After originally making a 2♦ waiting bid, what is your choice now?  Let’s assume that you have available a “second negative” of 3♣ for use with really bad hands.  That means that anything else shows something, let’s say at least a King.  That being so, West can choose between:

-         3♥: Yes, there are five of them, but what a rotten suit!

-         3♠: West will probably support Spades later but there’s no rush to do so with a doubleton, it’s quite possible that East has only a 5-card suit.

-         2NT: This is a fairly wide-ranging bid, showing some values but denying support or a suit worth bidding.  Exactly what West has!

So, you bid 2NT and now East bids 3♠.  Now you can and should support Spades.  But not by bidding 4♠, it’s better to bid 4♦.  As West you did not bid 3♦ earlier, this bid is clearly a cue-bid in support of Spades.  Now East tries a cue-bid of 4♥, and you have done your all, so you bid 4♠.

Let’s look at South’s rebid (and let’s assume that N-S are playing a 2/1 style).  What would be your choice?  You could simply raise to 3♦, but surely a more descriptive bid is 3♠, showing Diamond support and shortness in Spades.  Splinters usually work best when we have a minimum hand, the reason being that there is little point in jumping the bidding to ask “Do you like your hand opposite my shortness?”, and then when Partner says “No!”, bidding on anyway because we still like our hand.  That being so, 3♠ is the perfect splinter, after which South will be happy to leave the rest of the auction in Partner’s capable hands.

After the 3♠ splinter, North would love it if 5♥ were available as Exclusion Key Card, that would be the best way to get to 7♦ missing the ♥A.  But, alas, 5♥ is probably a slam try in Hearts and if you bid it as Exclusion then South may well find herself laboring in the 5-0 fit (which we will admit plays surprisingly well for down only two or three).  So our reluctant choice would be to bid Roman Key Card, which for the Minorwood brigade would be 4♦.  At least that gets N-S to 7♦ when South has three Key Cards, but as it is they will rest in 6♦.

Most pairs play Michaels and the Unusual No Trump as their two-suited overcalls, but neither applies in this situation and West must bid his suits naturally.  We’d suggest that West bids the Spades first and then, if he gets the chance, he can bid Diamonds twice.  The trouble with bidding the longer Diamonds first is that the Spades might get lost in the shuffle … if we have to lose a suit we’d rather it was a minor!  Anyway, bidding 1♠ hits the jackpot and E-W will scoot into 4♠ in a hurry.

West’s 2NT was Jacoby 2NT, a “fit-and-force” bid showing game-values in Spades.  How do you rate the East hand?  We’d say that it has extras, do you agree?  One way to look at it is to visualize the East hand with the same 5=2=2=4 shape but no ♣K, a mere 11-count in other words.  Would you open such a hand?  Sure you would!  It passes the Rule of Twenty, added to which it has no real defects, all the high cards are working (well, sort of, that unsupported ♣Q looks a bit lonely).  In other words, the East hand is about a King better than it needs to be for the original opening bid.  That’s extras, and East should say so, and the way that most play, that can be done with a 3♠ bid (4♠ would be a minimum hand).

Do you open 1♠ or 2NT or 2♣?  There’s nothing wrong with 1♠ but we would choose 2♣, here’s why:

-         True, this 4-loser hand is not quite good enough to guarantee game, but opening these almost-monster major suit hands with a bid of 2♣ seems to work well in practice (often leading to a more economical auction).  Just don’t try this bid with a minor-oriented hand.

-         Some might prefer a 2NT opening bid, and we have no problem doing this with a 5-card major and 5-4 distribution.  But AKQTx is really a 6-card suit, don’t you think?

Assuming that you play 2♦ as a waiting bid, you have two choices here: 2♦ or 2♥.  A couple of thoughts:

-         Some like their positive responses to show “two of the top three”, but surely KJxxxx is good enough … if we make our positive responses too rigid, we’ll never get a chance to use them.

-         Others might say that the North hand needs better controls for a positive response, such as “an Ace and a King”.  Again, let’s not be too rigid, that West hand has a six-card suit, a King and a singleton, in our view it’s worth a positive peep.  But switch the red suits, make the long suit a minor, and we would bid a simple 2♦, no reason to crowd the auction with a marginal hand when the suit is a minor.

So (whether you like it or not), you bid a positive 2♥ and now get a 2♠ bid from Partner.  What next?  Clearly, you will be supporting Spades, but how?

-         3♠: As we forced a minimum positive response on you, it’s fair to say that you don’t want to sound too slammish, so let’s not make this encouraging bid.

-         4♠: This conveys the general picture of a non-slammish hand (minimum values, mediocre controls), but there is a better bid …

-         4♦: Yes, this is a splinter.  An extra Spade would be nice, but otherwise the bid is perfect, describing a hand with Spade support, no extras, and Diamond shortness … just what North has!

On the actual deal, Partner also has a minimum hand, and also a most unsuitable Diamond holding of Kx, so the splinter keeps N-S at a safe level.

