[blml] No ogre meant [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

[David Burn]

[RH]

> The Bridge World, January 1993
> Master Solvers' Club, Problem C
>
> Matchpoint pairs
> Dlr: West
> Vul: None
>
> The bidding has gone:
>
> WEST      NORTH     EAST      SOUTH
> Pass      1C        Pass      1S
> X         Pass      2H        3H
> 3H(1)     X         Pass      ?
>
> (1) Insufficient; accepted
>
> You, South, hold:
>
> [snip]
>
> Question 1: How many hearts do you, South, hold?

[JP]

Do you belong to the lunatic school that thinks you can't open a wk 2 with a
side 4 carder?

[DALB]

I am at a loss to see the relevance of this. There is no evidence to support
the notion that anyone might have considered opening a weak two bid.

I do not know how many hearts South might hold for this auction. Come to
that, I do not know how many hearts North might hold for this auction, nor
indeed how many clubs North might hold for this auction. Before I can make
much progress, I would need to know:

What is North-South's basic method?
What would a redouble by North at his second turn have meant?
What would 2H by North at his second turn have meant? (would it have been
natural, or some sort of cue bid in one of West's implied suits?)
What did South intend by 3H? What would it have meant if instead he had:
doubled? bid 3D?

All I can contribute is that if I had this auction with the only partner
with whom I have discussed this kind of thing, then:

North's pass over the double would tend to deny three spades (else he would
offer a support redouble, but he would not have to do so on a balanced
minimum).
South's 3H would be a try for 3NT that showed a heart guard but denied a
diamond guard (so that South would be assumed to have at least two hearts
and probably three, Kx being a questionable holding).
North's double would be penalty, and I would so explain it.

David Burn
London, England