[WesleyC]

IMPs

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What do you bid?

[ahydra]

MPs or IMPs?

My first thought is 3NT, though we are a little strong for that.

ahydra

[whereagles]

What's so hard about bidding 3NT?

A slam may be on, but hey preempts work.

[WesleyC]

Updated to confirm - IMPs

[ArtK78]

3NT could easily be our last plus score, and I am the only one able to bid it, so I bid it.

Sometimes when slam is on partner will be able to bid again, but I may be dreaming.

[aguahombre]

Passing at those colors could work out well.

[PhilKing]

If partner is shape suitable, slam is good opposite as little as:

♠xxxx♥x♦xxxx♣Axxx

The idea of bidding 3NT makes me feel ill, since we could even go DOWN in 3NT with slam cold:

♠Axxx♥x♦xxxx♣Axxx, when they lead a spade from: QJT9x Q Qxx JTxx

The risk of trying for at least trying for six diamonds is minimal, since if partner does not have a stiff heart, he should have at least ten points to double at this level. So I am going to try 4♥ followed by 5♦. Partner may initially interpret this as a slam try in spades, but it ain't necessarily so. I will still miss a slam now and again, but if I just bash it, no doubt partner will have a load of wasted cards in spades. I will usually get there opposite any reasonable hand with a stiff heart, and I am happy to miss the perfectos given what others are doing on the hand.

[PhilKing]

.

[ahydra]

Phil, that hand doesn't really look like a 3H overcall

I know my partner likes to compete aggressively so I wouldn't be 100% sure of slam being on, but since at IMPs you can bail out in 5D, 4H sounds good. At MPs I'll stick with 3NT though.

ahydra

[FrancesHinden]

3NT also makes me feel ill. It's just far too easy to miss a slam.
I am torn between the simple 4NT, which has the merits of simplicity, and PhilKing's more tortured auction.

[jallerton]

4NT may not be quite so simple if partner thinks it means something else!

[PhantomSac]

Indeed if you play a negative X of 3 major as not a game force there are too many hand types to show and not enough bids. For instance, with 6D and 4C and a GF, you might say well it's easy to bid 4H. Now when partner bids 4S, 4N shows 6-4? Oh wait that's keycard in spades. 5C shows 6-4? Well what do we do with a super strong 5-5, we just bid 5C directly? Maybe but there's strong and there's super strong, it would be nice to differentiate, just like 4H then 5D is stronger than a direct 5D. I think 4N is quantitative but I could see an expert partner maybe not thinking that.

I think 4N is a bad bid even if it will be interpreted correctly, we have a stiff spade and our hearts are only AJx, I'd really rather prefer to play in 5D than 4N most of the time. And I def want to alert partner that the target is six diamonds, our hand is a lot different than a 3343 19 count.

A lot of these problems are solved if 4 of a minor is forcing but then you are just too high sometimes as you can just have 11 opp 9 or w/e. It's not an easy problem.

[MrAce]

This is a very good problem Wesley.

[mikeh]

I had written a long (what's new?) post earlier and then not posted it because I couldn't convince myself

For instance, 3N is not working well if we play there and could have got 500 or 800 from defending or, on some innocuous hand such as Q10xx x Qxx AJxxx be cold for 6♦.

Otoh, sometimes 3N is the best spot....and sometimes, when it isn't, partner may move...he is, after all, unlimited. Then I asked myself how we'd want to bid Axxx x Qxx Axxxx opposite Jx AJx AJ108x Kxx, where even 9 tricks in notrump isn't clear yet opposite our actual hand, grand is excellent....how is partner to know when we have nice looking 14 or a great looking 19?

So that got me to 4N, but then I paused for the reason that others have identified....I know I mean it as natural, and maybe partner will realize that the meta-rule of 'if it could be natural, it is natural' applies, but if we're not on the same page, I foresee an ugly end.

So that got me to 4♥, but I agree with Frances' description of the ensuing auction as tortured....once again, who knows what partner will read into my bidding 5♦ over his very likely 4♠?

Matters got worse when I thought about the hand-types on which I would negative double (thinking that if I do this, then probably a lot of other players do as well). One of them is the long spades, too much to pass, since opener may not feel able to reopen, and not enough to bid 3♠...sort of a good 2♠ opening bid. KQ10xxx xx xx Axx

If you'd stretch to bid 3 gf ♠ make it slightly weaker in playing strength to the point where, assuming the line exists, it crosses beneath the 3♠ line and into a double.

That got me back to pass....but pass is just way too committal and pessimistic

So I am now finally (?) back to 4♥, hoping to survive.

Excellent problem....I have wasted more time trying to answer this than any bidding problem for well over a year, if not longer.

[MrAce]

mikeh, on 2014-November-18, 17:44, said:

Excellent problem....I have wasted more time trying to answer this than any bidding problem for well over a year, if not longer.

Yup, that's why I gave +1.

I asked myself, if I had the chance to be pd with myself, I would still probably misunderstand myself at the table.

[nige1]

WesleyC, on 2014-November-18, 08:50, said:

IMPs

What do you bid?

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IMO 6♦ = 10, Pass = 9, 4♥ = 8, 4N = 6, 3N = 5.

[aguahombre]

MrAce, on 2014-November-18, 19:43, said:

Yup, that's why I gave +1.

I asked myself, if I had the chance to be pd with myself, I would still probably misunderstand myself at the table.

You would still have a language barrier.

[lrussell]

Agree with nige1
6♦ = 10, Pass = 9, 4♥ = 8, 4N = 6, 3N = 5.

[Trump Echo]

I'd bid 3 NT. (not an expert)

[andy_h]

6D, I'm feeling lucky. But I'm afraid if 6C might be the better contract.