[Fluffy]

♠KQJ9542
♥A8
♦5
♣AJ4

MPs, all vul.

1♠-(pass)-1NT-(2♥)

[JLOGIC]

3H

[rhm]

4♠

Rainer Herrmann

[gszes]

At IMPS I would bid 4d (self splinter) since I would stretch to
bid game anyway. This is MP however and there is no reason
to stretch. We have a 5 loser hand and we need p to eliminate
at least 2 of those losers and the odds of p eliminating those 2
losers go up if they can accept the invite.

[JLOGIC]

4D is not a splinter over 2H

[lalldonn]

4♠ for me.

[bluecalm]

Quote

4D is not a splinter over 2H

I am pretty sure most players in my country would take it as splinter and wouldn't even consider other options.
That being said I agree that it shouldn't be splinter.

[rmnka447]

4 ♠

[JLOGIC]

bluecalm, on 2012-September-29, 11:36, said:

I am pretty sure most players in my country would take it as splinter and wouldn't even consider other options.
That being said I agree that it shouldn't be splinter.

Does not compute

[JLOGIC]

I agree with others that 4S > 3H not sure what I was thinking, we want to preempt LHO more than anything else.

[gszes]

JLOGIC, on 2012-September-29, 11:21, said:

4D is not a splinter over 2H

since it takes a significant increase in values to make 5 of a minor vs
4 of a major----there would seem to be only a small window of
opportunity for an exact 4d bid where there is a whole ton of
possible hands where being able to show a short dia can be of
significant benefit.

There is good benefit to being able to play 3d as competitive (vs a game force)
but it becomes much more difficult to come up with a hair splitting hand
that makes 4d correct and 5d wrong. That is the main reason for
using the 4d as an auto splinter.

[lalldonn]

gszes, on 2012-September-29, 13:52, said:

since it takes a significant increase in values to make 5 of a minor vs
4 of a major----there would seem to be only a small window of
opportunity for an exact 4d bid where there is a whole ton of
possible hands where being able to show a short dia can be of
significant benefit.

There is good benefit to being able to play 3d as competitive (vs a game force)
but it becomes much more difficult to come up with a hair splitting hand
that makes 4d correct and 5d wrong. That is the main reason for
using the 4d as an auto splinter.

And if partner has to go back to spades? Or bid blackwood?

Anyway it's natural by definition. Splinters are one level more than a forcing bid in a suit, and 3♦ is not forcing even if you play G/B and it shows extras.

[Phil]

I suppose if you were playing G/B, 4♦ could be sensibly played as a splinter - how many choices do you need to show a hand with side diamonds?

Its important to set up a FP over 5♥, so I like 3♥ here.

[Fluffy]

3♥ was the winner, partner had:

♠10x
♥Qxx
♦K98xx
♣Q9x

only 9 tricks in spades from south, but 9 tricks in NT from north as well.

[JLOGIC]

They tricked me into changing my mind