From:  martino@courier6.aero.org(Nick Martino)
Subject: Re: A reply to Prof. Weird (was Assign the blame)
Followup-To: rec.games.bridge
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 20:04:21 GMT

In article <Bz41sp.CAF@cs.uiuc.edu>, bharat@cs.uiuc.edu (R. Bharat Rao)
wrote:
> (in response to an earlier Bo-Yin post)
> 
> The nub lies in that you claimed in an ealier post that 3H should show
> not only extra values, but "significant extra values".  As I said, I
> am no theoretician,, but jeez WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A FIT AT THIS POINT,
> this may be a HUGE misfit (partner could be 5-5 in the blacks -- just
> because 3C does not promise clubs, does not mean it denies them), and
> to say that 3H should show extra values is IMO plain wrong.
> 
> I called a couple of my partners (they are no theoreticians, but they
> are pretty good; one especially has impressive bridge credentials with
> several regional wins, and two appearance in the finals of the GNT
> teams) -- they concurred.
> 
> They said that 3S should promise 3 spades, 3N should show a club
> stopper, and 3H is the nebulous inbetween bid. that you will make on
> the ubiquitous 2-5-4-2.  This was what I had thought earlier.  Now,
> with no club stop and 5 spades partner can bid 3S and you can raise to
> 4S with the Kx.

To summarize the origin of this discussion, the opener's hand in question
was Kxx/KJTxxx/AKxx/-.  The auction had proceeded:
                    
                        1H   1S
                        2D   3C
                         ?

The fact of the matter is that a SLOW 3H is probably a nebulous in-between
bid and a SLOW 3S is probably on a good doubleton.  However, a quick,
confident and cheerful 3H shows the good 6-4 hand and similarly, a fast 3S
shows the 3541 hand.  As for the "expert" opinion that 3H is the catch-all,
I cannot agree.  At this point, you are exploring to find the best game so
you shouldn't be constrained by convention to misdescribe your hand.  3H
should at least show 5 good hearts which might be playable opposite a small
doubleton.  With  Kx/Axxxx/AJxx/xx, 3S is a far better description.  This
should never lead to playing 4S on a 4-2 fit, since partner will have some
other call besides 4S on such hands.

On the actual hand given, the choices are 3H, 3S and 4S.  I don't buy the
argument that 3S should show extras vs a jump to 4S, so it really comes
down to 3H or 4S.  I slightly prefer 3H.  If partner follows with 3NT, you
bid 4S to complete the pattern and show extras.  If partner bids 4H, you
bid 4S showing slam interest. The most difficult problem would be if
partner bids 3S or, worse,  4C (you're probably stuck with bidding 5S). 
The downside for 3H is that in some of the follow-ups, partner may read you
for 2641 shape.

Nick  



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    martino@courier6.Aero.org (Nick Martino)                            
   
    The Aerospace Corporation                                            
                                                                        
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