[jillybean]

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Matchpoints

[mikeh]

3H. Hate it but 2N is worse and 3C is truly ugly

[mw64ahw]

I'd have both minors 5+5+ and a void in ♥ for the 2NT bid so 3♣ for me, but then I play KI5 so 1♠ is the forcing NT

[LBengtsson]

mikeh, on 2021-May-28, 22:41, said:

3H. Hate it but 2N is worse and 3C is truly ugly

agree. it might be wrong but partner has a stiff ♥ here, sometime 10 or K. for him to bid 2NT with void in ♥ is very wrong. passing 2Nt could be right as lead coming up to him, but your hand in ♥ look a better contract. ♥AQJ983 is likely just as good maybe better as ♥KJxxxxx and I would bid 3♥ with this and poor opening hand. so yes 3♥ is also my bid.

[Winstonm]

In theory partner should hold no more (or less) than 1 heart. If it is the 10 and no one can attack my spade entry my hand should produce 6 tricks for nt. But my partners never hold the precise card I need so I too will bail out to 3H.

[Cyberyeti]

Doesn't 3♣ show 6 decent hearts and 4 bad clubs which appears to be what I have ?

[paulg]

Cyberyeti, on 2021-May-29, 07:53, said:

Doesn't 3♣ show 6 decent hearts and 4 bad clubs which appears to be what I have ?

Many would rebid two hearts with a minimum six hearts and four clubs, independent of the suit quality.

[jillybean]

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What % of the blame does West receive?

[Cyberyeti]

paulg, on 2021-May-29, 08:04, said:

Many would rebid two hearts with a minimum six hearts and four clubs, independent of the suit quality.

OK, wouldn't occur to me to do unless something like Gazilli got in the way

[Cyberyeti]

jillybean, on 2021-May-29, 09:07, said:

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What % of the blame does West receive?

There is more than 100% blame to go round, West gets 100% of it for not making a bid which ensured you reached game with a 15 count opposite an opening bid, pass would not be my choice with the E hand.

[Winstonm]

Cyberyeti, on 2021-May-29, 09:10, said:

There is more than 100% blame to go round, West gets 100% of it for not making a bid which ensured you reached game with a 15 count opposite an opening bid, pass would not be my choice with the E hand.

I have some sympathy for east. It is easy - with a weak hand - to fall into the trap of thinking, well, I made a weak rebid so I've shown my weak hand, without thinking about the rather large range that the minimum rebid could be. For a lot of folks 10 counts up to around a bad 16 could be rebid 2H here. So all I am trying to say is that if east passed because they thought they had "shown their hand" with 2H it isn't so.

Other than that I give West 125% of the blame (more would be an overbid). When you have a game forcing hand, it is necessary to make a game-forcing bid.

[jillybean]

I had a lot of sympathy for East. West's bid reminds me of a comment here on forums along the lines of, don't make a bid that could confuse your partner when you have a better bid available.

[mikeh]

Cyberyeti, on 2021-May-29, 07:53, said:

Doesn't 3♣ show 6 decent hearts and 4 bad clubs which appears to be what I have ?

Yes, 2H then 3C shows 6=4, weak hand.

But this is matchpoints, and our club suit is beyond weak, while on a reasonable day our hearts will provide 5 winners even opposite a stiff. We need to make a lot of clubs to do as well as 3H, if 3H makes. Do you like your chances in 5C? I’m not saying you’d be in 5C, just that you need to make 11 tricks to beat 9 in hearts


Meanwhile, if 3H fails, I’m not optimistic about 3C either

[mikeh]

jillybean, on 2021-May-29, 09:53, said:

I had a lot of sympathy for East. West's bid reminds me of a comment here on forums along the lines of, don't make a bid that could confuse your partner when you have a better bid available.

West is clueless. There are some pairs who play that a 2N rebid, by responder, is forcing in some sequences, but that’s a special agreement and far from standard.

Also, if your style is to routinely open decent 10 counts, then 2N isn’t so bad....if opener is supposed to bid again with anything more than a crappy 12. But, again, that’s not standard.

I’d give west all the blame except that I disagree with east passing. So west 100% and east 25%��

[mw64ahw]

As West I rebid ♠ to show 5+ where 1♠ is 5-10 without 5+♠ or GF with 5+♠

[jillybean]

No special agreements here, I wish I had the confidence to be as direct as you, Mike.
I'm struggling to understand if its West's pride putting the blame of their partner or if they are indeed clueless.

[LBengtsson]

I do not want to be in game on this board. will I pick ♥K stiff. only if I look at opponents cards. lol

[jillybean]

LBengtsson, on 2021-May-29, 10:47, said:

I do not want to be in game on this board. will I pick ♥K stiff. only if I look at opponents cards. lol

Yes you do, I made 3nt+4 with 7♥ lead. Stiff K was a lovely surprise but with only one other entry to dummy, don't I have to play the A?

[Cyberyeti]

jillybean, on 2021-May-29, 10:52, said:

Yes you do, I made 3nt+4 with 7♥ lead. Stiff K was a lovely surprise but with only one other entry to dummy, don't I have to play the A?

You do if they lead a heart because they won't have K7, if they lead something else you play the 10 to the J because Kx onside is many times more likely than stiff K offside

[Cyberyeti]

LBengtsson, on 2021-May-29, 10:47, said:

I do not want to be in game on this board. will I pick ♥K stiff. only if I look at opponents cards. lol

3N is pretty good.