[pigpenz]

Scoring: IMP

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Auction:
1♣ double pass your call?

is this easy or what?

[Cascade]

I bid 1♥. Later if I compete I bid diamonds. Partner will know I don't have five hearts since I would compete with hearts or jump in hearts orginally with those hands. Therefore it is very likely that I have five or more diamonds and partner will bid accordingly.

[the hog]

2H

"is this easy or what? " Yes.

[jdeegan]

2♥
All other bids, zero. This is not a particularly good hand given its stiff spade and club queen, but it's no dog either. Gotta get it off my chest, NOW.

What about the diamond suit? Fugeddaboudit. Plenty of time to find out about that on the 5% of all hands where it matters.

[inquiry]

2♥ - automatic

[neilkaz]

2♥ and this is easy. Too strong to bid just 1, and I certainly will show a good 4 card major in preference to a ratty 5 card ♦ suit.

.. neilkaz ..

[helene_t]

2♥. If partner bids 3♣ I bid 3NT. If opps bid 3♣ or 2♠ I bid 3♦.

[HeartA]

I have 9 count (CQ may not be very useful though), with 5-4 two suits. 1D, 1H and 1NT (1NT the worst imo) are out. 2C was too strong of course. That leaves only two choices: 2D and 2H. While others say easy 2H, I don't think that "easy" (easy with MP, but it's IMP). Let's see what happens if I bid 2D.

1) If pd bid 2H, I would raise to 3 (assuming it's forcing since pd dbl and bid a suit and I jumped) and I don't have a problem. You could raise to 4H if you prefer so.
2) if pd bid 2S/2NT/3C, I could bid 3H, showing 5-4.
3) if pd raises to 3D, I could bid 3H as well.
4) if pd passes, I am fine with it.

The only problem with 2D is that my diamonds are not good. I don't have objection with 2H, but I slightly prefer 2D. If we have a game in hearts, we wouldn't miss it. If we have a slam (thought not likely), we might end up with the wrong fit if I bid 2H first.

[the hog]

"The only problem with 2D is that my diamonds are not good. I don't have objection with 2H, but I slightly prefer 2D"

The problem with 2D is that partner will NEVER believe you have 4H. 3H after 3D is showing a stopper, not 4H.

[Robert]

Hi HeartA

Playing IMPs or MPs you do not want to miss bidding game. Bidding 2Ds with this hand is an attempt to miss 'bidding a game.' Finding a 4-4 heart fit is almost impossible 'after' you bid 2Ds.

Bidding 2Ds denies 4 hearts. A 4-4 heart fit is your most likely chance to bid game with this example hand.

"If" partner bids 2H over your 2D bid, he would have to hold "5+ hearts" and also a hand 'too strong' to simply overcall 1H.

2) 3Hs after partner bids 2S, 2NT or 3C 'would not show a 4 card heart suit.'

3) 3Hs after partner raises to 3D 'would also not' show a 4 card heart suit.

4) If partner passed 2Ds, you just might have missed a 4-4 heart fit that makes game.

You may bid this way 'after some private agreements', however, the vast majority of bidders would not bid this way.

Regards,
Robert

[mcphee]

2H shows what we have, about 8-10 with 4 or more H, bidding 1D or 1H simply does not indicate this much in values and is what you would do with nada in hi card values. When we bid 1H partner is not going to raise smply because he holds 4 card support with many hands that will produce a game. Almost any 4-4-4-1 hand that is a reasonable t/o dble could give game a play.

[Codo]

As much as I share Cascadesd views in many situations, here I hadn`t understood him. In Europe it is more or less automatic that a non-jump suit bid shows 0-7 HCPs, so there is no way to bid at the one level after the double with this 5431 Hand.

I think too, that 2 ♥ is automatic, even playing imps and a nobrainer at mps.

[pigpenz]

it was an interesting hand when looking at the myhands for this one i was suprised at how many people bid 1♥ only

[awm]

I actually like a 1♦ response. Obviously this is to some degree an underbid, and doesn't suggest the likely best strain (hearts). But it does describe my longest suit.

In most fields, 1♦ will virtually never buy the contract. People just don't sell to it, especially when the opponents have a (likely) eight-card spade fit. Assuming I will get another chance to bid, I can try 2♥ at next turn which accurately conveys both my shape and values. Any other sequence seems somewhat problematic -- a direct 2♥ will often buy the contract when a diamond partial would be better, a direct 2♦ could easily miss a 4-4 heart fit and game.

[EricK]

♥Maybe one should play transfers at the two level in response to a take out double. So here you can bid 2♣ as a transfer to ♦ followed by 2♥

[HeartA]

Robert and Ron,

So you will never be able to bid 2 suits after pd's dbl? I believe 3H after 2D shows 2nd suit, not stopper. What if you have another diamond?

[Cascade]

Codo, on Dec 5 2006, 03:48 AM, said:

As much as I share Cascadesd views in many situations, here I hadn`t understood him. In Europe it is more or less automatic that a non-jump suit bid shows 0-7 HCPs, so there is no way to bid at the one level after the double with this 5431 Hand.

At this level I prefer to have a five-card major to jump.

This is our response structure of major bids after (1m) X (P) :

1Major - four-card suit up to 9(10) hcp or five-card suit and very weak. Partner is expected to raise to 2Major almost every time they have four trumps.

2Major - five-card suit 6-9 points

3Major - five-card suit better than 2Major and not enough for game

We can also bid 4Major or cue-bid with stronger hands

[mikeh]

2♥ looks normal.

Bidding ♦ and then ♥s leads to too many complications.

1stly, bidding just 1♦ misstates the strength of the hand, altho not by much.

2ndly, while we may get a chance to rebid 2♥, that is by no means assured: LHO could bid 3♣ (or 2♣ and be raised) or 1♠ and buy a raise.

Bidding 2♥ at least gets our primary feature across (in any form of scoring, KQ10x of a major is more important than Qxxxx of a minor) and I can bid 3♦ next time without partner misunderstanding my hand: I would rarely venture into a 4 card minor on my second bid if holding a 5 card major, but the reverse is commonplace.

There is some justification for 1♥ because we have some reason to suspect that partner is about to bid ♠s, and a bid of 2♠ over our 2♥ leaves us awkwardly placed to both bid ♦s and show our ♣ stopper. After 1♥ 1♠, we can bid 2♦ which should logically force another bid, over which we can bid notrump.... chooosing notrump as our third choice will adequately describe our stopper. And our hand devalues opposite a ♠ bid, although it is still game force material.

On balance, I opt for the simple life: 2♥ is the 'normal' bid in all standard methods with which I am familiar... Wayne's treatment is idiosyncratic, not standard.

[Al_U_Card]

Perhaps wrongly, I was taught with this hand to respond 2H and if it came back to me and I could bid 3D, to do so showing 9-11 hcp with 4H and 5+ D. With 5 H I would rebid 3H and forget the D suit completely.

[pclayton]

2♥ looks fine. My Q♣ is probably useless, but we do have a double fit.