[shyams]

IMPs. 2nd Seat. (If it matters, playing vs robots)

---

What's your plan? Assume (if you wish) that you were playing with your regular partner, not a robot.

[jillybean]

6S punt. I don’t see that we have room to do anything intelligent.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.

[Cyberyeti]

5♦ if partner does nothing other than 5♥ I bid 6♠, if they bid a black suit I bid the grand, the interesting question is what I do if they bid 6♥, prob just bid 6♠.

[jillybean]

the interesting question is what I do if when they bid 6♥, prob just bid 6♠.

FYP

[hrothgar]

Cyberyeti, on 2024-November-20, 09:48, said:

5♦ if partner does nothing other than 5♥ I bid 6♠, if they bid a black suit I bid the grand, the interesting question is what I do if they bid 6♥, prob just bid 6♠.

I like the 5!D suggestion
Identifying a fit is really important

Agree with 6!S over 5!H

[awm]

Perhaps 5nt pick a slam (raising 6♣ to 7♣ and bidding 7♠ otherwise).

[pilowsky]

6♠

[shyams]

I bid 6♠, the same as what jillybean and pilowsky stated in their replies.
--- It lost me a few IMPs because other players in South position jumped straight to 7♠.
--- I checked later: approx. 50% were in 6♠, 30%-35% in 7♠ and most others were in 4♠/5♠.


If I was playing with a regular partner, I would have considered bidding 5♦. However, I probably would land up bidding a direct 6♠. awm's 5NT sounds better than 5♦ but it did not even occur to me during the session.


North had ♠10x ♥AKQ9xx ♦xx ♣J98. When trumps split 3-1 and clubs were not 5-0, 7♠ rolled in without even needing those heart winners.

[Zelandakh]

I think this auction offers us a good chance to have a solid theoretical discussion. Here are a pair of questions I think need to be addressed before choosing an action:

1. What are the differences between (4♦) - 5NT - 6♥; 6♠, (4♦) - 5♦ - 5♥; 6♠ and (4♦) - 5♦ - 5♥; 5NT?
2a. How do you play a 4NT overcall?
2b. If the answer to 2a is some kind of takeout (as opposed to natural or some kind of Blackwood), what are (4♦) - 4NT - 5♥; 6♠ and (4♦) - 4NT - 5♥; 5NT?

For the methods I advocate, the direct 5NT seems like the correct call here. Playing Standard though, the (4♦) - 5♦ - 5♥; 5NT auction seems like the right one if this is PaS and (4♦) - 5♦ - 5♥; 6♠ ought to be right if it is GSF, which I suspect is still the default for most pairs. Since there is more than one set of agreements possible, despite the cramped bidding room, I think the answers need to be part of the response so we can understand why the alternatives are less good.

[foobar]

 awm, on 2024-November-20, 10:27, said:

Perhaps 5nt pick a slam (raising 6♣ to 7♣ and bidding 7♠ otherwise).

This seems as good as any (and willing to payoff to the 4-0 break with the jack in either black suit).