THE ACES

I am trying to break my partner of what I consider the bad habit of opening three no-trump in fourth seat with a strong, balanced opening hand. He claims the contract is more likely to make if he doesn’t give away information. Can you persuade him against this approach?

I’d never take a random gamble with a strong, balanced hand. An opening bid of three no-trump can be used for 25-26, though one can also show that hand after opening two clubs. The alternative, of using the call to show a long minor in a good hand, is certainly possible. In third or fourth seat, you would typically have guards in at least two of the three side suits.

I held a balanced 9-count when my partner opened one diamond. The next hand bid one spade, so I raised to two diamonds. When my RHO balanced with two spades, I elected to pass, but would it have been an error to raise to three diamonds with 6-2, Q-4-3, A-K-9-2, 10-9-3-2?

cshdThis re-raise should be all about trumps or tricks. A raise should be five trumps or unusual offense with four trumps. A hand with something like a 2=2=4=5 pattern might qualify, I suppose, with all the values in the minors, but bear in mind that your partner could easily have a 4=4=3=2 shape.

When you use Stayman and find a fit, how do you explore for slam? Is a call of four no-trump Blackwood?

After Stayman, a jump to four no-trump should be quantitative, not Blackwood. A simple scheme here with a slam-try is to play a call of three of the other major (three spades over two hearts, three hearts over two spades) as setting partner’s major with an unspecified shortness. By contrast, a jump to four clubs would be Gerber for the major, while four diamonds is a balanced slam try with four-card trump support. This is sometimes called Baze.