[Prlsgrl]

My partner opened with 1Club. I had 18 points(2 singletons, one in Clubs,1 in Diamonds. I had 6Hearts AKQJ 10 9 I bid three Hearts: Partner bid 3 NT. I bid 4 NT asking for Aces. I thought if I bid 4Clubs(using Gerber) my partner might think it a real Club bid. Opp asked if that was a legal bid. I don't know what a legal bid is. Partner had no Profile.

[Prlsgrl]

Prlsgrl, on 2011-September-16, 11:33, said:

My partner opened with 1Club. I had 18 points(2 singletons, one in Clubs,1 in Diamonds. I had 6Hearts AKQJ 10 9 I bid three Hearts: Partner bid 3 NT. I bid 4 NT asking for Aces. I thought if I bid 4Clubs(using Gerber) my partner might think it a real Club bid. Opp asked if that was a legal bid. I don't know what a legal bid is. Partner had no Profile.

Bu the way I bid 6H and we made 6Hearts.

[hrothgar]

From what I can tell,

1. You held a 5=6=1=1 18 count with the AKQJ of Hearts
2. Partner opened 1♣ and you responded 3♥
3. A bunch of bidding happened and you lands in 6♥

When did you ever bid 2N?

Let's assume that you meant to ask about the 4NT bid.

Players have wide latitude in determining what methods they will use in constructive auctions that go past 3N.
There's almost no question that the defined meaning of the 4NT bid was legal.

My suspicion is that IF there were questions about the legality of a bid it had to do with some kind of tempo violation.

I don't know anyone who plays a 3♥ response to 1♣ opening as a strong jump shift, let along one with a 6-5 pattern.
I'm guessing that your partner has little to no idea what was going on a hitched at some point in time.

Given the strength of your hand, I'm guessing that all roads lead to 6♥

[helene_t]

Hi Prlsgrl, welcome to the forum!

As long as you don't bid out of turn or make insufient bids then the bid is legal. Whether the agreement you have with your partner about the meaning of your bid is legal or not, is another matter. Some jurisdictions make restrictions on certain agreements. For example, in most English tournaments you are not allowed to have the agreement that you can open 1♥ with less than four hearts.

However, there are no jurisdictions that make restrictions on ace-asking conventions. The suggestion that bidding 4NT to ask for aces could be illegal is so absurd that I am inclined to think the opponents didn't mean "illegal" but were trying to ask about something else. Maybe English was not their first language? Or were they very inexperienced bridge players?

As for your 3♥, I don't think it is the correct bid. If I understand correctly you had six hearts and a second 5-card suit. In almost all bidding systems the correct approach is to start with 1♥. Depending on partner's rebid you will probably bid your second suit next turn.

[barmar]

I find your partner's 3NT bid very surprising. Most experienced bridge players would interpret your 3[HE} bid as a splinter, showing club support, 0-1 hearts, <4 spades, and enough points for game. He should only bid 3NT if he has hearts stopped, and he can't have that when you have AKQJT9. The standard way to show a strong hand with long hearts is with 2[HE], unless you're playing Weak Jump Shifts; if you are, you just bid 1♥ -- it's forcing, so you'll get a chance later to show your extra strength and length.

But I suppose he looked at his likely singleton heart and guessed that it was very unlikely that you also had short hearts when the opponents weren't bidding them. But I've been in auctions where the opponents had an 11-card fit and neither of them bid it, because they had no other points or distribution.

[ggwhiz]

All bids are "legal" in BBO as in you can't bid 1♣ over 1♦.

You can safely ignore the opponents comment here but we do disclose our agreements with an alert. If you don't have a specific agreement as to the meaning of a bid like this with your partner you don't have to alert. They can always ask.

Welcome to the forums.

On reflection this looks like a sour grapes comment. You did bid the hand in an unconventional manner and it worked. Nothing illegal about it though.

[kgr]

1C-3H
3NT-4NT
(with 5=6=1=1)
4NT blackwood legal if you didn't chat: "Blackwood".

[Free]

It's illegal to play such a crappy system