[Cascade]

Scoring: IMP

---

West North East South

 -     Pass  1♦    1♥
 Pass  1♠    2♦    Pass
 Pass  Pass  

[sceptic]

south could bid 2nt showing clubs and hearts, but if that is not available I suppose you could blame south for not playing that convention

[ochinko]

North could reopen, but I certainly don't blame him for passing. There's the danger that partner would rebid a 6-card hearts suit. North should bid 2C only if ready to bid 2NT over 2H from South. But South was in third position and could have intervened lightly.

[mcphee]

Well that is quite a mess we got into Ollie. Blaming e/w has appeal.

I make this mostly a problem created from the S hand for bidding 1H (ugh to that suit)and now being too chicken to bid again. However does N not know that his side has some C fit from the bidding?

[hotShot]

Well i think it's both who share here.
First of all, if you agree on a system where you cannot show a 2 suited hand it's both fault.
So South should bid whatever showed ♥ and ♣.
North on the other hand is strong enough to show both of his suits. Asuming that 1♥ can be weak, why not bid 2♣ first and 2♠ over anything that partner supports.
Bidding 1♠ created a rebid problem, that could be avoided by bidding 2♣ first.
Bidding 2♣ would also promise more strength that 1♠ does. Since north bidding showed minimum or sub minimum, so south is unable to continue.

[TimG]

How come there's not a nobody-did-anything-wrong option? I dislike an immediate two-suited overcall with the south hand and don't think either player should be bidding 3♣ over 2♦.

Tim

[inquiry]

North 100%

first, north's initial pass is pathetic. 5-5, and reasonable values. For ZAR count, he has distributional 15 points, 10 hcp, and 3 control pts = 28 points. Way more than needed when holding a spade suit (25 only needed).

If north open's 1S, and east bids 2D, south;s double finds the club fit, but east is likely to pass and south;s forcing NT finds the club fit. However, with this pattern I would open 1C as north (I know this will not be a popular choice, some always open spade with 5-5 in the black suits).

Ben

[luke warm]

i also think north is at fault for not opening... however, on the actual bidding i blame south for not bidding 2nt over 1D

[pbleighton]

I agree with Ben that if North opens 1S (as IMO he should) then 1S-2D-X finds the fit.

Peter

[Free]

50-50. North has a 1♠ opening, but south has a 2NT bid. If both of them bid as they should, they would find the right contract. I voted South since overcalling ♥ on such rubisch suit is even worse than the above stated mistakes.

[pclayton]

North 100%; but he has a 1♣ opener in my style.

[Double !]

Agree with opening north hand 1♣. But, if north has passed, i am unclear about what is wrong with 2NT by south- at least the intermediate spot cards are good and the shape is right. 1♥ doesn't seem right: you really don't want P to lead the suit. You have a 2-suiter. Why wouldn't you want to tell partner about it?
ps: and I am not a big fan of uNT.

[TimG]

Double !, on Mar 20 2005, 01:22 PM, said:

Agree with opening north hand 1♣. But, if north has passed, i am unclear about what is wrong with 2NT by south- at least the intermediate spot cards are good and the shape is right. 1♥ doesn't seem right: you really don't want P to lead the suit. You have a 2-suiter. Why wouldn't you want to tell partner about it?
ps: and I am not a big fan of uNT.

If I had a choice between 1H = hearts and 1H = clubs and hearts, I'd pick the call that showed both suits. But, I have no desire to force to the three level with this hand, which is what 2NT does.

I would have opened the north hand with most partners, but it doesn't seem wrong to me to pass playing a SAYC or 2/1 type system.

[whereagles]

I don't see anything wrong with the bidding. If something, North might have antecipated a 2D rebid from opener (or a 2H rebid from pard for that matter) and tried a different strategy, e.g.

pa 1D 1H pa
2C 2D pa pa
2S

In this case South would have support clubs right away.

Of course, North might have also opened 1C or 1S, but that's not (in my opinion) the major source of the problem.

[utas]

If this was a "you be the judge" problem i would vote for East! Who unnecessarily bid 2 d destroying the bidding space for north south.

[Flame]

I would open 1S with north hand, but even then not sure we get to the club, after east 2D overcall, if south double we get there but if south instead bid 2h we dont.
South 1H is a matter of system, i also play 2nt to be either weak of strong, not intermidiate, a later 3c seems too risky so i would also pass. (It might be this kind of chekening is what distiguege the succesful ones from my kind )

[awm]

I'd blame south for this one. I do not open the north hand in first seat, unless playing a light-opening system. I am not eager to play 3nt with north's cards when south shows up with a heart suit and 12 hcp. If there's a big fit in a black suit, the north hand is certainly worth quite a bit, but playing standard-ish methods I expect partner to force game on most 12s and all 13s and I have to be prepared for the non-fitting hand.

Several people have mentioned that north should bid 2♣ initially and not 1♠ to anticipate the subsequent competition. But the same can be said, only more so, for south! Why did south overcall 1♥? Certainly south is not eager for a heart lead. The 1♥ bid doesn't take any space away from the opponents. N/S don't have game "values" (although there might be some game on an excellent fit) so the overcall isn't a serious constructive attempt to get to game. It can only be an attempt to win the bidding in a competitive auction, but this is more likely to work if both suits can be shown.

Personally, I would overcall 2NT with the south cards (2 lowest suits). But if south doesn't play this convention or doesn't feel comfortable forcing to the 3-level, I think 2♣ is a much better call than 1♥. This takes up a lot more space, suggests a better lead, and the hearts can still be mentioned later after a diamond raise or rebid. In fact, a lot of players have difficulty sorting out their major suit fits after a 2♣ overcall -- it's a surprisingly effective preempt.

[P_Marlowe]

I think South should bid 2 NT,
showing hearts and clubs, if this
is not possible he could pass or
overcall 2C.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[Fluffy]

Althou I would open 1♠ and/or bid 2NT as south, none of them should be really blamed, have seen 10/11 card fits not being found many times before.