[StevenG]

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1NT=12-14, 2♦ transfer. Matchpoints.
What now?

[eagles123]

given partner's a passed hand, I wonder if 3S should say big hand for clubs, no heart support?

[pescetom]

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[apollo1201]

Good problem Steven!

What on earth is partner bidding on? They were unable to open the bidding and now are pushing to the 3-level (is it GF for a passed hand btw?), without being sure of a fit. Maybe a caricatural hand like:

A
xxxxx
AK(x)
xxxx(x)

Or a slightly less extreme:

AQx
Qxxxx or xxxxx
K
xxxx or Qxxx

I can only envision some 11 HCP hands with poor suits and blank honors. Otherwise, with 11 points located long suits, it becomes an automatic opening.

5C is not completely out of the picture, or 3NT w/ the 1st hand but will need friendly cards (or opps😉).

If 3C is forcing, 3S is the best description (no D stop, no H fit, up to you).

If 3C is NF, 3S says the same but most importantly says I am ok to go for more (which can only be the case with a nice C fit). It probably helps partner assess based on his residual distribution in S/D if NT or C is the strain, but not really to judge between 4 and 5C.

Is it worth in MP? Probably I’d say.

Curious to see the hand!

[apollo1201]

Good problem Steven!

What on earth is partner bidding on? They were unable to open the bidding and now are pushing to the 3-level (is it GF for a passed hand btw?), without being sure of a fit. Maybe a caricatural hand like:

A
xxxxx
AK(x)
xxxx(x)

Or a slightly less extreme:

AQx
Qxxxx or xxxxx
K
xxxx or Qxxx

I can only envision some 11 HCP hands with poor suits and blank honors. Otherwise, with 11 points located long suits, it becomes an automatic opening.

5C is not completely out of the picture, or 3NT w/ the 1st hand but will need friendly cards (or opps😉).

If 3C is forcing, 3S is the best description (no D stop, no H fit, up to you).

If 3C is NF, 3S says the same but most importantly says I am ok to go for more (which can only be the case with a nice C fit). It probably helps partner assess based on his residual distribution in S/D if NT or C is the strain, but not really to judge between 4 and 5C.

Is it worth in MP? Probably I’d say.

Curious to see the hand!

[Cyberyeti]

apollo1201, on 2020-February-06, 17:29, said:

Good problem Steven!

What on earth is partner bidding on? They were unable to open the bidding and now are pushing to the 3-level (is it GF for a passed hand btw?), without being sure of a fit. Maybe a caricatural hand like:

A
xxxxx
AK(x)
xxxx(x)

Or a slightly less extreme:

AQx
Qxxxx or xxxxx
K
xxxx or Qxxx

I can only envision some 11 HCP hands with poor suits and blank honors. Otherwise, with 11 points located long suits, it becomes an automatic opening.

5C is not completely out of the picture, or 3NT w/ the 1st hand but will need friendly cards (or opps😉).

If 3C is forcing, 3S is the best description (no D stop, no H fit, up to you).

If 3C is NF, 3S says the same but most importantly says I am ok to go for more (which can only be the case with a nice C fit). It probably helps partner assess based on his residual distribution in S/D if NT or C is the strain, but not really to judge between 4 and 5C.

Is it worth in MP? Probably I’d say.

Curious to see the hand!

3♣ can't be 100% GF by a passed hand, something like x, AQxxx, x, Qxxxxx if you can't open that ?

[FelicityR]

It is indeed an interesting hand! Thanks for sharing. At this point I am at a loss what partner is trying to show: extreme 6♥-5♣ (or reverse 5♥-6♣ as Cyberyeti has posted) that cannot be opened vulnerable, or just a 5-5 shape giving opener an option of contracts.

I'm not quite with Apollo 1201 that it is a blank 11 HCP count with 5♥s. Nor do I actually agree that 3♠ is the next automatic bid here - even if it looks the most sensible one on the face of it (and I do agree with that.)

That ♥K is a big card in the context of the bidding, as much as the ♣ support.

It all probably depends what you have previously agreed with partner about this sequence. Yes that comes across as sitting on the fence, but if there is a definitive answer I am as curious as anyone else.

[pescetom]

I haven't agreed anything about this and we play strong NT anyway. But here I would figure that it has to be forcing and he has to be two suited, 4H looks the best chance and I might as well just bid it.
I would change partner if he bid this way on either of apollo1201's candidate hands

[StevenG]

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These were the actual hands. I was East and improvised, hoping my partner would work it out, but she didn't (woodenly bidding 3NT and making a lucky 8 tricks). I posted to see if I was realistic in bidding like this, or if I could have bid differently to make it clearer to partner (who is a card-player, not a natural bidder).

Double dummy 4♥ and 6♣ made as the cards lay with ♠A right. In practice 4♥ would probably make 11, whereas 6♣ needed the lucky layout we got, but 5♣ would still have been a good contract given that we were playing in a weak field.

[Cyberyeti]

StevenG, on 2020-February-07, 13:57, said:

---

These were the actual hands. I was East and improvised, hoping my partner would work it out, but she didn't (woodenly bidding 3NT and making a lucky 8 tricks). I posted to see if I was realistic in bidding like this, or if I could have bid differently to make it clearer to partner (who is a card-player, not a natural bidder).

Double dummy 4♥ and 6♣ made as the cards lay with ♠A right. In practice 4♥ would probably make 11, whereas 6♣ needed the lucky layout we got, but 5♣ would still have been a good contract given that we were playing in a weak field.

Pretty close to what I envisaged (although we wouldn't pass that hand), whether you bid 4♥ or 5♣ is a matter of taste, but you should bid one of them.

[Dinarius]

At Matchpoints, any ♣️ contract will score well, I would have thought. Making 3♣️+2 or +3 is beaten only by game (very few I’d expect) or the even less likely slam.

I like East’s bidding and passing 3♣️ should have scored ok, I expect. Otherwise, with West values working in ❤️/♣️, maybe 4♣️ from West.

3NT is terrible. I think I take it out to 4♣️ and partner should wake up now.

D.

[mycroft]

I would wooden-3NT too, because I expect something else. I'd blame me for some of that because while we have to pass misshaped 11 or 12 counts, that does not apply if we can open 1♥.

But I'd blame responder too. This hand knows that game in a round suit is much more likely to make than 3NT, and bid 4♣. Were I to do that, of course, partner would have the same hand with the minors reversed, and 3NT is the only game that makes.