[JeffMorrow]

Hi all.

As dealer and playing 2/1 gf, I held:

♠Q109x ♥QJ ♦K1087 ♣1098

Despite the lovely intermediates, we do not open on hands like this, and the bidding went:

P, (P), 1♦ 4+, (2♠ weak), 3♦

My partner was unsure about my 3♦ bid although obviously I have the points and the trump support for that bid. BUT our game (if we have one) is likely to be in no trump, so perhaps her relatively tentative suggestion in the autopsy of 2N is a better bid for me. It pretty much guarantees a spade stopper (third-round but certain). HOWEVER, my hand is skimpy in terms of HCPs, and moreover it has no stoppers in either of the unbid suits. Is it reasonable for me to expect partner to hold stoppers in both unbid suits? Moreover, if partner does not have the points for game opposite a passed hand, a bid in no trump does not invite the usually safer suit partial because partner will then have no clue about my good support in diamonds.

[DavidKok]

3♦ is the normal bid. If partner has enough strength to try for game over this, 3♠ inquires about your spade stopper.

The other two suits are not relevant on this auction. There is not enough space to resolve all, so focus on the suit that's threatened. Neither you nor your partner should be asking any questions about stoppers in clubs or hearts on this auction.

[WasWinM]

I'm going to have to disagree a little about the normality of 3D. A 4-4 fit at the 3-level isn't all that wonderful and although there are nice intermediates, they are defensive intermediates. The only real strong offensive cards are the K10 of diamonds.
Holding this hand, I would pass, and if partner can double back in then I would try 2NT. If he can't double back in, 2S won't be a lot of fun for declarer.

[bluenikki]

JeffMorrow, on 2026-August-27, 11:51, said:

[size="7"]
Hi all.

As dealer and playing 2/1 gf, I held:

♠Q109x ♥QJ ♦K1087 ♣1098

if partner does not have the points for game opposite a passed hand, a bid in no trump does not invite the usually safer suit partial because partner will then have no clue about my good support in diamonds.

My personal rule is: After a competitive auction, we do not declare 2NT. We either move toward game or chicken out in 3 of a suit.

That works well here, once you have decided to be aggressive.

[JeffMorrow]

DavidKok, on 2026-August-27, 11:54, said:

3♦ is the normal bid. If partner has enough strength to try for game over this, 3♠ inquires about your spade stopper.

The other two suits are not relevant on this auction. There is not enough space to resolve all, so focus on the suit that's threatened. Neither you nor your partner should be asking any questions about stoppers in clubs or hearts on this auction.

Great point that there is no room to deal with unbid suits. Focus on known threat.

Also a great point about Western cue bid. We don’t play them, but maybe we should study them.

Thank you.

[JeffMorrow]

WasWinM, on 2026-August-27, 12:02, said:

I'm going to have to disagree a little about the normality of 3D. A 4-4 fit at the 3-level isn't all that wonderful and although there are nice intermediates, they are defensive intermediates. The only real strong offensive cards are the K10 of diamonds.
Holding this hand, I would pass, and if partner can double back in then I would try 2NT. If he can't double back in, 2S won't be a lot of fun for declarer.

Very interesting take. Yes, after the 2S preempt, there is a strong argument to let the opponents struggle in 2S if partner is minimum. My hand is below average in strength. So, if partner is minimum, we are very unlikely to have game anywhere. Law of total tricks says to avoid 3D with a 4-4 fit. If partner is not minimum and wants to compete without a lot of diamonds, she can double. Then, after the double, I know opener is not long in diamonds and the most likely game is 3N. So, a bid of 2S disclosing the spade stopper makes the most sense when she does not repeat diamonds.

Thank you.

[JeffMorrow]

bluenikki, on 2026-August-27, 13:21, said:

My personal rule is: After a competitive auction, we do not declare 2NT. We either move toward game or chicken out in 3 of a suit.

That works well here, once you have decided to be aggressive.

Thank you for replying. I am not sure I fully understand, however.

I get that there is a reason to pass (see prior comment). Are you arguing against pass and recommending instead that you cannot allow low-level preempts to steal the contract so bid the 3-level suit as a close out bid or else bid 2n or 4 of a suit as a game force?

Sorry to be so dense!

