[paulg]

Scoring: IMP

Pass (2♣) 4♠ All Pass

2♣=Precision, 11-15, 6♣ or 5♣/4M

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After this auction, my (regular) partner said it was his fault. I said it was unclear. Perhaps he was just being kind?

Which hand did my partner hold?

[gwnn]

Did you agree what 4♠ shows?

I can think of more than one argument for both possible interpretations.

[dicklont]

Your partner held the West hand.
He passed because the value of his Queens was so uncertain.
I agree that it´s unclear but West should have bid 5♠.

When East starts with 2♠, West jumps to game and slam will easily be reached, won't it?

[whereagles]

Everything's normal. Move on.

[jdonn]

Can't west tell that either his partner has a good hand or the opponents can make about 14 tricks in some suit?

[ArtK78]

Your partner held the East hand.

The 4♠ bid over a Precision 2♣ opening should be preemptive. The 2♣ opening is not a preempt, so the jump to 4♠, even vulnerable, just shows lots of spades. It should not be the same type of hand that would jump to 4♠ over a weak 2♥ opening. The strong hand would be shown by double then 4♠.

Yes, the West hand should be highly suspicious that things are not as they seem to be. As Josh said, it seems that the opponents should be able to make 14 tricks in any other suit if partner has the purely preemptive hand. But even if the auction makes no sense, West still doesn't know that his side can make a slam.

[jdonn]

ArtK78, on Dec 5 2008, 10:02 AM, said:

Yes, the West hand should be highly suspicious that things are not as they seem to be. As Josh said, it seems that the opponents should be able to make 14 tricks in any other suit if partner has the purely preemptive hand. But even if the auction makes no sense, West still doesn't know that his side can make a slam.

He could try 5♠. To be honest I don't know if I'm resulting or not, but considering the quietness of the opponents it seems partner has a good hand.

4♠ as an overcall is extremely wide ranging, and especially opposite a passed hand is often a bad or good hand. Once partner passes the odds of slam vanish compared to the importance of getting where you are going quickly, even on pretty good hands.

[maggieb]

I wonder how many people have an agreement about this auction, is 4S still a strong bid after the opponents open a precision 2C just like it would over a weak 2? If so then perhaps west should act but wow, what a perfect fit!

[paulg]

My partner held the East hand.

I thought for some time before passing 4♠, but decided that partner was just too wide ranging to advance - the fact that I was very flat with nothing to cue bid helped this decision. I'm still not convinced I was right.

Although definitely not an opening bid in this partnership, it was in the other room and they bid to 7♠.

(We treat a Precision 2♣ as a normal opening, so this is too strong for 4♠ opposite an unpassed hand)

[Apollo81]

I think West should raise to 5♠.

[han]

cardsharp, on Dec 5 2008, 11:17 AM, said:

(We treat a Precision 2♣ as a normal opening, so this is too strong for 4♠ opposite an unpassed hand)

I am not convinced. It's fairly unlikely that a passed hand will cover 4 of your losers and the alternative (double) is far from perfect.

We have had this discussion before, I prefer to treat 2C as a weak 2 in all respects.

[rogerclee]

2♣ = weak seems like a superior treatment to me. Being able to preempt a 2♣ opener is not as important as being able to show a lot of playing strength.

Oh yeah, I would raise with the west hand if we treat 2♣ is preemptive, but this is far from clear to me. Obviously if 4♠ is wide-ranging then I would not.