[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

as a reaction to a threath, I will post the following hand.

It is from a training match, a league, but fun.
In this round you play against Daniela von Arnim, and she is playing with a sponsor,
a reg. p, Dutch, I dont know the real name, but at least decent, most likely better
than me, whatever this may mean.

They play a 2/1 system.

In the first hand, first half, you hold, all green in 4th position

♠76542
♥Q6
♦
♣QT9532


The auction starts

(1♦) - pass - (1♥) - ???

The question is, do you enter, if yes, what do you choose:

You could bid either 1NT, 2NT showing the black suits, higher bids show
more distribution, you could bid 2C, 3C, ...

Partner will know, that if there is a joker in the bidding it may be well
you.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[mw64ahw]

Whats a threath?

Yes I do enter the bidding with 2♦. In 4th seat I play

• X as equal length in the unbid suits
• 1N 4+♣5+♠
• 2♦ 5+♣ 4+♠

[jillybean]

I do bid spades aggressively but not with xxxxx
If it’s purely fun, kitchen bridge I suppose players bid 3C

I pass

[pescetom]

The clubs are too poor even to mess around with.
If it's friday night (my imminent fun/practice tournament) then I might consider 2♠, which puts some pressure on and has probable fit.

[jillybean]

So, how much fun did you have?

[pescetom]

More than I did, I hope (blew it on a last
hand gamble of accepting a 2NT invite which turned out to be 8 HCP opposite my 16 HCP).

[shyams]

If 2NT shows ♠ + ♣, then I am bidding 2NT.

Hopefully, partner can infer that my club suit is longer than my spade suit.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

I think pass is the sane option.
I also think, that if you decide to go in, anything below 2NT is
not going to cut it, the risk is the same, but the damage to the
oppoenents due to burned space is small, e.g. if they still have
suppX av. or similar stuff.

Now, I went with 2NT, and I used up my luck for the whole match.

Partner did hold

♠T3
♥K974
♦9873
♣A64


he did respond 3C and all was well.

They ended up in 5D, 6D is down due to a losing heart finesse, and
my sporty action gained us an impressive 2 IMP win.

In retrospect, I was thinking that 3C was the safe bid, but going
in is quite dangerous.
My partner prefered 2NT to 3C, but said, he would npt have made the bid.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[pescetom]

P_Marlowe, on 2024-September-21, 12:09, said:

Hi,

I think pass is the sane option.
I also think, that if you decide to go in, anything below 2NT is
not going to cut it, the risk is the same, but the damage to the
oppoenents due to burned space is small, e.g. if they still have
suppX av. or similar stuff.

Now, I went with 2NT, and I used up my luck for the whole match.

Partner did hold

♠T3
♥K974
♦9873
♣A64


he did respond 3C and all was well.

They ended up in 5D, 6D is down due to a losing heart finesse, and
my sporty action gained us an impressive 2 IMP win.

In retrospect, I was thinking that 3C was the safe bid, but going
in is quite dangerous.
My partner prefered 2NT to 3C, but said, he would npt have made the bid.

I agree with your partner and your rethink about the dubious safety of 3♣.
I don't agree that anything below 2NT is not going to cut it, 2♠ is equally preemptive (they don't own 2NT) and reasonably safe if you really want to mess about.