[mtvesuvius]

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What is your catchall bid here? What do you do on 2254? 2245?

[Phil]

It might depend on where the strength is located. For instance, even though I voted for 3♣, I think I'd bid 3♥ on xx KJ AKxxx Jxxx. Most hands that I'd want to rebid 2N on, I'm quite likely to rebid 1N instead of 2♣.

[mike777]

vast majority are 2nt

[Siegmund]

I will never bid 2N unless I have spades stopped. With 2254 I bid whichever minor is stronger, with a leaning toward the cheapest choice all else being equal. (On that basis I voted 3C - but I by no means always bid 3C with that shape.) With 2245 I open 1C

[wank]

3♠ - i don't care how much space it uses up if it describes my hand accurately. as for supporting hearts with a doubleton, i'm perfectly happy to do that if it's the right doubleton.

as for being 2245 on this auction, it ain't going to happen.

[mich-b]

For us , rebidding opener's 1st suit is the catchall.
For example :
1♦ - 1♠
2♣ - 2♥
3♦

But , in your sequence , where opener has already denied 4♠, we use 3♠ as the catchall.

[Cascade]

If opener can be 4=5 or 5=4 in the minors can't you just clarify the minor length.

We have been playing that the cheapest suit is the catch-all. This seems to work really well. For me the reasoning for this is that if I don't know what to bid maybe partner does so I better give her as much room as possible.

In addition we use 3♠ as nothing to say but with extra strength. This is at times an amazing agreement as with extra strength and no stopper opposite a game force partner reasonably often can place every significant card in your hand. We have had auctions like 1♦ 1♥; 2♣ 2♠; 3♠ 7♦.

[paulg]

Cascade, on 2011-January-10, 02:42, said:

If opener can be 4=5 or 5=4 in the minors can't you just clarify the minor length.

We have been playing that the cheapest suit is the catch-all. This seems to work really well. For me the reasoning for this is that if I don't know what to bid maybe partner does so I better give her as much room as possible.

In addition we use 3♠ as nothing to say but with extra strength. This is at times an amazing agreement as with extra strength and no stopper opposite a game force partner reasonably often can place every significant card in your hand. We have had auctions like 1♦ 1♥; 2♣ 2♠; 3♠ 7♦.

We do the same.

[Fluffy]

my catch all in general is the longest suit, unless there is a 4 card major to rebid.

But the way I open 1♦ I am showing my 5th card in a suit, nor catching anything.

[han]

I don't open 1D with longer clubs.

If I rebid 2NT I have at least half a spade stopper. With Qx xx AQxx AJxxx I would rebid 2NT, as it is the easiest way to rightside notrump, and it leaves the most room for partner.
If I rebid 3D I have 6 diamonds.
If I rebid 3H I have 3 hearts.
If I rebid 3S I have Axx x AQxx Kxxxx.
3C is my catch all bid, it is the cheapest call that doesn't risk wrong-siding notrump.

[Fluffy]

han, on 2011-January-10, 09:50, said:

I don't open 1D with longer clubs.

If I rebid 3S I have Axx x AQxx Kxxxx.

liar...

[han]

Ah ok, use your imagination Gonzalo.

[mfa1010]

Mine is 3♣. With 2254, I could bid 2NT on ♠Qx, 3♦ on a very good 5card suit or 3♥ on a strong doubleton.

[whereagles]

3rd and 4th suit forcing sequences are my next subject of study, but my case is more complicated since I play those forcing for 1 round only.

Right now I only have meta-rules like "min bids show bad mins, other bids show decent min or med."

[gnasher]

After any fourth-suit bid at the two level, I like to play the cheapest suit as the 5422 shape. A raise of fourth suit shows a hand that wanted to bid the cheapest suit. In this auction that would mean that 3♣ shows 2254 and 3♠ shows xx55.

I don't like the idea of not being able to show 5-5 at all.

[FrancesHinden]

I'm slightly simpler than gnasher.

I won't be 2245, that either opened 1NT, rebid 1NT or opened 1C and reversed into diamonds.
With 2254 I would bid
-2NT with anything a stop (with Qx I look at the rest of my hand)
-3S with extra values showing either 2254 or 3154 not wanting to hog NT (whether or not 2S was game forcing)
-Otherwise my usual default bid is to show a doubleton in partner's suit. This is the about the only auction where I might bid one of my suits instead e.g. xx xx AKQJx Kxxx is an obvious 3D bid, but the principle is that rebidding clubs shows 5, diamonds shows 6 and bidding hearts shows 2.

[awm]

If the fourth suit can be raised below 3NT, as here, I like that as the catchall (here 3♠).

This keeps all the other rebids pure. The 3♠ call takes up a lot of space, but it's also extremely descriptive. I play the fourth suit as forcing to game so I won't be getting us too high.

Requiring the 3♠ call to show extras seems overkill to me -- if it shows extras and no spade control then partner can pretty much place every card in my hand (as Gnasher commented) which seems to imply that the 3♠ call was a little too specific (i.e. we rarely need the space between 3♠ and the final contract). Allowing a wider range of strength "purifies" all the cheaper calls and we can always bid 4m to look for slam over 3♠ and negotiate the final level appropriately.

[Hanoi5]

I don't exactly have a catch-all; in general I'd repeat my first suit but I could also repeat the second if it's better (more honours) or cheaper (as in this case). I don't like opening 1♦ with 4♦'s and 5♣'s.

[tolvyrj]

Catchall bid? I dont know what that is, but in my sys situation is now this 1) 2C over 1H was new minor and forcing for one round and prds 2S was fourth suit and forcing to game. My bid will be a simple choice between 1) 2Nt in case i have a stopper in spades and 2)3S in case i dont have stopper in spades and no 3 card H suit nor any extras length in minors. 1) case being the priority.

[mikeh]

mfa1010, on 2011-January-10, 10:15, said:

Mine is 3♣. With 2254, I could bid 2NT on ♠Qx, 3♦ on a very good 5card suit or 3♥ on a strong doubleton.

agreed