Quote:
Originally Posted by Myrmidon7328
On a totally different string of thought: when is it right to support partner's trump suit with only 3 cards, after you open at the 1-level with a lower suit? I'm trying really hard to persuade myself that this is better than going to NT one level lower (especially at MPs).
In the auction where you opened 1
and LHO bid 1
, your
partner would make a takeout double to show precisely four
spades. When he bids 1
instead, this almost always means
he has 5 or more spades. Sure, your hand is a flat 3=3=3=4
fourteen count, but you've got aces in the side suits and two
honors in trump, which suggests that a spade contract should
be okay since you've found an eight card fit in a major.
Sometimes you would raise even if you didn't promise an
eight-card fit: e.g., you open 1
with
KJ7
AT2
4
AJ8632
Now LHO overcalls 1
, partner bids 1
(now he only
promises four), RHO raises to 2
and what's your call?
Probably almost everyone would raise to 2
here.
Also, it sometimes helps to have some conventions such as
support doubles and understandings of when one of you or
your partner may have been "pressured" into making a raise
when the auction has reached a high level.