Post by a***@yahoo.co.ukMPs, Acol system weak NT.
North
6
AQ
QJ87
AQ9542
N E S W
1C 3S X P
?
What do you bid?
South's double here is not completely standardised in Acol, but the most
likely meaning is "takeout but with the understanding that the partner
might have to pass it for penalties anyway if they have no other
reasonable bid". So South likely has hearts, diamonds, and enough
defensive strength to make the bid safe. (Many partnerships will have a
hard rule about penalty vs. takeout to help avoid confusion in this sort
of situation, such as "double of 3S is takeout" or "doubles are takeout
if only two suits have been bid".)
3S is probably making, or at least not going down very far when it's
our hand, so we have to pull the double. It seems fairly likely that
there's game in a minor available here; South surely has 10+ high card
points, and your hand is likely to be a good fit with South's (you're
short in the opponent's suit, the best possible suit to be short in,
and your AQ is likely to be pulling full value opposite your partner's
hearts). Normally playing 5 of a minor is a bad idea at matchpoints
(because your counterparts at other tables are likely scoring better
in 3NT, and thus 6 going down will probably have a comparable score to
5 making), but in this situation it seems likely that 3NT is going
down, and thus 5 of a minor is a viable option here.
The question is as to how to show this to your partner. 3NT would likely
be interpreted as natural, showing a much stronger holding in spades
than we have. 4H and 4S would make it look like you had heart support.
4C and 4D are likely to be treated as signoffs, so the only viable
bids here are 4NT, 5C, 5D. 4NT is clearly the best option here (showing
long clubs plus diamonds), /unless/ your partner is likely to
misinterpret it as Blackwood. (The source for Acol that I checked lists
4NT here as meaning either "two places to play" or "willing to play game
in either minor" - either of which will get us to the right contract -
but with the same cautionary note that I have, that before using this
it's important to make sure that partner knows what it means!)
If you're worried about 4NT being misinterpreted as Blackwood, you
pretty much have to guess between 5C and 5D. I'd guess 5C (I'd rather be
in a 6-1 fit than 4-3 fit based on what I can see in my hand, although
of course it's a guess as I don't know what's in partner's). Of course,
because it's a guess it could well be wrong! (The alternative option is
to just bid 4NT anyway; if it's interpreted as Blackwood you probably
end up in 5 of a minor anyway, not too bad if you had to guess which
minor to be in, and if partner has the other two Aces then perhaps the
resulting slam that you end up in will make.)
--
ais523