Yeah, I thought the “rules” were such that a
plurality of the votes scored an automatic 100. I did not realize it required a
majority. Based on the caliber of the panel, I can’t imagine a director overruling the choice receiving more votes than any other. I wonder if it has ever happened? But it matters not because, as you say, Ken, “it’s the way that it is.”
As far as the splinters being “definitely different,” I agree. Mostly. That is why I chose one over the other. But they also have something in common. They show a specific range, and they are “telling” bids. At least that’s how I play splinters. I realize this is not universal, but it’s common. This commonality is why I think the splinters should outscore the lone 2NT. But "it’s the way that it is."
The difference in my opinion is as follows: The
splinter is superior to the
splinter because, a) it contains a stiff, rather than a void, (theoretically making it easier for partner to assess the value of Axx), and b) because of the potential continuations. Ken, I agree with your statement, “if I bid 4
then I can make some inferences about partner's diamonds based on whether he does or does not bid 4
. My hand is almost impossible to accurately describe, so I think that judging how high to compete will largely fall to me so 4
seems better than 4
.” Over 4
, if partner skips the
suit—great news—and bids 4
instead, I am happy to continue, probably with 5
. If instead partner shows me a
control, I’ll skip 4
and just bid 4
. This was my thought process initially and why I chose 4
.
The “mischaracterization” you mentioned, Ken, is
exactly the reason I steered clear of the J2NT response. Even though it is initially an “asking” bid, if partner thinks I have even a bare minimum non-splinter hand, I may never be able to get partner to put on the brakes. It's just too risky in the hope that partner shows me
shortness.
Finally, I am still flummoxed by the number of calls receiving a score of 80; there were six. 4
| 4
| 2
| 5
| 2
| 6
. WOW! From a hyper-aggressive (and also preemptive) 6
, to a walking-the-dog 2
. And everything in between.
Although I have not been reading
The Bridge World for a long time, I can't recall a problem with such varied responses. I'm curious whether the director will write something like, "Weird hand, impossible to predict which response is best" to justify the range of high-scoring responses.
Definitely one of the best MSC hands I've seen.