Our auction went like this:
I think maybe if I start with 4♦, a cue in ♦, implicitly agreeing ♥s, then Norman can bid 4♠ next, which must imply a club control. Note that 3♠ in our methods is definitely a stopper ask for no trumps, although I think it must retrospectively become a cue-bid after I bid 4♦ - in which case Norman should probably still bid 4♠ over 4♦, as I must have shown a pretty serious slam try. However, I'm still not sure if we're getting to grand - I can count 3 tricks in ♦s, 5 in ♥s and 2 aces, so there need to be three more from somewhere. It's very likely that Norman can ruff at least one ♠ and set up at least one ♦, but I'm not sure I can find out enough to actually be able to count to 13.
At Ian Aitchison and John Donaldson's table, the auction was somewhat more unusual, however. I'm not actually able to enter it on the bridgebase handviewer. It started off sensibly enough:
However, Ian's choice as West in this situation was a double...
Apparently this is an "inadmissible bid", and basically the only penalty is that Ian has to find an admissible bid instead - with the caveat that his partner is barred from knowing that he has a take-out double of 3♠, which I guess means he doesn't know for sure about the spade shortage, or that Ian has any extras. Ian chose to bid 4♥, which I think probably isn't right, especially after his attempted take-out double, as slam doesn't look out of the question, and partner is pretty much barred from bidding on unless he has an absolute monster - I'd have tried 4♠, even if it does commit us to the 5 level. Added advantage is that it must show a hand that's something like take-out of ♠, meaning that partner no longer has any unauthorised information (I'm not sure if you're allowed to take that into account when making your bid?)
I had to look up the penalty for an inadmissible double but Law 36.B.2 is quite clear that the offender must make a legal call and the offender's partner must pass whenever it is his turn to call. So Ian is free to do anything and John must pass it. Four hearts is the sensible choice or six diamonds if you want to gamble.
ReplyDeleteIf you need help with slam bidding it's often best to ask an expert, like a Scottish internationalist. But based on the performances in the slam zone on Opatija, looking for a decent book is probably a better idea ;)
In that case, the wrong ruling was given at the table, they were definitely told there was no further penalty - I'll tell Horst, although he might have looked it up by now.
DeleteSo if West bid Four Spades, would he have had to play there?
ReplyDeleteEast has to pass for the rest of the auction, whatever West does. In such a situation a cue bid is not normally the best option :)
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