[sceptic]

Scoring: IMP

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West North East South

 -     -     -     Pass
 1♥    Dbl   4♣    Pass
 4♦    Pass  4♥    5♣
 Pass  Pass  5♥    Pass
 Pass  Pass  

OK, I was playing 2/1 and jacoby 2NT and reverse bergen

The partner I am playing with is not the Partner I am having a debate with about this hand, can you comment on the following

1/. what do you think of this auction

2/. would 3 spades be a splinter after the x

3/. Should I bid 4 spades and not 4 hearts

4/. do you think Jacby 2NT is better than the 4 club splinter

5/. what do you think of 5 Heart bid (contract made by the way)

6/. do you think I would have been better x'ing the 5 club bid?

7/. is there any advantage in bidding 1 spade over the x

Thanks

[pbleighton]

4C is textbook.

West should have signed off in 4H. He has no extra values, a bad 6 card suit, spades are wide open, and partner's singleton is worthless to him.

Peter

[mike777]

4c is fine

I too end up in 5H.

One more reason to play splinter as showing around 7 LTC hand.

Not that easy a hand to bid after 4C.

[inquiry]

sceptic, on May 7 2005, 10:07 AM, said:

Quote

1/. what do you think of this auction

It is not bad, if you play that way. I prefer 4♣ to be a fit jump showing a club suit and a heart fit.

Quote

2/. would 3 spades be a splinter after the x

No, it really should be a fit jump.

Quote

3/. Should I bid 4 spades and not 4 hearts

Absolutely. You are looking at a spade control and GREAT hearts. It is hard to imagine your partner will be able to continue over 4♥ with you having those goodies (because he doesn't have them).

Quote

4/. do you think Jacby 2NT is better than the 4 club splinter

Well, technically, Jacoby 2NT is if your RHO passed. Once he doubled, the 2NT bid is usually called Jordon 2NT or something similar. Yes, I would have bid 2NT.

Quote

5/. what do you think of 5 Heart bid (contract made by the way)

I am not sure why you got a chance to bid it. Your partner has a sixth heart, a short club to match your shortness, great diamonds. For your 4♣ splinter, you must have good values in the majors, plus the short club. His hand is offensive, he should have bid 5♥ rather than forcing pass. OF course, in your seat, if your partner doesn't want to double 5♣, neither do you.

Quote

6/. do you think I would have been better x'ing the 5 club bid?

No. I wouldn't have stopped in 4♥ anyway, and I am certainly not going to double five clubs from my side of the table.

Quote

7/. is there any advantage in bidding 1 spade over the x

No. You want to play in hearts. Tell partner now. If 4♣ is splinter, fine, tell him that way. If not, use 2NT.

[awm]

1/. what do you think of this auction

1♥ and 4♣ are fine bids. West really shouldn't be cooperating with the slam try here though (the 4♦ splinter is pushing) and once west DOES cooperate, I think east needs to cue 4♠.

2/. would 3 spades be a splinter after the x

Yes. It's certainly possible to play fit jumps as Ben suggests, but these are not standard, and with many partners I play only single jumps as fit (double jumps as splinter). Without prior agreement I think 3♠ is certainly a splinter.

3/. Should I bid 4 spades and not 4 hearts

Yes. Give opener a hand like:

♠ Kx
♥ Kxxxx
♦ AKx
♣ xxx

and 6♥ is ice cold. I don't think that with poor trumps and no first round control in any suit but diamonds, you can necessarily blame opener for failing to make a second cue over the 4♥ signoff. With five trumps, your splinter could probably be the same hand minus the spade ace (and then opener must pass).

4/. do you think Jacby 2NT is better than the 4 club splinter

The 4♣ splinter is fine. It's not a clear decision (unless you play all jumps fit-showing).

5/. what do you think of 5 Heart bid (contract made by the way)

Like Ben says, west knows opponents have an 11-card fit and you have at least 10, and should be bidding 5♥ himself. With that said, easts 5♥ is also right.

6/. do you think I would have been better x'ing the 5 club bid?

No, 5♣ is off two for 500. In general with shortage in the opponents suit, an extra trump, and good controls, it is probably better to go to the five level.

7/. is there any advantage in bidding 1 spade over the x

No, 1♥-1♠ (or 1♥-X-1♠) is one of the worst auctions in standard bridge. The problem is that the spade bid carries a wide range of strength and it can be difficult to effectively set hearts and force game later in the auction. In competition especially, "support with support" is often a good rule. Suppose the auction goes 1♥-X-1♠-3♣-P-P to you. If you cuebid clubs, it's not totally clear what the strain is. If you bid 3♥ it's probably not forcing. If you bid 4♥ it shuts partner out and could miss a good slam. There are any number of such situations.

[Fluffy]

What do you think of this bidding?

South's bid is inadmisible, really can't understand.

4♣ is automatic, 4♦ is debatable, but I will give it the benefit of the doubt, 5♥ is a guess, a successful guess and won't argue with success.

What would 3♠ be?

splinter of course.

What about 4♠ instead of 4♥?

You shouoldn't bid 4♠ if your splinter bids are unlimited, ONLY if they are limited to 15 then 4♠ is in order.

Jacoby?

No way, jacoby denies a singleton.

[mike777]

I hope Fluffy is not suggesting Jacoby or versions of strong 2nt replies deny singleton.

The main purpose of splinters is to limit responder hand and show shape.

[sceptic]

interesting I never thought that 4!C was limiting, I thought it was shape description only and slam interest

[Fluffy]

It is for many people wayne.

And yes Mike 2NT denies singleton, it did in the original jacoby as long as I know and it always will for me. If you wanna play limited splinter then play 3NT as serious splinter instead.

[mike777]

If I remember correctly, Oswald stopped playing this.

[han]

4C is good, though you have to realize that you could be a little weaker, but not better. 4D is too aggressive, since 4C is limited. After 4D, I would go to slam with the east hand (given that we only miss 1 keycard).

I don't like the bidding by souh either. If you want to bid clubs, do it earlier. Here east-west have a lot of information and should know what is best.

I think the way 5H was bid is not correct. You have told partner about your stiff, and it is partner who should be making the decision. Therefore, I nominate as worst bid the pass by WEST over 5C.

Whether you want to play 3S and/or 4C as splinters or fit showing jumps is something you should decide with partner. Either is fine I think, I play them both as fit-showing. If you play 4C as a splinter, then I recommend that you play 3S also as a splinter, you have 2S available as a fit showing jump.

Bidding 1S over the double is a bad idea imo, try never to hide 5-card support.

whew, I think I gave an answer to all questions.

[luke warm]

the east hand seems perfect for an over jump shift, 12/13-15 with shortness