I agree that the double by opener is showing four hearts. Should be longer clubs. A hand strong enough to compete further. As far as a redouble by overcaller showing a doubleton top honor, I’ve never heard of that. Maybe you’re thinking of a Rosenkranz Redouble? If so, I believe it’s used only by advancer.
Initially, partner’s 1
advance can show any number of spades, but will often be five-plus. One reason for this is that the 1
overcall promises a minimum of five, so yes, you’re
trying to improve the contract. Since a 1
advance is not forcing, if you don’t have support it’s often best to just pass.
As far as the auction Poco discussed: 1
– 1
– 1
is non-forcing because opener has limited his hand. Opener’s 1
rebid shows no more than 17 HCP (or a bad 18). Keep in mind that this means that a 1
rebid is wide-ranging, from about 11 to 17 or so. If opener has a balanced 15-17, he opens 1NT. If opener has a balanced 18-19, he rebids 2NT (even with a four-card major). If opener has an unbalanced hand, worth a jump to 2
, he shows a good 18+ (a jump-shift). Note: the jump makes 2
a jump-shift, it is
not a reverse. While one may quibble about the ranges I’ve listed, they are within a point of being spot on in Standard American or 2/1 bidding using a strong notrump. Also, since the 1
rebid limits opener's hand to 17 or so, why would you want responder to be "forced" to bid again with say
KJxx -
xxxx -
Jxxxx -
--? Will a one-level suit rebid by opener often be passed by responder? No. But since opener has limited his hand, and responder can do the math, it's responder who gets to choose whether to go on. In other words . . . 1
is not forcing.
Back to your auction. I think your inferences about shape around the table to be pretty good. But my partner having 4-4 in the majors would be highly unlikely. You
don’t bid your suits in reverse order with both majors if 4-4. It’s. just. not. done. So partner should have five spades for the 1
advance. Ken also mentioned his confusion about why partner would bid 1
with 4-4 majors. I agree, I do not see a reason for it other than maybe if the hearts were
5432, which looks a lot like a three card suit!
As far as what I bid next?
Because
none of my partner’s calls were forcing, pass would cross my mind. But partner is now showing some sort of delayed support (another reason why 1
must show 5+) with invitational values. I probably bid 4
to show the extra diamond and, hopefully, deny four spades.