Re: Another day, another reverse, another catastrophe

On Aug 31, 10:56 am, Will in New Haven
<bill.re...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Aug 31, 1:34 pm, ewleong...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:





On Aug 31, 7:09 am, Will in New Haven

<bill.re...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Aug 30, 11:47 pm, henrysun...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

On Aug 30, 12:53 pm, henrysun...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

So, Henry and Steven are playing IMPs last night and have this
auction:

Opener Responder
1C 1S
2H 3H
3S 4C

What is responder's basic shape, and is 4C forcing?

More anon.

Henrysun909

Thanks to all who responded.

Responder actually held this hand:

Qxxxx
KQxx
x
Txx

In the context of this auction, is 4C

A - the worst bid in bridge history
B - insanely aggressive
C - aggressive
D - reasonable, but I wouldn't bid it
E - what I would have bid on the hand

B or C: It is too aggressive.
I would have gone back to the agreed Heart suit. My 3H bid was game-
forcing and I have nothing further to say. I bid 3H instead of 4H
because I have something good in the hand. I don't have enough good to
bid 4C, even though it completes my shape.

Will in New Haven

I don't think both your spade queen and stiff diamond are going to be
useful in this hand.
If partner has a spade fragment your stiff diamond opposite partner's
stiff diamond is not useful.
If partner has a diamond fragment your spade queen is wasted.
I think a 4H bid is perfect with this hand to show great trumps which
you have but a hand slightly below a positive response which you have.

I have always thought of a 4H bid over the reverse as just plain
discouraging. Using it to show good trumps means that we need another
bid to make sure we get to the Heart fit without showing anything good
at all. I agree with your evaluation of the hand as the Diamond
shortness and Spade Queen cannot be pulling their weight but I don't
know of any standard bid to show four Hearts except 3H, at least
somewhat encouraging, and 4H, a dog.

If the OP plays the very common usage of 2NT or the fourth suit,
whichever is cheaper, as a relay to allow showing a weak hand, then he
can use that with the dog, 4H with good trumps and nothing much else
(this hand) and 3H as encouraging. That would allow four "steps:"
Direct 3H, very encouraging, direct 4H, good trumps, cycle to 3H,
trying not even to get to game and cycle to 4H, bad but accepting
game. However, I don't think that's standard.

Will in New Haven


I do play 2S or 2NT as a neutral bid that allows responder to get out
in the next round in less opener bids the new suit. Bridge World
Standard 2001 is not explicit on this. But absent that agreement, I
would just bid 2NT and bid 3H with a lesser hand something like: S
Jxxxx H KQxx D xx C xx. I don't want to get partner possibly overly
excited about slam prospects by bidding 4H immediately with that kind
of hand.

Eric Leong







--





Eric Leong

--

"If you can't find the mousie at the table in the first few minutes,
check your own breath for cheese."
Feather, in _Poker for Cats_

1

Henrysun909-

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Limit Raise. Limit Raise Cue-bids
    ... MP scoring I accepted to play Bergen's raises against my will as I ... Anyway all green my partner opens 1H, RHO passes and I bid 3H pre- ... I could not believe we get caught on the first board with 9 trumps, ... bid at three tricks pre-emptive they often quote the LoTT (or they say ...
    (rec.games.bridge)
  • Re: Whats Going On Here? Bizarre Auction
    ... You hold the undiclosed A trumps and first round control in ... How can anyone bid 6S? ... with this partner, is, however, unclear. ... Alvin, there are people who will never bid a grand. ...
    (rec.games.bridge)
  • Re: Congratulations to....
    ... There is a detailed description of it in "Bid to win, ... specific card (hence above if the only card he needs for 7S is the club K he ... The asking continues until trumps are bid by the blackwood instigator, ... 5N shows trump Q + heart K, ...
    (rec.games.bridge)
  • Re: 2 hands i screwed up at MPs
    ... point is not about relative total trumps, but just the fact that you want ... but you also need control of the side suits so that the long suit ... The example you give could hardly be cited as an example of a 2S game ... forcing bid to try to find a 4-4 fit instead of a known 5-4 fit puts ...
    (rec.games.bridge)
  • Re: 1NT-3H?
    ... The lower the bid the more ... How many ways do you have to investigate slam with AQxxx KQx ... RKCB can sort whether the trumps are strong ... In the poor cases, I am willing to play slam in AQJxxx vs xx, but not AQxxx ...
    (rec.games.bridge)