Not Using Gerber

This question was asked to: Julian Pottage

Question

In Harder hand 0138 we have the bidding sequence: 2NT (P) ? Where 2NT shows a balanced hand with 20…22 points and partner has 12 hcp and a good 6-card heart suit. So jointly that is 32…34 points. BM bids 4C Gerber, BUT consistently we have been told to not use Gerber. So how do you bid this without gerber? My feeling is 2NT (P) 3D (P) where 3D is a transfer to H 3H (P) 4NT (P) 5S (P) 6H (P) where 5S shows 3 keycards P (P) Is this viable / sensible (what is better) and does the play change given that west is now declarer?

Julian Pottage's Answer

Please bear in mind that I (and others reading this forum) might not have seen the hand. I cannot therefore answer your question about how the play might be different with a different declarer. Generally it is better to have the strong hand as declarer. The other advantage of starting with a transfer is that partner knows to count the king of hearts as a key card. Over here the auction 2NT-3D-3H-3NT is ambiguous because you might have a balanced hand with 5 hearts and 11 points. The Americans play both 3D and 4D as transfers, enabling one route to 4Nt to be natural and the other to be asking for key cards. On grounds of frequency it is better to play 4Nt as asking for key cards – but discuss this with partner before trying it at the table if your hand is so strong or so shapely that it would be disaster if partner passed 4NT.

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