[2200]

Teams, uncontested auction, you hold
♠xx
♥Axxxxx
♦KJ
♣KJx

pd opens 1C
1C-1H
2C-2D
3D-??

3H,describing a 6-card suit, or 4C showing support first？

[Fluffy]

5♣, partner denied reverse values and IMO also doubleton honor in hearts, I have a lot of trouble to imagine a hand that produces a good slam.

[Phil]

Axx x axx Axxxxx is a good slam and it's the right 12 count and a questionable 3D call. Many 6-4's with a spade control can throw 6C against the wall. But I'm in no hurry. I'll mark time with 3H and pull 3N to 4c.

[gszes]

3n 4h 5c 6c are all feasible contracts and it seems wrong to just haphazardly guess at any of them. Openers hand might be KQx void Qxxx AQxxxx (i like 3n) x Kx Axxx AQxxxx where i really like 6c. So relax bid 3h (in case 4h looks good) and see what happens.

[dboxley]

 2200, on 2015-October-01, 08:48, said:

Teams, uncontested auction, you hold
♠xx
♥Axxxxx
♦KJ
♣KJx

pd opens 1C
1C-1H
2C-2D
3D-??

3H,describing a 6-card suit, or 4C showing support first？

This is a tough problem.

• I don't think there is a way to show club support and then show a 6 bagger in hearts, further heart bids would sound like cues for clubs.
• If I bid 3H now I would be end-playing partner into raising to 4H with a singleton on a lot of 64 hands, where I might lose 2 spades and 2 hearts.

All in all at imps I would bid 4C and give up on the hearts. This gives me a chance to get to 6C when it is right or play 5C otherwise. I am assuming partner

• won't open 1C and rebid clubs with 2245.
• won't ever raise to 3D without 4.

[phil_20686]

 Fluffy, on 2015-October-01, 09:05, said:

5♣, partner denied reverse values and IMO also doubleton honor in hearts, I have a lot of trouble to imagine a hand that produces a good slam.

I think this is unduly pessimistic? I would make some kind of slam investigation.

[helene_t]

Depends on a number of things:
- might partner have bid differently (opened 1♦, rebid 2♣, rebid 1NT) with 2245 without a spade stopper?
- how likely are opps to remain silent with a 10-card spade fit? vulnerability?
- could partner still bid a natural 4♥ with a doubleton hearts if I bid 4♣ now?
- 3♠ by either partner now shows half a stop I suppose? Or something else? It would be nice to have it as COG but probably it isn't.
- is my 2♦ bid systemic? Would p prefer to show doubleton heart support rather than a 4-card diamonds?

If p is not very unlikely to have a doubleton hearts and can't show it later then I want to bid my hearts again. I don't think he will raise on a small singleton. He can always rebid diamonds if nothing else fits.

[mikeh]

3♥ will fetch 4♥ almost all the time. Picture xx x AQxx AQxxxx. We can't bid 3♥ and then pull to 5♣ since that is a cuebid, not an offer to play.

Now we lose 2♠ and usually 3 trump tricks. Meanwhile we have 11 tops in clubs.

Ax x Axxx Axxxxx makes slam good, and I don't think that opener should bid any differently....while 2♦ is best played as simply an artificial force, there are many hands on which, coincidentally, responder has diamonds, so we need to be able to raise with 4=6. Besides, we can often find notrump next if it is a good contract...partner probably needs to help in spades for that to be the case, and then he can probe for or bid 3N himself.


I think we have no real choice but to bid 4♣. With luck, partner bids 4♦, we 4♥ and partner, with a spade control, pushes to the slam: if he holds 3 Aces and 4=6, he should appreciate the value of his controls.

[billw55]

I'm with Fluffy. Partner made a minimum rebid and I have a so-so 12 count, made modestly better by partner's bidding. 5♣ is enough for me.

[dboxley]

 mikeh, on 2015-October-02, 10:02, said:

3♥ will fetch 4♥ almost all the time. Picture xx x AQxx AQxxxx. We can't bid 3♥ and then pull to 5♣ since that is a cuebid, not an offer to play.

Now we lose 2♠ and usually 3 trump tricks. Meanwhile we have 11 tops in clubs.

Ax x Axxx Axxxxx makes slam good, and I don't think that opener should bid any differently....while 2♦ is best played as simply an artificial force, there are many hands on which, coincidentally, responder has diamonds, so we need to be able to raise with 4=6. Besides, we can often find notrump next if it is a good contract...partner probably needs to help in spades for that to be the case, and then he can probe for or bid 3N himself.


I think we have no real choice but to bid 4♣. With luck, partner bids 4♦, we 4♥ and partner, with a spade control, pushes to the slam: if he holds 3 Aces and 4=6, he should appreciate the value of his controls.

For once I agree with Mike, but that's only because I said the same thing earlier.

[2200]

Thanks all for the replies.

Just as the majority, 4♣makes things easy for potential club slam.
In reality, partner holds:

♠x
♥Kx
♦AQxx
♣Axxxxx

6♣,though far from being laydown, still not a bad chance.(♥4-1,QJ9x behind 10, ♣2-2)

The problem of 3♥ bid, is that parnter could have stiff heart honor and would still be forced to "signoff" 4♥.So you can't gain anything by bidding 3H，because you still have guesswork.You still don't know if parnter has Kx，Qx, stiff K or Q in hearts.
If pd has stiff ♥K, 4H could be played, but if it's stiff ♥Q, then it's almost useless, and 5♣ is much better.

If it's pairs, you have a more difficult choice, because either you stop in 4H, hoping +1, or try to gamble marginal 6C.