Julian Pottage
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Playing Acol it is normal to play that a 1S response shows 5+spades and double shows exactly 4 spades. If you are playing that a 1C opening might be short then you might play 1S as showing four spades because otherwise you will be stuck on some hands – with a natural system you are unlikely to be stuck unless your shape is precisely 3352 and you have no heart stopper and your hand is too weak to bid 2D.
The opponents are likely to have bid spades (a major suit) if they have them while they might have diamonds (a minor suit) and not done so. I therefore lead a spade (the five if playing fourth highest leads). I guess from your question that this did not work.
With the South hand I would rebid 2NT and not bother with trying to play in diamonds if partner cannot bid them. Your tenaces holdings in both red suits suggest that a no-trump contract may play better from your side of the table. I would be surprised if Bernard recommended a 3D rebid on the South hand.
3NT+3 and 3NT+4 would be indeed be very good scores because unless West misclicks and leads the CK 11 tricks seem to be the limit. To make 12 tricks without assistance from the defenders you playing in more diamonds. It is a little surprising that nobody was in 6D.
I think you mean 30 point pack rather than 30 card pack. I have never heard of a 30 card pack. If you do mean a 30 point pack, this arises when you and your partner have a big trump fit and one of you is void in a suit. Your points outside the void suit are what count towards how many tricks you can make. If you have all 30, you can make a grand slam.
A jump bid is one that is one or more levels higher than required for sufficiency. A single jump is a bid one level higher than required and a double jump is a bid two levels higher. Going from 2C to 3D is a single jump rather than a double jump.
Going back to the original question, if 3D shows a strong hand with at least 5 spades and probably 5 diamonds (possibly 4 strong diamonds), it is just a question of whether you play in a small slam or a grand slam. I would bid 4NT with the intention of bidding 7D if partner shows 3 key cards. If partner has only 4 diamonds and does not have either the HQ or the CK then the grand slam might need a finesse but most of the time it will not need a finesse – this is assuming partner has three key cards of course.
Hands with two voids are so unusual that no bidding system caters specifically for them. If your partner has bid one of your long suits rather than one of your voids, that is good news indeed.
A simple rule is that if a non-jump bid would be natural and forcing then a jump bid is a splinter. There was a time when 1S-2C-2D was non forcing (that was back in the days when you might respond 2C on 8 points) but in the modern style 2D is forcing.
Once upon a time it was usual to open 1C with 5-5 in the blacks suits. Nowadays almost everyone opens 1S. It is important to get the spade suit into the auction because (i) you are more likely to win a competitive auction with the highest ranking suit, (ii) you need a trick less for game in spades than in clubs (iii) if you have a club fit you might belong in NT anyway.
The strength of the suits is more likely to be relevant than the strength of the hand. If you have AKQJx of clubs and five low spades then there would be a case for treating the spades as 4-card suit and opening 1C. In third seat, if you are opening a bit light and you know you would rather have a club lead, again you might open 1C. If you always open 1S, however, you will not go far wrong.
OK _ I shall wait a while, though the question is difficult to answer without knowing whether 3D is natural or a splinter. I would guess from your mention that partner later passed 4D that 3D was natural.
As West has four cards in each minor, it is a good idea to show two places to play, which 2NT does here. West can hardly pass over 1S (when a natural 1NT bid would be possible) and then want to bid 2NT naturally. As it happens, East has four diamonds, so West comes to no harm guessing to bid 3D. Yes Scramble/Scrambling is the usual name for the 2NT bid.
If one of you has 15+ and the other 10+, you have 25+ between you. Occasionally responder will have only 9 in which case sometimes the partnership will have only 24 but it is not worth trying to arrange the system around one precise and fairly unusual situation. 24 points often offers play for 3NT anyway, particularly if one player or the other has a 5-card suit.
With 3-card support I am quite happy to rebid 2NT and support hearts later – this hand has 4-card heart support.
