[ArtK78]

Swiss Teams. IMPs converted to VPs.

All vul. You hold:

xx
KQxxx
xxx
Qxx

Your partner is the dealer, and the auction goes:

2♣ - (2♥) - P* - (P)
2♠ - (3♦) - ?

*Shows values without a suitable natural call - game forcing

Your opponents are two grand life masters.

1) What is your call?
2) Do you agree with the pass over 2♥?
3) What would a 3♥ bid mean?

[whereagles]

1) Hmmm.. pass is forcing, right? I'll do that. Who knows, maybe LHO puts it back to hearts
2) Sure, why not?
3) Usually, when two suits are bid by opps, a cue shows stopper.

[billw55]

Agree with first pass.

I don't have an agreement about 3♥ here. Partner might interpret it as showing or asking a stopper, or a control, maybe with spade support ... too vague for me.

As for what to do now, I consider pass again, or 3NT. Partner must have something in diamonds, but can't bid 3NT on his own without the hearts secured. Is one of my ♦x the 9?

In the end, with ops vul, and looking at my hearts, I would like to keep penalty in the picture. So I will choose pass.

[MrAce]

I partly agree with Nuno. But I probably would start taking out my "peacemakers" followed by "streetsweepers"

If we are not going to start doubling them (which is my 1st choice) then we have to pass. If overcaller first psyched and hot the jackpot when bid 3♦ that his pd has a clear diamonds preference, it will be ugly for us. But that does not happen very often. 3rd option is to bid 3♥ for 3 NT purposes. But I would prefer action than settling in 3 NT in this auction.

But before I do anything, it is probably best to check if they had an immediate 2 suiter reds over 2♣ and if they do then try to learn what difference this auction shows for them.

[mikeh]

double and lead trump

If LHO passes my double, partner can infer that I have hearts as well...4th seat doesn't have them and neither does partner (we hope). He won't play me for good hearts and good diamonds as well, so if he has a pronounced black hand, he need not sit. At least, that's what I tell myself when holding this hand

It isn't as clear as some negative double situations, where a pass (in lieu of a double) then a double of overcaller's second suit basically shows a penalty double of the first suit with some modest length in the second. So my analogy may be mistaken, but generally here one wouldn't double 3♦ if not able to double 3♥.

Btw, it would be nice to know what my x's were. I might not double with KQ543 in hearts, but definitely would with KQ9xx. Since I would know what I held if I were playing the hand, all OPs should include the spots, as best as they recall.

[ArtK78]

mikeh, on 2015-January-12, 15:17, said:

double and lead trump

If LHO passes my double, partner can infer that I have hearts as well...4th seat doesn't have them and neither does partner (we hope). He won't play me for good hearts and good diamonds as well, so if he has a pronounced black hand, he need not sit. At least, that's what I tell myself when holding this hand

It isn't as clear as some negative double situations, where a pass (in lieu of a double) then a double of overcaller's second suit basically shows a penalty double of the first suit with some modest length in the second. So my analogy may be mistaken, but generally here one wouldn't double 3♦ if not able to double 3♥.

Btw, it would be nice to know what my x's were. I might not double with KQ543 in hearts, but definitely would with KQ9xx. Since I would know what I held if I were playing the hand, all OPs should include the spots, as best as they recall.

They were small x's.

[ggwhiz]

Our likely landing spots are 3nt or 4♠ (or 3 of something red doubled) totally dependent on the nature of partners strong hand.

The only way I can find that out is to pass.

[gszes]

With what seems to be little heart cards (I assume the 9 could have been shown) I have
little desire to penalize 2h and I would trot out 3h over 2h which to me means I have at
least 1.5 heart stops and little else with a balanced hand and leave it up to partner
on how to proceed. This bid has the benefit adding an additional implication to pass over
2h since it would limit the number of heart stops if nt is bid later on. With the heart 9
I would have preferred pass hoping p could reopen with x.

A 3h bid now might be a reasonable way of showing a heart stop and not much of anything
in diamonds (which is what I would have to bid if I had originally passed with KQ9xx of hearts
hoping for p to reopen with x over 2h).

