[david_c]

Scoring: IMP

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RHO opens 2♠ (a standard weak two). What do you do?

[Your side is vul]

[Chamaco]

Either double (planning to show clubs if pard bids diamonds) or 3spades (if playing Leaping Michaels).

[david_c]

Chamaco, on Apr 28 2005, 07:19 AM, said:

Either double (planning to show clubs if pard bids diamonds) or 3spades (if playing Leaping Michaels).

OK. But which one are you going to choose?

By the way, at one table in this match a natural 4♣ bid was available, but at the other table they were playing Leaping Michaels. It would be interesting to have an answer in both cases.

[hotShot]

I'm sure that if i dbl, I hear ♦ from my partner, so it's 3♣ for me.
If partner bids 3♦ i have a cheap 3♥ as a rebid. So i don't think well miss the ♥. If partner happens to pass, I'm happy to be in 3♣.

[inquiry]

david_c, on Apr 28 2005, 08:14 AM, said:

Scoring: IMP

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RHO opens 2♠ (a standard weak two). What do you do?

[Your side is vul]

With Misho I bid 4♣ which I play as leaping micheals showing 5=5 or better in the clubs and hearts. It is true I have only 4♥, but they are a very good four hearts. I use to play this 4♣ bid as non-forcing (partner could and often would pass). But, Misho insist that this 4♣ bid be one found force. I plan on bidding five clubs over 4♥ to show a self-supporting club suit, and willingness to bid slam if parnter ahs a little something in hearts or clubs.

With partners with whom I either don't play leaping micheals or who would treat 4♣ as non-forcing, I will double, planning on bidding clubs over the anticiipated diamod bid, and making slam try should partner discover enough hearts to bid that suit (over 3♦ by partner (we use lebehnshol) I am not cue-bidding 3♠, I am bidding 4♣, over 2NT by partner, I wil bid 3♣ then 4♣ when he runs out to 3♦.

Ben

[P_Marlowe]

Double.

If partner shows hearts, fine. In case he bids
diamonds, I will bid 4C.

Hopefully we play Lebensohl, which makes 4C
forcing, after a pos. reply by partner, but if we
dont play Lebensohl, that will be fine as well.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[whereagles]

Yup, double seems fine. The alternative is to bid 3C and follow up with some nr. of hearts.

[HeartA]

david_c, on Apr 28 2005, 07:14 AM, said:

Scoring: IMP

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RHO opens 2♠ (a standard weak two). What do you do?

[Your side is vul]

dbl.

If pd bid 3D, I bid 4C. ...

[Double !]

Double would be OK provided that lho didn't do something nasty like up the ante to 4S because P could always bid 2N first (leb) before flying into outer space with some 5D call. But, if lho bids, and P has 6 or 7 diamonds like to the K-J, a stiff spade, and little else, well, what would you bid over 4S on this sequence. Doubling with this 7-4 hand seems awkward, a far throw for the prototypical 4441 that P will initially base his/her action on. Not comfortable with Dbl.

This can be more than a 3-loser hand opposite a partner who has little outside of diamonds such as no entries whereby you're repeatedly playing out of your hand. The possibility of a 3C bid being passed out seems real, so that seems to be insufficient. What would 3S/2S, conventionally initially asking for a spade stopper and implying a running minor, followed by a club bid (even if P bids 3NT) show? If partner has a somewhat weakish hand with many diamonds, this might slow him/her down, especially should lho take some action, because it suggests a long suit.

Oh, well, just a thought.........

[david_c]

I chose to double with this hand. Of course I knew it could go wrong if partner bid diamonds, but I wasn't expecting anything quite as bad as this:

Scoring: IMP

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At our table the bidding went

... ... 2♠ X
3♠ 5♦ p 6♣
p 6♦ p p
X all pass

At the other table:

... ... 2♠ 3♣
3♠ 4♦ P 5♣
p 5♦ p p
X all pass

[hotShot]

david your RHO hold 6+♠ and usually not an additional 4card suit. You hold 7♣ and no ♦. So you can expect your LHO and your Partner to hold 10-11 ♦.
Finding your with 5-6♦ is to be expexted, holding 7+cards is not unlikely.

[luis]

I'd bid 5♣ directly forget about hearts and I think double is reasonable but too dangerous if the hand is a missfit and pd has a zillion diamonds.

[pclayton]

I used to make Leaping Michaels calls with 6-4's and 7-4's. Not any more. Partner will usually choose the major, and can't judge the auction well if we only have 4.

5C for me.

Those that know me know my opinion of a double.

[Double !]

Phil
I agree with most of your last post
to double with the 7-4 hand is just looking for disaster, IMO
I wonder whether double would even be a consideration if it weren't for the matchpoint training of never missing a major suit game hadn't been drilled into us?

And if leaping michaels shows 5-5 or 5-6, i don't want to have to explain to partner that I felt the 4 hearts (not five to handle taps) were 4 good ones after he took a preference to 4H on 3 small.

I'm still wondering if there might not be an alternative to an immediate 5 club response. Like I said, this hand does have a number of holes.