Well, technically, I would pass with North, at least how I usually play splinters on this sequence (COV in clubs and trumps, with a stiff diamond). Looks like two spade losers off the top. I'd expect Responder to have something like ♠xxx(x) ♥KQx(x) ♦x ♣AKJxx.

With good clubs, a stiff diamond, good trumps, and spade control, why not splinter immediately? (Or, use a slower approach?) This sequence seems to scream COV, to me.

[hanp]

North has two extra trump, a well-placed queen and nothing wasted. I think 4H is too little.

South is too good for the splinter. Especially one-under splinters should not be far from what opener expects. Still, remove the spade queen and the hand is perfect and we would still like to get to the slam.

[karlson]

Spade queen is awfully generous. How about taking away the club ace, and slam is still good.

I think a lot of beginners underestimate the power of extra trump length after a fit is found. It seems that happened to north here.

[JLOL]

karlson, on May 12 2009, 05:16 PM, said:

Spade queen is awfully generous. How about taking away the club ace, and slam is still good.

LOL

[karlson]

JLOL, on May 12 2009, 02:26 PM, said:

karlson, on May 12 2009, 05:16 PM, said:

Spade queen is awfully generous. How about taking away the club ace, and slam is still good.

LOL

Ok, fine, lol at myself.

[MarkDean]

I assumed you just meant good compared to some of the slams you have to try to make partnering me.

[jdonn]

Let's compromise, you can remove both major suit queens and slam is at least as good as 2-1 trumps with 4-2 or better clubs.

[mikeh]

The main problem was that South failed to think about the hand from his partner's point of view... which is a very common failing.

It is easy for us to say that North ought to have bid more, and there surely was reasonable safety at the 5-level, but the fault, in my view, lies largely with South, who was looking at the black suit controls...which in turn meant that his partner might be looking at a blizzard in the blacks and still have a good slam.

[hanp]

Did you change the hand? I think south used to have the heart king instead of the queen.

[Codo]

With the king of hearts this would be even more obvious that passing 4 heart waws wrong.

But even here: When you splinter with such a strong hand (you shouldn't) you need to bid on. I guess in the long run passing 4 ♥ with this hand is worth then gambling even 7 ♥. (Not that you need to...)

[gnasher]

What would be a minimum for 2C then 4D with this shape? Qxxx Qxx x AKxxx?

If so, then how much stronger would a maximum be?

[kenrexford]

gnasher, on May 13 2009, 04:55 AM, said:

What would be a minimum for 2C then 4D with this shape?  Qxxx Qxx x AKxxx?

If so, then how much stronger would a maximum be?

For me, contextually, probably:

♠QJ10 ♥KQxx ♦Q ♣AKJ10x

But, my "minimum" would be stronger than yours -- add the club Jack, remove the spade Queen, add the heart King.

[bid_em_up]

Option 1:

N deals and opens, opps. silent.

1♥-2♣
2♥-2♠
4♥-4N....

Option 2:

N deals and opens, opps. silent. It went:
1♥-2♣
2♥-4♦
4♥-?

South shd realize that North is missing both black suit controls, so can't do anything other than bid 4H, and take one more call. 4S or 4N will suffice.

[dake50]

Delayed splinter has a flaw for immediate splinter. Clubs too good, trumps too good/too long, controls too good; or trumps long without top honor, or only Hxx trumps. IE. immediate splinter: trump Kxxx/Axxx and 3-4 controls or trump Qxxx with void and 3-4 controls. Which flaw does opener see? 3x trump!