This hand occurred in the first round of a six round Sectional Swiss Teams yesterday. Because it had no effect on the outcome of the event, no appeal was pursued. But I thought I would present it for discussion.
The 3♠ bid was alerted as a mini-splinter. Upon further inquiry, East insisted that the partnership agreement was that 3♠ showed shortness in spades and invitational values. I know that this makes no sense, but that is what he said.
At the table, West bid RKCB over 4♦ and continued on to slam, which was cold. And bidding slam on the hands was not abnormal.
After the auction concluded, I asked West what his understanding of the partnership agreement of the 3♠ bid. West knew that the 3♠ bid was a normal game-forcing splinter bid.
Given that West had made a game forcing splinter bid, I thought that his 4NT bid was a blatent use of UI, in that he knew that opener was making a slam try opposite an invitational hand. West's hand is pretty much as advertised by the 3♠ bid (per the actual partnership agreement), and if there is a slam here it is incumbent upon partner to make a further move. In my opinion, opener's 4♦ bid should be considered to be almost obligatory, merely cooperating with responder in case responder has a very strong hand. At the table, West stated that he thought that 4♦ was a slam try, not just a cooperative move.
So, now that I have thoroughly poisoned the discussion by stating my views, do any of you have any thoughts on this?
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