[Hanoi5]

Playing teams, unfavourable, you hold:

♠987x
♥KJxx
♦Qx
♣Jxx

Partner opens 1♥ and the next player bids:

A. 1♠
B. 2♠
C. 3♠
D. 4♠

[andy_h]

A: Raise to 2H
The rest: Pass

[gszes]

over 1s i would bid 3h (preemptive) this primarily to warn p
about our extremely limited defense and likely heart length.
The latter will help them better evaluate any strong hand
they have for defensive purposes. I would not have any
real problem with the choice of the safer 2h bid. This
assumes our parntership has 2s available for a liit raise
plus in hearts.

too weak to do anything else on the other hands and If p cannot
bid again we are unlikely to miss anything special.

[nigel_k]

Over 1♠ I would raise to 2♥. 3♥ is also possible but not my style with a hand this oriented towards defence.

Over 2♠ I would bid 3♥.

Over 3♠ I would pass and bid 4♥ if partner reopens with a double.

Over 4♠ I would pass and also pass a reopening double.

[AlexJonson]

Raise 1H and pass the rest. Bid sufficient hearts if partner doubles.

[JLOGIC]

Personally I'd bid 3H r/w on 1H 1S ?. There are definitely many arguments for 2H, one of them should not be that you are too strong for 3H at this vul imo, but you have defensive values, 4 spades, might buy it for 2H, or if you don't might correctly sell to 3m with 3H and 3m down 1 etc etc. But in my experience putting the pressure on with a 9 card fit just works well pretty often, if one of them has a stiff heart they might feel compelled to act aggressively, if LHO has a spade fit he will often feel compelled to raise and his partner might bid game since it's a wide ranging raise, etc. I don't know, it just seems to work, even if that is a stupid argument.

Over 2S I would bid 3H, I cannot imagine passing. Your hand is very good opposite short spades which is pretty likely after a 2S preempt. I would never pass and bid 3H over a reopening X, I'd feel compelled to bid 4H, which means I probably should have raised to 3H in the beginning. And I wouldn't feel great about 1H 2S AP tbh when I have no spade honors and KJxx of hearts, seems like it rates to play well for them.

[Phil]

A bright young player once mentioned on the forums many years ago to allow them push you up one level higher. Therefore, 3♥ over 2♠ but no more.

[rmnka447]

Although I normally play preemptive raises in competitive auctions -- (raise to 2 5-8 and 3 trump, raise to 3 5-8 and 4 trump,etc.), unfavorable, I would simply raise 1 ♥ to 2 ♥ over 1 ♠ and pass over 2 ♠. If partner finds a double over 2 ♠, I'll bid 3 ♥.

♠ 987x might or might not be worth something defensively against a ♠ contract.

I also don't see the dangling Q and J in the hand as worth much. Partner could be down several at the 3 level versus a simple partscore their way. With some supporting intermediates or a better card combo like a K10x(x) in a secondary suit, I'd be more apt to compete to the 3 level.