| West | North | East | South | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | pass | ||||
2 | pass | 2 | pass | ||
| 2NT | pass | 4 | pass | ||
| 4NT | pass | 5 | pass | ||
| ? |
is an Italian Ask. Without the king of hearts, responder can bid 6 if he has either the ace of hearts or a heart singleton or void; with neither, he still bids a negative 5.The idea of this Italian Ask is to keep you out of slam with two losers in a side-suit. It is safe because partner will not be asking specifically about a side-suit king if he is interested only in six.
A jump or raise to five of the major trump suit, either before the count or after the count, is also Italian. It asks about control of their last shown suit, or if none, the highest-ranked suit that we haven't shown either as length or as a splinter. This can be useful for the spade suit in a non-competitive auction and in a competitive auction in which they have stolen our bidding space. Responses are the same as to an Italian Side-suit Ask, except that pass is the negative.
NEXT: Fit five no-trumps