[bd71]

Scoring: IMP

Our simple bidding was:
1♠-2♣ (NOT playing 2/1)
4♠-P

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This hand led to many questions between my partner today and me:

1. Partner questioned whether I should have rebid 4♠, crowding him out of the auction. Granted that 2/1 works much better here; but NOT playing 2/1 I don't think I had a choice but to bid 4S because I had no forcing bid and I had to bid game once he has the strength to bid at 2-level.

2. Not that it likely would have gotten us anywhere useful, since no slam makes, but I thought partner should have done something to explore slam, like 5H.

Any thoughts on what is the right way to approach this hand in Standard American, whether or not it gets you to the best place (which we were in)?

[awm]

In SAYC, both 2♠ and 3♠ are forcing because responder promises a rebid (unless opener's second call is at the game level).

Of course "standard" is less precisely defined, but the 2♣ bid should show almost enough strength for game (minimum of 10 hcp or so); opener only needs a little bit of extras for a game contract. I can't really see how 3♠ (which clearly shows extra values) could possibly be non-forcing here.

Even Acol (which has a lot fewer forcing bids than "Standard american" and also uses a much lower minimum for 2/1 bids) has a 3♠ jump rebid as forcing.

[JLOGIC]

3S is a good bid

[Mbodell]

As others have said you have many forcing bids including 2♠, 3♠ (and others that you wouldn't make on this hand like 3♦, 3♥, 4♦, and 4♥). I like 3♠.

I don't think partner should move over 4♠ because it, to me, is weaker than 3♠ and shows a single suited spade hand weaker than a 2♣ opener and weaker than 1♠-2♣-3♠. To make slam partner needs you to have at most one trump loser opposite a void as well as (all of these if one trump loser, all but 1 if no trump losers) first and second round heart control and first round diamond control. That seems way too much. You could easily have 2 trump losers (because of no finesse ability) and a red suit loser or else a loser in each non-club suit so the 5 level is not safe.

[hanp]

3S in any system.