[njustus]

---

The bidding:
West is declarer and opens 1D:

1D 2C 2D P
P 3C P P
3D 3H P P
P

My partner says I should have rebid clubs at the 4 level.

I maintain I should never have responded and that she sould not have bid hearts at the 3 level. Is either one of us correct or should we have bid something else entirely?

Thanks

[gwnn]

I'd have rebid 2♥ not 3♣. also, you have to raise to 3♣ from South which is not invitational, it's just competitive.

if I had sat in both NS or just S it would have gone:

1♦-2♣-2♦-3♣
3♦-4♣-end

if I had been just N:
1♦-2♣-2♦-p
p-2♥-p-3♣
3♦-p-p-p

edit: edited out emphatic language (sorry)

[njustus]

Thanks for your quick response.
The bids are probably hard to see the way I presented them...my partner bid 3H and my response would have to be 4 Clubs.

I just didn't think I should have bid clubs at any time because I had only 6-7 points even though I knew we had 10 trumps...The heart bid really threw me as my partner was overcalling and rebidding weak.

Thanks again

[gwnn]

from your seat in South it appears likely that if you don't act, partner may not find another call from up there. it is very important to help partner with such a splendid fit.

the single most likely scenario if you pass is that they play 2♦.
the single most likely scenario if you bid 3♣ is that we play 3♣ (here there is also a second scenario, forcing them to play 3♦ instead of 2, which is good for us).

I think it's quite clear that you don't want to defend 2♦, the Qxx notwithstanding. Therefore it's imperative that you show your fit to your partner.

Anyway, having passed twice, you really need to show that you prefer clubs to hearts. Partner showed you a 4-7 basically (which she doesn't have, but that's not our problem), and you prefer playing a 7-4 fit to a 4-2 fit, even at one level higher.

Partner should not have 5 hearts because with that she'd use 2NT unusual (promising 5+♣ 5+♥, most typically 6♣5♥) and should not have 4♥+6♣ because she should have bid 2♥ a round before (which I would have on this particular hand). Maybe with a very good club suit she would have a case, say

Kx
Axxx
x
KQJTxx
.

[spotlight7]

Hi:

Support with support. You should strain to bid with good support for partner.
When partner overcalls at the 2 level or higher, they tend to have a good suit.

Axxx is great support for a 2 level overcall. You might want to consider that with 'only 6-7 points' and Axxx of clubs opposite your partner's 'weak' overcall that you should make 4 clubs nearly 100% of the time.

I learned a long time ago that with @6-9 points you raise and with 9+ points you cuebid in these auctions. Soft 9 counts(queens and Jacks) raise and good 9+ counts cuebid.

The 3H bid was strange. A much different hand is needed to bid 3H here.

Regards,
Robert

[PFormaini]

I'm just curious why you did not bud 3CL at your first opportunity?

[Siegmund]

As has already been said... your life is much easier if you raise to 3♣ the first time around.

[PFormaini]

Siegmund, on Jan 24 2010, 07:05 PM, said:

As has already been said... your life is much easier if you raise to 3♣ the first time around.

"Said' - true - but not 'asked"

[kenrexford]

Here's how I would look at this type of situation. When partner bids 3♥, partner is "really" bidding 4♣, tossing in a natural heart call along the way because he has space available to introduce hearts. If partner had bid 4♣ instead, you couldn't then bid 3♣, even if you wanted to. So, just get partner back to what they were bidding on their own anyway.

Next time, when you have ♠xxxx ♥Qxxxx ♦Axx ♣x, you'll thank partner for bidding the cheap 3♥ on the way to 4♣.