[Gerben47]

Scoring: IMP

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Auction so far:

LHO: 1NT (10-12)
Partner: Dbl (15+ any)
RHO: Pass (forces redouble; 1-suited or strong)

[inquiry]

I will bid now. The advantage of bidding now, any double by them will be for takeout, while if you pass and then run from 1NTxx their doubles will be penalty oriented. This is an important consideration.

So what I would like to do here is to bid 2♣ natural, and hope partner does not bid 2NT(we would be better off trying for 7 tricks rather than 8 in NT so he should never bid 2NT), or raise clubs. If he bids someother suit, I gladly pass, let him play it...

Ben

[Chamaco]

In my partnership I bid "Scrambling Stayman", 2C (2D would be xfer to H, 2H = xfer to S, and so forth), and pass any response.

[joker_gib]

I think that if you bid directly you make a sort of free bid so that partner has no reason to rebid on your suit !

Contrary to Ben I don't think that you will escape a dbl if you bid directly because if they have the points you will still be doubled cause of the vulnerability. (they are not red)

By passing now, I have maybe (unlikely but ...) the chance that RHO is single suited and will bid !

If not I will bid 2♠ on the rdbl and live with it !

Alain

[joker_gib]

I suppose that Roland should have the response because, according to what he always says, everytime he plays rubber bridge he has hands like that !

[whereagles]

The "book" way to bid this is 2C, followed by an sos redouble.

[fred]

In my experience the more chances you give the opponents to make a mistake, the more likely they are to make one.

So I like pass (giving LHO a chance to bid) forcing partner to redouble (I hate any system of runouts that includes pass as a transfer to redouble by the way). Now maybe RHO will bid. Assuming he doesn't I would bid 2C. Maybe I will get lucky and neither opponent will be able to double (or maybe LHO will double but RHO won't be able to sit for it). Assuming 2C is doubled I will redouble for rescue and hope for the best (but expect disaster).

Some other options that are reasonable in my view:

1) Show a spade one-suiter. Maybe you will get lucky and find a layout where nobody has a trump stack - opponents are often afraid to double 2 of a major unless one of them is loaded in trumps.

2) Show both majors. Again you might get lucky and escape for the same reason. Furthermore, if partner selects hearts and that gets doubled and you run to 2S, the opps may think you are "winding them up" (ie hoping to play 2S doubled).

More important than choosing the best strategy is choosing *any* strategy quickly. If you sit there in obvious pain (or even not obvious pain) and try to figure this out, you will be dead.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[Walddk]

joker_gib, on Feb 24 2005, 10:34 AM, said:

I suppose that Roland should have the response because, according to what he always says, everytime he plays rubber bridge he has hands like that !   

Indeed, but my partners know that, so they wouldn't dream of doubling 1NT unless they have a 22+ count or at least 7 running tricks.

By the way, I agree with Fred regarding pass forcing a redouble by partner. It should be possible to play 1NT doubled if that is what you or partner want. Not many escape systems allow that.

If you really insist on playing something "fancy", maybe try this (easy to remember):

Responder bids a 5-card suit if he has one, otherwise pass. When this comes back to partner (after pass, pass), he may choose to pass with a balanced hand. If not, he has 2 options: bid a 5-card suit of his own, or redouble to seek a 4-card fit (up the line).

This is known as "The Wriggle" in some places.

It's not quite the same on the auction in the post. I think it's time to wriggle now already. 2♣ for a start (showing a 5-card suit). If/when this gets doubled I will start the wriggle for real (redouble). Then partner has an idea of what's going on.

Roland

[Free]

I think pass is better. If it goes XX and back to me, I'll bid 2♣ and hope my partner gets us somewhere in a 5-3 fit or so...

[luke warm]

i would pass also... as for pass forcing a redouble, it has good and bad points... the runout scheme i use is brozel, so responder would bid with 2 suits including hearts, he would redouble with a one suited hand (forces 2C, pass/correct), and pass with a 2 suited hand that does not include hearts...

having said that, opener can always judge to pass the double... i don't know how good an idea it is, responder has pretty much said (with his pass) that he has C + D or C+S or D+S, but it is possible

[Flame]

The most natural thing to do is pass like everyone suggested and i would probebly do that at the table, but i must say Ben's idea of bidding directly seems smart.

[pclayton]

Pass like the others. RHO might chicken out (although I doubt it). Anyway, a direct 2♣ is more "opinionated" than a delayed 2♣.

I don't agree that all bids by the opponents over a direct 2♣ are takeout, although in practice LHO won't make a call over 2♣.