[EricK]

Playing MPs. Partner, opposition, and most of the rest of the field are probably "Intermediate" standard (if that makes any difference). System is Acol-ish (12-14 NT, 4 card majors, generally open longest suit, given a choice of 4 card suits open whichever you think will work out best). Most of field will be playing something similar. Dealer, vulnerable, what is your bidding plan on this hand?:

---

Open 1♣ intending to rebid 2♣ over 1♠
Open 1♦ intending to rebid 2♣ over 1♠
Open 1NT
Open 1♣ intending to rebid 1NT (ostensibly 15-17 balanced) over 1♠
Something else

[kriegel]

I would open 1♣ planning on rebidding 1NT over 1♠. The stiff king notwithstanding, the hand has good texture and the concentration isn't bad. When partner bids spades, I think the ♠K goes up in value enough (or returns to its orginal 3 points) to make it reasonable to treat it as 15-17 balanced. It's not clear-cut to me, and as I'm typing this I'm moving slightly toward opening 1NT, which is my second choice. Opening 1♦ and rebidding 2♣ is reasonable too.

[Quartic]

I feel I have two reasonable choices with this hand - either open 1♣ and rebid 2♣, or open 1NT.

I would probably open 1NT - the K♠ looks good if partner transfers to ♠, and I'm certainly happy enough with any other sequence that can follow.

I don't think the hand is worth rebidding 1NT, and I hate the idea of opening 1♦ with this sort of hand.

[JLOGIC]

I'd also open 1N

[the_clown]

1NT 100%.

[inquiry]

I feel silly going against the excellent group of people opening 1NT, but playing 12-14 nt, I upgrade this hand to being too good for 1nt. So I open 1♣ planning on rebidding 1nt or raising hearts.

[the hog]

Open 1D and rebid 2C.

[jillybean]

the hog, on 2012-May-15, 23:02, said:

Open 1D and rebid 2C.

+1

[Cyberyeti]

the hog, on 2012-May-15, 23:02, said:

Open 1D and rebid 2C.

Most weak NT Acol players don't do this as a rule, and you'll find yourself playing in a 4-2 diamond fit rather than a 5-3 club fit if partner has a minimum ish 5323. Not even an option for me.

I'd open 1♣ and probably rebid 2♣.

[Codo]

You never reach a 4-2 fit with a sensible partner, you may play a 4-3 fit in clubs instead of a 5-3 fit in diamond, that is the worst evil that may happen.

To open 1 Diamond on these xy45 hands has an awful lot of impact about you whole bidding structure, f.e. you can bid your majors before you bid 4 diamonds first without needing Walsh, and 1 ♣ 1 ♦ 2 ♦ shows a strong hand which frees space to find the best spot.

I would not claim that this is a big improvement, but it is surely not as bad as you belive.

On the given hand, I would simply open 1 NT and feal fine with it....

[Cyberyeti]

Codo, on 2012-May-16, 04:29, said:

You never reach a 4-2 fit with a sensible partner, you may play a 4-3 fit in clubs instead of a 5-3 fit in diamond, that is the worst evil that may happen.

To open 1 Diamond on these xy45 hands has an awful lot of impact about you whole bidding structure, f.e. you can bid your majors before you bid 4 diamonds first without needing Walsh, and 1 ♣ 1 ♦ 2 ♦ shows a strong hand which frees space to find the best spot.

I would not claim that this is a big improvement, but it is surely not as bad as you belive.

On the given hand, I would simply open 1 NT and feal fine with it....

Providing you've discussed doing it, my point is that if you think about doing it with most Acol players without discussion, they will just assume you're 5-4 and bid 2♦ false preference without missing a beat. A number of Acol players (me included) play the 2♣ rebid as nearly forcing, so it's only going to get passed on a pretty bad hand, which is another reason you end up in 2♦ on a 4-2 where partner feels too good to pass.

A 14 count with a 5 card suit and a load of intermediates is too good for 1N in my book, I might consider 1♣ followed by 1N. Walsh and the like are rarely played by pairs playing normal Acol as we don't need it with the club showing 4, most auctions are simple enough.

