[BunnyGo]

Dealer SOUTH

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Thanks for the help.

[Quantumcat]

Here is my suggestion:

1♥ - 1♠
3♣ - 4♦
6♣

The 3♣ bid looks a bit weird, but opener is protecting himself in case 3NT is the right spot. In that case, if responder had some diamond stuff and nothing in clubs that would encourage him to bid 3NT. If you trust your partner to have an actual hand for clubs and not just making noise with his 4♦ splinter, that's all you need to bid 6♣, since you have all the aces, and partner should have a bit of strength to fill in the kings. It is too hard to find out if partner has a void, and even if you could, you still don't know if you have twelve tricks or thirteen so just bidding 6♣ is the best bet.

Responder will almost always bid 3♥ after 3♣ unless he has something vitally important to say himself. So you won't ever miss 4♥. And responsible partners should never go leaping about in minors while 3NT is still a possibility, so you shouldn't worry about ending up playing in clubs when you should be playing in 3NT with the 3♣ bid.

[BunnyGo]

Yes, it seemed like either 3♥ or 3♣ were reasonable second bids for opener, but it's not clear to me what 4♦ should be. I guess it's a splinter in support of clubs? Not clear to me that this is standard.

[Cyberyeti]

BunnyGo, on 2011-March-25, 09:27, said:

Yes, it seemed like either 3♥ or 3♣ were reasonable second bids for opener, but it's not clear to me what 4♦ should be. I guess it's a splinter in support of clubs? Not clear to me that this is standard.

Yeah, but any reason responder isn't 6214, I'd splinter with that unless 3♣ is often a 3 card suit (unfamiliar with 2/1).

[Quantumcat]

It must be a splinter because you could show actual diamonds by bidding 3♦ then 4♦ (the first diamond bid starts off being 4th suit forcing but after your second bid, it shows 6/5 in spades and diamonds). And it must be a splinter for clubs because if you have a splinter for hearts you would have bid 4♦ right away instead of 1♠.

3♥ is not really a good bid, because it doesn't help partner to know when to bid 3NT. You bid 3♣ to help partner know whether to bid 3NT, and gives them a chance to give some mild preference, so you know whether they have a void or a doubleton, since if they raise to 4♥ after 3♥ they could well have a void heart but any other place to play seems worse.

If opener's clubs and diamonds were reversed, responder would be very pleased to bid 3NT after a 3♦ bid.

If he had one less heart and one more spade, he would have to bid 4♥ after a 3♥ bid, and if opener's clubs and diamonds really were reversed, you'd be missing out on a good 3NT.

The added benefit of bidding the strong 3-card minor instead of repeating the hearts is that the auction can proceed:

1♥ - 1♠
3♣ - 3♥
3♠ - 4♠

If opener has three card spades and responder has five, you won't miss your spade fit. But if it starts 1♥-1♠, 3♥, responder will almost always have to bid 4♥.

Don't forget to always raise with three cards immediately with a weal (11-14 HCP) hand. (i.e. 1♥-1♠, 2♠)

[mike777]

imo this is a very difficult hand esp for us b/i
I can see missing slam often.

fwiw I would not spend any time on this one.


Spend more time on play of hand and defense.
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I grant we enjoy discussing bidding more