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About the ABF
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What should I Bid? - Best enquiry for February 2004The best submission in February came from Carole Ford.
Comments: Having only 3 losers I opened 2D, our game force. Partner responded 3H, positive with slam interest and we eventually reached 6S. We actually had better clubs between us but never got to mention them. 6S failed when the KQ10 were sitting over the long suit while 6C loses only the one spade trick.How should
we reach the better contract?
And Peter's Response: Hi Carole, This is a tricky problem. It is not easy to get to clubs. Before I get to the nub of the matter let me address a couple of issues which relate in general. Two suiters are unsuited to strong two level openings. Whenever partner has a positive response, particularly in the suit that would indicate a negative if bid at the two level, the auction is nearly at 3NT by the time the longer suit is mentioned and the second suit gets lost, as did clubs in your sequence. It's even worse if your primary suit is lower in rank than partner's response. I strongly recommend that you open even very big (not gigantic) two suiters with a one level bid in your longest suit (higher if equal length). In this competitive age, someone will peep something. Once in a while everyone passes and that is just bad luck! What you have gained is the room for you and your partener to explore for the best fit in a variety of suits at a lower level. Suits are less likely to get lost. A possible sequence on this deal might be:
It depends very largely on partnership understanding of the 4C bid which will decide the final contract. Many players would suggest that it is a cue bid, others would think of it as a bid rounding out the shape ( 5+ spades and 5+ clubs) and therefore suggesting an alternative trump suit. The former players realistically will end up in spades on this deal. The latter may get to 6C. 4H is an easy cue from responder to confirm a good hand. 6C would be a sensible "choice of contract" bid. The bid, by its very nature expresses some doubt about a spade contract if responder's support is thin. Over this bid, I suggest a pass with Qxxx in clubs expecting 6C to be the best spot. Regards,
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