[ArtK78]

Playing in an ACBL BBO matchpoint pair game, against very good opponents for once, you pick up at equal nonvul in first seat:

A74
A76
T8
AKQ74

You play 10-12 1NT at this vul in this seat, so opening 1NT is out of the question. You also play that a one-bid shows 10+HCP, so this is a very nice opening bid (a 2NT opening would be 19-21 in this seat, so that is also out of the question).

The auction:

1♣ - (P) - 1♠ - x
xx* - (P) - 4♠ - (P)
?

Your redouble was a support redouble, showing 3 spades and saying absolutely nothing else about the hand.

Your action?

[Codo]

5 ♣ if partner can hold KQJxx,xx,Axxx,xx or even better.

[ahydra]

I like 5C, probing for a diamond control.

ahydra

[dake50]

6C.
East knows which red to lead.
Put West to the guess.

[ArtK78]

Does anyone play that 4♠ could be a drop dead bid (a sort of tactical bid based on distribution), and that if responder had any type of constructive hand, he could make some sort of try between 1♠ and 4♠?

[Fluffy]

not for me, 4 spades is just a regular 12-15 hand with 5 spades or something like that. He doesn't have a cuebid avaible after all, with sronger hands he would have to pass (ugly)

[wank]

keycard

[the hog]

5C seems like a sensible bid.

[dake50]

Wow!
Am I hearing ALL raises are packed into XX?
AND all 12-15 responses into 4S?
What of 1NT,2NT,3NT; 2C,3C,4C; 2D,3D,4D; 2H,3H,4H, let alone 2S,3S,4S over their X?
Should some one bid be an exploring force?
Just list the unused bids similarly in response to XX?
An awful load of ignored bids.
All the way to scarry to play a scheme so constricted.

[PhilKing]

ArtK78, on 2012-November-06, 12:54, said:

Does anyone play that 4♠ could be a drop dead bid (a sort of tactical bid based on distribution), and that if responder had any type of constructive hand, he could make some sort of try between 1♠ and 4♠?

Two Hearts.

[ArtK78]

dake50, on 2012-November-07, 06:34, said:

Wow!
Am I hearing ALL raises are packed into XX?
AND all 12-15 responses into 4S?
What of 1NT,2NT,3NT; 2C,3C,4C; 2D,3D,4D; 2H,3H,4H, let alone 2S,3S,4S over their X?
Should some one bid be an exploring force?
Just list the unused bids similarly in response to XX?
An awful load of ignored bids.
All the way to scarry to play a scheme so constricted.

I don't see what the problem is.

Redouble promises 3 spades.

Responder bids as if opener has an unremarkable minimum with 3 spades.

What is the problem?

[aguahombre]

PhilKing, on 2012-November-07, 06:48, said:

Two Hearts.

Presumptive cues apply here? Probably a good idea, but probably not yet standard enough to try it without discussion.

[kenrexford]

Not having an agreement as to how to agree spades in this sequence means that redouble as support (or probably double for that matter) is a problematic agreement. It seems that something should very clearly agree spades. 2♥ (the other major) seems like the obvious candidate here, as you would never bid 1♠ with 4-4 in the majors. But, this gets trickier if the auction is one where hearts are supported by a support (re)double.

This may be one of those situations where a neat tool is adopted without thinking through the follow-up.

[mikeh]

I don't understand why people are so confused about how responder bids after the redouble.

This auction is simple, because partner has given us an extra call that we should use to our advantage.

If we have game or slam, I assure you that we score significantly better playing at the one level, so we have PASS as an easy call on a wide variety of hands. The opps are not likely to suddenly find a good save on this sequence, and once they run (believe me, they are running unless they have a strange misunderstanding) we can cuebid, bid game, compete and so on with no chance of ambiguity.

We can bid a quiet 2♠ as a general game try. Why would we bid 2♠ otherwise? I can see a preemptive reason, but I think that is aiming at a tiny target compared to having this as a game try.

We can bid 3♠ as forcing, demanding cuebids.

We can bid 4♠ as semi-preemptive.....a hand on which we expect to have play and, if not, expect it to be a good save. KQJxxx x Kxx xxx seems perfect to me for 4♠.

Most good hands, as well as hands with no game interest, start with pass.

And please deliver me from the advanced inferential cuebid. When an undiscussed call can be natural, it should be natural. So 2♥, which confirms 5+♠ should show heart length and be forcing....presumably as a game try else why bid it?

Incidentally, and referring to a comment in the OP, the idea that this opening hand is a 15-17 1N makes me feel ill. It is closer to a 2N bid than to a 1N.

Having said all that, I think 5♣ is clear. If partner has some mediocre 13 count 5332 and we fail in 5 or 6, then maybe we'll have a discussion (after the event) about maybe passing the xx with that holding.

[S2000magic]

ArtK78, on 2012-November-06, 12:54, said:

Does anyone play that 4♠ could be a drop dead bid (a sort of tactical bid based on distribution), and that if responder had any type of constructive hand, he could make some sort of try between 1♠ and 4♠?

How can you make a drop dead bid when partner is (essentially) unlimited?

A strong suggestion? Sure. Drop dead? That seems a stretch.

I like 5♣.

[mike777]

5c as others said..


Pard never plays us for this much when she bids 4s.