Posted 2022-August-19, 04:54
I am not sure if we need to show the diamond suit, after all it is much shorter and much less chunky than the hearts. The question is if the hand is too strong for any number of hearts (short of 5 or 6♥ maybe but that would not be helpful).
If we start with 2NT, I don't think that correcting 3NT to 4♥ does justice to this hand, unless you have explicitly discussed this with partner. It would make some sense to agree only to use 2NT with decent hands at this vulnerability, so 4♥ now is a good 6-5 (or 7-6), not some junk 6-5.
If the hand is too strong for 4♥ now, the only thing we can do is 4♣ but I don't think that is helpful either. We would like to convey the spade void but I don't think that 4♠ shows that, and even if it does, we might not have 5-level safety.
So I will bid 4♥. Pass is not an option. 3NT means that partner wants to play 3NT opposite some reasonably normal hand, not that they want to play 3NT opposite anything.
The world would be such a happy place, if only everyone played Acol :) --- TramTicket