Julian Pottage
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Sorry I cannot think of any articles about the matter – the suit layout you have given is an example of why it is important to know (though you could have simply encouraged with the ten first and delayed the unblock until the second round).
If the auction starts something like 1S-2C-2H-3D, opener has no idea that responder is thinking of a slam and so might reasonably bid 3NT on any hand with only five spades and only four hearts and with a diamond stopper.
Control showing cue bids promise first or second round control but stopper showing bids do not.
While it is true that you are unlikely (or maybe impossible) to have a game forcing hand that was not worth opening, for ease of memory it is sensible to keep as many auctions as you can the same when you are a passed hand.
You can bid 3H to show a raise to at least 3S. Hearts is a known opposing suit, so bidding it agrees partner’s suit. Opener then bids 4S.
As it happens, a agricultural 4S from West would prove just as effective at reaching the right contract – but if you gave East the DA instead of the DK then a slam would be a decent proposition.
With only 13 HCP there is absolutely nothing wrong with a simple 2C overcall. If you can make game, it is most unlikely that the bidding will die in 2C.
I think your 4C bid was natural and your partner should probably have raised 4C to 5C – but your auction should not have started the way it did.
In America, where playing 5-card majors and a strong NT opening is the norm, players do not use a ‘phoney’ club but instead use both 1C and 1D for balanced hands in the 12-14 range. The treatment of opening 1C on (43)33 hands, 1D on (32)44 hands and otherwise your longer minor goes by the name ‘better minor’, though of course sometimes you will be opening the weaker of two equal length minors.
If I was playing standard responses to a 1C opening, i would not see any advantage of playing a phone club over a better minor.
Some people play transfer responses to a phoney 1C and then there can be an advantage in the phoney club – and if 1D and 1H are transfer response then 1S would show a hand too good to pass without a 4-card major – but if your partner struggles to manage transfers in response to a 1NT opening then I would not suggest trying to play transfer responses to 1C. Instead I would suggest converting your partner to ‘better minor’.
This is a tricky one. If you had most of your strength in your long suits, you would be raising 1S to 3S rather than to 2S. On your actual hand, i agree with 2S. With the possibility that K J 10 of clubs is worth more than 4 points responder might have bid 2NT over 2S. With my most regular partner i would definitely be bidding on with the responding hand.
With only 5 points East should not be expecting 3NT to make. I would be bidding 3D on the East hand, choosing the lowest suit because that gives West the maximum room to bid again if diamonds is not the right spot. If the clubs were Q J 10 9 that would still be three points but two tricks and passing 3C would be reasonable – but K 5 4 3 might not be a trick at all.
As it happens a 1S overcall would have worked better as East would then have known to remove 3C doubled to 3S.
Since partner cannot respond 2H without five hearts, opener is more or less obligated to rebid 2H when holding four hearts because otherwise you are not going to find a 4-4 heart fit when you have one. While you might choose to rebid a decent six-card spade suit in preference to showing a minor, you would hardly ever bypass a four-card heart suit.
The rule about borrowing a king applies after an opponent opens the bidding and the next two players pass. You can then assume that the hand on your right has at most 5 points and that partner has some values.
In the actual situation, in fourth seat after three passes, your spade holding is crucial. The usual rule is to add your high card points to the length of your spades and to open if the total comes to 15 or more. Here with 11 points and 2 spades, the total is 13, well short.
There is some merit in overcalling 1S and doubling later because then partner knows you have five spades. I do not feel strongly either way.
You double again – this shows a better hand than the original double promised. It is not a penalty double. Passing would be too cautious while bidding 3S would indicate a hand too strong for a 1S overcall rather than a 3-suited hand.
This is not a close decision. If I was giving marks out of ten, double would score ten, pass two and, if i was feeling generous, one mark for 3S.
With West opening, 1H-3C-3D-3NT seems a reasonable start. In days of old East would not need such a strong club suit for that sequence but these days without a really strong club suit East starts with 2C. West has similar information to if East opened 1C and rebid 3C, expect that now East could have running clubs and the SA when 7NT would be on. I guess West continues with 4C and after East cue bids West continues with 4NT. 4C followed by 4NT should be key card for clubs.
A 3C opening would show a far weaker hand than East has.
The auction should start 1C-1H-3D-3D-3NT. With 16 HCP facing what is likely to be similar in the East hand, West has to make a further move. If East has semi solid clubs and a double spade stopper or running clubs and one spade stopper then 6NT should be cold. It is difficult to see how East does not have that, so West should probably just bid 6NT over 3NT.
How did you miss game? If you had 13 points and partner made a jump raise, surely you went on to 4S. Why was nobody else in 4S with a 4-4 spade fit? Are you saying that partner made a jump raise with only 3-card support? When you have only promised a 4-card suit, partner should not be making a jump raise with only 3-card support.
Some people play that you can respond 2C (inverted raise) when holding a 4-card major on the side. Some play that you deny a 4-card major (unless you have slam interest). Without knowing whether your agreement is that 2C denies a 4-card major I cannot really say what you should have done.
My preference, when playing 5-card majors, is to play ‘better minor’, by which a 1C opening promises at least three clubs. This makes responding and knowing what to lead (if opener’s partner ends up on lead) easier.
