[Elianna]

Scoring: MP

Pard is dealer, and opens 1♠. You bid a forcing NT, and LHO bids 2♥. Pard bids 2♠, which is passed to you. What do you bid?

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Also, is there a book answer, or is this a judgement call? (I don't play 2/1 a lot, so I don't know.)

I assume that if LHO just passed, you'd have an easy 2NT rebid. Is that true?

[the hog]

10 count with a good 5 card suit? Looks like 2NT to me.

[Elianna]

The_Hog, on Oct 25 2005, 12:46 AM, said:

10 count with a good 5 card suit? Looks like 2NT to me.

And no heart stopper? Or do you mean in an unopposed auction?

[whereagles]

Pard will have 6 cards for his 2♠ bid. You can try 3♠ now, or try and play the hand yourself by bidding 2NT.

P.S. a stopper is as good as you make it sound.

[Gerben42]

3♠, I have nothing in ♥.

[mr1303]

I'm going to be different and pass. It looks as though partner has a similar heart length to me from the absence of a raise or any interest from RHO. Add in the absence of any aces, and I'm going to go quietly. I've been wrong before....

[Chamaco]

With a 10 count and no wasted values, despite the hand being aceless, I think I owe pard a rebid, so I'll unhappily bid 3♠.

[Fluffy]

Depends on how weak does partner open 1M with 6 cards (or how strtong can he open 2M ). With most of my partners I pass.

[Al_U_Card]

Not sure why the H8 may be significant, but the 2H bid makes your hand a real trap with H leads and ruffs making 3S unlikely.....pass and see if they go on, then u can bid 3S np

[pclayton]

xxx of hearts doesn't bother me at all with LHO bidding the suit.

I think I'll raise to 3♠ but its very close. We should have a good play for game opposite an average 6 loser hand like: AKxxxx, Ax, xx, Axx. 3N may be possible too.

[Al_U_Card]

For me, the "free" 2S bid shows extras, like a 6th spade and a full opener. With more he might bid 3S with 6 or double with a good hand etc.

[Chamaco]

Jlall, on Oct 25 2005, 02:02 PM, said:

pass at MP... xxx in hearts and no aces...yuck.

Agree that xxx in opps suit is bad, but don't you think that Aceless hands are underrated in the *specific* situation when pard has values ?

It is my impression that, most times, when we do hold an aceless hand, pard, for his opening, has "Aceful" hand, so the combined strength fits well, merging quacks in one hand complemented by good controls in the other hand.

Here, IMO, any honor that pard can contribute in the minors is worth gold.
I expect that pard will deevaluate hands with hearts wastage, and that his free 2S bid was worth a non minimum hand (my 1NT forcing could come from a weak hand with a long minor)

[mike777]

pass at MP.

[Chamaco]

I think that part of the problem resides in which kind of hands would bid forcing NT and give a belated support /weak preference.

If responder can bid 2M with 3 card support and a bust as well as with 8-10 and a doubleton, then it's hard for opener to evaluate the hand well.

These kind of hands (bad 10 with a doubleton) are easier to bid with an IMMEDIATE 2M constructive raise, when the support is Hx.

Here, having Tx, it's borderline.
With hindsight, raising immediately to 2M with Tx would greatly simplify things, IMO.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

Pass.

2NT surely promises a heart stopper,
you dont have one, and since 2S does
not promise a 6 card suit I pass.

I will pass regardless if playing MP/IMP.

3C is competitive, but I would like to have
a 6 card suit, 3H does not exist, unless 1NT
contains game forcing values like 13-15 bal.
with 3 card support.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[hrothgar]

Mark me down for 3♣

A forcing NT response can be made on a weak hand with a long club suit. However, I think that it would be a mistake to use a 3♣ rebid to show this hand type in this auction. Partner's 2♠ rebid shows a single suited hand. It doesn't seem reasonable to use a 3♣ rebid to try to "improve" the contract. Sure, I might have a Spade void and crappy 7 card club suit. Even so, a natural and non-forcing 3♣ rebid puts us at the three level and moves us from a minor to a major. Equally significant, the 3♣ rebid screams misfit, making it much easier for the opponents to find a double.

I think that its more reasonable to use 3♣ as some kind of fit nonjump, showing club values and secondary Spade support. I very much expect to be in the minority here.

[Al_U_Card]

Jlall, on Oct 25 2005, 12:08 PM, said:

Well what I really dislike about being aceless here is if partner has a stiff in either minor (which is not all that unlikely at all) my holding in that minor becomes really bad. If i had Axx of diamonds and AQxxx of clubs that would not be the case.

Expecting pard to have values is one thing, expecting specific cards is another. I like Richards thought process on the 3C bid (even if it is not mainstream) as pard would expect 6 and 10-11 hcp but might then (with a stiff) bid 3D or 3H to which you can bid 3S and he will accept the doubleton and like the T.