What about a negative x? Pard and I use it like everyone else, but also for just this class of hand: forcing to 3 nt or 4 of a minor but no idea where it's going. If responder doesn't raise spades, he doesn't promise four. Opener's alternatives aren't great. Obviously he'd bid nt with a heart stop. Two spades would show a minimum with four, which isn't far from the truth. I think I'd rebid 3 clubs over x. Responder bids 3 hearts over whatever opener rebids, showing half a stop and more than a bare minimum because responder would have bid nt with a full stop and opener would bid nt with a full stop. The nebulous negative x with a strong hand is big enough to save us from any indiscretion opener may commit. The cuebid tells opener that responder has the big hand with no clear direction. If opener has a bigger hand with half a stop, then west bids 3 hearts, showing half a stop, for the same reasons above. The key is to avoid using up so much bidding space. The auction had already been obstructed once, with the 2 hearts preempt. You want to have a bias towards lower bids so as to recuperate some of the lost bidding space, in particular when your hand is hard to describe. X is the lowest bid possible, it tells your pard you have values to compete. Opener won't be going crazy in spades after neg x unless opps have a massive heart fit. And if that happens, you've got a really useful hand opposite 4=0=4=5. You might have a slam. This one's really hard, because opener doesn't have a great hand. Sometimes you have to pay off to the preempt.
awesome comment. thank you for your analysis! I will share this comment with my p. Without discussion I wouldn't use the neg x, but I see the benefits.
Hi there handsome!
What about a negative x? Pard and I use it like everyone else, but also for just this class of hand: forcing to 3 nt or 4 of a minor but no idea where it's going. If responder doesn't raise spades, he doesn't promise four.
Opener's alternatives aren't great. Obviously he'd bid nt with a heart stop. Two spades would show a minimum with four, which isn't far from the truth. I think I'd rebid 3 clubs over x. Responder bids 3 hearts over whatever opener rebids, showing half a stop and more than a bare minimum because responder would have bid nt with a full stop and opener would bid nt with a full stop. The nebulous negative x with a strong hand is big enough to save us from any indiscretion opener may commit. The cuebid tells opener that responder has the big hand with no clear direction.
If opener has a bigger hand with half a stop, then west bids 3 hearts, showing half a stop, for the same reasons above.
The key is to avoid using up so much bidding space. The auction had already been obstructed once, with the 2 hearts preempt. You want to have a bias towards lower bids so as to recuperate some of the lost bidding space, in particular when your hand is hard to describe. X is the lowest bid possible, it tells your pard you have values to compete.
Opener won't be going crazy in spades after neg x unless opps have a massive heart fit. And if that happens, you've got a really useful hand opposite 4=0=4=5. You might have a slam.
This one's really hard, because opener doesn't have a great hand. Sometimes you have to pay off to the preempt.
awesome comment. thank you for your analysis! I will share this comment with my p. Without discussion I wouldn't use the neg x, but I see the benefits.
@@EliJolleyBridge We stole the idea from Mike Lawrence's book on overcalls. Highly recommend.