[mike777]

4C splinter

3C is game force with c and s
3nt versus possible minor slam never ending issue but if I cannot show D support, spade values, and a side void with one simple bid, GOOD GRIEF!

[Double !]

Agree, albeit belatedly, with the 2H bid. What is the rush to splinter the hand? I need more information from partner. We're in a forcing situation if I bid 2H followed by diamond support. And.....I don't know at this point that P doesn't have xx in hearts. 4-card suit overcalls (for the lead, P) seem to be getting more common. All I know about partner's hand (I think) is that he/she has 6 diamonds, likely no other 5+ card suit, and fewer than 4 spades. And if the opps bid, will that cause problems? Probably not, it might help to clarify things. I try to avoid by-passing 3NT at MPs unless confident in that decision, and 5 of minor is rarely a very good results. (We had a saying when much younger: "6 Diamonds always makes.)

DHL

[pbleighton]

5D, but 3NT is close at matchpoints.

Peter

[Fluffy]

Gerben42, on May 2 2005, 02:03 PM, said:

Nice that you are so sure Fluffy but how do you know if you are not in 3NT down 2 with 5♦ cold? (The second round of hearts gets ruffed), or vice versa.

I voted for 2♥ mate, wich is the one who gives you the most space to investigate preciselly that .

[Gerben42]

Justin: I agree. After this hand I agree even more.

So what happened:
I bid 5♦ right away (okay maybe 2♥ first would have been better.

The lead was ♥A and all followed.
The continuation was ♥K and all followed (!)
The third trick was ♥Q and LHO discarded, partner however had another.

Yes, overcaller had ♥AKQ only. His partner had ♣A and partners King dropped singleton under that. Down 2, 50 points less than the field who had bid 4♥-1.

Partner had:

Qxx
xxx
AKJxxx
K

[Echognome]

Gerben - I'm confused. Aren't you ruffing partner's club? RHO was lucky to get away with his overcall, but once he had you are never finding hearts as a strain.

Roland - Yes in Matchpoints you should always seek to bid 3NT whenever possible. However, anytime you can find a small slam in a minor, you are going to be miles ahead of the field. As long as you can back out in 4NT on occasion, you are usually just fine.

I don't like jumping in diamonds because of LHO's failure to support his partner, which he could have done with a support redouble.* This marks LHO with 2 or fewer hearts and we don't really know partner's length at the moment. I personally would start with 2NT showing diamond support and a heart stop. This should love partner in a better position to determine the strain of the hand. NT is obviously the wrong strain on this hand with clubs wide open, but difficult to end up in the partscore.

*Assuming we know that the opponents are playing these.

[PriorKnowledge]

4C splinter. This hand screams slam. You have length and weakness in opps suit, a void and AK in unbid suits and great 4-card support in partner's rebid suit. Except for the JH, every honor in your hand is working towards slam.

The only alternative bid is 6D. If partner has D-AKxxx and a singleton heart, the hand is cold for 6D.