Julian Pottage
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Vulnerable in second seat I held the East cards and did not open a weak 2H, thus agreeing with Brian Senior.
If North bid either 4D or 4H, that would be a cue bid. North has maximum points for a pass but knows some of the values in the red suits are likely to be wasted. Whether 4NT would be key card for spades or keycard for clubs is a good question. On the basis that clubs was the suit actually bid, I would guess the latter – but many partnerships would be unsure.
North’s negative double does not promise both majors. As you say, North can give preference back to diamonds if South bids spades.
South’s 2H rebid is based on the expectation of support and so is not a reverse. With a stronger hand, South jumps to 3H or cue bids 3C.
North bid a lot knowing of the two-suit fit in the red suits.
Incidentally, I think the deal must come from Friday’s Children in Need Pairs rather than last night’s.
I play the double as two-way – either lead-directing or hand that would have doubled 1NT – with the stronger hand you are expected to double again or show a suit on the second round. Most of the time, particularly if the opponents are playing a strong no-trump and always if the hand doubling is passed hand, the double shows the suit doubled. When the opposing suit bid is a transfer, the double would definitely not be showing a shortage in the suit doubled.
Yes, passing first time and only doubling once partner has completed the transfer and two passes follow shows a weaker hand than immediate action.
In answer to the question about a squeeze for 13 tricks, I do not think there is one on best defence. You can make 7C on a non-spade lead by ruffing the third round of hearts to leave South alone guarding hearts and spades.
I am sure Bernard plays East’s jump to 3C as a strong action and since you generally do not bother showing minors unless you are interested in a slam it is likely to be a really good hand. West has had a ‘cow flew by’ moment and passed a forcing bid. With only 12 HCP West would pass an invitational 4NT so East did the right thing in showing the clubs. West might bid 3D over 3C to show the stopper (and imply a weakness elsewhere) or simply raise to 4C.
East’s hearts are poor and the singleton spade does not look good facing West’s main suit, so even if East did take West as showing an opening hand with at least 4-4 in the majors no harm should come.
If the minors suits are both four cards in length, you are likely to plan a no-trump rebid, in which case it does not much matter which you bid first.
If the minor suits are both five (or six) cards in length, it is normal to bid the diamonds first so that when you show the clubs later partner has the option of going back to diamonds at the same level. If you have a very strong hand, you can bid diamonds first and jump in clubs later.
If the opponents open one of a minor, it is uncommon to play a 2NT overcall as the other minor plus a major. Usually when very few people play a convention it is because it is unsound. The major suits are important in competitive auctions and not knowing what partner’s major is can cause a problem. The other issue is that when the overcaller’s major is spades it is quite often possible to buy the contract at the two level, something you can never do if you have to overcall 2NT.
The rest of what you play seems fairly normal, though there is no harm in playing that the bids are either the strength you quote or very strong.
Sorry your auction is (still) wrong. You have an insufficient rebid by East. I shall assume East rebid 2D rather than 1D in my reply.
If you play 2NT as a Jacoby raise then delayed games raises do not apply. West’s sequence simply jumps at least four spades, at least three hearts and the values to bid game facing what might be a minimum opening hand.
Having played Jacoby for a long time, I need to remember what I used to do! I think I did play this as a delayed game raise and hands with only three hearts had to go through fourth suit forcing.
For partnerships who have an agreement about what a second discard means, yes it is customary to show length with the cards you have left. Most pairs, however, would not have any agreement.
If your hand was any weaker you would have no choice but to open 1C because you would have an impossible rebid if partner responded 2D to 1H. Because you have 15 points you do have the option to rebid 2NT over a 2D response, so you can choose between 1C and 1H. Because the hearts are rather poor I would open 1C but if your partnership agreement is to open the major whenever possible then a 1H opening on this hand would be consistent with that.
With one partner I do play that you can escape to 2C on any weak hand without a 5-card suit – partner then has to guess what to do. As you will gather, the idea is my partner’s rather than my own.
It is quite easy to click a pass when you do not mean to. When playing on RealBridge, at the start of the auction, I select the two clicks option and then revert to one click during the play. A system enhancement will give the one click in play/two clicks in bidding as an option. Particularly when you are declarer, the two clicks option is pain during the play.
In the sense that the unusual no-trump and the Michaels cue bid both show two-suited hands (at least 5 cards in each suit) they are indeed similar. The unusual no-trump always shows the lowest two suits while the Michaels cue bid always includes the highest suit, though not necessarily the highest two suits – over a minor a Michaels cue bid shows the majors; over a major, it shows the other major and an unspecified minor.
I have never seen the point ranges that you quote. It is quite common to play two-suited overcalls as either weak or strong because then you will know for sure whether to bid again if partner makes a minimum preference bid. Some people play them as any strength, taking the view that showing the shape is more important than the strength. I do not know anyone who plays them as either weak or intermediate, which is roughly what the point ranges you quote would mean.
