Shapes in the fog

Some hands are easy to bid: a straightforward opening, a raise, a pass. Others are more complicated. This hand came up last week; play along with me while we sort out the puzzle.

 ♠ x    ♥ x x   ♦ A K 10 x x x   ♣ K Q 10 x

Both sides vulnerable, against silent opponents, partner deals and passes. My plan is to bid diamonds, diamonds again, and then clubs if necessary to show the 6-4 shape in the minors.

Partner	You
Pass 1 ♥ 2 ♠	1 ♦ 2 ♦ --

How many spades does partner have? How many hearts?
Partner has at least five hearts, and at least four spades. She knows that I don’t have four spades, else I would have bid 1♠ over her 1♥. So with 4-4 in the majors, there isn’t much reason for her to bid spades. By bidding spades, she’s strongly indicating at least five hearts. Her major suit shape could be 4-5 or 5-5 or 4-6 or even 5-6.

How could partner hold 4-6 in the majors when she didn’t open a weak 2♥?
Two possible reasons: (1) her heart suit is lousy, not good enough for a weak 2♥ opening, or (2) she’s following conventional wisdom of not opening a weak two with a side four-card major, particularly in first or second seat.  

How strong is partner’s hand?

She passed originally, so she holds less than an opening hand. Since she’s willing to bring in a new suit at the 2-level, she probably has at least invitational values; but she might be looking for a safe landing place with a weak 4-5-0-4 hand. With a weak 4-6 hand, she would have tried to sign off in 2♥.

I’m sticking with my original plan, bidding 3♣ to indicate my 6-4 shape. It’s tempting to bid 2NT, but I’m worried about transportation problems in a misfit no-trump contract.

♠ x    ♥ x x   ♦ A K 10 x x x   ♣ K Q 10 x

Partner	You
Pass 1 ♥ 2 ♠	1 ♦ 2 ♦ 3 ♣

How many hearts have I shown partner?
I just denied a three-card heart holding. Her 2♠ bid indicated five hearts, so I would have raised hearts with three.

♠ x    ♥ x x   ♦ A K 10 x x x   ♣ K Q 10 x

Partner	You
Pass 1 ♥ 2 ♠ 3 ♥	1 ♦ 2 ♦ 3 ♣ ??

Uh-oh, a whiff of disaster. I’ve shown partner a hand that is most likely 3-0-6-4, 2-1-6-4, or 1-2-6-4. It’s also conceivable that I hold seven diamonds for this auction.

• If partner holds 2 diamonds, she would correct my 3♣ to 3♦, an eight-card fit. Any port in a storm! 
• If she has only 1 diamond, she could have passed 3♣ if she held three clubs. Correcting to 3♦ would be okay as a desperation move, a 6-1 fit might be the safest landing if she’s 5-5 in the majors. 

So it looks like her minor suit holding is at best 1-2

What is partner’s shape?
Most likely 4-6-1-2. Second most likely is 5-5-1-2. In either case, she doesn’t want to put me in a 6-1 diamond fit, and she knows I will correct to 3♠ if I hold three spades and a heart void.

What is your call after 3♥?
ANSWER: Pass. Partner’s shape is 5-5-1-2 or 4-6-1-2. We’ve found at least a seven-card fit, maybe even an eight-card fit. With hands that don’t seem to fit together very well, and less than game-going values, any port in a storm!

THE PRINCIPLE: In a complicated auction, try to visualize possible hands for partner that are consistent with her bidding and yours. The shapes of the two hands and how well they fit together is usually more important than combined point count.