Posted 2014-July-26, 05:16
Update: playing 1NT as the minors by a passed hand is definitely not standard at the top level. I did a search for this exact auction on "the database" and it occurred 7 times. Six occurrences were natural and one was for the minors.
♠KT72♥AKT4♦543♣T5 Result: -50 2NT (it was cold, but declarer took a no play line). 1♠ was making.
♠K62♥J98♦KT♣AT973 +430 in 3NT
♠KQ72♥K8♦T876♣K73 -200 in 1NT with 1♠ scoring 110. 1NT was unwise, imo, since we are short in the other major.
♠Q64♥KQ8♦8754♣A52 This auction occurred twice, resulting in +150 and +600. One of the two partners invited with 2NT holding ♠JT32♥AJ72♦A2♣QJ9. Game was a little fortunate in that diamonds were 5-2, but basically it's right to bid low count games when you are playing two against one (this is known in some circles as a Haggis sandwich).
♠J975♥AJ42♦J95♣KQ +120 as opposed to collecting +100 from 1♠.
♠QJ92♥QJ987♦J2♣ A3 An easy +630 with opener being the filling in a classic Haggis sandwich.
Anyway the silver bullet is the hand where 1NT was used to show the minors:
♠K3♥J3♦8764♣AJ752 -420. The opponents gratefully bid up to 4♠, which was a good contract and cold on the lie because of their secondary heart fit. The bottom line is that if you protect with a moderate hand with fewer than three hearts you are highly likely to get a bad board. Think about it - if partner had 4+ hearts and a decent hand, he will generally have acted on the first round, so just be grateful the opponents have not found their best contract yet.