[dickiegera]

Does South open 2NT or 3NT or 2C followed by 2NT or 3NT And if 3NT[either case] then what??

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[Cyberyeti]

Our auction with our version of Kokish would start:

2♣-2♦-3N(26-27)-4♣(stayman)-4♥

What happens after that I suspect is 5♥-6♥, 5♥ would tend to suggest bad hearts.

It's easier if going through Kokish and then bidding 2N is 24 or 25+ as you have more space to operate and can show the 5-4 in the majors.

[smerriman]

Good hand for demonstrating why you need agreements

Playing Kokish over 2♣ lets you rebid 2N with 24+ which simplifies things a lot; though then it comes down to which version of 3♣ you play (normal Puppet doesn't handle 5-4 majors, though Muppet does). In this case with 4 card support for both, it's probably not going to matter much though.

[Cyberyeti]

smerriman, on 2021-April-04, 15:22, said:

Good hand for demonstrating why you need agreements

Playing Kokish over 2♣ lets you rebid 2N with 24+ which simplifies things a lot; though then it comes down to which version of 3♣ you play (normal Puppet doesn't handle 5-4 majors, though Muppet does). In this case with 4 card support for both, it's probably not going to matter much though.

This hand it doesn't matter as much, Qxxxx, Kxxx, xx, xx you have to play in hearts if you want to make 13.

[mikeh]

Methods matter

There is a reason few, if any, experienced pairs play the (very, very) old-fashioned 3N strong, natural opening...actually, there are a number of reasons why it’s a bad idea, though interestingly playing it here would work out fine... provided partner didn’t talk himself into asking what you’d open wit Ax Ax AKQxxxx Kx🙂

In my preferred, not especially idiosyncratic methods, we’d bid 2C, fetching a 2H response, artificially denying any Ace or King. Now opener has to haul out the ungainly 3N, and we’re back to square 1.

We don’t have kokish over the immediate second negative.

Again, responder has to guess what kind of hand 3N shows. For everyone who claims that it ‘obviously’ shows a balanced 25+, I ask again....what should opener bid with Ax Ax AKQxxxx Kx....heck, make that club King the A!

With 9 or 10 tricks on any lead (if one caters to a diamond loser in the auction, don’t get out of bed in the morning...life’s too dangerous for you) and knowing partner has no king, what else would you bid but 3N.

So we’d have a problem.

That’s not going to make me change my methods. I’ve played 2H second negative for 30 years, with several expert partners in lots of strong events and never had this issue before, and expect I’ll go another 30 years (in my dreams!) without facing it at the table.

I think, but may be fooling myself because I’ve seen both hands, that I’d reason that I have to bid if he has the big balanced hand and I may be able to survive in 4N if he has the 9-10 running winners...I even have an entry in his minor. So I’d like to think I’d bid 4C. His 4H would tend to confirm the balanced hand and I’d raise to 5H

Over 4D, I bid 4H as smolen. If partner has the long minor hand, he should bid 4N over 4C.

[hylins]

dickiegera, on 2021-April-04, 14:54, said:

Does South open 2NT or 3NT or 2C followed by 2NT or 3NT And if 3NT[either case] then what??

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The dilemma is who is going to start exploring the slam possibility and how?
The weaker 2♣ responder(North)? or the strong balanced 2♣ opener(South)?

Using the Precision-like transfer style responses, the captain is the strong 2♣ opener most if not all of the time.

https://www.bridgeba..._1#entry1006357


2♣ 2♥ (4+, 5+ cards ♠)
2♠* 3♦ (4-9, 5-card ♠ with one of the ♠AKQ)

2♠* is the Precision Trump Asking Bid (TAB).

After hearing the 3♦ response, the 2♣ opener can smell the slam and also be the declarer.
The question is now 6♠ or 7♠.