'The most interesting questions from visitors to the Dutch sister site (Bridgevaria.nl)'. 

Dear Ed and Peter,

My partner and I disagree about this situation:

In my opinion there is no such thing as a pre-emptive opening fourth in hand (e.g. Multi, Muiderberg*, etc.).
To open in the fourth position, opening strength is required. Without that strength one should pass.

Best regards,

Bob Schweig

* Muiderberg is a Tartan-variety: an opening of two in major shows exactly a five-card suit in that major plus a minor suit (four-card or longer) and 6-9 HCP.

 Answer Ed Hoogenkamp (South)

Dear Bob,

Interesting question! I have always played strong two openings fourth in hand. My partners and I agreed to keep the distributional demands of the Multi and Muiderberg but that fourth in hand these openings show 8-9 playing tricks. This way we didn't have to change the system.

In theory it is pointless to open pre-emptively fourth in hand. After all, we do so out of fear the opponents can make a contract. We want to disturb their bidding and hope they do not succeed in bidding their optimum contract because they lack bidding space. After three passes, there is no reason to fear their contract, since we can pass.

Still, some hands qualify for a weak two. Like this South hand:

After three passes South can of course open 1♥. There is a clear risk however that the opponents will overcall in spades. By opening 2♥ South may very well silence them and the chance he misses game himself is very remote, since his partner has passed.
Still I think opportunities like these are too rare to play weak openings fourth in hand.

No doubt in Norway all openings fourth in hand are weak: 'Førth in hånd? Ålwøs wæk!'

Regards from Barcelona

Answer Peter van der Linden (North)

Dear Bob,

Eating all that fish (paella) clearly becomes Ed, since his reply is not bad at all.

The South hand he gives as an example, isn't really weak, of course, it's more like a minimum 1♥ opening first or second in hand.
If you have a really weak hand, say less than 9 HCP, you will usually pass. After all, it is highly probable the opponents can make a contract: they may have 12 (West) and 11 (East) HCP. Meaning zero is a good score; bidding will usually result in -110 or -140.

So 'pre-emptive' two-openings are not really weak fourth in hand, they should be stronger than usual:
- Either somewhat stronger (say 10-13), to prevent the opponents from entering the bidding cheaply.
- Or you can play them as really strong, like Ed does.
Ed's suggestion to maintain the usual distributional demands is very practical. The consequence of playing such a stronger Multi or Muiderberg is that you have to alert partner's 1♥/♠ opening fourth in hand. After all, these openings then deny the stronger Multi or Muiderberg!

To conclude with: if a player is considering whether to open or pass fourth in hand, his spade suit plays an important part. After all, if he has length in that suit, his side can often win the bidding at the two level. The Rule of Fifteen is based upon that principle: 'Only open fourth in hand if your combined point count and number of spades is at least fifteen.' Mind you, this rule doe not apply for hands with a very good and very long (six-card) suit. Ed's example surely qualifies for an opening, although the combined point count and number of spades is only thirteen. 

Regards from Orkanger

PS: Ed's ideas about Norwegian bridge are as biased as most of his ideas. To give you an idea: he thinks a cuebid is an offer someone makes on eBay for a piece of billiard equipment...