[vodkagirl]

Playing 2/1 with my regular partner for Imps I made a mess of this auction.

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My immediate thought after RHO bids 2♥ is to pass (I take it this is a forcing pass).

Partner redoubles which I am thinking is asking me to take out or convert for penalties.

Since I have no preference I go 2N.

Partner bids 3♥ (which he later tells me is Stayman). I, now, think his original double was because he had the rest of the hearts and LHO may have none whatsoever.

I redouble. Partner bids spades and I think we may as well be in game so bid 3N.

I made.

I am also sure I made plenty of errors in the bidding.

Could someone please evaluate my bidding and that of partner?

Many thanks.

[Zelandakh]

A very simple way of handling this situation is to pass with no 4 card major, double with 4 hearts and bid 2♠ with 4 spades. Other possibilities also exist but I like this for a beginner/intermediate pair. It is trickier if they overcall 2♠ (or higher). Over 2♠ the most common method is double for 4 hearts and pass otherwise. In both cases the pass of the overcall should not be a forcing pass. Responder is the one that knows most about the hand here and could easily have a weak hand.

For the rest of the auction, South's double is a bit of a hedge but ok. I think the chose it to ask if you had 4 spades, lacking confidence in what the original pass might be. They could also have continued 3♥ here to check whether the heart situation is safe for 3NT. It is tempting to pass the double as North and even if not I am not a fan of 2NT. South's 3♥ is surely not Stayman - how many times do they want to know that you do not have 4 spades? This effectively gets us back to where we would be from an immediate 3♥ except that North has suggested more in hearts and will usually have 2 spades. There are a few different ways of playing your redouble. The most popular is probably to show a half-stopper but given that you already bid 2NT in this auction that would probably be impossible. In any case, I think it should show uncertainty about 3NT. Similarly for South's 3♠ - it makes sense to play this as a grope keeping 3NT in the picture.

In any case, well done for bidding and making the game. We all have auctions from time to time when we are not exactly sure what is going on. The key is to keep your head and make sensible calls. Quite often that results in finding a good spot at the end of it all. And it is going into the unknown like that where you can sometimes make the largest strides in improvement.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

#1 to play Pass over 2H as forcing req., that the Stayman 2C bid promised
inv.+ strength, and was forcing to 2NT.
#2 we play all double of low suit level bids for T/O
#3 2NT promised a stopper, hence 3H was asking, are you really sure,
... XX does not really make sense, in the given auction, you could play
it as first round control, for all you know responder still could have
some SI.
#4 3S ... I am lost

With kind regards
Marlowe

[vodkagirl]

Zelandakh, on 2014-May-12, 08:26, said:

A very simple way of handling this situation is to pass with no 4 card major, double with 4 hearts and bid 2♠ with 4 spades.

This I really like. Simple. Elegant. Effective.

Thanks for your considered reply.

[vodkagirl]

P_Marlowe, on 2014-May-12, 09:03, said:

#2 we play all double of low suit level bids for T/O

This simplifies matters most nicely.

Thanks for your considered reply.

[barmar]

A pretty common treatment is that a double by the player before the overcaller is for takeout, double by the player after the overcaller is for penalty. The idea is that if you have strength in overcaller's suit, it's not going to be very effective if it's in front of the overcaller.

[vodkagirl]

barmar, on 2014-May-12, 09:27, said:

A pretty common treatment is that a double by the player before the overcaller is for takeout, double by the player after the overcaller is for penalty. The idea is that if you have strength in overcaller's suit, it's not going to be very effective if it's in front of the overcaller.

I like this too. I refines what has been stated by other posters. Many thanks for your input.

[aguahombre]

You did fine. The only thing weird was when partner, having heard you deny Spades (and himself having done fine on the auction) said that his 3H probe was Stayman. Gosh, 2C was Stayman a long time ago.

Anyway, you got there.

[vodkagirl]

aguahombre, on 2014-May-12, 15:33, said:

You did fine. The only thing weird was when partner, having heard you deny Spades (and himself having done fine on the auction) said that his 3H probe was Stayman. Gosh, 2C was Stayman a long time ago.

This is one of the reasons I come here. My "expert" partners tell me things and I have to know whether they are true or not. Good catch.

[johnu]

vodkagirl, on 2014-May-09, 23:51, said:

Partner bids 3♥ (which he later tells me is Stayman).

I like this bid!. Double Stayman. Please confirm that you don't have a 4 card major after your 2NT bid. For future reference, if partner next bids 4♥, that is Triple Stayman asking if you are triple sure that you don't have spades. Please check your clubs to see if you have a spade mixed in. Also check the floor in case a spade was dropped, and re-fan your hand in case a spade was hiding behind a red card.