West has little, if any, defense against 6♠, so we’d suggest a 7♣ bid here, applying maximum pressure to the opponents and putting them to the guess.  We wish that we could report that 7♣ is a smashing success, but it goes for 1700.  True, N-S can make 2210 in 7♠, but most of the field probably won’t bid the grand slam, and that penalty will score badly against all the 6♠ contracts.  Oh, well.

Playing 5-card majors, in 1^st or 2^nd seat, with that hand, most Wests would open 1♣.  However, in 3^rd seat, opposite a passed Partner, bidding that chunky 4-card Spade suit has a few things going for it:

(a)    It has more preemptive value than 1♣;

(b)   There’s a fair chance that E-W will end up defending and if that is the case then it would be nice to suggest a Spade lead;

(c)    If Partner raises or competes to 2♠ with 3-card support then with those good trumps the 4-3 fit is likely to play well.

After Partner has opened 1♠ (showing a 5-card suit) and when we have a weak hand with 4-card support, it’s usual to preempt to the 3-level.  After their Double, 3♠ is certainly preemptive, but it would be way over the top on this deal.  Here are some of the reasons why:

(a)    The vulnerability is unfavorable, making preempting less attractive;

(b)   Partner’s 1♠ was in 3^rd seat, he might have only 4 Spades in this situation (on the actual deal, he did);

(c)    East has nothing but Queens and Jacks, there are an awful lot of losers in this hand!

We’d say that 3♠ here is way over the top.  In fact, even 2♠ is highly dangerous, as evidenced by this actual deal.  An enterprising N-S pair will double 2♠ and collect an 800 penalty!

Considering the vulnerability, wouldn’t you like to penalize the opponents in 2♠?  Sure you would, but most play that Double here is Responsive, in this case showing the minors (with Hearts South would bid them).  So, a smooth Pass is called for here, hoping that Partner can reopen with a Double.  It’s likely that she will, she’s short in Spades and that’s usually enough to compete further.  Of course, you’ll pass that Double, and, on the actual deal you will collect a juicy 800!

Do you open 1♦ or 1♠?  With 5-5 you’d open the higher-ranking suit, of course, and that’s what we’d also do with this 5-6 hand.  If we open 1♦ we may never get the chance to show our 5^th Spade, and as the Spades are so much better than the Diamonds, the practical solution seems to be pretend that the hand is 5-5 and bid accordingly.

First, let us backtrack.  How do you like that 2♥ bid?  Yes, North might well have bid more strongly, perhaps via a Drury bid of 2♣ or 2♦, if that is part of the partnership methods.  But is the North hand as good as it looks?  We may be in a minority here, but we think that this square 10-count is not good enough for that, and is more like a top-of-the-range 2♥ bid.  OK, suppose that you are forced at gunpoint to bid only 2♥, after which West makes a balancing Double.  What next?  Yes, you Redouble!  Your hand could hardly be better, you have great defense, and even if Partner has a truly rotten 3^rd seat opening, you probably have safety in 3♥.  On the actual deal, E-W will play in 3♦, you’ll double, and Declarer will be struggling to go down only one trick.  +200 for the good guys!

East’s 2♦ showed invitational values (or better), probably with Club support.  West has a minimum hand, and the question is “How does West show weakness here?”  Here are two schools of thought:

-         Pass Shows a Minimum Hand: That’s probably the majority treatment, the general agreement being “When partner makes a forcing bid, and when RHO intervenes and allows us to pass, then that Pass shows a minimum hand.

-         Retreating to our Suit Shows a Minimum Hand: In the above auction, East has effectively forced the partnership to 3♣, so bidding 3♣ shows the minimum hand, anything else (including Pass) shows better values.  Furthermore, Pass would also be forcing on East if North also chose to pass.

This one is worth discussing with your Partner.  Our own preference, for what it is worth, is the second choice, it just seems to us that, when we are minimum, getting quickly to our level (3♣ here) is more of a “Fast Arrival” approach, and more likely to preempt the opponents.  Making a Forcing Pass with a good hand keeps more options open, not the least of which is a Penalty Double of the opponents.  That being the case, our choice would be 3♣, showing minimum values.

