[bluecalm]

Opponents are top national players.

Scoring: IMP

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Bidding went:

1♠ - pass - 1NT - 2♥
2♠ - 4♥- 4♠ pass...

1NT is forcing; it contains either 4-6 with support or 10-11 with 3 card support

Do you like W's bidding ?
Do you like E's bidding?
Do you think somebody should push to 5♥ (favorable vul, will be cheap)

How would you deal with this hand in your methods/style ?

[gnasher]

I think West should make a fit bid of 4♣, and both players should pass 4♠.

Looking at both hands, I'd like to save. Saving stands to gain 8 or lose 10 if they're in 4♠ in the other room, whereas 4♠ is probably about 75% to make. It's hard to get this right, because both players have some defence, and the opponents' auction doesn't sound especially confident.

[jdonn]

gnasher, on Mar 29 2010, 05:56 AM, said:

I think West should make a fit bid of 4♣, and both players should pass 4♠.

Looking at both hands, I'd like to save. Saving stands to gain 8 or lose 10 if they're in 4♠ in the other room, whereas 4♠ is probably about 75% to make. It's hard to get this right, because both players have some defence, and the opponents' auction doesn't sound especially confident.

I agree with all this.

[mikeh]

jdonn, on Mar 29 2010, 10:26 AM, said:

gnasher, on Mar 29 2010, 05:56 AM, said:

I think West should make a fit bid of 4♣, and both players should pass 4♠.

Looking at both hands, I'd like to save.  Saving stands to gain 8 or lose 10 if they're in 4♠ in the other room, whereas 4♠ is probably about 75% to make.  It's hard to get this right, because both players have some defence, and the opponents' auction doesn't sound especially confident.

I agree with all this.

And I agree with all of this other than the comment about the opps' bidding....I don't think it sounds like it lacks confidence...it MAY be a stretch, but rho can have a pretty fair hand for 2♠ and LHO may have a heavy 3 card limit raise.

But...they may have been pushed there on scant values....part of the problem is that we took away their bidding space, so we are unfortunately guessing...but I really don't see what else we could do....fit jump or blast to 4♥...both lead (almost assuredly) to the same position.

We can't go 'right' on every board, and trying to do so, in post-mortems on hands of this type, will make it less likely that we shall.

[655321]

On the actual auction (i.e. no fit bid by West) I like 5♥ by East over 4♠.

West did not make a cue raise, and bid 4♥ instead of 3♥. This sounds like a hand with more than 3 hearts (or if only 3 hearts, some shape) and with little defense. There is no reason to think that we are beating 4♠, I think North is likely to have the 3 card invitational hand.

I would pass as East if West bid 4♣.

[Jlall]

With no fit bid you are much less likely to beat 4S also (HA lead and they just duck the CJ shift or DJ lead and they just pull trump, as opposed to the CJ lead which they duck but the HK is still an entry).

Not bidding 4C is quite poor if you play fit jumps, and I think not playing fit jumps here would be pretty bad since no other meaning makes sense.

As far as saving I'd forget about it, it just turns out JT9 of diamonds is no defense meh. JT9 is usually a super defensive holding and combines well with any honor, and if partner doesn't have an honor it's horrible for offense unless they're short.

[bluecalm]

Thanks for answers!

I was W this hand. I thought I should've made 4♣ jump. I just forgot to think about it during the hand.
After the hand I thought partner should've gone to 5♥ but maybe I was too much into : "good opps vulnerable are bidding tomake" kind of thinking.

4♠ made. 5♥ was for 300. Average for the board was +510 for NS so there was quite a few imps to win.