amarone That’s a neat little gadget that’s worth knowing about.
I wasn’t happy about bidding 2D either - it’s asking to end up in 3D on a 4-3 fit - but nothing else looks better.
Seeing both hands, it’s easy to find bad sequences that end up in 3NT - e.g. (1S) P - Dbl 3H - 3NT, but less easy to see good ones.
septimus You’re right that 3C can’t be a “true” weak jump - even at matchpoints no-one sane would jump to 3C on a 6-9 count opposite a passing partner when they could just pass opponents out in a partscore - so in the balancing seat it’s more of an intermediate, say 10-14 with a 6-card suit. But the principle applies - the jump shows additional clubs not additional points. With a strong 1-suiter you double first and then bid your suit.
And while 3C is the gate to 3NT, with a singleton Heart and unsupported KS under the Spade bidder, it’s far from clear that you want to be aiming for 3NT! Yes, opponents are limited, but it’s entirely possible that partner has something like H Kxxxx and nothing outside, in which case 3C leads to bad places.
My takeout doubles definitely emphasize pattern. What if the bidding escalates quickly and partner has to guess your shape at a high level? I’d much rather double with 9 hcp if the pattern is right than double with a singleton in an unbid suit.
On another matter, please assess the blame on the following bad board:
IMPS; both vulnerable
[INDENT][INDENT]♠ Q53
♥ K7
♦ AQT8652
♣ T
♠ K42
♥ A86
♦ K97
♣ K873
S.......W.......N.......E
-........-........-........Pass
1♣......Pass....1♦......1♠
Pass....Pass....2♦......2♠
Pass....Pass....3♦......Pass
Pass....3♥......Pass....Pass
Pass
[/INDENT][/INDENT]
Club Ace is in West, so Five Diamonds probably fails even if opponents neglect to take their spade ruff. But Three No Trump makes (though could be beaten if South didn't have the Seven of Clubs!) In hindsight I wish I'd bid 1NT or 2D over 1S, but is Pass so wrong?
My partner chastised me: "I bid diamonds three times. Why didn't you bid 3NT?"
I felt like I had a nice minimum and I was sorry I never made an encouraging sound. But I thought partner was probably much weaker than this. Was I too timid?
~~~~~~~~~~~
My partner is a good player; you guys may get a distorted view because I often post his bidding "errors."
One difference between partner and I: I feel like I'm doing well to follow ordinary textbook evaluation; partner approaches each hand from first principles. "I saw too many red-suit losers" might be his answer when I ask why he didn't make an obvious raise. Sometimes his way works out, sometimes not.
septimus - sorry have to agree with your partner… you have to bid 3NT over 3D. It isn’t hard to imagine partner’s diamond holding, and that gives you 8 tricks in NT. It is speculating a little, but that’s what the game is about.
Honestly wouldn’t occur to me not to bid over 1S, prob be a support double for me but no problem with 1N. Did you think the spade stop was too skinny? Perhaps I’m resulting but that seems way too passive.
This is a question of style, though - unlike backing in with 3N which is just wrong IMHO. Having made your bed, you need to lie in it - give pard confidence that you don’t change your hand evaluation for spurious reasons. You thought you didn’t have a spade stop - fine, but nothing in your partner’s bidding can have changed this view. Backing in with 3N might have worked on this hand but would be poor partnership bidding [although you could have reasonably bid diamonds at some point].
I would have opened 1N (weak) on your hand. That said, having opened 1C, I would bid 3D over partner’s 2D. That way you are showing 3 card support. Also, you have 13 HCP, and if you play a strong NT (14-16 upwards) a rebid of 1NT is generally how you bid a weak 1N. But, having cover in all the suits apart from clubs, which you bid, your partner could have bid 3N himself. I also dislike your partner’s rebid of 2D, which shows 6+ cards but a weak hand. Partner’s hand is not weak with 11 HCP, a 7-card suit, and a singleton.
I would see the bidding going 1N (weak) - 3D - 3N - 4C (Gerber) - 4H (1 Ace) - 5D. 6D would be on if you had two aces and a king. Note that Gerber works here because partner can cope with a 4D response (zero aces), which he would pass.
After your opening of 1C and if you are using a strong NT I would see the bidding go 1C - P - 1D - 1S - 1N - P - 3N. Partner knows you haven’t got 4 card support but have at least 2 card support, and with a long solid minor and entries you want to be in 3NT rather than 5 of the suit.
I’m with Quartz on this one - I can understand the first pass (you have nothing beyond what your opening has already shown, and partner will have the chance to bid again), but after partner’s 2D I think you need to bid, either 2NT (that KS over the spade bidder is looking like a stop) or 3D.
