MrAce, on 2014-September-15, 15:05, said:
Mike, what do you think of 4♦ instead of 4♣? To tell pd that we do not really need any help in clubs but seeking for other stuff?
IMHO there needs to be difference between this type of hand and another, both of which are slam going, but one of them is something like AKxxxx AQTxxx AJTxxxx ♣ and other one is something similar to the one we hold in OP.
To me, and this may be idiosyncratic, I like to think that 4
♣ shows a hand that wants more hand help/evaluation from partner than does 4
♦. IOW, 4
♦ sounds to me like a very strong slam move, while 4
♣ is merely some slam interest.
I confess, I don't recall ever discussing this nuance with anyone. I don't think it matters 'why' one hand is strong slamming and the other less so...IOW, it's not about specific suits, it's more about the way the hand feels. I'd see AJx Kxx void AQJxxxx as about the same hand. I will regress over a diamond cue so as to announce slam interest, not slam force. Were I to bid 4
♦, and partner to bid 4
♥, on the actual hand I would be guessing whether to show my spade control or to make a regressive move.
AJx Kxx void AKQxxxx is a 4
♦ call to me. On that hand, I am forcing to slam and would readily cue 4
♠ over 4
♥.
Don't know if that makes a lot of sense, and I can see other uses for the two calls.
'one of the great markers of the advance of human kindness is the howls you will hear from the Men of God' Johann Hari