[Antrax]

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Matchpoints, vul vs. not, LHO opens a "strong" 2♠, which apparently means "8 tricks for playing in spades". RHO promptly raises to 4, and now it's your move. Unfortunately, 4NT would not be "two places to play", most likely partner will take it as takeout to the minors or a three-suit takeout, and X would be a penalty suggestion.

[SteveMoe]

Everything is to my left. Partner has nothing. RHO should also be close to broke. I will pass prudently and hope they go set.

[Codo]

I bid my suit. If this fails for 500 and more, I have a zero. But I like my chances for another outcome.

[wyman]

Antrax, on 2012-December-01, 21:43, said:

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Matchpoints, vul vs. not, LHO opens a "strong" 2♠, which apparently means "8 tricks for playing in spades". RHO promptly raises to 4, and now it's your move. Unfortunately, 4NT would not be "two places to play", most likely partner will take it as takeout to the minors or a three-suit takeout, and X would be a penalty suggestion.

I would still bid 4N. If he bids 5C I will bid 5D. Partner will figure it out. Switch my minors and I'd bid 5C.

[Antrax]

Sorry for bumping, but I'm still interested (mostly in pass vs. compete somehow). So far three people gave three different answers, I'm wondering if there's a correct one.

[PhilKing]

Change the system?

Then I double. As it is, 5♦. Pass can easily lose a double game swing opposite a stiff spade and one high red card. 4NT followed by 5♦ could get us to 5♥ when partner is 1327 or similar. Yuck!

[ggwhiz]

It's matchpoints and I doubt that other tables are facing off against a strong 2♠ bid so I think desperate measures are called for.

I'll try 5♦ (smoothly) and cross my fingers hoping to double 5♠. Anything more descriptive gives them more reason to maroon us maroons, ie after a dbl pard bids 5♣ and rho smashes that before we bid 5♦ making lho's decision a lot easier and given my hcp's I'll gamble on my lho having a shapely offensive 8+ tricks and hand them a problem not knowing if any spade tricks are cashing.

[mikeh]

5♦. For one thing, the explanation given for the 2♠ bid seems to be inaccurate. If it were a strong 2 bid then it promises defence, and I'd be worried, expecting partner to have no top red card. However, it seems that it may be as much as strong preempt as it is a strong hand. AKJ10xxx xx x KQ10 may be seen (reasonably enough) as '8 tricks in spades'.*

Now, partner may even hold void Axx Kxxx xxxxxx and we are stiff for a grand, so how on earth can we pass?


* at the table I'd grill rho for clarification. Were he to tell me that the partnership agreement was that it was a strong 2 bid of the Acol or Goren varieties (which are different) then I'd still bid but I wouldn't be worried about slam. Of course, I wouldn't be the least surprised to learn that they have never actually agreed on what it shows, and I'd want to be sure that RHO told me their agreement, not his assumption. All too often, an opp, intending to be helpful, tells you his guess, and you only find out after the hand that opener thought differently

[Antrax]

I went with ggwhiz's plan.
mikeh, that partial explanation I gave in the OP took me about 20 seconds to extract, and at some point LHO starting piping in with explanations. The rules standard here is extremely low, I'm afraid, and usually I get confused stares or straight out glaring when I do something crazy like trying to understand what a bid means (and similarly, when I give explanations that have more than two words, people usually reply with 'well, I don't understand all that, but whatever').
Anyway, complaints about club Bridge in Israel aside, getting to 5♦ was the winning decision. RHO doubled to ensure me trumps won't split, and the full layout was something like

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I made -1 doubled, which was most of the matchpoints - other tables were in 4♠=, and the only one that wasn't was in 5♠X-1. I was wondering if bidding here is crazy. Thanks for the replies.

[the hog]

Did you get a trump lead? On a S lead 5D is cold. Ruff, cross to C Ace, ruff another spade. King of C pitching the 3 of H. The a H to the King. As the J of H drops you lose 1H and 1D only.

[cloa513]

I think North's hand is sensibly bid as 3♣- its a great hand in defence and 5♣ is solid.

[Antrax]

Yeah, I didn't say 5♦ can't be made, only that I didn't make it. I continued with a third round of clubs, which LHO ruffed for their third trick.