[mike777]

---

Imps, both vul






South declarer

1D!=(1S)=X={2S)
?

Your call and plan?


1D=5+ Diamonds and unbalanced

[DavidKok]

3♠, game forcing heart raise. I do not play 4♣ as a splinter for hearts.
There is an argument for concealing the heart support and looking for a diamond slam, but I do not like this on general principle. It might be correct here, to be honest, but I am still choosing to support with support.

[jillybean]

I don’t play unbalanced diamond.
X shows hearts?

4 hearts , I hope it shows this shape

[mw64ahw]

4♥ may be an underbid

I hope 3♠ will put partner on notice for a slam given the shape

In my unbalanced ♦ xN will show the Spade shortage and 3♥ a x46x.

[WasWinM]

Unless I have this specific agreement, that the cue bid confirms hearts, which is far from certain for me, after all, what do I bid with xx, Ax, AKQJxxx, Kx? Other considerations are that I would feel far more slam interest if this auction weren't competitive, leaving more cards for partner to hold. In this hand there are, assuming a trump break, 5 critical cards, spade K, KQ of hearts, diamond A, and Club A (if I can get to it). There are 2 non-critical cards, KQ of clubs. I need partner to hold 3 of the 5 for slam, and he could easily be holding xx, QJxx, xx, AKxxx, 3 covers but the wrong ones.
3S could lead to us getting overboard if partner takes his AK of clubs seriously, as I can't show the need for cards outside clubs. This hand is simply not that clear cut I don't think. 4H could be right, but so could 3S. This is one of those hands where I might well decide which depending on state of the match as it's a close call IMO.

[DavidKok]

WasWinM, on 2026-October-31, 07:55, said:

Unless I have this specific agreement, that the cue bid confirms hearts, which is far from certain for me, after all, what do I bid with xx, Ax, AKQJxxx, Kx?

Double and then 3♠. Direct bids are needed to confirm fit, because fit auctions are more volatile.

[WasWinM]

DavidKok, on 2026-October-31, 08:01, said:

Double and then 3♠. Direct bids are needed to confirm fit, because fit auctions are more volatile.

The direct cue establishing hearts is probably best, but it's not the only one. With your example, if LHO now bids 3S after your double, you'll need the stolen bid concept to then double again to show the running diamond hand. Bottom line: high-level bridge requires a lot of understandings.

[DavidKok]

I mostly agree, but not completely. By agreeing to clarify degree of fit immediately, a belated double of their 3♠ raise cannot be a desire to play in hearts. Failure to bid 3C the last round also restricts the hands - if opener does have clubs on this sequence, the hand must be very strong. This gives some meaning to the second double by opener through negative inference. I would not call this a stolen bid double, but rather a second takeout double. You say this requires another understanding, but I think this is to a large degree dialogue bidding and listening to the auction. Admittedly, those are very difficult, but still no partnership understanding needed.

Also may I use the opportunity to point out that this is yet another potentially great auction that can be ruined by a desire to have stopper asking/showing bids?

[jillybean]

mw64ahw, on 2026-October-31, 05:52, said:

4♥ may be an underbid

I hope 3♠ will put partner on notice for a slam given the shape

In my unbalanced ♦ xN will show the Spade shortage and 3♥ a x46x.

Yes I am worried 4♥ may be an underbid.
You are under the gun, this is a new partner at the Regional so I will make the least ambiguous bid that I can.

[apollo1201]

What about 4D as in the unopposed sequence 1D 1H 4D? The void and the SA (plus the 7th D) kinda compensate the slightly insufficient strength / fit quality, or is it a stretch?

Not necessarily driving to slam but might help partner what to do over 4S, while if it goes 3S 4S pass pass we will feel we need to act (5D does not loon lika criminal bid in tjhat context, though).

[WasWinM]

DavidKok, on 2026-October-31, 09:54, said:

I mostly agree, but not completely. By agreeing to clarify degree of fit immediately, a belated double of their 3♠ raise cannot be a desire to play in hearts. Failure to bid 3C the last round also restricts the hands - if opener does have clubs on this sequence, the hand must be very strong. This gives some meaning to the second double by opener through negative inference. I would not call this a stolen bid double, but rather a second takeout double. You say this requires another understanding, but I think this is to a large degree dialogue bidding and listening to the auction. Admittedly, those are very difficult, but still no partnership understanding needed.

Also may I use the opportunity to point out that this is yet another potentially great auction that can be ruined by a desire to have stopper asking/showing bids?

In the sequence I gave the double is not stopper asking, simply showing strength. Partner might bid 3NT to show spades stopped, but only as a practical matter in case partner has the solid suit hand and not the heart support hand, just making the best descriptive bid he or she can.

[WasWinM]

jillybean, on 2026-October-31, 10:54, said:

Yes I am worried 4♥ may be an underbid.
You are under the gun, this is a new partner at the Regional so I will make the least ambiguous bid that I can.

I think this is good thinking. It reminds me of something similar that Mike Lawrence wrote once about grand slam bidding, that once you can no longer intelligently find out if the necessary cards are there for grand slam, you stop in the small slam. Not the best possible result but the best result possible, which I think is a Victor Mollo quote.

[mike777]

Hmm ok. Ty for feedback, you all echo what my partner said.


I had an entirely different take at the table


. I was concerned that I would get tapped out playing in hearts and my diamond suit would become worthless.

[mw64ahw]

mike777, on 2026-November-01, 19:43, said:

Hmm ok. Ty for feedback, you all echo what my partner said.


I had an entirely different take at the table


. I was concerned that I would get tapped out playing in hearts and my diamond suit would become worthless.

I often try and judge against weaker opponents whether bidding on will push them into game.
Here 2♠ is competitive only while X hopefully shows a modicum of values so on balance we are likely to have the balance of points albeit amongst shapely hands. Playing an unbalanced diamond as you do means that 5♦ after 4♠ will be natural and shapely. The alternative to 5♦ would be X, but the best bid may be hard to judge.

[P_Marlowe]

5D

[mike777]

Funny story

Partner and I really disagreed on this one. For a long time

I kept arguing I was concerned about being tapped out as declarer in hearts .

He is Polish, very Polish. It finally dawned on me that
" We had a failure to communicate"

He had no idea what the English phrase
Being tapped out meant..
Smile.

We laughed as often he would lapse into Polish in discussing bridge