[jillybean]

---

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

my first reaction would be single club, but it does not add up:
responder showed 4 spades, the NT bidder has 2+ spades, this leaves p with a singleton spade.
The 40 points abacus also tells us, that p has at most an opening hand.
So he will be 55 with a spade singleton and 10-12HCP, which means pass, let the dogs sleep,
afterwards you should tell him, that a spade singleton is not an asset, and that he could show
his opening strength via a penalty double of openers NT rebid.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[DavidKok]

There's a simple trick for auctions like this, though it only works if you're a cynic. Look at your hand. Partner has at most one card in your longest suit, at least 5-5 in your shortest two suits, and insufficient values to make anything past the 2-level.

Now let's look at the auction. Opener promised an 18-19 balanced with a spade stopper, responder 6+ (sure, we'd double with the right 5-count, but 6+ is much more common) with probably 4 spades, we have 9 with 6 spades, that leaves 0-1 spades for partner with 0-7 hcp. Oh, that means opener misbid and volunteered 1NT on 12-14, giving partner 9-13.

Now why would partner jump with shortage in our suit and insufficient extras? Probably partner has extreme shape and couldn't show it last round, because the two-suited bids over 1♣ do not contain clubs. Partner must have at least 5-5, but might well have 5=6. Notice how opener volunteered 1NT, and if partner has a spade they can hold at most ♠Kx. Not the best stopper ever - Kxx is a serious alternative, especially if it is KTx or K9x.
It is also relevant that 1♣ was not alerted. Does that mean it shows 3+? If it's 4+ that makes partner's decision to introduce the clubs even more questionable.

At any rate I think partner has approximately a 1=5=2=5 or 0=5=2=6 with 9-13 hcp. The suits are likely quite good to justify a jump rebid in the opened suit on a misfit auction with only moderate hcp.

[mikeh]

DavidKok, on 2026-June-03, 09:59, said:

There's a simple trick for auctions like this, though it only works if you're a cynic. Look at your hand. Partner has at most one card in your longest suit, at least 5-5 in your shortest two suits, and insufficient values to make anything past the 2-level.

Now let's look at the auction. Opener promised an 18-19 balanced with a spade stopper, responder 6+ (sure, we'd double with the right 5-count, but 6+ is much more common) with probably 4 spades, we have 9 with 6 spades, that leaves 0-1 spades for partner with 0-7 hcp. Oh, that means opener misbid and volunteered 1NT on 12-14, giving partner 9-13.

Now why would partner jump with shortage in our suit and insufficient extras? Probably partner has extreme shape and couldn't show it last round, because the two-suited bids over 1♣ do not contain clubs. Partner must have at least 5-5, but might well have 5=6. Notice how opener volunteered 1NT, and if partner has a spade they can hold at most ♠Kx. Not the best stopper ever - Kxx is a serious alternative, especially if it is KTx or K9x.
It is also relevant that 1♣ was not alerted. Does that mean it shows 3+? If it's 4+ that makes partner's decision to introduce the clubs even more questionable.

At any rate I think partner has approximately a 1=5=2=5 or 0=5=2=6 with 9-13 hcp. The suits are likely quite good to justify a jump rebid in the opened suit on a misfit auction with only moderate hcp.

I very much doubt that 1N shows 18-19. It would/should had responder not doubled 1H. As it is, I expect opener to be showing a maximum weak notrump hand.

Apart from that, I agree with your analysis of what 3C shows and, imo, this is an auto-pass.

[DavidKok]

mikeh, on 2026-June-03, 10:10, said:

I very much doubt that 1N shows 18-19. It would/should had responder not doubled 1H. As it is, I expect opener to be showing a maximum weak notrump hand.

We're not in a force, I use pass to show the misfit balanced hand. I don't distinguish between a minimum and maximum in the 12-14 range here.