[jillybean]

---

teams. swiss pairs, NZ

[pescetom]

Double looks to be the most flexible move.

What would a direct 2S by partner have shown?

[jillybean]

2♠ is an opening, or close to opening hand with spades

[jillybean]

North chose force 4H

---

[pescetom]

 jillybean, on 2026-March-16, 15:54, said:

North chose force 4H

---

That's why I didn't choose 4H

[Zelandakh]

jillybean, on 2026-March-16, 09:40, said:

---

teams, NZ

Do you have any agreements on the difference between 4♥ and 5♥ here?

[Zelandakh]

pescetom, on 2026-March-16, 17:09, said:

That's why I didn't choose 4H

Well you found out partner has a minimum, so at least you have an excuse to stop trying to think of auctions that might uncover a grand, which are probably never feasible unless playing methods well beyond normal club bridge. Can you think of a realistic auction that doesn't end in 6♣?

[johnu]

Zelandakh, on 2026-March-16, 18:11, said:

Well you found out partner has a minimum, so at least you have an excuse to stop trying to think of auctions that might uncover a grand, which are probably never feasible unless playing methods well beyond normal club bridge.

I "knew" partner had a minimum when I looked at my hand and saw 20 prime high card points outside of hearts.

[jillybean]

Zelandakh, on 2026-March-16, 18:03, said:

Do you have any agreements on the difference between 4♥ and 5♥ here?

No 5H undefined. (slam force, with no heart loser makes perfect sense )

johnu, on 2026-March-16, 18:32, said:

I "knew" partner had a minimum when I looked at my hand and saw 20 prime high card points outside of hearts.

Yes, perhaps a minimum but a take out double

[Zelandakh]

johnu, on 2026-March-16, 18:32, said:

I "knew" partner had a minimum when I looked at my hand and saw 20 prime high card points outside of hearts.

Presumably you haven't seen too many "known to be aggressive" preempts. But whether that is true or not, the point remains, if you are not bidding 4♥ (or 5♥ if that is available to show, say, a slam force with no heart loser) what is the alternative to just blasting 6♣? At least with 4♥ you have a chance to discover something along the way, even if that is unhelpful 90% of the time.
Just one final point here. If we are to believe the opponents, partner has ~4 hearts but could still find a X. Most of the time, when a hand with length in their preempt suit doubles, they have extras. We should of course trust partner over the opps but it will be somewhat interesting to find out what was really going on here at the end of the thread.

[paulg]

Partner has probably got four hearts so doubling initially is going to get a pass a lot of the time. Realistically I cannot see a sequence where partner will be able to contribute sensibly so I think I just need to choose 6♣ or 7♣; I'd probably plump for the latter at the table.

If partner would understand 4NT as the minors, then bidding this followed by 7♣ might be a better tactic when he has doubled with a 4441 distribution.

[mw64ahw]

I'd put partner with a flatish hand w. 3♥ and some strength. 6♣ seems fine, but very much depends on the meaning of 4♥.

[jillybean]

Here's the full hand, the Scotts and Kiwis have the same sense of humour.

---

North had to hope the ♠Q appeared in two rounds, and it did.
Not surprisingly, this pair won the National Swiss Pairs event

[mw64ahw]

A touch light on the TOX?

I misread this one 7♣ after the takeout X - why muck around.
3+7.5 mod. losers and you have space to spare.

[DavidKok]

Fun deal! And once again the 4-4 fit is better than the 6-3 fit... if you can avoid the ruff on opening lead

For what it's worth, I no longer put much stock in descriptions of aggression. There are a few conflicting pieces of information on this deal:

• We have a lot of extra values.
  
• Partner has a takeout double.
  
• Takeout doubles tend to be short in the suit bid, especially if they're made on minimum strength.
  
• The opponents are known to be aggressive, which tends to mean they bid to the limit rapidly.

So how many hearts does partner hold? I trust partner's takeout double more than the reputation of the opponents - there's no way partner has 4 (or more), so they likely underbid by only going to the 3-level. Partner might very well have only a doubleton.

For me 4♥ here confirms spades, while 4NT shows both minors. I don't know what's sensible though - I am going to the 7-level, but I am not sure if I want to offer a choice of contracts between 7♣ and 7♦.