1Minors

You can be sure of one thing: as soon as your bid hits the table, LHO will bid 5 of a minor. So, you had better tell partner as much as you can while you can.

Many partnerships play "unusual over unusual" and bid 3 here to show a good spade raise.

Jess Stuart: 3. Showing spade support and strongly inferring first round diamond control (really? J. R.), inviting slam if partner has extras.

Rick Rowland: 3. Playing unusual over unusual, this should be a good spade raise. Even if we're not, must be a cue bid, which will work.

The 4 bidders splinter to show their shortness and spade support:

No one else even brought up exclusion RKC. If your hearts were headed by AK, I am sure that 5 would have received a lot of support.

The 4 bidders bid the most likely game immediately, but I don't see the point when 3 or 4 are available.

The 3 bidders may have tactics in mind:

The opponents must have a big fit in at least one of the minors, and are likely to bid a lot at this vulnerability. Even if they let you buy it for 3, you may not be missing anything; why should game be cold opposite partner's possible 7-count with short hearts, given that spades rate to break badly?

Sorry, Rick, but there are plenty of choices, since partner may or may not have more than 3 diamonds, may or may not have spades, and may or may not have extra values. Let's hear the arguments for each option and then decide if 5 is automatic here:

I agree. It will be hard to sort things out at the 5-level after a negative double, since you haven't shown your diamond support or your spade suit yet. Getting to hearts as your best spot seems very far-fetched. And as negative doubler Greg Burch points out, the downside is that partner may leave the double in with a balanced minimum, and you won't get a good matchpoint score for +100 or +300 against a game.

Will partner really pass a new suit by an unpassed hand at the 4-level, even knowing you are under pressure? If his hand is that bad, I don't think you are missing a slam.

In the olympic spirit:

Any of these calls could work out. I would tend to agree with Rick Rowland's assessment except for the nagging thought that, at other tables, RHO might overcall with 3 and you could bid 3, absolutely forcing, getting to spades when it is right. Since we don't have that luxury, and since it's matchpoints, maybe we should show our spades and hope for the best.

Why can't these opponents let us conduct an auction in peace? Another preempt, another problem.

For most of the solvers and panelists, 4 was too cold, 6 was too hot, but 5 was ...

Down, boy.

Dave Smith feels that 5 should be strictly a value bid and not asking about clubs. But, as Greg Burch points out, what does partner do in that case holding KQxx AJxx AJx Qx? I think that 5 has to ask about clubs in this situation.

It would be surprising to find partner with less than those honor cards, which is why I think the 4 bidders are playing it way too safe. Still, if you are heading toward slam, why not ask about clubs with a 5 bid?

Randy Berseth earns his way on to the panel for the next contest. Please send in your problem hands for future contests. And, while I enjoy doing this commentary, three months go by pretty fast and I am looking for someone to edit alternate contests so each of us could do this every 6 months. If you are interested, please contact Harold Jordan.