First of all, do you agree with 3♦?  It’s true that Partner might be 5-5 in the minors and that Clubs might provide the bigger fit but (a) the Club suit in this auction is sometimes fake; (b) East’s Diamonds are stronger; (c) 3♦ is so much cheaper than 4♣ and allows more room for exploration.

Next, what to do when Partner bids 3♠?  You could settle for 3NT with that double stopper in the unbid suit, of course, but perhaps the hand is too good for that.  Do you play Minorwood or Redwood?  If you play Minorwood then 4♦ would be Roman Key Card … if you play Redwood then 4♥ or 4♠ (depending on agreements) would be.  That’s not to say that we think this hand is good enough to go launching into Key Card, but it does provide another option.  If one of 4♦ or 4♥ or 4♠ is available as Roman Key Card then what does 4NT mean?  Yes, it’s natural, with extras, slam interest, but not forcing.  That’s a pretty good description here, wouldn’t you say?

What would 2♥ mean here?  That varies between partnerships, but the most common style is for it to be “constructive”, which is to say that it is natural, shows values, but is not forcing, East is allowed to pass with a minimum overcall (say 10 HCP’s or less, but that’s a fuzzy number, there are other factors involved).  That’s a shame, West would love to make a forcing 2♥ bid here, but as his methods do not allow that what is his suggested bid.  A jump to 3♥ would be forcing, but that’s a lot of space to consume with such a modest 5-card suit, so the suggestion is to cue-bid 2♦.  That usually shows support for Spades, but here it’s just a way of creating a force.  After that, unless Partner surprises us by bidding Hearts or showing extra values, we’ll bid 3NT.

After the Double North does not have a suitable Club raise available, it’s too good for 2♣, not right for a preemptive 3♣, and not good enough for a Jordan 2NT (if that method is being played).  Well, if there’s not a good Club bid available, perhaps North might be tempted to find a devious bid instead.  Here are some of the temptations that an enterprising North might be trying to resist:

-         1♠! Yes, it’s a bit light in the Spade department, and might well pick off the enemy suit.  But this old ruse is has probably outlived its “Use By” date, if East has 4 Spades he can expose the psych by doubling (not Responsive).

-         1NT: This is better, it shows some values, and North can always compete to 3♣ later.

-         Redouble! This one is our favorite.  It’s light by a point or two but that is a small detail, if Partner starts doubling we can always beat a hasty retreat to Clubs.  The Redouble tends to slow down the opponents’ auction and that’s what North wants, he’d prefer to buy this one at the 3-level and not have to decide what to do over 3♥ or 3♠.

North’s Redouble stratagem will probably work quite well on the actual deal, buying the contract in 3♣ (making 10 tricks thanks to a lucky lie of the cards).  E-W need to compete to 3♥ or 3♠, but that sneaky Redouble may well deter them.

South has various ways by which to raise Spades:

-         3♠: That would be preemptive, this hand is too good

-         2♠: With an Ace, a King, a singleton and 4-card support, this is an underbid.

-         3♥: Yes, that’s the ticket!  Game-invitational values.

3♥ turns out not to be a triumph, it’s a ticket to -200 if E-W find a Double (they may not) of 3♠, and if they also lead a trump (they probably should).  It turns out that East and West both have a 12-count and yet they have no making game.  For another “Oh, well” hand please see West’s effort on Board 2.

Those who always abide by the Law of Total Tricks won’t think much of our suggestion here.  Yes, we’d try 3♠ here, a little preemptive nudge to apply pressure to our opponents who appear to have 9+ Hearts.  3♠ also has the beneficial effect of getting the right lead from Partner if South ends up declaring.

Here we have a question about methods.  You want to play in 4♥, how do you get there?  It’s not a commonly discussed situation, but one suggestion is to use Stayman and Transfers here, and in similar situations where the opponents are preempting and Partner has bid 3NT all on her own.  That being the case, this is an obvious 4♦ bid.

After South chimes in boldly with 3♥ (perhaps severely under the influence of favorable vulnerability), what does West’s Double mean?  After Partner has opened 1NT, a common treatment is to play doubles of their three-level bids as Negative, and doubles of their two-level bids as value-showing.  West’s hand is a good commercial for this treatment, because, if Double were for penalties, what on earth is West supposed to do over 3♥?