The other disadvantage of opening 1♦ is say the auction goes 1♦-1♠-2♣-2♥ now what ? How does partner work out if you're 4-5, or 5-5 if you bid 3♣ ? partner has no idea what to do with his 3-2 in the minors if he's borderline slammy (or how good his 3-3 or 2-3 is).

[EricK]

Thanks for the replies. I am pleased that each of my options has had some support! For what it's worth, I decided to open 1♣ and rebid 1NT over partner's 1♠. My thinking was that a. The hand has good intermediates, so even if not worth an upgrade it is very close, and b. There is no guarantee that partner will bid 1♠, so I mightn't need to lie at all (whereas opening 1♦ or 1NT guarantees that I will have lied in the auction).

Partner decided to raise to 3NT on a flat 8 count (J9xxx Axx KTx xx), and despite a friendly ♥ lead and a ♠ to the K winning, 8 tricks were the limit.

[JLOGIC]

I disagree with the premise that our hand is almost worth 15. You guys are giving stiff K full value. Yes the 9 of diamonds and 10 of clubs are nice, but our 5 card suit is the ace with no supporting honors and we have stiff K. I would say overall it is worth maybe an average 14.

[inquiry]

JLOGIC, on 2012-May-16, 14:39, said:

I disagree with the premise that our hand is almost worth 15. You guys are giving stiff K full value. Yes the 9 of diamonds and 10 of clubs are nice, but our 5 card suit is the ace with no supporting honors and we have stiff K. I would say overall it is worth maybe an average 14.

i see why i should have felt silly going against the grain and saying this was too strong for a weak notrump. Justin is right, this is hand is not worth upgrading. Upon reflection, this is simply a weak 1nt opening bid.

[the hog]

Cyberyeti, on 2012-May-16, 06:56, said:

Providing you've discussed doing it, my point is that if you think about doing it with most Acol players without discussion, they will just assume you're 5-4 and bid 2♦ false preference without missing a beat. A number of Acol players (me included) play the 2♣ rebid as nearly forcing, so it's only going to get passed on a pretty bad hand, which is another reason you end up in 2♦ on a 4-2 where partner feels too good to pass.

A 14 count with a 5 card suit and a load of intermediates is too good for 1N in my book, I might consider 1♣ followed by 1N. Walsh and the like are rarely played by pairs playing normal Acol as we don't need it with the club showing 4, most auctions are simple enough.

The other disadvantage of opening 1♦ is say the auction goes 1♦-1♠-2♣-2♥ now what ? How does partner work out if you're 4-5, or 5-5 if you bid 3♣ ? partner has no idea what to do with his 3-2 in the minors if he's borderline slammy (or how good his 3-3 or 2-3 is).

Cyberyeti, do you play with many partners without discussing your system? I am sure you don't.

[mikl_plkcc]

I would open 1♣, planning to rebid 1NT over 1♠. That would perfectly describe my hand (short in spades and all other three balanced).

[Cyberyeti]

the hog, on 2012-May-16, 17:57, said:

Cyberyeti, do you play with many partners without discussing your system? I am sure you don't.

Online when I played I did quite frequently, if you said say "Old fashioned Acol", it was understood what you meant.

True story, I won a mind sports olympiad (back when it wasn't that serious) multiple teams gold medal off a system discussion of "rubber bridge acol". I was kibitzing, and somebody didn't turn up, a phone call revealed they'd turned up at home extremely drunk 4 hours before, so I stepped in, played the morning session, left them leading as the player turned up for the afternoon session and finished off the win.

Also if I did have a 15 minute system discussion with a new partner before a session, what I opened with 4-5 in the minors would be so far down the list of questions it wouldn't get asked, most acol players just open 1♣ automatically.

[Zelandakh]

mikl_plkcc, on 2012-May-16, 21:55, said:

I would open 1♣, planning to rebid 1NT over 1♠. That would perfectly describe my hand (short in spades and all other three balanced) if I had a stronger hand.

FYP.

[SteveMoe]

Open 1N and smile convincingly when partner transfers me into ♠s.