IAC Forums
Chew the Fat! => Sleight of Hand => Topic started by: wackojack on February 09, 2020, 02:28:20 PM
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At white, you have:
!S AJ87542
!H 9
!D KQ7
!C 104
LHO passes and partner opens 1 !H, you respond 1 !S, partner rebids 3 !C. This I take as game forcing and so I rebid 3 !S taking it slowly in the game forcing situation. Partner now raises to 4 !S. I still have lots of unadvertised strength and it seemed that there was no alternative to Blackwood 4N. (comments?) Partner responded 5 !D showing 3 keycards.
1 !H 1 !S
3 !C 3 !S
4 !S 4NT
5 !D ?
Would you now go straight to 6 !S? Or try 5 !H which I believe is a trump Queen ask? If partner denies the Q !S and just bids 5 !S would you pass or continue to 6 !S? I went on to 6 !S on the basis that if partner had a doubleton spade without the queen, the slam would still be slightly better than evens and partner might even have 3 spades.
Partner's hand was disappointing:
!S K3
!H AK764
!D A8
!C QJ96
The 4 !D was led but I still went off when RHO had !S Q109 and I went with the odds and played for the drop.
I appreciate that with a good 17 a rebid of 2 !C can sometimes result in a missed game. Nevertheless I believe that a rebid of 2NT (18-19) fits the bill much better. I do notice that a 5422 hand does seem to draw partners into showing their 2nd suit. Now:
1 !H 1 !S
2NT ?
Am I too good for 4 !S, and would 3 !S be a sign off? What would 3 !C be taken as? A Wolf sign-off? (3 !C is a relay to 3 !D and then 3 !S is a sign-off) Then 3 !S would be forcing. So we get to;
1 !H 1 !S
2NT 3 !S
?
Surely opener must next make the courtesy cue bid of 4 !D. Now if you play that this bid denies 1st or 2nd round control in clubs then we sign off in 4 !S safely.
What if you are not playing the Wolff sign-off. What would be sensible?
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Once partner jump shifts, it is hard to stay out of this slam. When I played it, partner only bid 2 !C, so I was able to jump to 3 !S as an invitation. Partner accepted, but did not go overboard, so I got to play it in game. My opps also did not lead clubs, so I was able to shag one early, but was disappointed in the spade layout as well.
At least I didn't have your slam making to sour the result - which was dismal given that you can't make five and some should have been there going down with you, but someone foolishly left in a double of 2 !S to help keep the slightly under bid spade games from getting too large of a score.
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It's not worth a jump-shift.
I would choose to rebid 2 !C, and it would be my preference, but I am not married to it. Then, an invitational jump to 3 !S is also correct (as Jim opted for).
I think rebidding 2NT is also fine.
With the auction as it went (and having the luxury of seeing both hands), after partner bid 4 !S, maybe 5 !D instead of 4NT? Clearly this denies a !C control, so partner, missing a !C control as well, would sign off in 5 !S. Small consolation since you would likely still play the trump suit as you did.
[Added] In the auction as it went, you are already in a GF, so after your 3 !S rebid, what would 4 !D be by your partner? Surely it agrees spades? Does it show two? Three? A control? What, then, does the failure to bid 4 !D (instead just bidding game with 4 !S) indicate? I dunno. Just throwing it out there for discussion.
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It's not worth a jump-shift.
I would choose to rebid 2 !C, and it would be my preference, but I am not married to it. Then, an invitational jump to 3 !S is also correct (as Jim opted for).
I think rebidding 2NT is also fine.
With the auction as it went (and having the luxury of seeing both hands), after partner bid 4 !S, maybe 5 !D instead of 4NT? Clearly this denies a !C control, so partner, missing a !C control as well, would sign off in 5 !S. Small consolation since you would likely still play the trump suit as you did.
[Added] In the auction as it went, you are already in a GF, so after your 3 !S rebid, what would 4 !D be by your partner? Surely it agrees spades? Does it show two? Three? A control? What,
then, does the failure to bid 4 !D (instead just bidding game with 4 !S) indicate? I dunno. Just throwing it out there for discussion.
Yes 3 !D cannot be a natural 4 card suit showing 0544 distribution because we cannot be looking for a 4-4 !D fit since I could have bid 4 !D myself. OR COULD IT? Give partner 20HCP with 0544 distribution and what can she otherwise bid?
Any comments about the Wolff sign-off after a 1 !H -1 !S-2NT auction? Does this give you anything better than 3 !C check-back? Unfortunately it gives room for completely opposite interpretation. Playing Wolff 2NT -3 !S is forcing and could be a slam try. Not playing Wolff 2NT-3 !S I assume is not forcing because if you want to force you go through 3 !C check-back.
What is most common interpretation of 3 !C in the USA after 1 !H -1 !S - 2NT?
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I think there is something to be said for playing that after 1 !H - 1 !S - 2NT all bids are natural and forcing. This is especially true if1 !H - 2 !S is a weak jump shift since then it is not all that likely that after 1 !H - 1 !S - 2NT you will want to sign off in 3 !S. After 1 !H - 1 !S - 2NT it is reasonably possible that you belong in 5m or 6m and having 3 m as natural and forcing can help figure this out.
For example, suppose opener has the shape he has in this example, 2=5=2=4. Responder might be 4=1=3=5, with too little strength to bid 2 !C over 1 !H. Bidding 3 !C over 2NT sounds good.
But you asked what is common and I doubt that natural is common.
Probably considered weird.
I assume NMF when I play.