[Liversidge]

Is there a good source that deals with natural Acol responses after interference when you don’t have a fit and your hand is not suitable for a No Trump response. I can find lots of stuff on negative doubles or cue bidding which work with certain holdings, but what about a hand like this one?:

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I would have been ready to respond 2♦ without the overcall, but should I now bid 3♦ anyway, or does the overcall change things?
I am using this as an example, and there is probably a straightforward answer (maybe more than one if you include special systems for dealing with interference), but are there any general natural principles that apply when the overcall pushes you to a higher level response.

[wank]

you double. if partner bids 3c you correct to diamonds. if partner bids 2s (showing 5+), you can pass or bid 3d as you wish. making a negative double then bidding a new suit shows a minimum double with a long suit.

if partner has a strong no-trump you'll get to 3nt which is what you really want to happen.

[ahydra]

I'll pile on the upvotes for wank's post. 3D would normally show more than this - most play it as forcing to 3S if not to game. So negX it is (and I would pass out 2S).

ahydra

[rmnka447]

I'm also on board with wank's post. The negative double followed by a suit bid shows some values but not enough to make a direct bid over the overcall. With a weaker hand, say ♠ xx ♥ xxx ♦ K10xxxx ♣ Kx, you pass and bid your suit if partner reopens with a double.

Thus, opener learns something about your strength which can be very useful in competitive auctions.

[mgoetze]

 ahydra, on 2015-September-03, 09:59, said:

I'll pile on the upvotes for wank's post. 3D would normally show more than this - most play it as forcing to 3S if not to game.

I would fully expect this to be forcing to 3NT/4♦, 1♠-(2♥)-3♦-3♠-p would cause quite some consternation for me.

[BillPatch]

Reversing the minors in the responder's hand. would create a more interesting problem. Then the acol auction might go:
1♠(2♥dble p
3♦p 3NT

Opener can have either the strong balanced hand without a full heart stopper or the weak unbalanced hand with long spades and biddable diamonds. Responder must not risk the 4-2 spade suit, but if opener also has the strong hand, and also an opposing half stopper, 3 NT may have a play. If they double responder will run to 4♣.

[dave_beer]

The problem with negative double is that you can't afford to make one if the auction goes 1M-2♦ and your long suit is ♣. Partner may bid an inconvenient number of the other major expecting you to have support and you have no safety at that level. I think you have to either PASS or take your chances bidding your long suit.

There are other approaches but I don't think they are suitable for the novice/beginner forum. You can file them away for future reference.

There are at least two other system-independent ways to handle hands like this:

Negative free bids: 3♦ is not forcing but shows a hand suitable for competing at the level it has bid. This requires that hands that want to force must make a negative double and then bid their suit. That is easier when there is still room left below 3NT and where there is not an unbid major that partner might bid at too high a level when you don't have the promised support.

Useful space principal: The 2nd article in Jeff Rubens' series on this subject mostly deals with coping with a jump overcall like 1♣-2♠. If you hold the example hand you would like to bid 3♦ as invitational but that leaves you with the same problem of what to do with the forcing hand. His suggestion is to use 2NT as either Lebensohl or as a transfer. There are two different versions of the transfer approach - in the first 2NT transfers to any suit and in the second it skips over opener's suit with additional gadgetry when responder has the forcing hand without a stopper in the opponent's suit.

My preference is the 2nd version of USP with transfers as opposed to Lebensohl.

[Zelandakh]

Transfers over general interference are highly unsuitable for the N/B forum. Go with wank's suggestion - it is standard and your partner should be on the same wavelength if they are of a certain level.