[FrancesHinden]

imps, KO match

---

1H = 5+, you open virtually all 11s with 5 hearts and most 10s with 6 hearts
2C = game forcing, natural or possibly 4333/3343
2H = 6 hearts, any range, could have 4 spades with good hearts and very bad spades, would always rebid hearts with 6-4 reds
4H = minimum opening, denies 3 key cards, if 6-4 unlikely to have 4 controls unless otherwise very minimum
4NT/5H = keycard

Which slam?

Or would you have bid differently earlier?

[mike777]

Prefer 2s then 3h over 2nt, 6h now:
Not sure pard knowing I only have 2h and 4s will really matter if he just rebids 4h.
xx..AKJxxx..QTxx..x or more.

[jmcw]

I would bid 2♠ at my second turn. Now I'm worried about a ♦ and a ♥ loser! or possibly 2 ♥ losers. The problem with the given auction is p will have no idea I have 10 black cards!.
On the given auction what inference can be drawn from the 4♥ call?, if it implies 3 controls and not 4 then 6♥ is easy.

[Fluffy]

I would never bid anything but 3♥ previous round when it so easilly gets me to the grand.

6♥ could be hopeless opposite ♥Kxxxxx and pretty bad opposite ♥K10xxxx and Axxxxx, so I´d rather try to play in clubs if system allows me.

[phil_20686]

feels like 6C is to play. I would try that.

[Statto]

6♥ probably, but going via 6♣ offering the choice.

[mike777]

I hope pard can figure out if 6c is:
1) to play
2) slam choice, and pard can choose the right one
3) grand try in h?

that seems to be alot of pressure to put on pard in the finals of the Gold Cup but an easier bid to make here in the forum.

[cherdano]

The problem with offering 6♣ is our ♥Q, more specifically that partner doesn't know about it. He might very well pass 6♣ with a singleton club and ♥AKxxxx.

[whereagles]

Frances, do you have 100% clear agreements as to what 5NT and 6C might be?

That's because if you don't, you might as well bid 6H... Without those agreements pard will never consider 6C now. Worse, he might take 4NT/6C as some sort of grand slam try and bid SEVEN.

I might have bid the way you did, but needless to say, your system is quite lacking.

[FrancesHinden]

jmcw, on 2011-December-12, 14:07, said:

I would bid 2♠ at my second turn. Now I'm worried about a ♦ and a ♥ loser! or possibly 2 ♥ losers. The problem with the given auction is p will have no idea I have 10 black cards!.
On the given auction what inference can be drawn from the 4♥ call?, if it implies 3 controls and not 4 then 6♥ is easy.

Partner hasn't denied 4 controls, it's just that something like x AK10xxx K10xx Jx would be too good for 4H.

[FrancesHinden]

whereagles, on 2011-December-13, 01:36, said:

Frances, do you have 100% clear agreements as to what 5NT and 6C might be?

That's because if you don't, you might as well bid 6H... Without those agreements pard will never consider 6C now. Worse, he might take 4NT/6C as some sort of grand slam try and bid SEVEN.

I might have bid the way you did, but needless to say, your system is quite lacking.

5NT would ask for specific kings
6C asks for the Q of clubs

Both are grand slam tries.

If you wanted to consider playing in clubs you shouldn't have agreed hearts then used Blackwood; our rule is that once you have used Blackwood you have agreed on the strain (although you can convert to NT). That's why I didn't think it obvious that you would all agree with the earlier auction. I'm taking replies such as 'I'll offer 6C' to be shorthand for either 'you should play different methods' or 'I'd have bid differently to start with to offer clubs as a contract'

[Fluffy]

Ok, so the alternatives are pass, 6♥ and 6NT. Both contracts could be down from the start with the other being cold, but 6NT at least requires LHO to make the best lead for that.

Chances of partner having ♥AK are better than ♦A, if you drop into the mixture that he might have 7 hearts, and/or ♥J and ♥10, I think 6♥ is superior in average.

[gnasher]

I would have bid 2♠ over 2♥. If partner bids 2NT, 3♥, 3♣ or 3♦ (whatever it means) we'll have a much better idea of the right strain. Maybe we'll reach the 14-trick grand slam opposite Qx Axxxxx AQx Jx, or at least we might avoid 6♥.

