[Curls77]

Hello.. Please help me understand what would be best bid in this situation.

Playing IMP pairs, EW are vulnerable, and you at N hold: ♠AQJT4 ♥- ♦AQT53 ♣Q93
Your partner S passes, and W opens with 1♣.

Thanks

[mgoetze]

Hi Curls, welcome to the forum!

Assuming you have no bid to specifically show a ♠-♦ two-suiter here, you should bid 1♠. Generally speaking, whenever you have 5-5 shape, it is almost always right to bid the higher-ranking suit first.

[mcphee]

1S no other choice, we can always bid D later.

[Curls77]

ty both so much for quick and clear response : ))
I made bad mistake thinking this would be a takeout double, too good for overcall, which my pard interpreted as hand short in clubs and 3+ in all other suits and made heart jump. We actually won points for being -1 in 4♦ contract.
I'd like to know which side should have won the contract and in what spot?


Thanks again for patience & help to us beginners.

Attached File(s)

•  1.jpg (177.58K)
  Number of downloads: 15

[vuroth]

Does everyone play 2NT here as 2 lowest? I never have....

[jillybean]

And why do you bid the higher ranking suit first?

You bid the higher ranking suit first to avoid getting too high

(1♣) 1♦ (P) P
(2♣) 2♠ P 3♦ partner is forced to the 3 level if she prefers ♦'s

(1♣) 1♠ (P) P
(2♣) 2♦ (P) 2♠ or pass 2♦ Here you have shown both suits and we are still at the 2 level.

[FrancesHinden]

Curls77, on 2011-January-19, 08:37, said:

ty both so much for quick and clear response : ))
I made bad mistake thinking this would be a takeout double, too good for overcall, which my pard interpreted as hand short in clubs and 3+ in all other suits and made heart jump. We actually won points for being -1 in 4♦ contract.
I'd like to know which side should have won the contract and in what spot?


Thanks again for patience & help to us beginners.

It used to be very commonly taught that a simple (non-jump) overcall was strictly limited, no more that about 15 high card points, and that any stronger hands either made a strong jump overcall (with a 6+ card suit), or had to double first.

That style of defending is no longer played very much. Strong jump overcalls have been replaced by weak jump overcalls, for one thing. It was easy when any decent 16-count doubled, partner bid something at the 1-level, and the good hand bid, say, 1S and showed a decent hand.... but unfortunately there is much more competitive bidding than there used to be and it's considered more important to start bidding your suits as soon as possible. That allows double to promise either support for all three other suits or a seriously strong hand (good 18+ balanced or a really powerful single-suiter). That makes it much easier for your partner - he could show some values and a heart suit with a jump, "knowing" that you had support or if not that you were very strong - much stronger than the hand you had.

Turn the smallest diamond into the ace of hearts and it's still a 1-spade overcall for many people.

p.s. you asked what the auction should have been, but your attachment isn't readable.

[Curls77]

Oh, i am sorry..

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[ahydra]

Me + 3 clones of me would have bid

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I normally don't have a bid for S+D over 1C, so I'm stuck with 1S. 2H is a reverse so shows the extra strength. North has to bid again with 15 points and good shape (AQs over the opener as well) - but 2S is the only thing he can bid without going to the 3-level which would almost certainly be too high. Finally West, having shown his shape, bids 2NT and East raises on HCPs to 3NT. It won't make, but seems the right place to be, vul and playing IMPs.

ahydra

[Quantumcat]

Lots of beginners make the mistake of thinking that just because they have an opening hand means they must bid. If you don't have a takeout double shape, don't have a suit and don't have a 1NT overcall, you can still pass even with a strong hand. Here you have a perfect overcall. So doubling is doubly out of the question :-)

The new version of Paul Marston's Language of Bidding recommends only doubling without takeout double shape with 19 or 20 points. This is because you need to have a bid when partner leaps to game in your void or singleton, and you'd better have slam values to do so!

Here are some agreements to have so that you can safely overcall with a strong hand and not risk missing game:

- A jump cuebid shows a decent hand with support (about 11-13 HCP).
- A simple raise is just a normal raise (about 7-10 HCP).
- Changing suit shows a tolerance of the overcall suit and your own suit, about 7-13 HCP.
- The lowest cuebid by partner of overcaller means a decent hand and none of the above apply.

After the lowest cuebid, changing suit confirms a good hand (15+ HCP) and the auction is forcing to game, so you can find a fit without getting dropped halfway. Repeating your overcall suit shows either a normal overcall (11-14 HCP) or a bad overcall (8-10 HCP). If partner is still interested, he bids again, and repeating your overcall suit yet again shows the bad overcall.
After the change of suit, with no tolerance rebid your overcall suit with a normal or bad overcall, or pass with tolerance and game unlikely. Changing suit or raising shows a good hand and is forcing to game.

If the responder has no fit and no suit of their own, and you just barely have 25 or 26 (you with 18 and responder with 7), you probably would go down in 3NT anyway so there's no harm having to play in your overcall.