Julian Pottage
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When I am playing the Wolff sign off, I play 3C followed by 3NT as showing a slam try. I did indicate that the Wolff sign off is mainly a US treatment.
The big difference is that a 1NT response is non-forcing, so opener’s rebid can be a pass. Unless partner is passed hand, passing a change of suit response is not an option.
People use different response to 5NT but in all cases you do not count the king of trumps if you have already shown it in reply to 4NT.
The defenders can make 3 spades, 1 heart, 1 diamond and 1 club. They are not going to have time to make a long club as well as the long spades. Indeed, if they do not plug away at the spades, declarer can make 2 spades 3 hearts and 3 diamonds for at least one overtrick.
These days, when it is usual to play the 2NT as 18-19, it is not very likely that responder would wish to sign off, it is increasingly common to play 3S as forcing. So far as I am aware Bernard plays this as non-forcing, in which case if you wish to investigate a 5-3 spade fit you need to bid 3C or 3D. If you are looking for a slam, bidding a minor that you might not have much in is not a good way to go. So I do think it is down to partnership agreement and recommend playing 3S as forcing.
In the USA many people that 3C is an artificial weak bid (opener has to bid 3D and then responder signs off).
If you open 1 of a suit and pass partner’s 1NT response, you are not promising 15-17 points. I do not who would be teaching that. After the 1NT response if you rebid your own suit you indicate six cards in it and if you bid a new suit you indicate at least four cards in the new suit and five in the first suit. With a 5332 shape you pass on hand with no more than 16 points. In any case, with 17 you would be raising to 2NT, not passing. You are quite right that you might have 12 points facing 6 – but that does not make it right to take the bidding onward and upward.
You do not count the king of trumps twice. A subsequent 5NT asks only about kings in the side suits.
With only 6 HCP East should not respond 2C on this hand but if the bidding started 1H-2C-2D then the 2D rebid would be forcing.
1H-1S-3D-3NT would be a common auction with these two hands. A 2D rebid would not be forcing and so a mistake.
Yes for me a cue bid shows 10+ HCP and exactly 3-card support (or rarely a very strong hand without 3-card support) while 2NT shows 10+ HCP and 4-card or longer support.
You had the right idea of making a takeout double but it would have been better to make it on the previous round. When you bid 2C, partner is not going to read you for strong three-card heart support. If you had doubled 1S then after North raises to 2S partner bids 3H and you raise to 4H.
This is a tricky one for me because I play 2NT as showing a 4-card spade raise. Since you have not mentioned 2NT as an option, I assume you do too. If you are vulnerable, you might bid 3Nt but you cannot do that facing a non-vulnerable overcall, which as you say might be as weak as 7 points. At matchpoints a heavy 1NT has some merit.
Your partner is always going to overcall with 5 spades, 11 points and a singleton. if your partner does pass, the singleton spade is more of a reason to bid 1NT than to double – partner is more likely to bid spades if you double than if you bid 1NT. If you doubled you would be doing so because you thought the hand was too strong a 1NT overcall. Holding five clubs passing out 1C is likely to better than either 1NT or double anyway.
West has 19 points and should start with a double rather than showing the majors – even if you play as double of a strong NT as conventional, you should play a double of a weak NT as penalties. Raising 2H to 4H with only four hearts is also unwise – East has merely given preference to hearts. If system forces you to start with 2C on the West hand, you should bid 2NT over 2H.
East should bid differently too, bidding 2D over 2C to show equal preference.
Having two of the top three honours in spades makes it a good suit. You are certainly happy for partner to lead the suit and bidding makes life difficult for the opponents.
If I understand correctly, your partner has made a takeout double of hearts and then you have bid spades. Often a takeout double of one major will have four-card support for the other major. Quite often you would bid 2S with only four spades and I have no idea why anyone would think it shows six spades – or have I misread the bidding?
