[TWO4BRIDGE]

East made a picture bid of 3NT ( 13-15 ) with little or no Sp support after a 1S open.... passed out.
13 tricks are there at Cl or NT.
Should West have made a move over 3NT ?

How would you bid it instead ?

If you didn't reach slam you lost ~ 5 IMPs. Small slam making +1 was worth ~ 7 IMPs.
No one reached the grand.

West Deals and opens 1S

---

[han]

I can't believe anybody would play this jump to 3NT, sounds terrible unless you are playing with GIB.

It is not an easy hand, east will show a balanced GF and west will show his three suits. East will probably bid 3NT and west will have to judge whether to continue.

In my preferred methods west will show a 5-4-0-4 shape with serious extra values, east can then make a move towards slam.

[andy_h]

A possible standard 2/1 auction might be:
1S-2C
2H-2NT
3C-3D
4C-4D

Where
2C=GF, nat or bal
3D="waiting bid, as partner might be 6412 or 5503 etc"
4C=5404
4D=The only artificial bid to set clubs.

[awm]

I would bid 3♦ (splinter) after 1♠-2♣. Opener's hand is very good for slam, even opposite ♣AQxxx and out we have decent play (and that is no one's idea of a 2/1 bid).

[han]

I would not bid 3D because 2C doesn't promise a 4-card club suit for me. I like 2H followed by 4C better, that shows our distribution and our strength much better and doesn't risk missing a 4-4 heart fit when we don't have a club fit. Playing hearts would also be better when partner has something like Qx Axxx KQx Axxx.

[Phil]

han, on 2010-November-30, 09:06, said:

I can't believe anybody would play this jump to 3NT, sounds terrible unless you are playing with GIB.

It is not an easy hand, east will show a balanced GF and west will show his three suits. East will probably bid 3NT and west will have to judge whether to continue.

In my preferred methods west will show a 5-4-0-4 shape with serious extra values, east can then make a move towards slam.

I've bitched about this method too, and I think its (barely) playable if it shows exactly 4-4 in the minors.

West has a clear 4♣ call.

[TWO4BRIDGE]

Phil, on 2010-November-30, 13:48, said:

I've bitched about this method too, and I think its (barely) playable if it shows exactly 4-4 in the minors.

West has a clear 4♣ call.

Thx Phil, I should have figured it out:

-- If no 3s, and no 4h, and no 5 card minor for a 2/1 GF response, then partner should have a 4-4 in the minors.

I wonder if partner would work out the thinking process also and start advance cue bidding over 4C:

1S - 3NT
4C - 4D
4H - 4S
6C

[mrmarkwang]

TWO4BRIDGE, on 2010-November-30, 14:43, said:

Thx Phil, I should have figured it out:

-- If no 3s, and no 4h, and no 5 card minor for a 2/1 GF response, then partner should have a 4-4 in the minors.

I wonder if partner would work out the thinking process also and start advance cue bidding over 4C:

1S - 3NT
4C - 4D
4H - 4S
6C

PD could have 4 Hearts, so it is difficult to go further. Because you don't know which minor is 4 cards in pd's hand.
That issue is caused by the 3NT.

If you bid 2 minor over 1 Major only 5 or more, it is a problem to find the 4-4 fit minor.
3NT takes a lot bidding space.

[l milne]

Yeah, playing 3NT as exactly 2344 with slow cards and not significant extra strength will make it a very rare bid.

I'm keen to experiment with playing 1♠-3NT as a heart splinter in the future.

[Fluffy]

1♠-2♣
4♦-4♥
5NT (GSF)

its an option, however I think west should have 5 clubs for 4♦ since 2♣ could be just 3 with some rare hands.

1♠-2♣
3♣-3NT
4♣-4♥
4NT

is another

[HeartA]

Fluffy's both biddings are reasonable. Or if play 2/1, 3♦ can be Splinter.

I would never jump to 3NT　over pd's major opening.

[HeartA]

This is strange. I think 2/1 promises 4-card in minors, 4-card in major (♥, that is).

han, on 2010-November-30, 12:43, said:

I would not bid 3D because 2C doesn't promise a 4-card club suit for me. I like 2H followed by 4C better, that shows our distribution and our strength much better and doesn't risk missing a 4-4 heart fit when we don't have a club fit. Playing hearts would also be better when partner has something like Qx Axxx KQx Axxx.

[Free]

This is how I would bid it, starting with a normal 1♠ opening:

1♠ - 2♣ (5+♠ ; GF relay or INV with 6+♣)
2♥ - 2♠ (4+♥ ; GF relay)
2NT - 3♣ (5440 or 5-5 ; relay)
3NT - 7♣ (16+HCP with 5=4=0=4 ; alright)

It's not even necessary to bid 4♣. There are only 2HCP (or less) missing in ♠, ♥ and ♣, either it's ♥Q or it's 2 jacks we probably won't need.

This is not a standard continuation ofcourse...

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

Passing 3NT is not unreasonable, a new suit by opener on
the 4 level should show 5-5, so ...

3NT is also not a bad bid, although I think the hand is
super max for the bid, so it may have been better to go
a slower route, that would mean 2C, and than you have found
your club fit and will reach 6.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[han]

HeartA, on 2010-November-30, 23:24, said:

This is strange. I think 2/1 promises 4-card in minors, 4-card in major (♥, that is).

I would never bid 2H on a four card suit and I don't know anybody who does. I also don't bid 2D on a 4-card suit but I know some people do. There are many styles of 2/1, I made it clear in my post that what I would bid is in the context of my agreements.