Here's the hand and the actual auction:
Nevertheless, I open 1C. Lefty overcalls 1S and partner bids 2D. This is, of course, music to my ears.
Probably best at this point is 4NT, RKC for diamonds. But I decided that I'd wait to see where partner's 10+ points were. So, I made the only other forcing bid available to me. I bid 2S. First mistake: too much science. Just check for aces already. Partner would have bid 5S (2 aces + queen of trumps). And we'll be in 6D. If partner has zero or one ace, he bids 5C or 5D and we are not too high.
Anyway, I bid 2S and partner trots out 2NT. From his point of view, my 2S is a search for 3NT. He is telling me that he has spade stoppers. From my point of view, this is the worst possible news. If partner has KQ of spades and a smattering of heart and diamond honors, 5D is the best we can do. I duly bid the diamond game. Second mistake: too little science. I still had Gerber (4C) available to me. I could have cheaply checked for aces by bidding 4C.
Anyway, 5D making 7 was a near-bottom. All the new partnerships bid the slam.
You know that I'm the science guy, so you will not be surprised to learn that I like your 2S cuebid. It does mislead me temporarily (I took it as probing for 3NT, as you wrote), but 5D next makes it all clear.
ReplyDeleteI think this one is on me, I should just bid 6D at the end. At the (virtual) table I actually thought right away this might make but got too worried about all the spade losers in my hand. Basically, I failed to appreciate how helpful your club suit is.
4NT right away seems a stab in the dark to me, you don't know what my hand looks like. After your sequence, I know your hand pretty well and should be able to make an informed decision.