[sathyab]

And in the balancing chair ? Most people play (1M)-3M as asking for stopper and (1m)-3m as a preempt in the direct seat. Should this still apply in the balancing chair when you could pass instead ?

Scoring: IMP

---

At one table there were three passes and NS were playing 3nt as a solid minor with side tricks and had no trouble making the contract when partner turned up with a club stopper.

At the other table, West opened 1♣, which was followed by two passes. Now in the balancing chair you want to play 3nt if partner has a club stopper. If you start with a double, opener bids 1♥ which is again followed by two passes to you

[kenrexford]

1-3 in the minor in balancing seat sure sounds like a stopper ask.

[Jlall]

kenrexford, on Aug 5 2009, 11:31 AM, said:

1-3 in the minor in balancing seat sure sounds like a stopper ask.

lol, I was gonna post this too.

[pooltuna]

kenrexford, on Aug 5 2009, 11:31 AM, said:

1-3 in the minor in balancing seat sure sounds like a stopper ask.

maybe it sounds like one because IT IS ONE What other meaning makes sense....natural?

[kenrexford]

pooltuna, on Aug 5 2009, 11:48 AM, said:

kenrexford, on Aug 5 2009, 11:31 AM, said:

1-3 in the minor in balancing seat sure sounds like a stopper ask.

maybe it sounds like one because IT IS ONE What other meaning makes sense....natural?

I mean, you COULD have a perfect hand for a natural jump overcall in Opener's minor. Why not? I don't think the percentages are that high, but possible is different from practical.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

if you have no idea, how 3C after the 1C opening bid is treated,
X is one possible reasonable alternative.
Another option is 3D, which is showes basically your hand, you can
argue, that you are 1 trick too strong for 3C, but partner will play
you for 8 tricks with a good diamond suit.

If you started with a X, you can still bid 3D after 1H.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[sathyab]

P_Marlowe, on Aug 5 2009, 03:44 PM, said:

Hi,

if you have no idea, how 3C after the 1C opening bid is treated,
X is one possible reasonable alternative.
Another option is 3D, which is showes basically your hand, you can
argue, that you are 1 trick too strong for 3C, but partner will play
you for 8 tricks witha good diamond suit.

If you started with a X, you can still bid 3D after 1H.

With kind regards
Marlowe

X is a possibility, but the problem is that 3♦ thereafter shows a good hand, but partner could hardly be expected to bid 3nt if he's looking at a stiff ♦ and a stopper such as ♣QT9x. The bigger danger is that once you start with a double and partner responds 1♥ or 1♠, you can no longer ask for a stopper, as all cue-bids are in support of his major suit. That's what happened at one table and his partner holding the ♣A decided to pass 3♦.

[Stephen Tu]

3m is the bid, because what else could it possibly be?

Quote

The bigger danger is that once you start with a double and partner responds 1♥ or 1♠, you can no longer ask for a stopper, as all cue-bids are in support of his major suit.

That's just not right. cue bid after doubling shows usu lack of primary (4+) support, some big hand. If you want to support partner's major, you can just raise to the appropriate level. Or jump cue as a strong splinter.

Cue bids show support when partner opened a major, and righty overcalls, because you have lots of other options to show other hand types (new suit, neg x, etc.). They generally don't in other situations.

[gnasher]

Stephen Tu, on Aug 5 2009, 10:56 PM, said:

Cue bids show support when partner opened a major, and righty overcalls, because you have lots of other options to show other hand types (new suit, neg x, etc.). They generally don't in other situations.

I agree about the meanings of cue bids, but not about the reason. After an opening bid and an overcall, a cue bid shows support because we need it to mean that, rather than just because the cue bid happens to be available.

In an auction where they're likely to compete further, it's important to be able to distinguish different types of supporting hands immediately. In an auction that's going to be uncontested from now on, you can afford to take two bids to show a particular type of supporting hand, or to lump together two hands of similar playing strength but different defensive strength.