[kenrexford]

A funny discussion at the local club.

4♣-P-P-?

I decided to pass, with ♠xx ♥xx ♦AKxxx ♣AJ9x. But, I asked RHO if 4♣ showed hearts. He claimed that 4♣ showed clubs (no alert).

After the dust settled, we set 4♣ four tricks. In the end position, I pulled trumps.

LHO was then somewhat irate that her partner had passed. She noted that 4♣ is Gerber. I agreed, because 4♣ is always Gerber. My partner, a friend of mine with whom I rarely play by coincidence, checked with me on this, but I confirmed that we have a special treatment where 4♣ actually shows a weak hand with clubs (apparently not alertable!).

LHO asked me what else she could have done with her hand. I asked if she considered opening 2♣, but apparently her hand was not strong enough for that, so Gerber apparently was the only option.

I then recalled the play and noted that she in fact did have six hearts. It's a good thing, I suppose, that I was in passout seat, or my question might have clued her partner in.

[the hog]

""Gibberish in, gibberish out."

I see the signature fits.

[aguahombre]

Hmm. I thought clubs was always Stayman.

[dake50]

I have a pair in my club who
continually (I'm just short of accusing cheat)
pervert other conventions.
I'd bet 4S was on and the set was insufficient, if it were they.

[Gerben42]

You are all so insensitive. 4♣ is Gerber unless you tap on the floor with your right foot twice. If you do, it is natural.

[tolvyrj]

How can u have a hand that is not strong enough to open with
2♣, but can be opened with gerber?

[Free]

tolvyrj, on 2011-May-30, 20:23, said:

How can u have a hand that is not strong enough to open with
2♣, but can be opened with gerber?

♠AKQJT98765
♥2
♦2
♣2
It's only got 10HCP and only needs to know how many extra tricks partner brings.

[campboy]

Several years ago I played in the university's start of year event and got paired with a new student. On one hand she opened 4♣, and I had something like QTxxxxx of clubs so didn't see how this could be natural. The main bit of information I had about likely systems was that she was Polish (we were just playing 5 and strong though). Anyway, I assumed it was Namyats and bid 4♥. This confused her since she had all the aces, and had only bid 4♣ in order to be able to ask about kings on the next round. Now she bid 5♦, which ended the auction. 7 was cold.

[kenrexford]

campboy, on 2011-June-01, 06:48, said:

Several years ago I played in the university's start of year event and got paired with a new student. On one hand she opened 4♣, and I had something like QTxxxxx of clubs so didn't see how this could be natural. The main bit of information I had about likely systems was that she was Polish (we were just playing 5 and strong though). Anyway, I assumed it was Namyats and bid 4♥. This confused her since she had all the aces, and had only bid 4♣ in order to be able to ask about kings on the next round. Now she bid 5♦, which ended the auction. 7 was cold.

Did you have the heart King?

I mean, this seems to be a clear "answer Aces or Kings" situation. Partner cannot open 4♣ as Gerber unless she has all of the Aces (and only interest in Kings) and no interest in the number of kings (because she would almost assuredly need to know WHERE the kings are), or she just needs to know how many Aces.

You therefore answer 4♣ by either bidding the number of Aces that you have OR the specific location of your King if you have no Aces. You do not need to jump to answer the location of the King, as this obviously is an either-or answer.

If your concern is that she might not know which answer you have given, that's a fairly arrogant comment. Obviously, she won't open 4♣ unless she can figure out the answer herself. For instance, if she wants to know if you have one Ace (4♥ response), then she must have the heart King to use opening-bid Gerber. If she needs to know if you have the heart King, she must possess all four Aces. Duh!

You may wonder what to do with no Aces but also not the diamond King. 4NT, of course. With the club King, you don't save space by bidding 4NT -- bid 5♣!

This is so obvious that this really should be in the beginner-intermediate section, but sometimes simple things need to be explained.