[Onedown]

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You are on Board 11 of 12, and behind 10 imps. Your system opens 4 card ♥ suits in any position. We also play Rev Bergen with 3♣as the good limit raise. Partner splinters and comes 3NT on your right and it is announced as Minors.

You consider doubling, bidding ♥or is a slam possible? Why not? You decide cue bidding either minor suit ace won't help so you continue with 4NT 1430 (remember your down 10 imps), thinking if partner is at least 1-5-4-3 and holds all the right cards, you own 3 keys with the Q, partner surely could have 2 keys and if K of ♣ or K of ♦ You are also aware P cd be splintering with only 4♥and with the minor bid on your right, ♥ should not be behaving well. But into the breach you go. You choke when p shows no keys and stop in 5♥

You do make 5 ♥, once a low ♦ (std leads) is lead.

The whole exercise for this post, is what do you think of partners splinter? I am of the opinion partner valued his K ♠twice and his bid should be 4 ♥ (usually shows 0-9)

[MrAce]

You need to fix the auction. You passed 5♦ bid

Anyway, about the bidding; 1♥-4♥ 0-9 is way too wide range and causes problems. Sometimes pd has 18 hcp and goes to slam and finds you with 2 hcp, sometimes doesnt go and finds u with this and misses a laydown slam etc etc...I agree that splinter with this will not be everyone's taste. Tuff hand for responder if it is a pick up pdship.

Regular pds usually have an agreement to express hands that are too good to bid 4 and not too good for other strong bids or splinter. You obviously dont wanna play short of game and u dont wanna give wrong messages to your pd either such as " i maybe zero" or " lets go slam if u dont have wasted values in ♠ suit" etc

I am sure there will be a lot of people who will list their methods to you very soon.

[masse24]

3♣.....followed by 4♥ if/when partner signs off in 3♥
(I like my extra trump)

[chasetb]

I have to agree with masse24 above, I am bidding 3♣ followed by 4♥ to show limit raise values but a hand that won't stop short of game. The hand is too strong to jump to 4♥ and not nearly strong enough to splinter, especially with a stiff King. On the hand, are you saying that West had the K♣, or had a ♦ void and wasn't able to get to partner's hand, or didn't lead a singleton ♦?

[Fluffy]

Since opponents both passed I guess I can make an exception and do something fancy other than 4♥. But if LHO was unpassed hand I would think anything but 4♥ is very bad.

3♠ is wrong, you dont have the values, all you have is a lot of crappy useless honnors. Partner´s hand ain´t something really special and we contribute with 0 HCP in ♠, 0 HCP in ♥, 0 HCP in ♦ and only ♣QJ are worth something (actually ♠K is worth more but you take the point)

[rhm]

3♠ (Splinter) is certainly asking for trouble missing all key-cards and no control of the ♣ suit. The choice is between 3♣ and 4♥.

I very much prefer 4♥ with this massive ♥fit and shortage in the higher ranking suit. Opponents being vulnerable, you are much more likely to gain from the preemptive value of 4 ♥ than missing a slam. This could well be a double game swing deal. It is also important to let partner know, that his ♥ values will not help in defense should opponents interfere.

For slam to be good, for starters partner needs 4 key-cards (you could still be missing ♣AK), that is not only a very strong hand, but a strong hand very rich in controls. Given that partner did not open 2NT such control rich hands are very much against the odds and if partner has such a monster he might continue over 4♥.
If you bid anything but 4♥, even 3♣, it is at least as worrisome that this is all encouragement opener needs to bid a poor or no-play slam, particularly if opponents get active over 3♣. Give partner all the aces the ♥Q and a balanced hand. Does this make slam cold?

It is also likely that in the other room the opening bid will not be 1♥, which might well work out to your advantage. One advantage claimed for 4 card major systems is that you find major suit fits faster. But you have to exploit it when you do. 3♣ is wrong for tactical reasons.

Rainer Herrmann

[gwnn]

Trying to bid slim slams is not the way to try to create swings in my experience. Maybe I'm unlucky but usually when I try that it backfires as the other table goes down in slam. It is more sensible to try to stay out of slam and hope they don't. Here you even had a great chance to try to defend 4mx. Double 3NT and see if partner can double 4D.

[EricK]

I would just have bid 4♥ first time around. I have weak trumps and no aces so from my point of view slam is incredibly unlikely. But we are vulnerable, so partner will expect enough strength to think we have a shot of making. I would think that 3♣ followed by bidding game (we're not staying short of game here, are we?) must show more slam potential. 3♠ seems wrong on a number of counts - partner would misjudge what ♠ holdings are useful, and it gives East a cheap way of suggesting a ♠ contract.

[Mbodell]

I think 3♣ is the right bid in normal times. If you are swinging, I like making your game forcing heart raise (Jacoby 2nt or whatever your equivalent is). I'd want to know if partner has a source of tricks. A 4♣ response to J2N would be pretty sweet. The spade splinter is no good as partner will misevaluate spade honors. I agree with investigating slam with the S hand once you hear the splinter. I mean partner has short spades but RHO has long minors? Partner is marked with very likely the top hearts and any minor suit cards with partners should finesse through the length.

[phil_20686]

i bid whatever shows a limt+ 4 card raise.

Then I bid 4H. Then partner can double some number of spades if it seems appropriate.

[phil_20686]

Also, the 3N bid opposite the splinter is seriously out there.

[ArtK78]

phil_20686, on 2011-November-26, 08:37, said:

i bid whatever shows a limt+ 4 card raise.

Then I bid 4H. Then partner can double some number of spades if it seems appropriate.

+1

[Onedown]

MrAce, on 2011-November-25, 23:45, said:

You need to fix the auction. You passed 5♦ bid

Anyway, about the bidding; 1♥-4♥ 0-9 is way too wide range and causes problems. Sometimes pd has 18 hcp and goes to slam and finds you with 2 hcp, sometimes doesnt go and finds u with this and misses a laydown slam etc etc...I agree that splinter with this will not be everyone's taste. Tuff hand for responder if it is a pick up pdship.

Regular pds usually have an agreement to express hands that are too good to bid 4 and not too good for other strong bids or splinter. You obviously dont wanna play short of game and u dont wanna give wrong messages to your pd either such as " i maybe zero" or " lets go slam if u dont have wasted values in ♠ suit" etc

I am sure there will be a lot of people who will list their methods to you very soon.

I do not know how to fix the hand, but thanks..what a tonto I am

Lots of great replies....to some of them:

0-9 is way too wide - This is pretty standard and simply descriptive...it connotes a void or stiff in a side suit..and not offensive...as in smell...
Bidding 3 clubs - I do not like 3 clubs, due to the evaluation of the stiff K of ♠
Opening 4 card majors - I must admit, that this is my system, called SANE. I have taught and played it for over 20 years. it is only 4 card ♥ suits we open just to make rebids easier when you have 4 or 5 ♦ or some other configuration (there are many) where your rebid once opening a minor becomes difficult. Responder always assumes 5 in the beginning and can be qualified after 2nd or 3rd bids.
Doubling 3NT - I wd consider this for a nano second and move on. How rich can we get vs 620 or 1430? RHO other than there insanity, surely has 11+ cards in the minors. 500 maybe, but 800?..never...

[gwnn]

Btw I would bid 4H as North.

And as I said, I would x 3NT not to get rich but to create a swing. Also if they bid 4D (they probably will) and partner can't double, I am bidding 4 H.