Who Called This Meeting?

Suggested soundtrack: Grateful Dead, "New Speedway Boogie"

	♠ A K 10 9 2 ♥ Q 10 ♦ J 2 ♣ K J 9 4

You	LHO	Partner	RHO
1 ♠	Pass	2 ♥	3 ♦
??

You were the dealer, vulnerable against not. Partner's 2 ♥ bid was game-forcing with at least five hearts. We are committed to keep the auction alive until we bid game (at least) or double the opponents.

The overcall does create a problem for you. If you bid, your options are:

• 3 ♠ now would show six or more spades. You don't have that.
• 3 ♥ now would show three or more hearts. You don't have that.
• 3 NT now would show a diamond stopper. You don't have that.
• 4 ♣ would show at least four clubs, and absolutely no tolerance for 3 NT. You don't have that. Partner might have a diamond stopper and want to play 3 NT. Your diamond jack might be a partial stopper across from queen-third or king-third in partner's hand.
• Double would be penalty, planning to give the opponents a Souvenir Minus Eight Hundred (or more!) for interfering against our presumptive vulnerable game when you have the rest of their diamonds. Nope, you don't have that either.

Anyway, it's still your call. What to do?

ANSWER: Pass. Partner called this meeting, let her run it. There's no need to be That Person in the meeting, blathering on with no useful information to contribute. We are in a game-forcing auction. RHO's 3 ♦ call ensures that partner has another call coming and the auction will continue. If you've got nothing new to say, there's no need to say anything right now. As a bonus, your Pass will tell partner that you don't have any of the hands described above.

You will be well-positioned to act after partner explains her agenda:

• She might bid 3 ♠ showing three-card support and suggesting some extra values; spades will be trump and you can proceed from there.
• She might bid 3 ♥ showing 6+ hearts; you will raise to 4 ♥ with your doubleton.
• She might bid 3 NT or 4 ♠  to play; you will Pass of course.
• She might bid 4 ♣; you'll show your honor-doubleton heart support and hope you aren't missing a club slam.
• She might bid 4 ♥ to play, showing a stand-alone suit and disavowing any slam interest. You will Pass, of course.
• She might Double, suggesting no clear direction and asking you to Do Something Intelligent. Note that it's unlikely that partner has a useful diamond stack sitting in front of the overcaller. 
• She might bid 4 ♦, suggesting a very strong hand and asking you to Do Something Intelligent but without the option of defending against 3 ♦ doubled.

THE PRINCIPLE: When you don't have anything useful to contribute to the discussion, don't say anything until you must. Partner set the agenda as a game-forcing auction, give her the floor to run the meeting.

-- Ray
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)