[mike777]

Great question

I would recommend some basic books on competitive bidding
You might start with the Mike Lawrence book on the subject and then move on to others.
---------

For starters, partner has opened, opponents have preemptively bid, now what?

First value your hand, is it?

Really weak=pass

Less than invitational=consider making a simple raise

Invitational raise values= just bid game somewhere

Game force raise= cuebid
_--------

Consider do you have a decent hand and your own long suit?=bid it

Consider a negative double

At least this is a start

Good luck

[JeffMorrow]

mike777, on 2026-August-27, 14:12, said:

Great question

I would recommend some basic books on competitive bidding
You might start with the Mike Lawrence book on the subject and then move on to others.
---------

For starters, partner has opened, opponents have preemptively bid, now what?

First value your hand, is it?

Really weak=pass

Less than invitational=consider making a simple raise

Invitational raise values= just bid game somewhere

Game force raise= cuebid
_--------

Consider do you have a decent hand and your own long suit?=bid it

Consider a negative double

At least this is a start

Good luck

And another thank you is due.

I shall buy the Lawrence book.

What I thought was most interesting about your answer was to ignore invitations and just bid game with an invitational hand. The idea, I suppose, is that in a competitive auction you have little room to be fancy, and it is too pessimistic to assume that partner is dead minimum. Not so sure about the cue bid as a generic force: with my partners, I play the cue bid as support for partner’s suit plus strength.

[Kaitlyn S]

WasWinM, on 2026-August-27, 12:02, said:

I'm going to have to disagree a little about the normality of 3D. A 4-4 fit at the 3-level isn't all that wonderful and although there are nice intermediates, they are defensive intermediates. The only real strong offensive cards are the K10 of diamonds.
Holding this hand, I would pass, and if partner can double back in then I would try 2NT. If he can't double back in, 2S won't be a lot of fun for declarer.

Why does it have to be a 4-4 fit? Partner had many opening bids available and chose 1D. Partner can easily have five diamonds. You don't seriously expect partner to reopen with 3D, do you? It would be a short lived partnership!
Passing presents an issue. Partner reopens with a double and if you now bid 3D, partner might think you're broke and pass with 19. If you now bid 2NT, partner with a minimum won't know to correct to 3D because you could be 4-3-2-4,
I like to make life easy for my partners. Bidding 3D does just that. Bid what you have. A 4-4 fit isn't going to play that badly when partner's spade shortness is over my LHO's spade shortness. It gets us to 3NT when partner has a good hand rather than trying to make partner guess whether I have anything. It gets us to 3D when partner has a minimum 2-4-5-2.

[bluenikki]

JeffMorrow, on 2026-August-27, 14:02, said:

Thank you for replying. I am not sure I fully understand, however.

I get that there is a reason to pass (see prior comment). Are you arguing against pass and recommending instead that you cannot allow low-level preempts to steal the contract so bid the 3-level suit as a close out bid or else bid 2n or 4 of a suit as a game force?

Sorry to be so dense!

In what I pressure my partners to play, 2NT cannot be passed after a competitive auction. It is natural in principle. Partner bids a suit if unwilling to bid game or cue bid. Or jump.

In _some_ auctions, like 1x - ( 2y) - 2NT , the last bid is an artificial game force, but that's a different thing.

[JeffMorrow]

Again, I’d like to thank everyone. Very cogent.

The argument for 3D is straightforward: it shows support in diamonds and denies forcing values. I get the point that if opener is minimum and has only four diamonds, we may get set 2 on what is a part-score hand. However, the intermediates argue for saying point count may undervalue this hand.

The argument for pass is also straightforward: the opponents may have difficulties in spades, and we have no certainty of doing well at the three-level.

And the argument for 2N is also straightforward: if we have a game, it is likely to be in no trump, and showing the spade stopper leads toward that goal.

I think mike’s and kaitlyn’s general advice gives the clue. The hand is not very weak so pass is too cautious. But the hand is not strong enough to invite game, and anyway, in a competitive auction, there may not be room to distinguish between forcing and invitational. 2N is likely to get you to 3 no trump, but even making 2 no trump (assuming it is passable) may be a stretch if opener is minimum. So, the best solution is 3D, but it becomes a much better bid if opener can use 3S as asking for a stopper. Then 3D does not preclude a contract of 3 no trump.