If partner does have AK-A, we'll still be able to find that out later.

[Zelandakh]

I think 2S over 2H is better because it is easy for us to see that 7C, or even 7NT, may be a good contract when partner has both red suit aces but not the HK - Qx/AJxxxx/Ax/xxx for example. 6C over 4H might be another option too. On the given auction, the only alternative I can see to bidding 6H is to bid 6D. If partner has the DQ then we can consider 6NT.

[Statto]

FrancesHinden, on 2011-December-13, 02:06, said:

I'm taking replies such as 'I'll offer 6C' to be shorthand for either 'you should play different methods' or 'I'd have bid differently to start with to offer clubs as a contract'

That's not what I meant at all . I just assumed 6♣ here would be offering the choice between 6♣ and 6♥ in case P had something like ♠x-♥AJxxxx-♦AQx-♣Jxx. Not familiar with the method of looking for a Queen for grand, tho it's probably better as many grands are hard to find without being able to discover if partner has a specific Queen .

Prefer 6♥ to 6NT as P may have nothing in diamonds, tho with the hand I just gave, 6NT is better...

[TWO4BRIDGE]

I think you can only get ♣ into the picture with a 2♠ rebid after 2♥ ( for the reasons others have stated ).
Partner will know you have at least 8 cards in the blacks.... more likely 9 cards.... and possibly 10.
1H - 2C! ( 2/1 GF )
2H - 2S
3D - 3H
4H - 5NT! ( choice of slams; forget about RKC-ask with your 22 hcp hand )

Even with your original auction, just bid 5NT! ( or maybe 6C would be a clearer "choice-of-slams" bid since Club length had not be clarified earlier ) directly over 4H.

[mike777]

I think on the actual auction 6h is about our only option but if we rebid 2s it will be interesting to see what pard rebids such as what would 3c or 3d or 2nt show and what do we do over those bids. We could get into a very complicated auction not only in terms of what strain but what level, compared to the straight forward one we actually had.

For instance over 2nt we may rebid 3c.

Are we really that certain we will fully understand the difference between 3d and 2nt compared to what pard will think they will mean?

[TWO4BRIDGE]

mike777, on 2011-December-13, 17:36, said:

I think on the actual acution 6h is about our only option but if we rebid 2s it will be interesting to see what pard rebids such as what would 3c or 3d or 2nt show and what do we do over those bids. We could get into a very complicated auction not only in terms of what strain but what level, compared to the straight forward one we actually had.

Also, Frances didn't rule out the possibility of Opener holding 4 cards ♠.
So, there could be a 3S bid over 2S.

[ I hope she posts the actual Responder hand.... soon ] .

[FrancesHinden]

mike777, on 2011-December-13, 17:36, said:

I think on the actual auction 6h is about our only option but if we rebid 2s it will be interesting to see what pard rebids such as what would 3c or 3d or 2nt show and what do we do over those bids. We could get into a very complicated auction not only in terms of what strain but what level, compared to the straight forward one we actually had.

For instance over 2nt we may rebid 3c.

Are we really that certain we will fully understand the difference between 3d and 2nt compared to what pard will think they will mean?

If you rebid 2S, then partner's next bids would mean:

2NT = diamond length/strength, unsuitable for other contracts
3C = 3-card club support (or high Hx but obviously not here when you have AKQ)
3D = extra values, nothing positional in diamonds, no reason to bid anything else
3H = particularly good hearts (either 7 or something like AKJ109x)
3S = 4-6 majors
others = don't really exist (4D is a splinter for spades, I suppose)

If you started the auction 1H - 2C - 2H - 2S partner will bid 2NT. You have to choose between 3H and 3C over this.

[FrancesHinden]

Statto, on 2011-December-13, 16:31, said:

That's not what I meant at all . I just assumed 6♣ here would be offering the choice between 6♣ and 6♥ in case P had something like ♠x-♥AJxxxx-♦AQx-♣Jxx. Not familiar with the method of looking for a Queen for grand, tho it's probably better as many grands are hard to find without being able to discover if partner has a specific Queen .

Prefer 6♥ to 6NT as P may have nothing in diamonds, tho with the hand I just gave, 6NT is better...

Partner wouldn't sign off in 4H over 3H with that, it's too good a hand. And if that is partner's hand, you want to be in 7C, not 6C.