[Quartic]

Playing in a teams match, I pick up a nice weak no trump, and partner bids stayman. Rho now overcalls 2♠, what should my calls mean now? Stayman didn't promise a 4 card major, since we play 2NT as a transfer to ♦.

---

(Spots approximate)

At the table I chose 3♥, and we stopped in 5♥ making 12 tricks (partner should have bid 6, but he chickened out):

---

We don't play exclusion blackwood, though I think I would have recognised 4♠ as such at the table.

[TWO4BRIDGE]

Interesting that partner "chickened out" upon finding ALL key cards + the trump Q .

I guess he had 2nd thoughts... because of the "wasted" ♠ Ace.... and 30 hcp slams require a perfect fit.

Your bidding was fine because of your max. Over your 3♥, I suppose 3♠ would not necessarily be taken as a cuebid for ♥ since partner may have had the "2NT invite" hand. And, now he is concerned about ♠-stop(s) .

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meckwell uses 4S! as regular kickback-RKCB for ♥ and 4NT! as Exclusion ( ♠-void ).

[Quartic]

TWO4BRIDGE, on 2012-February-02, 18:24, said:

Interesting that partner "chickened out" upon finding ALL key cards + the trump Q .

I guess he had 2nd thoughts... because of the "wasted" ♠ Ace.... and 30 hcp slams require a perfect fit.

Your bidding was fine because of your max. Over your 3♥, I suppose 3♠ would not necessarily be taken as a cuebid for ♥ since partner may have had the "2NT invite" hand. And, now he is concerned about ♠-stop(s) .

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meckwell uses 4S! as regular kickback-RKCB for ♥ and 4NT! as Exclusion ( ♠-void ).

I think I would take 3♠ as a NT probe over 3♥, but its not a situation we've discussed at all.

I'd be happy to give kickback a go, but my partner isn't as into system as I am, so I'm trying to avoid potential for misunderstanding.

[sasioc]

I'd pass 2♠. Partner knows roughly what you have and will come back in when it's right. It's possible that he has a very poor hand with length in spades, hearts and diamonds or a 5-4 majors hand and was planning on passing your response to stayman or bidding his 5cM to play over a 2♦ response. It doesn't sound much like partner has four spades but he could be 3451 with a poor hand. As two4bridge says, it's a bit odd that your partner heard that you had two keycards and still didn't bid slam - sounds like he hadn't really decided what he was doing when he bid 4nt...

[Zelandakh]

The simple option is to play that double shows 4 hearts and pass denies 4 hearts. Similarly, over 2♥ interference, X = 4 hearts, 2♠ = 4 spades. There are other possibilities but I think this is best for most B/Is. It might be an idea to discuss with partner that Blackwood is a tool to discover if your side is missing 2 aces. If, having discovered that your side is not, you are unwilling to bid slam then it was almost certainly the wrong choice in the first place.

[mgoetze]

TWO4BRIDGE, on 2012-February-02, 18:24, said:

Meckwell uses 4S! as regular kickback-RKCB for ♥ and 4NT! as Exclusion ( ♠-void ).

Yes, that's great, but.... this is the ***** beginner/intermediate forum! Grrr... give me my minus votes back!

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

#1 did stayman promise at least inv. values?
I seems so, otherwise 3H seems problematic.

#2 Assuming 3H showed 4 hearts, max. values, i.e. accepting the invite,
North can bid 4S, which is a splinter, if you want it, you can agree
to play 4S as Exclusion, ... but splinter work fine as well.
I dont play Exclusion in my reg. partnership, and we dont miss it heavily.
In the end 4S showing a void is only really needed, if you want to go
looking for a Grand Slam.

North has 16HCP out side spades, if they are not complete lunatics,
partner will have at most 4-5 points in spades, i.e. he will have 8-9
HCP out side spades, i.e. N/S will have 24/25 of the relevant points
between them.
The 30 point deck tehory tells you, you want to be in slam.
http://www.reginabri...oint%20deck.pdf

=> 6H.

If you happen to play strong NT, the same argument will make a 7H bid
odds on, although if you cant ask p, if he happens to have the Ace of
hearts, settling for 6H would still be reasonable.

#3 Regarding the meaning

If 2C showes inv. values, pass should be forcing, the 2C forced the partner
ship to play at least 2NT, so passing 2S out should not be an option.

Givem the hint, that this is B/I, I am not going to deep into Forcing Pass,
just that X is penalty, Pass no clear direction, asking partner, if he thinks
going for blood to be reasonable, 2NT would show a reasonable stopper, but no
interest in going for blood - for what ever reason.

With kind regards
Marlowe