[straube]

You are South and 2nd seat. Favorable vulnerability. Scoring is imps. Dealer passes. I think South's hand qualifies in most strong club systems for a 1C opening, but make your normal opening. If possible your RHO will overcall 1S. If possible your LHO will raise to 2S unless responder establishes a game force AND the 2S bid takes up no room. For example, if the auction goes P 1C P 1D* (1S) 2H he will pass.


.................Q93
.................J97
.................T5
.................AQ954
654.............................AJT87
Q62.............................T3
AJ2..............................843
J762............................K83
.................K2
.................AK854
.................KQ976
.................T

Outcomes

4H S SCREAM
4H S Relknes
4H S Moscito
4H S Jasmine Club
4H S TOSR

4H S OC Precision (1H opening)
4H S New Big Club (1H opening)
4H S Zelandakh (1H opening
4H S Unassuming Club (1H opening)
4H S Silent Club (1H opening)
4H S IMPrecision (1H opening)
4H S Polish Club (1H opening)
4H S Precision by Free (1H opening)
4H S Meckwell Light (1H opening)
4H S chasetb (1H opening)
4H S thehog (1H opening)

[straube]

 straube, on 2013-January-15, 23:31, said:

.................Q93
.................J97
.................T5
.................AQ954
654.............................AJT87
Q62.............................T3
AJ2..............................843
J762............................K83
.................K2
.................AK854
.................KQ976
.................T

SCREAM bids this...

1C-1D (1S) 16+, GF bal OR unbal w/ major (overcall)
2S-2N 5H/5D, ask
3H-4D 2551, puppet terminator
4H

We stay within relays as long as we haven't lost more than two steps. This deal has made me aware that we need to switch heart and spade families after an 1H overcall by RHO so that 2S means 5S/5D and not the 5H/5D it presently shows.

[sieong]

 straube, on 2013-January-15, 23:31, said:

You are South and 2nd seat. Favorable vulnerability. Scoring is imps. Dealer passes. I think South's hand qualifies in most strong club systems for a 1C opening, but make your normal opening. If possible your RHO will overcall 1S. If possible your LHO will raise to 2S except for two cases....1) opener rebids a strong NT or 2) responder establishes a game force AND the 2S bid takes up no room. For example, if the auction goes P 1C P 1D* (1S) 2H he will pass.


.................Q93
.................J97
.................T5
.................AQ954
654.............................AJT87
Q62.............................T3
AJ2..............................843
J762............................K83
.................K2
.................AK854
.................KQ976
.................T

I will open 1♥ with the South hand as I am afraid of bidding might go 1♣ (1/2♠) P (3/4♠). If that happens, I will probably bid 4♥ over 3♠ and 4N over 4♠, but I do not like the choices. With borderline two-suited hands, I generally starts with the non-1♣ opening.

Playing imprecision, the bidding for me would go 1♥ - 2♥ - 4♥.

[awm]

I'd bid this the same as Sam. If I had spades instead of hearts I might open 1♣. On borderline hands tactical concerns sometimes take priority.

[antonylee]

The hand suits perfectly a 1♥ opening in Polish club, intending to jump shift... so I'll have the same auction too.

[chasetb]

I don't like upgrading two-suited hands if Spades isn't one of the suits, unless the intermediates and shape tell me otherwise. Here, I am opening 1♥, because I can easily jump to 3♦ and I have limited my hand and gotten my suits across.

In my developing simple Transfer Precision, the auction would go 1♥-2♥; 4♥. The only difference is that 2♥ shows a great 8-12 HCP and 3+ trump, basically a Limit Raise.

[rbforster]

Silent Club:

1♥-2♥
4♥-P

I don't upgrade 15 counts into 1♣ based on distribution, unless they're 4 loser hands or similar. Here a precision jump rebid of 1♥...3♦ shows our hand perfectly so I wouldn't hesitate to start 1♥. We play Bergen raises, so 2♥ is ~6-9 and 3 card support. Since opener needs at least two aces and the Q♥ for slam (which would be an invitational response 1N...3♥ plan by responder), opener can just jump to game.

[akhare]

I might be tempted to open this 1♥ too, though the favorable vulnerability might swing me the other way.

In that case, it's 1♥ - 2♦ (constructive raise) - 4♥.

[the hog]

 awm, on 2013-January-15, 23:58, said:

I'd bid this the same as Sam. If I had spades instead of hearts I might open 1♣. On borderline hands tactical concerns sometimes take priority.

Same bidding, same comment.

[Siegmund]

Offering an alternative (coming from a Polish/Unassuming/etc context), but the same outcome:

1H-2H
4D(LSST)-4H(no fitting honor and no cheap cuebid).

