What should I bid? - Best enquiry for March 2010
The best submission for March came from Geoff Hart.
Hand: I was dealer with this hand:
| Bidding: |
West |
North |
East |
South |
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1 |
1 |
1 |
2
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? |
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Comments: Playing Standard. I bid 3 believing this showed extra strength and length, but partner
said this was just competing and passed with AJ6 and  K7. The spade finesse worked so we made 12 tricks.
Kieran's Reply:
Geoff,
A tough hand. Vulnerability might be relevant, since partner might take a 3
rebid more seriously then.
This is a good illustration of why some pairs have adopted conventions like the
good-bad 2NT. 3 directly would show a hand resembling this one - a
full-blooded jump to 3 - while 2NT is used to show a competitive hand (clarified at
your next turn as one with diamonds), perhaps resembling this hand with an ace
less.
Without those sorts of conventions, we have to muddle through as well as we
can. The 3 rebid is a little heavy, but you'd hate to go down in 4 for no reason opposite a lousy diamond fit, and 3NT is a
possible destination.
In some partnerships, double (takeout) followed by 3 might suggest more strength, or buy you some time to evaluate
more aggressively (like if partner bids diamonds). Many partnerships, including
virtually all of mine, play this double as promising three card support and I
hate to not deliver on promises.
Failing that, your options are a pushy 4 or a heavy 3. Opposite a meek partner, I might go the 4 path to attempt to wake them up. Opposite a more aggressive
partner, 3 might be enough. Either might work poorly anyway, but knowing
your partner's style must improve your odds.
By the way, I think I would have kept bidding with your partner's hand. AJx of
diamonds suggests that the suit will run, so 3NT (if you can stop hearts) or 5 (if you have extra shape) might well be possible. If he knows
that you're short in hearts and haven't raised spades, these minor suit
holdings are looking very strong indeed. Note that 5 is laydown even if you remove the diamond queen, spade queen
and club jack.
Kieran
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