mikeh, on 2026-June-20, 11:01, said:
I don’t like the methods but all methods have hand types that can be awkward.
Over 2S we have options
2N looks weird but it has some upsides. The worst thing that could happen is being raised to 3N…not only because we may not enjoy this on a spade lead but also because we may be missing a great contract elsewhere…..picture QJxx xx AQJxx Kx…and yet 3N might be the best spot…picture AKQx Jx Qxxxx xx Where it shines is if partner is, say, 4=1=5=3 and can bid 3C.
3C shows the extra club but overstates club quality while making showing our great diamond support problematic. Also, 3C likely endplays partner in the auction. He can hardly be bidding 3N next with our heart holding so he’s likely to punt (in my partnership a bid of 4th suit at the 3 level in a gf auction is a punt, denying a stopper, but I doubt that most play that). Whether his punt is 3H or 3D, we can’t look for a diamond slam without going by 3N.
3D shows our trump support, and here the methods make this palatable since 2S promised 5D or 4144. He shouldn’t have 4144…he should raise clubs. So 3D looks pretty good…it forces, sets trump and while it consumes bidding space, compared to 2N or 3C, it seems to me that the help it provides partner outweighs the bidding space issue. Of course, psrtner may still have a difficult rebid and a 3S bid would present us with another issue.
Finally, in terms of choices I’d be considering, we could bid 3H. I dismiss this because it consumes a lot of space while not helping us determine strain or level.
So by what I hope is a familiar elimination of possibilities approach, I come to 3D.
I await partner’s bid…along with any information about what that says or doesn’t say about his hand.
Thanks, that is exactly what I was looking for from all here.
The auction was actually a roaring success, but I felt there was some rust in our agreements (or not) about Responder's 3 level rebids here.
I chose 3
♣, more
to win the post mortem because it was what partner might expect than because I was convinced it was better than 2N or 3
♦.
Our system says that 2N does not promise a balanced hand and requests Opener to continue to describe his hand. Which is weird, but looked good to me... I can always pull 3N to 4
♦ which must show something like this.
3
♣ shows 6+ and invites Opener to do something intelligent. Somewhat unilateral in this case.
3
♦ shows fit (usually 4+ for a minor) and fixes trumps. Which if the suit was a major would be definitive and invite a control-bid, but the system style after a 1/1 auction is that the minor suit fix is not yet definitive and 3M is either about stops or an advance control-bid (if Responder pulls 3N to the minor).
3
♥ is a stopper ask (I can autofill the DavidKok comment).
Help
