[mck4711]

vul vs non-vul, IMP, partner is dealer

J10xx
AKJx
10xx
xx

p - p - p - 1C
1D - 1S - 2D* - 2S
p - p - p

*what is with my hand here the best bid? As it looks, the alternatives are 1NT, 2D, X, but I am not sure.

P had Kx, xxxxx, AKQx, xx

[pooltuna]

your partner has an opening 1♥ hand and his 1♦ call totally screwed your side as far as the bidding goes.

[daveharty]

What pooltuna said. Your partner has a perfectly ordinary 1H opener; 1H doesn't promise high cards in hearts, it just promises hearts.

That being said, I would try doubling (if you felt compelled to bid that is; partner "can't" have a hand as good as s/he actually does). That might find a heart fit, and if partner bids clubs, you can always return to diamonds.

[mck4711]

daveharty, on 2011-July-22, 07:22, said:

What pooltuna said. Your partner has a perfectly ordinary 1H opener; 1H doesn't promise high cards in hearts, it just promises hearts.

That being said, I would try doubling (if you felt compelled to bid that is; partner "can't" have a hand as good as s/he actually does). That might find a heart fit, and if partner bids clubs, you can always return to diamonds.

I agree with pooltuna and you, daveharty, p c/should have opened with 1H.
Lets come back to my Q: what is my best bid in this sequence? what does x mean in this sequence/ how would it be understood?

[wyman]

You guys had 3 chances here to bid hearts:

1) Your partner should open 1H.
2) You could open 1H. [yes, I realize this is a style thing, but with the agreement that we may open light in 3rd, I open 1H and don't consider it particularly close -- if they bid to something, I want partner to lead hearts. And we play Drury (I hope) for a reason, so he won't get out of hand, assuming he didn't forget to open...]
3) You could make a negative double of 1S.

[Phil]

I like to see problems like this in the B/I (instead of stepping stone squeezes that some sadists like to post here). There's a lot to mull here:

1. Your partner's bidding. xxxxx of hearts is much more relevant than AKQx of diamonds. Length is much more important than strength but this is a hard concept to teach. A new player might look at AKQx and think "3 tricks", this suit is wayyy better than xxxxx that might take no tricks. Opening 1♥ on xxxxx does not commit your side to hearts. If partner cannot support, you aren't playing hearts as a final contract. Also, to make game in a major requires less tricks than a minor, so our focus is always geared toward finding our major suit fits.

Partner really has an opening bid. Its a fair 12 with 5-4 shape. Passing this is very wrong.

Once partner passes, partner should definitely favor overcalling a five card suit than a four card suit for the same reasons above, although in general, overcalling shows a better suit than xxxxx, since one of the objectives of defensive bidding is to request a lead.

2. Over the 1♠ response, your only two choices are 2♦ and 2♣. Both show diamond raises, but 2♣ a limit raise, in case partner wants to compete further. Its doubtful you have a game after both of you have passed, but its important for partner to be involved.