[relknes]

 straube, on 2013-January-15, 23:31, said:

You are South and 2nd seat. Favorable vulnerability. Scoring is imps. Dealer passes. I think South's hand qualifies in most strong club systems for a 1C opening, but make your normal opening. If possible your RHO will overcall 1S. If possible your LHO will raise to 2S unless responder establishes a game force AND the 2S bid takes up no room. For example, if the auction goes P 1C P 1D* (1S) 2H he will pass.


.................Q93
.................J97
.................T5
.................AQ954
654.............................AJT87
Q62.............................T3
AJ2..............................843
J762............................K83
.................K2
.................AK854
.................KQ976
.................T

1♣ - 1N
2♥ - 4♥
P

Translation:
S: 16+ (upgraded on account of being a 4 loser hand), N: 9+ points, balanced (prefered over 2♣ here)
S: 5+ hearts, N: 3+ heart support, 0-3 controls, inability to splinter
S: lets play 4♥

North could also have responded 2♣ without changing the auction, but I prefer the 1N bid with a 5 card minor on most hands that qualify, especially with the notrumpish values.

[JLOGIC]

1H 2H 4H for me also.

[Zelandakh]

Another vote for 1♥ - 2♥; 4♥.

[Free]

1H-2H (11-15 5+H ; constructive raise, around 8-10)
3D-3H (long suit trial ; no support for D)
4H

I think this is a clear 1H opener. There's no reason to upgrade to an inferior opening imo. After 1H opps may interfere as much as they like, opener can just bid his D and has shown his hand in only 2 bids. Try that after a strong 1C opening

I find it interesting that everyone gives up on slam. Partner can have the perfect hand (HQ, DA and SA) after his constructive raise. After my LST responder either rejects the invite or starts cuebidding (3S being frivolous, 3NT being serious with S cue). So I'll know below 4H if partner has the right Aces (when he bids 3NT). When partner would appear to have the nuts (4S kickback RKC followed by a 5H response), I can suggest 6D as an alternatve strain (by bidding 5NT "pick a slam"), because partner may have a 4 card D ofcourse.

[Zelandakh]

 Free, on 2013-January-16, 03:32, said:

I find it interesting that everyone gives up on slam. Partner can have the perfect hand (HQ, DA and SA) after his constructive raise.

Perhaps your partner can but mine would have responded 1♠ with that hand. The given North hand is an absolute max for me; the Qxx Jxx holdings suggest taking the low road. Out of interest, if partner does bid 3NT (serious with spade cue) do you also have a mechanism to distinguish the ace from a singleton? YOu need all of these things in place before you can investigate slam safely; then you need to weigh up whether helping the defence on the vast majority of hands will not end up more important than slam when partner has the perfecto. In other words, I do find it unreasonable to give up here, even for those that are in fact playing constructive raises (but I bet we would see fewer giving up if North did have the perfecto!).

[hrothgar]

1♣ - (P) - 1♥ - (1♠)
4♦ - (P) - 4♥

The 1♥ response to the strong club opening shows a semi positive hand wth the following hand types

1. Balanced
2. Unbalanced with no 5 card major
3. Any 4441

The 4♦ rebid by Opener is leaping Michaels, showing Diamonds and Hearts

[Zelandakh]

What would North rebid if the ♥7 was the ♠7 Richard? It feels like there ought to be a route available which keeps 3NT in the picture after such a nebulous 1♥ response.

[hrothgar]

 Zelandakh, on 2013-January-16, 08:04, said:

What would North rebid if the ♥7 was the ♠7 Richard? It feels like there ought to be a route available which keeps 3NT in the picture after such a nebulous 1♥ response.

If you dislike the 4♦ bid, then the other alternative is

1♣ - (P) - 1♥ - (1♠)
2♥ - (2♠) - 3♥ - (P)
4♥

[awm]

 Free, on 2013-January-16, 03:32, said:

I find it interesting that everyone gives up on slam. Partner can have the perfect hand (HQ, DA and SA) after his constructive raise.

Some of us don't play constructive raises. Opposite a range of 5+ to 10- for the raise, looking for slam is chasing rainbows. We would bid 2♥ with 4333 and exactly heart queen plus two aces, but that is an absolute perfecto (and even then we would need some suit breaks).

[Free]

 hrothgar, on 2013-January-16, 07:14, said:

1♣ - (P) - 1♥ - (1♠)
4♦ - (P) - 4♥

The 1♥ response to the strong club opening shows a semi positive hand wth the following hand types

1. Balanced
2. Unbalanced with no 5 card major
3. Any 4441

The 4♦ rebid by Opener is leaping Michaels, showing Diamonds and Hearts

First time I see that 4D is LM. Definitely makes sense, since natural seems strange and 5-5 is always difficult to bid after intervention, although I would expect opener to be a little bit stronger. Based on QP's we're not in a GF situation. I'd rather start with a NF 2H. Responder would raise (showing a non-minimum) after which opener would bid game. End result is the same but we keep 3NT by North as an option.

Makes me wonder: what do you do with a slam invitational 5-5 (or stronger)? Is 4D forcing?