[Cthulhu D]

System context - 2/1 GF, 5 card majors, variable NT, short club with transfer responses.

Hand 1:

I'm pretty sure we just got done on this hand. (1NT would have been 11-13 at this position and vul)

re

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I tried 4C which didn't feel great, but 3S and double felt real bad. Partner then bid 5 and we went off. I think this is just 'pre-empts work' and nothing you can do, but open to suggestions. Or maybe I should just pass and he re-opens with a strong NT? That doesn't feel that good either I must say.


Hand 2:

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1D promises 4+ diamonds in an unbalanced hand (2/1 GF w/short club context). I tried 2S and partner tried 3H and I bid 4S, but I don't feel like that sequence was good with slam being such a strong prospect. Niether of us were sure exactly what 4C is - does that set trumps to spades always? Should 4H be last train? What's standardish agreements here?

[whereagles]

Hand 1 is very hard. I guess you can consider passing out 3H... they should go down, and 3NT is far from cold. 4C is rather risky.. you can find pard with 4342 across.

Hand 2 is easier because you can blame partner for not having splintered 4H As to 4C, in absence of agreements I would say it's natural.

[helene_t]

Hand 1 I don't see a problem with. W doubles and E buds 3nt. Why not? It's a bad contract but that doesn't mean the auction is wrong.

Hand 2 I suppose E just has to ask for keycards. Maybe easier when one can see both hands.

[the_clown]

1. First hand is a clear double I think. Worst case partner bids 4♠, but if he does he will have extras and maybe we will survive.

2. As suggested partner can splinter and make it easy for you to RKCB. After 3♥-4♠ he had a guess and he guessed wrong.

[Cthulhu D]

Is the double really clear on hand 1? It feels awful with 3 spades to the ten, given that it suggests 4.

[helene_t]

Imo the double doesn't suggest spades it asks opener to bid 3nt with a stopper

[MrAce]

Cthulhu D, on 2014-June-20, 11:12, said:

Is the double really clear on hand 1? It feels awful with 3 spades to the ten, given that it suggests 4.

helene_t, on 2014-June-20, 11:25, said:

Imo the double doesn't suggest spades it asks opener to bid 3nt with a stopper

I do not think any one has the luxury to assign such a clear message to DBL at 3+ levels without ignoring a lot of other hand types. Whether that be asking stopper or always promising spades. Simply because this type of preempts do not leave much of a space below 3 NT to do anything but dbl for a lot of other hands that are too strong to pass or not strong enough to bid 5 card spades at 3 level, which would be GF, (5134 8 hcp)

Hand 1 is clear DBL for me. After DBL E may choose to bid 3 NT or Pass. I would have sit on the double at these colors.

Hand 2 is very tuff to reach to slam with confidence imho. W may easily hold Ax ♥ instead of Ax ♣. I assume 2♠ was forcing 1 round but not a GF. 3♥ by opener created a GF, After this it pretty much depends on agreements. What would 3♠ show instead of 4♠? Is it the worst hand or better than 4♠? Did 3♥ promise a spade fit or not? Even with the agreements and each pd knew what all these bids meant, it also involves a strong judgement. This type of hands are the ones which strong pairs almost always get it right and others get it right occasionally and randomly. Also note that NS perhaps did a good job by not preempting in hearts any further with their 10 card SOLID fit. This could have been helpful for EW rather than destructive.

[jdgalt]

helene_t, on 2014-June-20, 11:25, said:

Imo the double doesn't suggest spades it asks opener to bid 3nt with a stopper

I'm with Cthulhu D on this one. In an auction like the one on Hand 1, the opps have preempted away a lot of your ability to communicate with partner. Better for a call such as this double to have a well-defined meaning, even if it forces you to pass, than for it to be an undefined "read my mind" bid. Maybe if your partner is Zia, he can read your mind, but I sure can't.

I feel the same way about Danny Kleinman's objection to the Western Cuebid.