Posted 2012-February-24, 15:12
When partner bid 3NT, he announced that he had the high-card values for game. When our side has shown the high-card values for game, pass is forcing. The fact that these values are all in the same hand doesn't change anything.
Even if he hadn't bid 3NT, the 2♣ opening set up a forcing pass in all sequences. Although 2♣ isn't an absolute game-force, the one non-game-forcing hand-type - 22-24 balanced - is so strong that we would never want to defend something undoubled.
When pass is forcing but we haven't agreed a suit, doubles are for penalties and pass suggests not defending. Hence I pass.
If partner now bids a suit (4♦, probably), I'd like to bid Keycard, with a view to bidding a grand slam opposite the right top cards. Is that what 4NT means? Dunno.
If partner doubles 4♣, it might be right to leave it in. They won't have much apart from ♣KQ, so it's probably going for 800 or 1100. However, the fact that he bid 3NT rather than doubling 3♣ suggests a fairly offensive hand. If he has something like AJ AKx AKJxx Axx we still have a grand slam.
Partner will have no idea that this is a possibility - he's expecting us to have about a 4-count with a singleton club, and he thinks that the decision facing our partnership is whether to defend 4♣ or bid game. If he doubles, I think I should suggest a grand-slam, somehow. Presumably pass and pull to 6NT is a grand-slam try - what else can it be?
... that would still not be conclusive proof, before someone wants to explain that to me as well as if I was a 5 year-old. - gwnn