[Antrax]

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So, not my proudest moment. I am wondering, though, which bid was the worst: should I open this 1NT? Should I avoid a 3-card raise? Should I rebid 3NT over 3♦, or decline the game invite?

[manudude03]

3D was the worst bid, just pass 2S. I like 3NT over 3D by East too though.

[Fluffy]

4♠ was the worst bid not suggesting 3NT

3♦ was very bad also

I hate 2♠ but I can accept that this is your style, I would have to rebid 2♣ or 1NT wich doesn't make a good argument in favour of my system.

opening 1♣ is fine.

[rmnka447]

1 ♣, 1 ♠, and 2 ♠ are OK if you normally bypass ♦s.

Opener has shown a minimum opener opposite West's 9 HCP. So West should pass over 2 ♠. 3 ♦ is quite an overbid (and the most egregious in the auction).

Once the 3 ♦ bid is made, it's right for opener to bid 3 NT. This conveys the message that opener has probably raised on 3 trump. Opener at this point in the auction doesn't really know that responder has any more than 4 trump. Especially if you initially bypass ♦s in favor of bidding a major, the 3 ♦ bid could be made on any number of distributions -- 4♠/4♦ (as here), 4♠/5+♦, or 5+♠/4+♦.

If opener had 4 trump and a minimum minimum, 3 ♠ would be bid. 4 ♠ shows 4 trump and a maximum minimum.

Over 3 NT, if responder has started out with 5+ trump, responder can correct to 4 ♠.

Finally, if your side knowingly decides to play a 4-3 trump, it's usually necessary to be sure that any ruffs that may be necessary are taken in the hand with 3 trump. That's to insure that control of the trump suit isn't lost by forcing the long (4 card) trump hand to trump. With 4-2 the most likely trump break (48%) vs. 3-3 (36%), forcing a long suit ruff often cedes control of the trump suit to the defense.

In this hand, opener knows responder has ♦ length and that forcing ♥ ruffs is unlikely. The danger here is that responder is short in ♣ and may be forced in that suit. So playing a 4-3 trump fit is risky. Note that had responder continued with 3 ♣ instead of 3 ♦, any likely ruffs would be in ♦s and a 4-3 trump fit would be more likely to play OK.

[Zelandakh]

As others have already said, the problem came with 3♦. One thing that has not been said about this is what style of game try this is. We can see from the West hand that this was meant as a natural game try with strength, but others play help suit game tries here. If East thought 3♦ was a HSGT then suggesting 3NT would be very bad. More than that, if 3 card raises are common then the normal game try with a spade suit like this one is 2NT. In that case, 3♦ shows either 5 spades or a hand that would generally prefer to play the Moysian.

In summary, it is easy to assign most of the blame to West. To dish out the remaining dollop, we need to know a little more about what has been agreed.

[ArtK78]

I agree with the majority that 3♦ was the worst call. The hand is not worth a game try.

Having said that, if your style is to raise major suit responses often with 3 card support and an otherwise suitable hand, you might want to employ the following gadget which has been mentioned in other threads:

1m-1M
2M-2NT asking

3♣ - minimum hand, 3 card support.
3♦ - maximum hand, 3 card support.
3♥ - minimum hand, 4 card support.
3♠ - maximum hand, 4 card support.

I have used this gadget with a great deal of success over the last few years, and many players who I respect also use it.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

#1 1C is fine, this is not a 15-17NT
#2 2S is fine, as long as the partnership does not demand 4 card support for the raise
#4 You happen to have a max., it may be close, if you devalue the stiff Ace, but partner has values in the suit,
hence you accept the invite

#3 I dont like 3NT, but 3H sounds like a good description

The worst bid: 4S, but if you did not think about 3H, 4S was ok.

With kind regards
Marlowe

PS: After reading the comments ..., I dont think 3D was bad, it is
certainly close, depending on the range you require for the jump
raise, but I think the bid is ok, you could face a semibal. 15count
with 4 card support?

[Antrax]

Not sure what 3♥ would've been - what should partner do? I don't mind if she has ♥x or ♥Jxxx.

[ggwhiz]

ArtK78, on 2013-February-04, 08:27, said:

I agree with the majority that 3♦ was the worst call. The hand is not worth a game try.

Agreed and not only is the hand not worth a game try, it is made in the wrong suit.

[P_Marlowe]

Antrax, on 2013-February-04, 10:07, said:

Not sure what 3♥ would've been - what should partner do? I don't mind if she has ♥x or ♥Jxxx.

As always ... a matter of partnership agreement, but for consistency reasons, if 3D showed values, I would
play, that 3H showes values as well.

I suggested 3H as a bid to keep the road to 3NT open, given the unbal. nature of your hand, and the fact,
that you have no club values, partner will know, if he prefers 3NT or 4S, with a club singleton, partner
he will certainly prefer 4S, 5+ spades he will also bid 4S.
3H will also give partner the chance to bid 3NT, if his not sure either.

The downside of the 3H bid is, that it tells opponents, that your opening suit is basically non existent.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[TWO4BRIDGE]

Fluffy, on 2013-February-02, 08:33, said:

opening 1♣ is fine.

That's the only bid I agree with also .

[aguahombre]

ggwhiz, on 2013-February-04, 11:14, said:

not only is the hand not worth a game try, it is made in the wrong suit.

I certainly agree the hand is not worth a game try; I am sure you meant that YOUR game tries are not made in a suit where you have a trick source, not that anyone who does so is wrong.

[kenberg]

I also like 3♥ over 3♦. West's 3♦ was aggressive, seriously so I think.. Over 3♥ I imagine he bids 3♠ which would say "I have [more than] bid all the values that I have. The 3♥ call doesn't do anything for me. Bail if you wish."

Here is one way to look at the 3♦ call: Imagine one of East's small clubs is a small spade. In this case, East has four trump, a 14 count, a stiff diamond. It's hard to imagine that West was hoping for more than that in East's hand. You still lose two clubs and two spades. Minimum. That would seem to mark 3♦ as optimistic.