West’s 3♠ is forcing, and it’s a good idea for the bid to show six Spades.  With only five Spades, West could try a New Minor bid of 3♦.  What are East’s choices now?

-         3NT: That obviously shows a preference for 3NT over 4♠, not a good choice here when holding the ♠K and a shaky Heart suit.

-         4♠: A better choice than 3NT, wouldn’t you say?

Is that the end of the choices?  Not quite!  If East is going to bid to 4♠ he is allowed to make a cue-bid along the way.  For example, East could bid 4♣ here, saying “I prefer Spades (to No Trump) and I actually have a somewhat slammish hand”.  Does the East hand qualify?  It’s close, we think, there is a lovely source of tricks in Clubs … on the other hand, there are only two Spades and a rather dubious Heart holding.  So, consider us tempted, it’s close either way.  Assuming that East does bid a slightly tame 4♠, then West is worth a 5♥ bid, giving East one more chance to show signs of life.  This time perhaps he should!

Here is a quick refresher course for Negative Doubles when there are two unbid majors:

-         1♣ followed by a 1♦ overcall: Now a Negative Double shows both majors (usually 4-4, but could have 5 Hearts … but not 5 Spades, that would be a 1♠ bid).  The adjunct to this treatment is that a 1♥ or 1♠ bid in this situation does not guarantee more than a 4-card suit.

-         1♦ followed by a 2♣ overcall:  In this case, it is not practical for the Negative Double to guarantee both majors and this Double is used for a number of different hand types, including, (a) a hand which actually does two 4-card majors, or (b) a hand with a 5-card major that was not strong enough to bid it directly; or (c) a hand with one 4-card major which has safety somewhere else (2NT or higher, or Opener’s suit).

So, South makes a Negative Double, based on her so-called Spade suit.

Assuming that Double is natural (showing a good hand) would you double 1NT with the North hand?  We don’t recommend it because:

-         North does not have an attractive opening lead (a Spade lead might give up an early trick, then a few Clubs could be cashed, with -180 or -380 soon appearing on the horizon).

-         A Double will make it easier for E-W to compete in Hearts.

So, our suggestion is to bid 2♠.  If the N-S methods mean that 2♠ shows “Spades and a minor” then so much the better, but a natural 2♠ would be fine too.

As it happens, 2♠ is the winning call, scraping up a lucky 8 tricks on the lie of the cards, whereas, if North leads a Spade against 1NT doubled then the bottom line for N-S is a rather unsightly -780!

Here’s an interesting bidding problem!  Conventional wisdom tells us that the 4-4 fit is better than the 5-3, and sometimes (particularly in the slam zone) even better than the 5-4.  On occasion this is true, but we should also take into account the quality of the trump suit, and here is a case in point.  South has a choice between Hearts (probably a 4-4 fit, but could be 5-4), and Spades (probably 5-3).  Notwithstanding the alluring charms of the 4-4 Heart fit, it seems to us that South should be supporting Spades here.  Some reasons:

-         In terms of high cards, South’s Spades are better than her Hearts

-         South has some Club tricks … they won’t provide any useful pitches in Spades (North has too many) … but if North has moderate Hearts (such as Axxx or Kxxx) then perhaps a Heart loser or two can be pitched away.

-         If South bids 2♠ (forcing) and North rebids 3♥ (presumably showing 5-5) then South can always bid 4♥.

Argue the point if you will, but we suggest that South opts for Spades.  The bottom line?  11 tricks are available in Spades, just 10 in Hearts.

 East’s 2♣ was a DONT bid showing Clubs and another suit, after which it is common practice for N-S to play “systems on”.  Therefore, South bids 2♥, transferring to Spades.  Then, West competes to 3♣ and North dredges up a 3♠ bid.  Should South now bid 4♠?  It’s tempting … nobody forced North to bid 3♠ so she must have a good reason … and South does have a 6^th Spade … not to mention a singleton in the opponents’ suit.  But, it’s still only a 5-count, and let’s not forget that North was bidding under pressure.  All in all, it’s a close call, we’d say, at least at matchpoints (but at teams we’d say “Go for it!”).

It turns out that North stretched a bit for that 3♠ bid, as she has a minimum hand and only three Spades.  Even so, with a bit of luck, 10 tricks roll home with a little luck.  So, perhaps South really should take a shot at game!

East’s hand is not quite good enough to go to game, but he would like to compete to 3♥ (not that 3♥ is a sure thing, West might well have a small doubleton in Hearts).  So, it’s a good hand for Lebensohl, whereby:

-         A direct 3♥ is game-forcing, giving Opener the choice between 3NT and 4♥

-         2NT is conventional, requiring Opener to bid 3♣, after which Responder passes (with Clubs) or else signs off in 3♦ or 3♥.

That being the case, East bids 2NT, West makes the requested bid of 3♣ and East signs off in 3♥.