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Thanks for the advice, Don. Just saw Jerry Helms at the Toronto NABC give this sort of advice very strongly. Once the partners find a fit quickly (even in a major) and want to stop at the two level, you should really be looking for a reason not to let them play there. As he put it, "I'd rather go down bidding than passing." Love the videos with Don. :)
well yes monster hand but with that many HCP at 22 you have to do 2S as response. It is both a jump bid and a preemptive bid. You know that the opponent has opened with 10-13 HCP and 13+ total. You have 22 HCP and 26 total. there cannot be many points left. You go 4NT and you are guaranteed set. You really should have been at 4S contract. partner would come back with 3S almost without thinking. You then bid 4S and make.
oh and i missed that opponent also bid poorly as they should have opened with 2H as they have the total points and strength in hearts, so their preemptive would have been hit with 2S and partner 3S and you 4S and that is pass by partner as they do not have the A you need otherwise they could give that.
with most partners, i have the agreement that in principle (other than at adverse vulnerabity) the opps cannot play undoubled below 2nt (though the holding or not holding of spades is also a factor)
About the example with the 8-card spades, 2c is the opening bid rather than the 1s suggested. If the latter option is passed out, a nice game, or even better, is probably missed. A weak 2d of responder is no harm, and with an extra ace game is almost foolproof.
The clubs do matter if you play a sensible signalling method. The correct card on the second round is the 10, which partner can read as the highest of equals when declarer ruffs. This should be a signal for spades, particularly when the C9 follows as the next discard. The real question on this hand is what X over 4H actually means for the GIB bidding system. I think for the bidding discussion to have any real merit, this needed to be highlighted. For example, if X were Responsive and South decided to stretch, North would be able to continue 4NT offering a choice of minors. That would be a somewhat higher-level discussion, since many club players would not think about what such a 4NT bid might mean.
If my regular partner is North, i would respond 2NT to his 1S opening bid, alerted and described as "early blackwood." His response, 3H (2 KCs no trump Q). Then I would settle at 6S. I could bid the early blackwood because i have first or second round stoppers in all of the off suits. Very effective, allowing us to stop at 4 if the answer to blackwood isn't favorable.
6d seems better than pass on the balance. Even if partner has a hand like this one the slam is on a diamond finesse, but it's very possible for them to have a hand where there isn't even a diamond finesse. For the 4 non-diamond cards even if partner has 2c and 2h so you can't pitch the heart loser then he'd have a spade void so no AS loser. Generally I'm happy bidding slams that are roughly worse case finesse and have a substantial chance of just being trick one claim. Here partner had the minimum and the diamond finesse was off I think you take your bad board when luck is that against you. It doesn't make sense to not bid slam all the times partner's suit starts with AK because you are losing to 3-0 diamonds or the KD off when his suit is AJ.
With four losers and a stunning side suit with an additional Ace I would bid 6 Hearts immediately with the South hand. I mean, come on! No science involved, the opponents won't give us the time or space to investigate. If they sacrifice in 6 Spades (for minus 1100) then I will bid 7 Hearts and to hell with them. The would have to be a really plucky pair to bid on to 7 Spaces, but they should. Six/four knock at the door, six/five come alive baby, and don't forget it...
It seems to be becoming more "standard" and widespread (I don't believe it's even Alertable anymore; it's not in red on the convention card), though to avoid miscommunication with partner, it's probably best to discuss using this conventional double. Unfortunately, it doesn't come up all that often, and it's easy to forget and overlook.
I think you can eliminate Takeout Double because both partners have bid already. You can eliminate Negative Double because that is only bid by a Responder and this is Opener doubling. The bidding is at a fairly low level, so it seems unlikely to be a Penalty Double. It’s not a Balancing Double because there were not two passes in a row. A process of elimination, which I find tough at the table.
I would double 1 spade, this could show only 3 hearts but as advancer I would think partner would have 4, if partner didn't respond over 2 diamonds from west. then I would bid 4 clubs over 3 diamonds, I understand that this shows 17+ hcp's but the void diamond suit is a huge benefit I think, partner may then correct to hearts if they are flat broke in clubs, My take is the doubling of the openers spade bid too show 4 hearts
A thought to keep in mind is that a 2 Club Opening will always have problems if Opener is distributional and doesn't know what the final denomination is going to be. So 2-suited hands should try to avoid opening 2 Clubs.
Great explanations. I don't know how players can keep all this info in their heads: which opp has played which honours, what their hand shape is, what was the bidding again, what could they have bid but didn't... Oh, and don't lose track of how many trumps are still out there!
Playing Michael's, I'm going to bid 2H at the first go rather than double, as I'm only looking for 3 spades in partner's hand, not 4. I believe this makes it a bit easier to find the spade fit when it's right. This also removes temptation from Partner if he was dealt QT98xx in hearts (and West was dealt thee club K instead of the heart Q and club J).
I’m surprised he only made 3NT considering he had a free finesse from the S Ten opening lead. 3 spades tricks, 2 hearts, 1/2 clubs, and very likely 4 diamonds (if qualified first) were available.
This is dumb luck, and someone is trying to make genius out of it. The fact that he answered that he would not open 1NT if the 6 cards were hearts or spades, explains the craziness. This is the dumb message bridge instructors drill in students heads, because it’s “better to risk playing a game hand and NOT make it than bid a partial game and make it. Question: what if N has W’s hand, which similar in strength & distribution? Would Curt be celebrating his genius bidding NT? Of course not. He would not make it. The best advice: bid the hand you have, not the you hope your partner has. Bottom line: don’t open bid NT with 2 doubletons, a singleton, or a void-no exception, and don’t confuse your partner.
