[DWM]

Playing 2/1 (if it makes a difference)

1♣ - 1♦
2♦ - 2♥
2♠

Is it better to play the heart bid as a stop show or a natural suit?

Is it better to play the spade suit as a stop show or a general FSF?

[Quantumcat]

This is my logic, maybe it's wrong, but anyway:

If you already have longer diamonds than hearts, and pard chose to raise you rather than say 1H or 1S, won't you be unlikely to also have an 8 card heart fit when you already have a 9 card or longer diamond fit? If you want hearts to be a natural suit it has to be five cards at least (cause pards would say 1H with 4) and if you have longer diamonds that has to be 6 cards or more, and if pards chose to raise you he'll have at least 4 cards, and not a balanced hand with 3-3 or 3-2 majors or he'd have preferred to say 1NT, so he has an unbalanced hand with say 6 clubs and 4 diamonds and 2-1 or 3-0 in majors, how likely is it he'll have support for your heart suit? I don't think it makes much sense to have 1H be a natural suit because it would work nicely with a very small number of hands (you have 6-5 diamonds-hearts, and pards has 6 clubs 4 diamonds 3 hearts no spades or similar). It makes more sense to me to be stopper-asking for notrump, since you often would rather play NT if you can than a minor partscore. 1S would be best as "yes I have a heart stop, but have a spade hole what do you think pards" Is my logic wrong???? (probably)

[Fluffy]

the 4SF I know is a convention only used by responder not opener.

Never ask when you can describe instead, 2♠ is natural, it will normally be only 3 cards.


2♥ is natural, an dshows a stopper, it is suposed to be raised, but if it is raised don't insist on the suit if partner falls back to ♦ or NT

[helene_t]

Basically agree with Quantumcat. As for the 2♠ bid I think what Fluffy writes is standard. Here are my idiosyncratic thoughts:

In some sequences, a bid in the fourth suit shows a stopper in the fourth suit and therefore shows concern about opener's first suit which could be a short minor. Here, opener must have real clubs. And without a spade stopper, his natural bid would be 3♦ or 3♣. So 2♠ is a funny bid.

Some hands opener could have:
Qx-Jx-Axxx-AQxxx "I have half a spade stop"
QJx-x-Axxx-AQxxx "Patterning out"
Ax-xx-QJxx-KQxxx "3N might play better in p's hand". Here, 2♠ also serves as an advanced cue.

With my FTF p I play it as half-a-stop, secondarily an advanced cue, but we would probably also fabricate a 2♠ bid to get 3N in partner's hand. We don't pattern out.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

a matter of philosophy, and how you define
FSF, a very common definition is, after our
side has bid 3 suits natural, bidding
the 4th suit is FSF.
The beauty of this definition is, that it is simple,
and is independ of the guy, who uses it and
independ of the level.

Back to the original question: 2H is natural in the
sense that is shows values, hence 2S is FSF,
if you use the above definition.

The point is, opener already showed 5-4 in the
minors, he knows about the heart stopper, so why
fool around if he has a spade stopper, he can simply
bid NT and be done with it, everybody knows, that
he is not ballanced.

With kind regards
Marlowe

PS: Bidding NT describes your hand: you have a spade
stopper.

[whereagles]

In this auction, responder doesn't have both stoppers because he would have bid 2 or 3NT. So he has a heart stop and maybe 1/2 spade stop.

Thus 2♠ shows (and asks for) a 1/2 stop. (With 1 stop bid NT, with 0 stops, bid 3♦)

[goobers]

2S can't be FSF, opener has already limited his hand, as I understand FSF auctions are initiated by responder

Anyway, I guess 2S shows a spade stop with no interest in declaring NT