Sitting East (Dealer) at Teams, All Vul
♠ 8 6 4
♥ 6 5 2
♦ A Q 6 4 2
♣ J 8

What should I bid?

I couldn’t summon up the courage for a bid as:
– A Negative double should guarantee four spades
– 2♦ is just way over the top, even if playing negative free bids, surely it would be forcing and suggest around 11+ HCP’s?
– I had to rule out 1NT with three little hearts to the 6, and let’s forget about bidding 2♣ with J8 support (Oh, BTW, we are playing 2+ club openings)

After I pass, South passes and now partner rebids 1♠, I think strongly suggesting 4-5 in the black suits. Partner might have a 4-6 shape but then I’d tend to opt for 2♣ rebid myself. 1♠ was passed around to me and I’ve got another decision to make.

So, as before, do you bid the first time round (and if so, what), and what about the second chance to speak over partner’s 1♠ rebid?

I did pass both times and 1♠ made 8 tricks in the 4-3 fit. At the other table our teammates made 2♥ gaining us 6 IMPs.

Full hands were:

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

Hi Alan,

You certainly did well, and I would have chosen the exact same actions as you – that is, pass both times.

The first question as to what to do over RHO’s 1♥ overcall, you are quite correct in that even if you were playing negative free bids, 2♦ with this hand is a bit too much. The suit quality is OK for a negative free bid, but the dreaded 5332 shape along with xxx in hearts makes our hand quite awful for a 2♦ negative freebid. Of course, if negative freebids are not played, then 2♦ would be a huge overbid.

Over our pass, when partner balances with 1♠ back to us, we don’t have any sensible action so we should pass again. The way I look at it is, if partner did not have the strength to make a jumpshift rebid of 2♠, then we are not missing out on anything. Therefore, as we shouldn’t have game on, we might as well take our easiest route to a plus score, and what better else than to play 1♠ in our 4-3 fit, which I’d imagine should work out OK (as it so happened).

Hope that helps,
Andy