All Vul S Dealer	♠ 10 7 ♥ 9 7 ♦ 6 2 ♣ K J 9 8 5 4 2
♠ A K Q J 8 2 ♥ 5 3 ♦ K 8 ♣ A Q 6		♠ ♥ A K 8 ♦ A J 9 7 5 4 3 ♣ 10 7 3
	♠ 9 6 5 4 3 ♥ Q J 10 6 4 2 ♦ Q 10 ♣

2♥ – explained as weak 2 in Hearts. Playing Lebensohl over double of 2-level openings, East bids to show 1-suiter strong hand (3♦ would be showing 7+ HCP and a good 5-card suit) Questions: 1. Is 4♦ bid justified? 2. What should West do over 5♦? Pass or a blind guess at 6♦? 3. Any other suggested bidding sequence by E-W?

Hi Pravin,
Thanks for this question – it’s an interesting hand!

I like the 4♦ bid provided you’re on the same page that it’s forcing and single-suited. I would take it as a hand with some interest in slam if partner has the right cards, as East could bid 3♦ with a more flexible hand (e.g. a balanced hand or 4 spades and 5-6 diamonds) or 5♦ with a hand that just wants to play in game.

I would take West’s 4♠ bid as showing that they had a strong double with spades, as with a more ‘boring’ hand they would have either overcalled spades at their first turn or just bid 5♦ over 4♦. (Note: They also could have bid 3♠ or 4♠ directly over 2♥, as jumps over weak 2s and pre-empts should be strong single-suiters, rather than pre-empting over a pre-empt.)

East’s decision is tricky now! If partner has a genuine strong double then 6♦ is probably a good bet, but 5♦ is also fine if they’re not entirely sure.

As West, I would raise 5♦ to 6♦. 4♦ followed by 5♦ is a strong message that “I want to play in my suit, not yours”, so that would rule out rebidding spades for me. Keeping in mind that 4♦ should be strong (game forcing) over a simple takeout double, East has to have a pretty good hand! West holds 3 keycards and a solid side suit – what can partner have but lots of diamonds and points in hearts, since I have the most of the rest of the points? You could also consider 6NT on most hands, but here but with two low hearts and the possibility that partner has something like KJ rather than AK, I wouldn’t risk it.

Hope this helps,
Lauren