Virtue unrewarded

This is the hand you pick up as South in a club game:



Three passes, and it comes to you.  What's your bid?

There are arguments for either 1NT (15-17 balanced), or opening 1H.  I decided to open 1NT.

Partner now bids 2NT.  We play 4-suit transfers, so that's a transfer to diamonds.

I bid 3D, saying that I like diamonds (with a doubleton or three small cards, I would bid 3C).

Now, partner bids 4C.  This is a cue-bid for diamonds and denies spade and heart controls.  Well, I can see three losers then. I bid 4D, to play, but partner drives to 5D.

"Down 1," I am thinking as the dummy comes down, but it turns that we have had a bidding misunderstanding. Partner was simply showing his shape (we have no way to show 5/5 in the minors, since we use 3C and 3D as shortness bids) and had forgotten that we only accept minor-suit transfers if we like them.

It would have been nice if they had started with a spade, but LHO led a club.  To prevent 3 spade losers, I have to ruff a spade in my hand, but if I play spades immediately, they will probably find their club ruff.  The alternate route, to avoid playing spades now, is to ruff hearts in dummy.  I proceeded to do that (click Next on the hand above to see the play).

5D bid and made!  Virtue is unrewarded of course.  Other tables opened 1H, and ended up in 3NT., making 4, since there is no way for the defense to cash more than 3 tricks before we take our 10 minor suit ones.