[flytoox]

Vul.: NS
sitting south, you hold:

S: K982
H: KQT2
D: JX
C: KQX

W N E S
---------1C
3H X P ?

what do you do?

[Free]

3♠, in this vulnerability it's probably not worth it defending, despite the fact that I have lots of defensive values.

[dogsbreath]

hi
..3NT most of our values in H .. if p has 5+ spades we will hear about it. I think control of H more important than 4-4 S fit on control-free hand
Rgds Dog

[Chamaco]

3NT
Vulnerability suggests trying for game, so the choice is between 3S and 3NT.
I have most values in H, and those values are likely to work better in a NT rather than suit contract.

As they say, "When in doubt, I bid 3NT".

[mike777]

Neat problem.

Will 3s promise 4s here 100% or could opener have some 3334 hand?

Is 3s 100% game force on this auction? If it is what would 4spades rather than 3s show? P must have a good invite hand so would think 3s spades, if game forcing, shows much better hand than 4 spade bid. If 3s is not game forcing we can miss game easy on this hand as p may have bid his hand value with x and they may play us for some flat 12 hcp hand with wasted hearts.

[junyi_zhu]

flytoox, on Feb 3 2005, 02:35 PM, said:

Vul.: NS
sitting south, you hold:

S: K982
H: KQT2
D: JX
C: KQX

W N E S
---------1C
3H X P ?

what do you do?

This is really a perfect time to pass the double. The overall strength is soft, game is not 100% sure even facing some 12 HCPs. And 3H would go down for sure, it's best to take the sure money. Suppose you bid 3S, then find your partner holds SAQJx Hxx DQxxx CAxx, HA, H ruff, two diamonds end the day. When 3H would go down about 3. Or partner holds SAQJx Hxx Dxxx CAJxx and you bid 3NT, oops, 3NT down 1 because they happened to find a D lead when 3H down 3...

[tysen2k]

I think 3♠ could be made on a rare 3-card support. What would you do with a balanced minimum with no heart stopper?

I think the double by itself is practically game forcing. While I like my spades, my values in hearts are likely wasted, so I don't think I have much more than a standard opener.

Partner probably doesn't have more than 4 spades, unless he is very strong. I'm going to bid 3♠ and expect my partner to bid on almost every time. Pass and 3NT are also both good and could easily be right.

Tysen

[TimG]

Pass quickly.

[pclayton]

At first I said pass, but I like the vulnerability for a 24 point 3N. If the preempter can reach dummy once, we get only 2 heart tricks. The 4-4 ♠'s is bad for a tap, because we'll use all the suit shortening declarer, and can't cash any ourselves.

[mr1303]

A lot of people say pass quickly on questions like this. Some kind of UI here surely?

[han]

Perhaps form of scoring is important here? At IMPs I'd pass, while at matchpoints, I think I'd bid 3NT.

Somebody mentioned that partner would correct to 4S with 5 spades. I don't believe that (though partner usually doesn't have 5 spades here).

[Winstonm]

This is a close and tough call. There is no guarantee of a game our way, yet I don't see us getting rich at 3H doubled. I'm inclined to invoke Hamman's rule and bid 3NT, but the diamond suit worries me. LHO has jumped to 3H on a suit headed by the AJ9 it looks like, so he is likely to have some shape to compensate for the poorish suit and that shape may well be diamond length. I'll score 2 heart tricks and a club or two on defense so we should be able to defeat this contract by 1 or 2 tricks and maybe get fortunate and get it more. I'm going to pass but have no strong feelings about it and wouldn't fault someone who chose to bid. Bottom line for me is I don't want to turn an almost sure plus into a minus when there is not a strong reason to take that risk. Here, it is too close of call, I believe.

WinstonM