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DavidKok, on 2024-December-20, 01:26, said:
To the rest I want to ask the following question: when partner opens 1♣, do you have a minimum game force, a slam try or a slam force in your hand? And, conditional on finding a 4-4 spade fit as well as conditional on not finding one, which final contract(s) do you wish to explore? What information do you need to make that decision?
If you are not at least considering the possibility of a slam after a 1♣ or 1NT opening then you are not playing bridge. But you are only forcing to slam after finding out additional factors about the hand. As I have previously pointed out, uncovering the 9th card in the club fit (to go with the spade fit that everyone will surely find) is a quite important step in the investigative process here. The type of scoring has not come up so far but I do think it can also be a factor. In some of the auctions, and particularly in mine, their is a commitment to playing at least 5♣ with a 6-3 club fit, which is clearly going to be a big issue at MP if slam is not available. I think it is probably still worth it but I would definitely think about it a little before committing. After a 1♣ opening, I thought the auction 1♣ - 1♥/1♠; 2♠ - 3♣ was obvious and dislike all of the proposed alternatives. Thereafter though, I think methods diverge too much to give any sort of definitive auction but I cannot really see how you bid the slam with high confidence without uncovering that 9th club, for which I suspect few club/social-level pairs would have the required agreements.