[AL78]

Playing head-to-head teams in the local league with a weak partner, minimal agreements other than playing Acol, three weak twos, weak NT.

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Your call?

[paulg]

I think I have to start with 4♣ and then the problems begin when partner just rebids 4♥ (anything else and then it is less of a problem). I will move over 4♥ even though partner could be 4414 because the slam potential is so high but it will get tricky.

This is reminiscent of a hand we had in the Premier League where my (non-weak) partner used exclusion. Slam could be excellent and hopefully the five-level is safe, but one of you is always going to be guessing (he guessed wrong!).

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

if your partner assement is correct, partner will have problem making intelligent decisions,
which is ok, try to make his life as easy as possible.
My plan is to bid 4H, followed by 5H and I will hit at anything above.

Obviously the book call is 4C, but if p does not know this, all you achieve is, that you tell
the opponents, that you bid to make.

So go low.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[mw64ahw]

Yep I'd move above 4♥, but tools are limited with my Acol partners

4♣ looks clear - 4♥
4♠ even keycards - 4N ♠ ctrl
5♣ shows the void and we're part way there.

[jillybean]

Agree with Marlowe, 4♥. You can't try anything fancy here.
If this hand was dealt after the panic, freeze, pass hand, 4♥ is automatic. And just hope this match ends quickly.

[johnu]

P_Marlowe, on 2025-November-07, 15:00, said:

My plan is to bid 4H, followed by 5H and I will hit at anything above.

Your first bid is 4♥? 4♥ does not invite opener to investigate slam and will almost always be passed. When are you expecting to bid 5♥? Maybe over competition of 5♣? That makes slam more likely.

[AL78]

I bid 4♣, partner might be weak but even she knows this must be strong and forcing, whether she takes it as heart support is less certain.

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Now what?

[Huibertus]

Looks like there's going to be further competition. The first concern is to make sure partner will understand future passes to be forcing, so 4♣ first.

[DavidKok]

 P_Marlowe, on 2025-November-07, 15:00, said:

Obviously the book call is 4C

Which book is that? I thought for sure it was a 4♦ fitbid, so that partner knows our distribution and when (not) to double if they compete to 5♣.

I agree with everything else though, you should bid 4♥ with an inexperienced partner. Take the loss at the table and discuss the situation after the event has concluded.

 AL78, on 2025-November-07, 18:05, said:

Now what?

Similarly, I feel that asking what to do over partner's 5 level double is pointless. If you say we can't rely on partner's evaluation, what merit is there in debating our last guess. Weak players pay up on competitive auctions. This is an example of that.

[P_Marlowe]

DavidKok, on 2025-November-08, 00:46, said:

Which book is that? I thought for sure it was a 4♦ fitbid, so that partner knows our distribution and when (not) to double if they compete to 5♣.

I agree with everything else though, you should bid 4♥ with an inexperienced partner. Take the loss at the table and discuss the situation after the event has concluded.

Similarly, I feel that asking what to do over partner's 5 level double is pointless. If you say we can't rely on partner's evaluation, what merit is there in debating our last guess. Weak players pay up on competitive auctions. This is an example of that.

Yes, 4D is better, ..., I did not think to much about this one.
Or you could start with 3D, which is forcing and natural, but it wont help a lot.

[P_Marlowe]

johnu, on 2025-November-07, 18:01, said:

Your first bid is 4♥? 4♥ does not invite opener to investigate slam and will almost always be passed. When are you expecting to bid 5♥? Maybe over competition of 5♣? That makes slam more likely.

If you think 6H is odds on, go for it. You are guessing.
If you need to guess, guess fast.

[P_Marlowe]

AL78, on 2025-November-07, 18:05, said:

I bid 4♣, partner might be weak but even she knows this must be strong and forcing, whether she takes it as heart support is less certain.

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Now what?

You bid 5H.

Unless you believe, that p has understood 4C as showing a heart fit and game going
values, in contrast to just being a generic force.

If he got the meaning of 4C, you pass, p does not want you to bid on, this assumes,
that you trust his judgement.

[AL78]

I passed the double on the basis of partner wanting to defend and maybe she has wasted club values, although given we were heading for a 20-0 loss, I was very tempted to blast 6♥ in a desperate attempt to pick up some imps. I should have done that as this was the full deal:

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I started with the ♥K then switched to the ♠J. Partner overtook with the ace, cashed the king then switched to a diamond. Thinking she had doubleton ♠AK, I played another spade instead of giving her a diamond ruff and that was a free trick for declarer. We only ended uip taking +500 out of this when it should have been at least +800. A classic case of not thinking, if partner had a doubleton spade, declarer would have an improbable number of them. I failed to count the suit before engaging autopilot.

This was another 11 imps out, the auction at the other table was (P) - 1H - (2C) - 6H.

[apollo1201]

Actually it should be 1100 so a plus for your side against 980! 3 spades, 2 hearts, DA and ruff.

I don t get why partner overtook the SJ, though, with AK in hand and Q in dummy.

So maybe +500 is better than -50 at 6H-1.

[Huibertus]

AL78, on 2025-November-08, 02:35, said:

I passed the double on the basis of partner wanting to defend and maybe she has wasted club values, although given we were heading for a 20-0 loss, I was very tempted to blast 6♥ in a desperate attempt to pick up some imps.

You were tempted to bid 6♥ suspecting partner had no reason to double? If so you were right and you told him he can safely pass by bidding 4♣.