1) Do you regard a 3♣ response to regular/Garbage Stayman as
a) idle, but not undefined
b) undefined, but not idle
c) both idle and undefined
d) neither idle nor undefined (really?)
?
True story: I was thinking about starting this thread yesterday, but spent all day playing Challenge and team matches on BBO instead. Then, as if by black magic, the following hand came up:
North was not a regular partner of mine, but good.
2) Can idle bids legally be used as psychic auto-controls?
If the bidding goes
1N-2♣; 3♣,
where
* 1N implies 'I have a legitimate 1N opening'
* 3♣ implies 'I don't have a legitimate 1N opening, as I would then have responed either 2♦, 2♥ or 2♠ to Stayman',
then Opener is obviously contradicting himself. But from a contradiction everything follows, e.g. that Opener has a 3334 yarborough, 13 spades or, most importantly, a hand where 3♣ is the best available spot. So a rational (but possibly immoral or criminal) Responder might pass even on a good hand, turning the 3♣ bid into a kind of psychic auto-control if Opener for some reason wanted to play 3♣.
This post has been edited by nullve: 2016-April-27, 08:46