[cherdano]

Scoring: IMP

1♦-(P)-1♥-(2♠)

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What is your bidding plan?

If you select 3♠, partner bids 4♥. How do you continue? Actually, do you?
(In case it matters, your 2♣ opening would have been forcing to 4 of a minor in this case, and your partner would expect around 9.5 tricks for it.)

Arend

[Chamaco]

Plan 1

I would open 2C, I have 9 top tricks:this is worth a GF bid.
BTW In Italy, many players using Multi include strong Minor 1-suiters into it.

Plan 2

Do we use support double ?
If so, we keep biding open for game/slam in H.
If pard shows 5+ H I will bid 5H = bid slam with good trump honors.

Plan 3

No supp X ?
I cue 3♠ and pull to 4D, hoping to hear a ♥ cue.
If pard rebids Hearts, I bid 5H = bid slam with good trump honors.

[paulg]

Some experts play a Good/Bad 2NT here to distinguish between competitive and really good hands. It works well on this hand as you can bid 3♦ to show a hand with this strength.

p

[whereagles]

I bid 3S, asking for stopper. If pard bids 4H now... I might bid 4S.

[flytoox]

I think you more or less show ur strength by cuebid 3S. After pd's 4H I think you should pass.

[inquiry]

This is a multi-2♦ opener for me. My bidding would have been (presumably)

2♦-(pass)-2♥/2♠ - (pass)
3♦

and life would be easy.....

Ok, this is a US tourney and 2♦ was not legal. Over 1♥-(2♠), I too play good bad 2NT, but that does not make 3♦ forcing and bidding just 3♦ doesn't do justice to this hand, and I may play 3♦ with four hearts icey.

So. for better or for worse, I will strike foward with 3♠ on the ground that this ask partner to bid 3NT with a stopper and suggest a running diamond suit. I fully expect partner to

1) Bid 3NT with a spade stopper.
2) Bid 4♦ with yucky hands without a spade stopper

So when partner bids 4♥ we can draw two conclusions. First he doesn't have a yucky hand, and second he lacks values in spades (and diamonds...)... Exclusion blackwood is no longer needed, as partner clearly lacks spade ace (or king for that matter). But I would pull 4♠ out now if that is by agreement exclusion, if not I would bid 4NT if that was blackwood here. That is, since partner showed stuff with his 4♥ rebid (again would be nice to know what an initial 2♥ instead of 1♥ by him would have been).

[mike777]

3s, lets force first.

[pclayton]

Even playing g/b 2N (which I do) this hand is wayyyy too good. Wouldn't you feel horrible if pard passes 3♦?

3♠ and I'll raise 4♥ to 5♥ which should focus on the trump problem.

[Double !]

wouldn't 5H ask for spade control whereas 4S/ 4H asks about quality of heart suit? You didn't promise a spade control when you bid 3S, just asked for a spade stopper.


This forum is so fantastic. So many different ideas and opinions on so many topics.

Now, go ahead and tell me that there's such a thing as "standard" or "standard american".
NOT!

[flytoox]

pclayton, on Feb 14 2005, 04:26 PM, said:

Even playing g/b 2N (which I do) this hand is wayyyy too good. Wouldn't you feel horrible if pard passes 3♦?

3♠ and I'll raise 4♥ to 5♥ which should focus on the trump problem.

No, I think 5H asks for spade control.

[luke warm]

well here's my dumb question of the night... is 4nt that bad (rkc for hearts)? if i'm planning on bidding 6d anyway (and i sorta am ), why not take a peek along the way?

[inquiry]

luke warm, on Feb 14 2005, 07:36 PM, said:

well here's my dumb question of the night... is 4nt that bad (rkc for hearts)? if i'm planning on bidding 6d anyway (and i sorta am ), why not take a peek along the way?

because partner might think 6♦ as choice of red slam if you sneak up on it like this.

[luke warm]

ok, maybe... i wouldn't, but i guess it's possible

[Winstonm]

Nuts. Hard hand. I don't know what I would have bid without interference, so I sure as heck don't know now. One thing I do know, though, is I'm not putting down a solid 7 card suit as dummy.

I don't know what our heart fit is. It looks like we are getting ready to be blasted out of our socks in spades, so I am going to bid a straightforward 5D in hopes pard will get the message that I was not quite good enough for 2C but too good to open with a preempt - meaning slam possibilties too great.

If he figures all that out, he will at least have an idea of what to do - look at his Aces and Kings and forget everything else.

WinstonM

[fred]

I am surprised nobody has really discussed the nature of the what sort of hand partner should expect for 3S and how he should bid over it. I don't think you can answer this question properly without thinking about these issues.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[luke warm]

ok, that's a fair question....
♠
♥ T74
♦ AKQJ654
♣ AK5
1♦-(P)-1♥-(2♠)

if i'm the heart bidder, i probably think partner is cuebidding for hearts... what can i do tho? any strength i have is in hearts (or spades)... 4s with the ace? 4h without? 4nt with good hearts?

i'm so used to a cue showing support that i'd think partner has good heart cards, 4 or 5 diamonds, maybe the spade ace... but what do i do with 4522? or even 3613.. this isn't an easy problem (for me anyway), which is why i might just bid 4nt...

[pclayton]

Double !, on Feb 14 2005, 09:12 AM, said:

wouldn't 5H ask for spade control whereas 4S/ 4H asks about quality of heart suit? You didn't promise a spade control when you bid 3S, just asked for a spade stopper.


This forum is so fantastic. So many different ideas and opinions on so many topics.

Now, go ahead and tell me that there's such a thing as "standard" or "standard american".
NOT!

Perhaps its not universal, but when you cue and then raise to the 5 level you don't ask about the overcaller's suit. The 4♥ rebid by pard doesn't give you a world of new information, so the delayed action asks for something different; in this case trumps.

[pclayton]

fred, on Feb 14 2005, 05:45 PM, said:

I am surprised nobody has really discussed the nature of the what sort of hand partner should expect for 3S and how he should bid over it. I don't think you can answer this question properly without thinking about these issues.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

I think there's a defined subset:

1. All strong 3 card raises
2. Hands seeking a spade stop
3. Potentially slammish single suiters in diamonds.

I wouldn't think a club / diamond 2 suiter qualifies. Are we in a game force? With 1 & 3 yes; with 2 we can get out in 4♦

Locked away in my mental files is a quote from a MSC poll: Never cue bid if you can't control the auction later. With a 2 suiter we frequently can't extricate ourselves.