[655321]

Agree with hanp (except for his apostrophe)

[peachy]

The 4H bid set the suit, so RKC is clearly for hearts. But there are some other bidding issues in this hand and those should be addressed first. Identifying the trump suit in this auction was NOT the problem.

[barmar]

If opener wanted to set ♥ as trumps, shouldn't he have jumped to 3♥ on round 2? And is AKQJxx really good enough to insist on trumps?

[peachy]

barmar, on Feb 7 2010, 06:47 PM, said:

If opener wanted to set ♥ as trumps, shouldn't he have jumped to 3♥ on round 2? And is AKQJxx really good enough to insist on trumps?

his hand was not good enough for the 3H jump - which of course sets trumps. 3H is asking partner to cue. Opener cannot start slam search with that hand. But 2H rebid and next round jump to 4H also sets trumps, I don't see any reason why there could be alternate trumps considered. It was of course not the right thing to do by opener, but that was not under discussion, nor were some other calls in the auction, or hand evaluation. The question was, for RKC, what suit is trump? Answer to that IMO is clear: hearts.

[neilkaz]

This auction has lots to dislike to put it mildly.

This really is a flawed 22 count with those loose doubling honors so if you open 1♥ and PD can't respond, you may not have game. That being said, I'd open 2♣ with most partners that are on the same wavelength.

After 2♣, responder has a clear 3♣ positive response with a good 6 card suit and side cards as well. Note that many people (who don't play 2♥ response to 2♣ as a double negative) play the 3♣ rebid as a double negative.

Anyhow, after 3♣ assuming it wasn't double negative, opener shouldn't steal space with a 4♥ jump.

However, once opener has jumped to 4♥ that locks in that suit as trumps for RKCB as everyone has said.

Some bad luck to be off 2 aces when only missing 8 hcp.

Again I will stress to keep the bidding low with good hands when allready in a GF !!
With that in mind, if opener thought responder's 3♣ was a double negative he really cannot expect to make 4♥.

[P_Marlowe]

jdonn, on Feb 7 2010, 04:44 PM, said:

P_Marlowe, on Feb 7 2010, 04:38 PM, said:

jdonn, on Feb 7 2010, 04:32 PM, said:

I agree that knowing which suit 4NT was keycard for is the least of the problems with this auction. Although that being said I think it's hard to avoid slam! You do have 32 hcp and any blackwood response might not be 5♣ so...

You may be able to stop in 5NT.

But this assumes, that both player have a firm understanding
about the basics + RKCB.

With kind regards
Marlowe

lol

Just asking for clarification - why the comment?

I am quite often in the wilderness, but when I am, I ususually know it.

I am not 100% sure how common it is, but if a minor suit is agreed,
we play and this is I think a french style agreement, that 5NT is to
play, unless the response to 4NT was 5S.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[hanp]

655321, on Feb 7 2010, 04:46 PM, said:

Agree with hanp (except for his apostrophe)

thanks, corrected.

[fromageGB]

Actually, I think the bidding for the first 2 rounds makes sense. The basic system was not mentioned, but it seems to be a sort of benjamin style :
2♣ = strong hand, 8+ playing tricks, not game forcing, not good enough for the game forcing 2♦ open.
   2♦ = almost obligatory relay, as one of the options included in the 2♣ open is a weak 2 in diamonds.
2♥ = strong 2 in hearts.
   3♣ = I have something useful here

It then gets a bit murky. Opener may not have been sure that 3♥ would have been forcing, given that the opening is not GF, so made sure with 4♥.