[A2003]

Scoring: IMP

Bidding
Pass 2♣ Pass 2♦
Pass 3♣ Pass 3♥
Pass 5♦ Pass 6♥
Pass 6NT Pass Pass
Pass

---

Is it legal 2♣ opener?
ACBL tournament director says it is.
This happened on 11-23-07, 8pm speedball brd 12.
Being the last board, it is difficult to explain everything to the TD during the game
because of the shortage of time.
Result 6NT making 7, Lead T♠
If it is not legal, what is the damage?
I am playing East.

[matmat]

i wouldn't open it 2♣ myself, it's probably bad bridge to do so, but I wouldn't think it warranted a director call either...

[awm]

Well there is this rule that "you can't psych a 2♣ opening."

But they are pretty lenient with stuff like that. I know ♦AKQxxxxxx and out has been ruled a legal 2♣ opening before, and this hand seems somewhat closer to making a game contract.

[helene_t]

This is nowhere near an illegal 2♣ opening. It may be bad bridge but bad bridge is allowed.

What may be disallowed is opening 2♣ on a weak hand with the primary purpose of misleading the opponents. This hand is strong enough that one can easily imagine players (be it not-so-experienced players) who would open 2♣ because they think they wouldn't be able to show the strength of the hand after a 1-level opening, or because they might miss game if 1♦ is passed out.

It would be absurd to claim that this 2♣ opening had as primary purpose to mislead opps.

A different issue is that if you have the partnership understanding to open 2♣ with this kind of hand, you need to disclose that understanding.

[hrothgar]

Comment 1: I don't like the 2♣, but its most certainly not illegal in ACBL land

Comment 2: 6N looks to be a pretty miserable contract. However, it happens to be one that makes. The opponents are allowed to get lucky...

no damage, no foul

[skjaeran]

There's nothing "wrong" with this 2♣ opening. Sure, I'd not open 2♣ myself with this hand, since I'd not be able to show both suits before at the 4-level. But a 6-control 3-loser hand is defenitely strong. I'd never ever call the director here. There's absolutely no reason for that.

[blackshoe]

awm, on Nov 24 2007, 02:32 AM, said:

Well there is this rule that "you can't psych a 2♣ opening."

But they are pretty lenient with stuff like that. I know ♦AKQxxxxxx and out has been ruled a legal 2♣ opening before, and this hand seems somewhat closer to making a game contract.

No way is opening 2♣ with this hand a psych.

A psych is deliberate. If the TD rules that a player has psyched, when the player has stated he has not psyched, then the TD is calling the player a liar. Not cool. Not investigating (by asking the player what he was doing) ain't cool either.

Some years ago, I made some bid that was wildly inappropriate with what I had, not deliberately, but thinking it was appropriate. It worked out - opponents got too high, and went down (yes, it was their hand). I posted the hand somewhere or other, with a comment like "Cool. My first psych." Forty-leben people came back with replies along the lines of "That wasn't a pscyh. You just had no clue what you were doing."

Folks are allowed to misbid, even 2 ♣.