[Fluffy]

I have no clue what partner's reopening double means here, with this lack of space below 3NT. If we double now I wonder if partner should work out that we have hearts rather than diamonds looking at his hand and RHO's diamond preference.

[louisg]

ArtK78, on 2015-January-12, 15:33, said:

They were small x's.

In fact, they were not. The actual hand was 97 KQ976 J65 Q65.

[ArtK78]

louisg, on 2015-January-13, 07:08, said:

In fact, they were not. The actual hand was 97 KQ976 J65 Q65.

Thanks, Lou. At my table, the x's seemed smaller. I did not get a hand record.

I didn't remember the ♦J, either.

[mikeh]

I like my double of 3♦ even more, now, as does Timo his, I suspect

[MrAce]

mikeh, on 2015-January-13, 10:37, said:

I like my double of 3♦ even more, now, as does Timo his, I suspect

[ArtK78]

Almost any action other than the one that I chose would have led to a better result.

I bid 3♥, intending it as natural and exposing the psych. Only there was no psych.

While the meaning of 3♥ certainly is not clear (there have been several interpretations suggested above), everyone at my table (except me) thought it was a cue bid in support of spades. My partner, not one to be subtle, now bid 4NT, key card for spades (3♠ followed by 4NT would have been clearer). As I was firmly convinced that this was KEYCARD FOR HEARTS, having exposed the psych, I showed one key card.

This was the hand:

---

As I said, partner is not subtle. Had he bid 3♠ instead of 2♠ on his first rebid, or bid 3♠ over my 3♥, there would not have been any confusion.

West believed my partner. After the ♣A opening lead, he saw his partner's count card and assumed that my partner would not bid RKCB with a void, so he cashed the ♥A. Down 1. On any other continuation 6♠ makes, as the ♣Q can be established for a heart pitch, and the 97 of spades are both entries to dummy.

Win 3 IMPs.

At the other table, a relatively untested partnership consisting of 2 good players committed the following auction (uncontested):

2♣ - 2NT*
3♠ - 3NT
4♣** - 4♠
7♠ - All Pass

* a heart positive (2♥ would have been a negative)
** intended as Gerber, interpreted as natural

My teammate, with AK of clubs and the ♥A on lead, did not double. He did cash out, however.

Funny thing, this is really a baby hand. All South wants to do is unambiguously force to game, establish spades as trump, and ask for aces. Yet going down in a silly 6♠ contract resulted in a win of 3 IMPs.

[FrancesHinden]

I don't think you can expose the psyche easily by passing over 2H and bidding 3H next round. You can bid 3H immediately over 2H if you want, that is a natural positive in hearts.

p.s. I see Mikeh's line of double and lead trumps would have worked well.

[Fluffy]

I'd like to ask people who psyche more than I do. If you had succesfully psyched 2♥ and got no response from partner, would you feel satisfied and shut up or would you now bid your real suit? (diamonds)

[mikeh]

Fluffy, on 2015-January-13, 15:41, said:

I'd like to ask people who psyche more than I do. If you had succesfully psyched 2♥ and got no response from partner, would you feel satisfied and shut up or would you now bid your real suit? (diamonds)

As someone who used to psyche, I wouldn't psyche a suit lower than my real suit, and I wouldn't psyche vulnerable. I might once in a while do one of those things but never both. The problem with the first issue is you can't run without raising the level. And one would NEVER bid again,having screwed the ops successfully (which is a reasonable assessment when partner passes)

[louisg]

ArtK78, on 2015-January-13, 14:04, said:

Funny thing, this is really a baby hand. All South wants to do is unambiguously force to game, establish spades as trump, and ask for aces.

FYP. Did no one just open 4NT with this hand? Everyone that I know plays this either as Blackwood or a specific ace ask.

[PhantomSac]

Fluffy, on 2015-January-13, 15:41, said:

I'd like to ask people who psyche more than I do. If you had succesfully psyched 2♥ and got no response from partner, would you feel satisfied and shut up or would you now bid your real suit? (diamonds)

I would definitely shut up.

[whereagles]

Psyches are rare, but I have never, ever seen someone psyching a suit and afterwards voluntarily bid the real one...