[awm]

Scoring: IMP

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Playing in a Swiss Teams event, your righthand opponent opens a precision 1♣ (16+ points any distribution). Your teammates play 2/1, so the opening will not be the same at the other table.

What do you bid?

It's early in the match with no obvious swings thus far, in case that matters.

[hrothgar]

5♦ here...

six is a little too rich for my blood

[whereagles]

Yeah.. 5♦ seems about right.

[bid_em_up]

While 5♦ is a reasonable choice, I think 4♦ is a better choice. There is nothing that says opps will be able to make game given the likely bad breaks, and 5♦ will (almost) certainly be doubled. Let them guess their suit at the 4 level, and let them play it there.

[joshs]

4.7 diamonds.

[FrancesHinden]

I agree with josh... it feels a bit light for 5D and a bit heavy for 4D. If you bid 4D and it goes (4M) P P to you, you really feel you've undercooked things but 5D then will just be offering fielder's choice.

So I reluctantly went for 5D because that's the call where I don't know what I want them to do over it.

[mikeh]

FrancesHinden, on May 31 2006, 02:18 PM, said:

So I reluctantly went for 5D because that's the call where I don't know what I want them to do over it.

100% agreement: when in doubt, make the bid that leaves you wondering if you did the right thing after they double you or bid. If you bid 4♦ (or less) and they bid 4major, you 'know' that you didn't bid enough... whereas if you bid 5♦, no matter what happens next, you remian in doubt until (at least) dummy appears, whoever is dummy.

[P_Marlowe]

5D, -3 is not to much against their game

With kind regards
Marlowe

PS: I voted for 4D, due to short lapse of concentration

[Walddk]

5♦ and let them make the final error. If they don't err, oh well, I have gone for 800 against (perhaps) nothing before.

Roland

[jdonn]

5♦ could turn out to be too much, but it's hard to bring yourself to do less with a nine bagger, and a void to boot.

I actually don't think a completely blatant psych, like 3 or even 4 of a major, is so bad. Dangerous, sure, but that's why it's a psych after all, and it could be brutal for them to recover from if you happen to hit their suit.

[pclayton]

If you ever preempt and a little voice tempts you to bid again, you didn't bid enough the first time.

Get it off your chest and then shut up. Learn to live with the result.

We've all bid 5 with these hands and it gets sawed off for 1100. But we've also pushed them to a high level that pard gets to whack (or not), or they misjudge and we go for -200 against their game.

[Free]

4♥, followed by 4♠, 4NT, 5♣ and finally 5♦ (until their red cards are up) This is imo the best start: if they bid over 4♥, I'll pass and partner may lead a ♥ to give me a ruff.

[FrancesHinden]

I prefer a psyche if they are playing penalty doubles, because then there's much less risk of partner raising.

[jchiu]

Depends on the number of drinks I've had, I either: bid 5♦, smoothly bid 4♥, or slowly bid 4♥.

[toothbrush]

Free, on Jun 1 2006, 02:20 AM, said:

4♥, followed by 4♠, 4NT, 5♣ and finally 5♦ (until their red cards are up)    This is imo the best start: if they bid over 4♥, I'll pass and partner may lead a ♥ to give me a ruff.

What do you do when partner bids 5♥, or 6♥, or 7♥ ???

Normal bid to me is 5♦, very annoying for opponents because they don't know if they have game, or even a (grand) slam. Of course I will no more bid anything after this bid, just hope that they're in the wrong contract.
I think the worst scenario is that they can only make game and you go 3 down (-800 versus -620, only some imps lost). Best scenario is that you make 5♦ doubled and that they have a slam to make: gain of many many imps

So why risk a psych in this case??

[Free]

partner WON'T bid 5♥, 6♥ or 7♥ because he knows when to hide a 'superfit' for opponents...

[toothbrush]

Free, on Jun 4 2006, 07:40 AM, said:

partner WON'T bid 5♥, 6♥ or 7♥ because he knows when to hide a 'superfit' for opponents...

please explain i don't get it

[Free]

I guess you just don't want to get it...

Ever heard of pushing opponents to game? Ever heard of pushing opponents to slam? Same concept, usually at a higher level... You know this!

[hrothgar]

Free, on Jun 4 2006, 03:40 PM, said:

partner WON'T bid 5♥, 6♥ or 7♥ because he knows when to hide a 'superfit' for opponents...

I think that you need to be VERY careful here. From the sounds of things, you're arguing that that partner shouldn't raise your 4♥ preempt if he holds a big Heart fit. For example give partner a hand like

♠ K432
♥ QT963
♦ Void
♣ T872

and he should pass since the knowledge of the Heart fit would permit one of the opponents to judge that his Heart length implies shortness in partner's hand (as well as a fit)

I'm not sure if you've crossed ethical/regulatory boundaries surrounding psychic controls, but you are certainly skirting them. I recognize that the argument that you're advancing has nothing to do with catering to a psyche in partner's hand. At the same time, I've always argued that the verbal descriptions the players apply to their methods are much less important than the actual set of hands and bidding strategies involved. After all, we'd hardly expect that you to state that you are playing illegal psychic controls...

In short, I think that you need to be required to alert your 4♥ preempt as showing either Heart length or a 5 level preempt in either minor.

[han]

Also 5♦ for me, I'm nr. 25.