[gwnn]

suppose you hold something like

xx
x
KQT9xxxx
xx

it goes

2♣-p-p-?

2♣ was unalerted, you're all vulnerable matchpoints.

your LHO is a good player and your RHO looks like she's his aunt, and pretty clueless (sorry). you feel it's quite likely that she forgot about 2♣ strong and she thinks it's a weak two.

what would your general plan be in this situation? offline bridge, no screens.

[kfay]

Ask for an explanation of what 2♣ is, obv.

[whereagles]

people don't forget that 2♣ is strong. If she passed it, it's because

- she didn't see the bid OR
- they're playing precision or stuff

In any case you have an easy pass, so do that.

[gwnn]

ok if you ask she will look very confused and say umm i think it's a weak two in clubs? 2 level bids are weak I think...

if you ask what 1 level bids mean you realise that they are playing SAYC.

I did not want to do this because I saw she was rather new to the game and did not want to bother her with questions she did not really know the answer to.

[Phil]

LOL

[Free]

Ask what it means.

If she says something weak then you're protected from wrong explanation and you can bid safely as you would obviously pass if it was strong.

If she says strong, then she'll have a reason to pass so I would want to bid.

No reason to get pwned by LOLs imo.

[bid_em_up]

Is there some reason not to simply ask to see LHO's convention card?

(it will say strong, and you pass).

wtp?

[gwnn]

yes: there are no convention cards

[helene_t]

bid_em_up, on Aug 2 2010, 03:59 PM, said:

Is there some reason not to simply ask to see LHO's convention card?

lol

[Phil]

Is there anything you can fathom on your opponents convention card that would encourage you to bid here?

By the way, if 2♣ has some bizarre meaning, there wasn't an alert, and you are damaged - you are getting an adjustment.

[helene_t]

Phil, on Aug 2 2010, 04:06 PM, said:

By the way, if 2♣ has some bizarre meaning, there wasn't an alert, and you are damaged - you are getting an adjustment.

Not sure which 2♣ openings are alertable in Iceland.

But since we know that RHO is clueless and wouldn't know whether 2♣ is alertable or not, we have to protect ourselves.

[blackshoe]

You can certainly ask, taking the risk of waking up responder. You can bid, or ask and bid, taking the risk of giving opener a chance to show his real suit or bid some number of NT. Or you can pass, hoping that will give you the best chance at a decent score.

I pass.

[Fluffy]

I don't see the point on bidding on. Only if partner has a balanced strong hand will we make something, and then, it is partner's fault, and maybe opps for not alerting, not ours.

[JoAnneM]

My saintly self says it's just a club game and I should bid 3D and let opener back in the game, but then I would have to answer to my partner, so I will pass.

[pooltuna]

JoAnneM, on Aug 2 2010, 11:12 AM, said:

My saintly self says it's just a club game and I should bid 3D and let opener back in the game, but then I would have to answer to my partner, so I will pass.

The last word is sanity

[jdonn]

JoAnneM, on Aug 2 2010, 11:12 AM, said:

My saintly self says it's just a club game and I should bid 3D and let opener back in the game, but then I would have to answer to my partner, so I will pass.

Hmmm? They didn't accidentally pass, then I would feel a little sympathy. She just thought pass was her best action so she passed. Why do you feel bad for them?

As for the question of what to do, I don't think pass is totally automatic by us. If I bid 3♦ then opener will have to show his hand a level higher. They will have a harder time reaching the normal contract and even if they do I have bought myself a free diamond lead or perhaps good sacrifice. Pass probably has a higher expectation but it's also higher variance, you will occasionally get a bottom for no particularly good reason. Bidding 3♦ is probably an average or top type of action.

Ok I don't know how I almost talked myself out of pass lol. Pass!

[cherdanno]

jdonn, on Aug 2 2010, 11:20 AM, said:

If I bid 3♦ then opener will have to show his hand a level higher.

Higher than what? Than after the auction (2C) P (2D) 4D?
I don't think the devil will be hiring you as an advocate any time soon.

[TimG]

JoAnneM, on Aug 2 2010, 11:12 AM, said:

My saintly self says it's just a club game and I should bid 3D and let opener back in the game, but then I would have to answer to my partner, so I will pass.

I would expect 3♦ to be strong in balancing position.

To all those who are asking about the 2♣ bid, would you balance if you knew:

1) 2♣ was natural and showed 11-15?

2) 2♣ was artificial and forcing?

[neilkaz]

Can it hurt to ask whether they are playing Precision or what they are playing? If 2♣ is Precision I will take my chances and fight for the hand with 2♦ likely walking the dog higher in ♦ as bidding continues.

If 2♣ is strong as in most non forcing ♣ systems, I have a WTP pass.

.. neilkaz ..

[jkdood]

[quote name='TimG' date='Aug 2 2010, 11:32 AM'] [QUOTE=J

To all those who are asking about the 2♣ bid, would you balance if you knew:

1) 2♣ was natural and showed 11-15?

2) 2♣ was artificial and forcing?
Maybe I would want to be at the table or know state of the game, field, or pard's mood, (or the phase of the moon) but if 2C was surely strong and artificial and RHO knew it, and seemed to pass with presumably something like xx xx xx xxxxxxx, I would NOT feel good passing:

1) 2C is sometimes as little as a shapely 20-21 count these days, but even if its something like 23 balanced this day, the missing HCP are positioned well for us and poorly for declarer such that:
a) at other tables where the bidding proceeeds more normally, they may likely be getting too high and going minus as a result
b ) the contract of 2C might be a good spot for them as a result
c) unless all the HCP for pard are quacks, we may do OK in a diamond contract at the 3 level

2) Perhaps knowing LHO better would help, but if they are likely to bid over 3D or 4D, and go down because of pard's possibly good-quality well-positioned 10 HCP, let's make him guess to do that. We're likely headed for no worse than an average with this plan, and while passing 2C "could be" a top, it could also be a bottom. If I had a 65% game with 1 round to go, I think I'd protect it by bidding.