Usually, 2D would be a weak bid - but partner has just heard you pass, and with a weak hand and no support from you he could just pass opponents out in 1S. 2D has to be constructive - maybe not looking for game but certainly for a making partscore - and you have Kxx in his suit. Certainly after he’s gone on to 3D after hearing you pass twice you have to do something.
You might bid 1NT over 1S, but pass is also reasonable. 2D is a serious underbid. I would bid that without QS, KH and with one fewer diamond. He is worth 3D. You can then take a shot at 3NT with a very likely 6D, 1S and 1H tricks, and partner has something else you hope will be the 9th trick. However, after partner bids just 2D, with your hand I would bid 3D over 2S. You have at least a 9-card fit, so the 3-level should be safe.
I will bid 1S over 1D and jump to 3H or 3N over 2D. I am expecting partner to have 10-15 HCP and a 6 card diamond suit, so 6N might well be on. I would expect partner to bid 4H over 3H or pass 3N. I dislike the 3N bid because I have a void in partner’s suit.
It doesn’t really matter what you do. If partner didn’t notice he has 14 cards, one of the opponents will notice having only 12 and call “Director!”
Assuming partner has a doubleton club, Six Hearts is far from hopeless. Club lead followed by club, club ruff, Diamond, diamond, spade finesse. If that loses you still have the 34% play in hearts. If the spade wins you give West a hard look and adopt some play that’s better than 34%.
BTW, I’d be inclined to share the good news with partner right away by bidding Two Spades over One Diamond. This doesn’t really waste bidding room since if I don’t jump now, I’ll want to jump at my next turn.
(I’d have guessed that immediate jump shift was the Acol bid … but the only Acol text I ever read was older than me, and I’m no spring chicken.)
Are you playing Duplicate or Teams? Because if you’re playing Duplicate, 4H possibly +2 will get you the 60% score, but 6H possibly down 1 will get you 100% or 0%, so you should prefer the 60% score.
I disagree. Your 1S response is unlimited and keeping it low allows your partner to describe her hand more fully. In this case she’s limited by giving the bare minimum re-bid, but suppose she had a stronger rebid? Suppose she had a good hand? By jumping, you’ve limited her bidding space. If you jump, what does a rebid of 3D mean? And how would you respond to the sequence 1D - 1S - 3C? Or 1D - 2S - 4C? Suppose she has a hand that isn’t strong but with 6 diamonds and four hearts: by jumping to 2S you’ve prevented her from bidding 2H.
While I agree with starting with 1S, I want to address some of the points you raise.
By jumping you have forced to game and therefore partner does not need to jump around with a strong hand.
1D - 2S - 3D would mean “I have long diamonds and no other suit to bid”. It doesn’t say anything about strength.
1D - 2S - 3C (you put 1S but I assume you mean 2S): I bid 3H. No reason not to continue bidding naturally. Partner could be 1354.
1D - 2S - 4C. As we are in a game-forcing auction, 4C is an unnecessary jump and is therefore a splinter. I cue bid my KH.
If partner has a hand with 6 diamonds and four hearts, but not strong, she cannot bid 2H over our 1S bid. That would be a reverse, showing 16+ points in Acol. However, she can bid 2D and then raise our 2H bid.
No, I meant 1S. Note that i follow it immediately afterwards with 1D - 2S. I am thinking of a hand strong in the minors (see below).
How then is partner going to show a strong 7-6, 6-6-1, or 6-5-2 hand? (I have held the first in a Goulash deal; I’ve also held a low-point 7-6 in another deal.)
BTW some people against whom I play would call an immediate response of 2S a splinter.
I really don’t know whether I’d bid 1S or 2S with that hand. Heck! These days I barely know what I’ll do with routine hands. I’d probably just bid 1S and find myself guessing again how best to proceed on the next round.
I’d certainly not jump with AQJ32, and even with AQJT9 the void in partner’s suit is very unappetizing. A good rule of thumb, I think, is that the jumper should have a good prospect of finding a fit somewhere: a suit that’s nearly self-sufficient, a fit for partner, or a very excellent two-suiter. We have none of those things. Yeah, a 2S jump is probably wrong.
But I’ll defend the bid anyway! It sends a very clear message: “Partner; we are looking for slam. I don’t care if you have a minimum. We’ll find a trump suit somehow; but our primary mission is slam exploration.” If you don’t send this message now, you may not get another chance to send it. You’ll have to take complete control, since partner will never guess how strong your hand is.
