[straube]

Partner and I are playing limited openings (10-15) with 5-cd majors.

1H-2D promises 11-13 if balanced and three trump or something less with more distribution.

My original thought on this was that we got to avoid the 3-level when other pairs may not be so fortunate. Then partner surprised me by making a light game try. We play Kokish so we're able to show shortness as well as looking for fitting honors. With all this room available it seems like we ought to be able to get to light games and also avoid bad ones.

The question is, how light ought opener be before making a game try? Say opener rebids 3C showing a stiff club. If he has a 5431 hand, how many points ought he have and how many working points (not CK, CQ, CJ) ought responder have to accept?

I've generally thought that about 28 working points is good for a small slam (like balanced opposite a 5431), but I've never thought about what's actually needed for just game.

[Cascade]

Double dummy with these constraints.

5=3 fit

no 4=4 major fit

nothing wasted opposite the singleton

With 23 combined hcp

   6          1
   7          3
   8         55
   9        308
  10        407
  11        195
  12         31

average 9.826 tricks

With 22 combined hcp

    6          1
    7         14
    8        144
    9        381
   10        327
   11        122
   12         11

average 9.429 tricks

So if you assume opener has about 12 working points for his light invite responder needs about 10-11 working points to accept.

[straube]

Cascade, on 2010-November-01, 09:32, said:

Double dummy with these constraints.

5=3 fit

no 4=4 major fit

nothing wasted opposite the singleton

With 23 combined hcp

   6          1
   7          3
   8         55
   9        308
  10        407
  11        195
  12         31

average 9.826 tricks

With 22 combined hcp

    6          1
    7         14
    8        144
    9        381
   10        327
   11        122
   12         11

average 9.429 tricks

So if you assume opener has about 12 working points for his light invite responder needs about 10-11 working points to accept.

Thanks a lot. That seems to be about right, too. Invite with 12 working pts and accept with 10-11.