Failure to Moyse

[Andy]

I'm selectively picking hands from the first two days of the platinums, and it would seem only fair to include some of our bad results as well as our successes.  Here is a hand we completely screwed up:

♠ Q 10 4 3
♥ A 4 2
♦ Q 8 4
♣ K Q 5
♠ A K 5
♥ 8
♦ A 10 9 6 5 3
♣ 9 8 7

Franco		Andy
West	North	East	South
Pass	Pass	1♦	Pass
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
3NT	Pass	Pass	Pass

Partner didn't like the drekky 13 count and passed in first seat. (I think that would be reasonably playing a standard style, but given that our openings are aggressive this seems a bit much to me.) Interestingly, the initial pass gave us a good chance to get the hand right. Over 2♠, partner could have bid 2N as an inquiry, to which I would bid 3♥ showing a singleton and 3-card spades, and then partner could pick the right game. The downside of 2N is that it pushes us into 4♠ any time I have 4-card support, and with 4=3=3=3 partner wanted to give a choice.

Perhaps I could have pulled -- partner is pretty much known to have no more than 3 hearts. Still, doesn't seem clear, and diamonds could be a source of tricks in NT. It seems to me that partner's 3N should imply soft positional stoppers in both the two unbid suits, and Axx doesn't qualify.

I also could have passed 1♠, although that seems to unwisely invite them back into the auction.

The hand gets interesting if partner makes the "normal" 1♣ opening. After 1♦ - 1NT, what's supposed to happen? Is 3♥ a splinter here rather than a good 6-5? Even if it is, wouldn't it suggest a better diamond suit? We play two way checkback in this auction, so maybe 2♣ - 2♦ - 3♥ should show this hand? It's yet another example of a basic seeming situation that I haven't encountered before.

My hand might also just evaluate to an invite, in which case we'd probably end up in 3♦.

Incidentally, if the auction started 1♣ - 1♦ - 1♠, I think my hand should bid 2♠. This would show invitational values, since we would have bid 1♠ initially with a one bid hand. I think the bid should definitely be allowed on only 3-card spades, to cater to hands like this.