[tenbrvc]

Hello bridge players:

I would appreciate advice on this. How do experts bid when the opps double your RKC response?

Eg.

1H P 3H P
4NT P 5D X
?

Does a XX show first round control in diamonds, and what would a pass or a bid mean?

Eg.

1H P 3H P
4NT P 5D X
P

and

1H P 3H P
4NT P 5D X
5H

Also, what would XX mean in this sequence?

1H P 3H P
4NT P 5D X
P P XX

Thanks.

[gszes]

The bidding should always indicate which player has shown/implied the stopper for the x suit (in this case dia). In your given examples south has promised at least 2nd round control in all side suits or some other type of bidding should have taken place (cue bidding splinter etc). When the player with the shown/implied control is going to be declarer there is no problem because they are positionally safe from an opening lead disaster and we use the x to our advantage. 5h is to play - pass asks for the trump Q - xx promises the trump Q and asks for more information (what kind of information is highly partnership dependent).

If the player showing/implying dia control is destined to be dummy we might have a serious problem for slam purposes if a king is attacked at trick 1. We use the extra space to determine if slam is still a good idea with a dia lead. 5h is to play - PASS shows concern for the dia suit and denies the trump Q - xx shows concern for the dia suit and promises the trump Q. Pass and xx both are asking responder to sign off if they do not have the A KQ or dia shortness and the pass also asks responder to sign off without the trump Q. If responder has the minimum requirements they can then start showing extra values (what kind of extra values is highly partnership dependent).

[aguahombre]

One other thing --- when hearts are trump and we didn't have Kickback available, don't forget to thank the opponent for giving us the extra room for the Queen inquiry.

Other than that, it seems Gszes has done the job.