These are tricky questions. The ACBL used to require an alert even if the 1
bidder could be skipping over four diamonds to bid a four card spade suit. Myself, I have been pretty resolute in not becoming an expert on bridge law, it's not how I want to play the game, but I do try to take the full disclosure idea seriously. Sometimes it is not so clear.
Here is something from a club game the other day. I had put it in my above response but then deleted it thinking that my response was getting too long.
The opponents had the simple auction 1
- 1
- 1NT - Pass. I was on lead and I was about to ask about Walsh when my Rho spoke up "I don't think we have discussed this but I think this auction denies a four card major in partner's hand". I appreciated this. It turned out that she was wrong, her partner had four spades, five diamonds and a 9 count. She had four hearts. She was clarifying for me how she understood the auction and also indicating that she might be wrong about this. Congratulations to her, I could hardly ask for more.
These efforts can go wrong. Back when this ACBL rules was in effect I opened 1
, partner responded 1
, I alerted and they asked. I explained that with modest values he would skip over a longer diamond suit to bid a four card spade suit. They did not understand, I tried my best but they never got it. After the round,as we were moving on to the next table, I heard one of the opponents saying to the other "I don't understand. He said his partner could have five diamonds. His partner didn't have five diamonds." I felt I had really tried, but it was unsuccessful.
Here is an issue I have been concerned about. 1NT - 2
- 2
- 3 NT. A partner and I play that 1 NT - 3
would be Puppet. Moreover we play the version where 1 -NT - 3
- 3
does not promise a four card major, it simply denies a five card major. This can work over a 1NT opening. Over a 2 NT opening 2NT - 3
- 3
does promise a four card major as we , and I think most, play Puppet, but 1NT - 3
- 3
does not. If you think about it, this means that after 1NT then responder, with game forcing values and two four card majors, should start with 2
. If we have a major fit we will find it. With only one four card major, and good values, he might well start with 1NT - 3
. Over 3
he will then bid the major that he does not have and opener will then either bid game in their major fit if they have one, or bid 3 NT. The advantage? After 1NT - 3
- 3
-3
(showing four hearts) - 3NT it is clear that opener does not have four hearts but he might or might not have four spades. We make all of this clear when the auction comes up, that's not the crisis. But now 1NT - 2
-2
-3 NT is apt to mean that responder has both majors. If he had just one major, he might well have started 1NT - 3
. Responder is not certain to have both majors, but our Puppet agreement makes it more likely that he does, because with only one he might have used the Puppet option, especially if he had four cards in one major and three in the other. I've decided that at least at the club level any explanation might be more confusing than helpful, it took a while to write this out, so I just let it be.
So I am saying that I want good results to come from good choices, not from a lack of disclosure. I agree this can get complicated. I think most bridge players are generally familiar with Walsh, and so they know to ask. I almost think that Walsh has become so common that I should alert it when, at the club game, my partner and I do not play Walsh. We also might be the only pair playing that the auction 1
- 1NT shows 6 to a bad 10, not even semi-forcing. I think most bridge payers are not familiar with 1
-2
being on a GF or else on a three card heart holding with 7-10 highs. It's clear after 1
- 2
there must be a way to get out in 2
. But it is not at all obvious what it is. Again think of Pass- 1
- 2
(Drury in some form but which?). In original Drury, 2
over 2 !c was the way to get out in 2
, while 2
over 2
showed a full opener. In reverse Drury, this is,well, reversed. We alert and explain. In their system after 1
- 2
, the 2
could be the start of a 2 !h exit. Or, and this would be my guess, both 2
and 2
allow for an exit in 2
but 2
is the stronger of these two. This is not obvious at all simply from saying that 2
could be on three hearts and 7-10 highs, so I think some alerting would be good.
Repeating from an earlier post, my thoughts here are really just that, my thoughts. I have even more thoughts, but I need more coffee.