Alerts
Last night, playing against an expert pair, the hand on my right opened 1C. The bidding went 1C (1H) 1S (2H) 2S end . The pair were playing 5-card Majors. The 1S advancer had just 4 Spades. It made no difference to the result or the bidding but I wondered if the 1S advancer should have had his call alerted. In that sequence I'm used to a double of a 1H overcall shows 4S and an overcall of 1S shows 5Ss.
Comments
No the bid is natural. My understanding is that if they double with 4 Spades with no reference to a Diamond holding then the double should be announced as Spades. BB 4G1
1S is by responder and is a "responder". 2H is bid by fourth hand (advancer) and is an "advance".
"5-card majors" applies to opening bids not responses.
It is expected that that responses of 1M show 4+ cards in the suit and (as such) are not alerted.
Thanks for answers and I'll try and get that right in the future Robin. I guess my question now is "should the Blue Book be changed to reflect that the 1S response should be alerted if there is the possibility that it has just 4 Spades" - full disclosure etc. Does it matter if the pair are playing ACOL or 5-card Majors?
"the 1S response should be alerted if there is the possibility that it has just 4 Spades"
This is not the view of those writing the regulation.
It's hard to work out why anyone might be disadvantaged as to whether the responder may have 4 5 6 7 or more spades. It's not that uncommon(but not mainstream) for x to deny spades and 1S to show four or more.
If you are using the LAW then it can be beneficial to know the length of oppos suit.