[han]

Scoring: MP

1C-(1D)-??

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Here is a hand a friend of mine had at the Denver nationals. He was playing 2/1 with 12-14 1NT openings, and raised his partner's 1C opening to 2C after the opponents overcalled 1D. Do you agree?

[whereagles]

Bidding 2♣ here is wrong because pard will bid 2NT with the 15-17 hand and that might leave you to play 2NT on 21-23 points. Statistically a bit tight.

1♥ is much, much better since it allows pard to rebid 1NT with the 15-17 hand.

[luis]

I think I would have passed.

[Al_U_Card]

Dbl, for me 1H would tend to show 5 and I can convert 1S to 1NT and not feel too bad about my D cards.

[Kalvan14]

1♥. No reason to be ashamed.

[Free]

Depends on your agreements of 1♥ and Dbl, but I'd show ♥. The double fit will cover for the poor ♥s.

[luke warm]

1♥ ... btw, double here should show both majors

[mghmaine]

It seems 1H risks a raise with 3, perhaps under pressure. It is hard to hate 2C. Surely if you have a H game you will find it, but perhaps not a partscore.
Dbl showing both Ms is not universal BTW.

[mike777]

Pass. Easy so far.

Without any experience with this NT range may I assume:
1) Partner will play me for 5-6 working hcp? Often balanced or semibalanced?
2) If so then I may only need to show my shape later if need be?
3) If LHO shows a weakish hand, do I play partner for 15-17 balanced?

My next bid may be difficult.

[Double !]

I would likely respond 1 heart. I am assuming that P has a balanced 15-17 until told otherwise. If I raise to 2C, I run the risk of fixing partner who might not be able to bid 2NT due to lack of diamond stopper. And it will be at the 2-level before the partnership will be able to explore for a possible 4-4 major fit. My feeling is that one should make the bid one normally would have made in response to 1 club because opener either has shape with a club suit (with or without a second suit) or else has a balanced hand with extrat values. The weak NT permits exploration for a 4-4 fit on hands that might normally play in 1NT if playing 15-17 1NT, but it also loses the chance to explore for 4-4 major fits on hands that 15-17NT player would find. Don't lose your chance to search for the major fit: the structure of the system is to enable such a search. And one still has checkbacks available to reveal a 5-3 fit. So 1H need not show 5+ hearts. One can always correct to clubs without showing extra values if necessary.
Hope this make sense.

DHL

[mike777]

Well that is one big issue.

1H says 4+ hearts and a very wide range of hcp, wide range of suit quality also.

With pass partner may play me for 5-6 working hcp and no decent suit to bid.
The good news is pass really limits my hand in such a way partner can make alot of reasonable assumptions that are correct! The bad news is finding a 4-4 heart is harder to find depending on how the auction proceeds. As I said I would also pass playing 16-18 nt opening so not sure what hand I should assume for partner playing 12-14, long clubs unbalanced or strong nt hand seems normal guess.

[almightygozar]

Interesting discussion. I thought I'd post my $1/50 since I was the panel member who initially praised the 2♣ response. The reasons I liked 2♣ were because
- it directs a good lead if we end up defending
- it preempts opps out of possible spade fit
- it shows our values in one bid
- I won't be happy if pard raises 1♥ with only 3
- even if it misses a heart fit or 1N contract, we still might score as well (or better) in clubs

The biggest problem hand where 1♥ wins is when pard was 4423, and even then we might win by stopping in 2♣ (or 2N if he has 17-19) instead of reaching a poor 3♥ or 4♥ contract.

For those who vote pass, you are missing one of the biggest advantages of playing a 12-14 NT: when partner opens 1♣ or 1♦, you know he has a real hand, with either 15+ or a 5+ card suit and some shape. This is especially true if you try to open suitable 5422-shaped hands with 1NT, which my group does.

I like the discussion, and it's making me take a closer look at the merits of 1♥, but for now I'm sticking with my guns. Thanks for posting, Hannie!

[kenrexford]

I keep thinking about the logic of this hand, and I come to the same conclusion.

If I held a four-card major, I would bid it, right? Start with this assumption. If this is correct, then NOT bidding a major should imply 7+ cards in the minors. With five clubs, I'd probably bid 2C, and with five diamonds I might pass, hoping for a reopening double. In any event, a 1NT call should imply some club length.

Thus, 2C seems a bit redundant. 1NT seems better. I announce my stopper, general strength, and lack of serious club length. I preempt 1S. Sure, I might miss a heart fit, but finding a heart fit might be worse, as it encourages 2S competition, which I abhor and fear. The Q10x in diamonds bolsters my thinking, because I am less concerned about protecting partner's Kx than I would be with Qxx.

Plus, partner tends to expect hidden majors after 1NT more than after 2C.

I am a tad concerned about right-siding the NT contract, but the other benefits seem to outweigh this cost. I might even right-side a heart contract, if partner is something like 3415 with a great hand.

[Codo]

I would pass too. If this is a partscore battle, it is not yet over.
If my pd has a strong NT, he will bid, if he has long clubs, he will bid too.

Of course one bad thing can happen: LHo preempts,
But the downsides of bidding 2 Clubs (not able to find the Heart fit) and 1 Heart ( This emphazise the wrong pattern of the hand. You don`t want a heart lead, you don´t want to play in a 4-3 fit and you don`t want to show a range from 5 to 25 HCPs for your hand) are bigger - im my opinion.

[Gerben42]

I would bid 1♥.
Second alternative Pass. 2♣ is terrible.

[mr1303]

I have a simple rule. If I'm only going to make one bid with a hand (and this is one of those hands) and I have a choice between bidding a suit of my own and supporting partner, I raise partner (unless my partner is rubbish, but that's another matter).

Hence I bid 2C, and don't think twice about it. If partner has good hearts he can bid them himself.

[Gerben42]

That's a good rule but not on this hand. You don't know if you have a fit for partner as you are playing standard American. Playing Acol I would have more sympathy for 2♣.