3H normally shows an invitational hand, so not what you want with this mountain as it is non-forcing.
Regardless of how good or bad the prior bids were, surely the 7H bid is easy. Can you imagine partner jumping to 6H with only two Aces and no help for hearts?
Thanks. I was thinking that after the likely 3S response, I can then bid 4NT (Blackwood) immediately - partner will think we are going for a slam in spades, but I know a slam in hearts is bound to be on given partner’s points. So whatever partner responds, I can bid 5H, 6H, or (as would happen once he shows 3 Aces) 7N. Or do you think partner would take 6H into 6S?
You can play Lebensohl in this situation which allows you to discriminate between weak, invitational, and game force hands.
Useful convention to play as it applies to a number of situations, by far the most important being when opps interfere over your 1NT. It is essential to have some system here (doesn’t have to be Lebensohl, there are a few different ones).
Wouldn’t say it was as essential to have Leb over wk2 doubled (I’ve read some folk really dislike playing it here), but it saves on memory strain to play the same convention across a number of sequences.
Thanks, I’ll look that up. I was just trying to come up with a ‘kitchen bridge’ way to bid this, based on Acol but with little knowledge and very few conventions.
Coming back to this, I was wondering earlier whether cue bidding could work (given RKCB may not be helpful). On that theory, we have [2D] - Dbl - 3D - 3S - 4H, then doubler bids 5C to show first-round control in clubs, 5H (first round control in hearts), 5S, 6C (second round control in clubs) and now doubler knows he can make 6S but is worried about losing the king of diamonds. So he bids 6H to show second round control in hearts (irrelevant to partner but he doesn’t know that). Quartz’s seat, holding Kd, can then bid 7N as there are no more losers by that point - I think. Or am I guilty of using perfect information in this scenario?
In your sequence, nobody has demonstrated first-round control of diamonds so I would pass after 6H. It’s also difficult to determine if 5C is a cue bid or telling me that partner is a massive 2-suiter in spades and clubs, and 5H is a reversion to the trup suit which says ‘no more controls’. After a bid of 5S I’m going to be bidding 6H, at which point partner should raise to 7.
That’s a good point. Maybe an immediate 4NT over the double should be Blackwood - it cannot be RKCB. But partner might take it as showing both minors.
I play Leb over weak 2H/S doubled but not 2D. Over 2DX you can bid either major at the two-level with a weak hand so I prefer to have a natural 2NT available.
Thank you - thought it was probably too good to be true.
I think you mean 5D, as I wouldn’t call 6D on S:Jx H:xx D:Txxxxxx C:Kxx (or similar) opposite S:AKQxx H:x D:AQxx C:AQJ an excellent contract. But most people would stop in 5D after RKCB showed they were off 2 key-cards and that is a good contract.
But can you keep out of 5D (or just as much fun for the peanut gallery, 3NT) if partner has something like S:AKxx H:Axx D:Qx C:AQxx ?
Yes, I mean 5D. I don’t advocate opening 2D on the actual hand, for the reasons you give.
I see everyone in this thread also has me set to Ignore. :o Has anyone displayed the partner’s hand which bids 6H but doesn’t make a Grand?
Possibly AKQJ XXXX AQ KQJ. He wants to be in 6 but not 7 opposite xxx AKxxx x ATxx.
However, he should bid RKCB and get to 7 when partner also has QH.
You’ve demonstrated a mathematical possibility. Care to estimate the probability? How about a hand where the opponents have more than zero trumps?
Singleton low diamond.
Does the jump to 4H promise a solid suit? What do you bid with
x KQJxxxxx Kx xx
? 3H only?? Note, btw, that even with the example 6H bid with only two aces, you have 15 top tricks if the opening leader lacks AC and doesn’t lead club.
As I have posted previously, I don’t think the big hand should raise hearts without heart support. That is why I gave him 4. It could possibly be 3, though, so convert the 4th heart to any other suit for a bunch more possibilities where 6H is good and 7H bad. And more hands without black jacks.
The 4H bid does not promise any quality of heart suit. The double ostensibly promises hearts or big hand, so even xxxxx is good enough. That is not actually possible on this hand as there are not enough points missing for partner to have a 4H bid without some reasonable holding in the suit.
I would bid 4H with the example you give.
We seem to be mostly in agreement, including the fact that South could exchange his AH (or even more) for East’s small club and still bid 4H.
I just don’t understand how you can agree with all this, yet avoid reaching the conclusion that IF partner can bid 6H THEN bidding Grand is the percentage move here. Note that, in the event, you had Seventeen (with an S!) top tricks. (But, FWIW, my “regular partner” also passed 6H when I presented this problem to him.)
My original comment to Quartz was that he might bid the grand but it is tough to do so in a club game without knowing if you have all the keycards. I expect 7 to make more often than not. But if 7 goes down, you will get a bottom. Bidding a making slam is rarely a bad board. Hence by bidding a grand, you are usually risking a good score for just a few more matchpoints. That is why my rule of thumb is not to bid 7 at the club unless I can count 13 tricks and know we are not missing any key cards.
In a higher-level tournament I would be more likely to bid 7.