[The It]

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Matchpoints, fairly weak field.

1D - (1H) - X Denies 4 spades.

I was holding the East cards at the table and don't think my bidding was the best and 6D was a bit of a punt in the end. Could I make a better bid over 3D? Or thinking about it, is X a better action over 2C?

Thanks

[helene_t]

I think West can make a cuebid over your 4♦ bid, presumably his 3♦ bid already showed a minimum so he doesn't have to be ashamed of his hand. You could check for keycards then. But 5♦ is likely to be poor at matchpoints so it is best if your methods allow you to stop in 4NT. With my regular partner I play your 4♦ bid as keycard asking in this sequence after which 4NT is to play.

You could have cuebid 3♥ yourself just to hear that partner has a spade control but I don't think it matters.

But yes, dbl is better, especially considering the vulnerability.

[MrAce]

helene_t, on 2015-February-20, 07:11, said:

I think West can make a cuebid over your 4♦ bid, presumably his 3♦ bid already showed a minimum so he doesn't have to be ashamed of his hand. You could check for keycards then. But 5♦ is likely to be poor at matchpoints so it is best if your methods allow you to stop in 4NT. With my regular partner I play your 4♦ bid as keycard asking in this sequence after which 4NT is to play.

You could have cuebid 3♥ yourself just to hear that partner has a spade control but I don't think it matters.

But yes, dbl is better, especially considering the vulnerability.

Why do you think 3♦ showed min Helene? I mean, was he supposed to jump around to show extras, suppose he had A of dia, AJTxx for example, is this good for jump to 4♦ when they are already in forcing auction? Or do you suggest 4♣ 3♥ cue to show extras? I mean how much longer shall we cue we are at 4 level no one knows what shape opener holds. I think 3♦ should not show min, but rather an attempt to describe his hand, no? I am not criticizing you, I just wanna know what would be your approach with extras. I may as well be wrong.

To me, anyone who bids 5♦ in this auction (W) definitely denies 2 keycards.

[mike777]

would like the option to bid 4nt natural and quant over 1h.

[helene_t]

Thanks Timo, I thought 3d was nf but probably better to.play 3c as gf. We can alalways bid 3d instead with less.

[The It]

As it was, the ♦K was singleton in the North hand, so we escaped with the contract making after the Ace of clubs lead.

[mike777]

again this type of problem is common.....we desire to bid 4nt natural and inv.


Often the answer is kickback for rkc but that is complicated.


My main point is minor suit slams are difficult to bid when 3nrt is a reasonable option.

[rmnka447]

It was lucky for the ♦ slam to come home. With North showing the rounded suits, South rates to have the ♦ length and the ♦ finesse rates to be off if West doesn't have the ♦ K.

How about East bidding NT at some point in the auction? The majority of East's points are in the suits the opponents have bid. East has already denied 4 ♠s (by definition) with the double. East has no ruffing values for a ♦ contract.

I think the place to make the NT bid is over the 2 ♣ bid. 3 NT at this point would certainly be to play, but doesn't necessarily show more than an opening bid and stoppers. 4 NT can't be an A ask as East has already denied 4 ♠ and a ♦ fit has not been established. So I would think, it should about what is held an 18-19 count and stoppers.

[PhilKing]

I'd certainly whack 2♣, and would expect that to score more than slam quite a lot of the time.

My alternative is 4NT, quantitative, over 2♣. I would go for that if the vulnerability was reversed.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

#1 given your suit quality and the vulnerability, you could have passed
and hoped partner may find a reopening X,
you should easily score game or better defending
#2 going for blood Xing 2C is certainly also valid
#3 4D is ok, I think West should bid either 4H or 4S, East is still not limited,
and showes Slam interest
#4 raising 5D to 6D is dangerous, West basically denied anything sensible

[KurtGodel]

We have a huge amount of defense, so I think I'll hit 2♣, or if I'm not allowed to do that I'll bid 2♥. I really would like to know if we are heading for a slam before going past 3NT (unless we can get out in 4NT). Once we've gone past 3NT we sort of have to bid a slam because we know 5m will be a bad score, whereas slam might just make.