Bidding Quiz                                                 April 26, 2006

 

                                                    Board 1       Dealer North         None Vul

 

 

Do you play Lebensohl over Weak Twos doubled?  In this (highly recommended) method, the 2NT bid in the featured auction is a relay to 3♣, usually as a prelude to showing a weak hand (say less than 9 or so HCPs).  Playing Lebensohl, though, North is stuck for a plan.  A Penalty Pass is a possibility, but we would bid 2NT anyway, heading for 3♥, and hoping that this is not a complete disaster.  Much as we like Lebensohl, it does take away the natural 2NT bid, and occasionally, as here, that turns out to be inconvenient.

 

If N-S were not playing Lebensohl, North would no doubt bid 2NT naturally here … it’s a bit of an overbid, but nothing else appeals.

 

                                                    Board 2       Dealer East         N-S Vul

 

 

Would you make a 3^rd hand light 1♣ opening here?  Sure you would, it’s only a tad light, and the lead-directing benefit of getting such a splendid suit into the auction far outweighs the risk of getting caught speeding.  We don’t open light in 3^rd seat as often as some players, but when we have a good suit, or even merely a decent suit, we’re right there!

 

 

                                                    Board 4       Dealer West         Both Vul

 

 

Our 2♦ was Fourth Suit Forcing, in other words a purely artificial bid the purpose of which is to establish a forcing sequence … for the sake of simplicity, we suggest that you play it as game-forcing.

 

After West’s 2♠, he is likely to be 3-5-1-4, which is not particularly good news for us … our K♦ does not look especially useful, being opposite a likely singleton … so, we jump directly to 4♠ here.  This is the so-called Principle of Fast Arrival … we are in a game-forcing auction, we have agreed the trump suit, we don’t like our hand much … so we leap directly to game.  If we liked our hand more we would bid just 3♠ (stronger than 4♠), or make a cue-bid.

 

                                                    Board 7       Dealer South        Both Vul

 

 

East’s 2♠ showed a limit raise or better, so getting to game is not an issue here, it’s a question of whether or not you belong in slam.

 

How do you like a bid of 3♣ here?  It further describes your hand, that’s usually a good thing.  And it keeps things low, also not bad.  The trouble with 3♣, though, is that Partner will assume you are trying for game, or maybe investigating 3NT as an alternative contract.  If Partner now leaps to 4♠, you will be none the wiser … sure, he has a bit extra, enough to take a stab at game … but does he have a slam-suitable hand?

 

The way around this is simple enough … over 2♠, we bid 3♠, which commits us to game, and therefore must be a slam try.  Now, Partner can show his slam suitability by cue-bidding 4♣ or 4♦, or else dampen our enthusiasm with a 4♥ bid.

 

                                                    Board 8       Dealer West         None Vul

 

 

This one’s pretty simple.  South must Pass, notwithstanding his 13 HCPs.  Double is not an option with that doubleton Heart and those moderate values … unless you have a really good hand, you just cannot make a take-out Double without at least 3 cards in any unbid major.

 

 

                                                    Board 9       Dealer North         E-W Vul

 

 

In this auction the E-W have contributed 5 Pass cards to the auction, and have ended up defending 2♥ when they have half the deck (well, almost) and an 8-card Spade fit.  Which of those 5 E-W Passes was the culprit?

 

East’s First Pass:            No wimpishness here, this is not a vulnerable two-level overcall in the direct seat.

West’s First Pass:         West could well have bid 2♠ here.  True, the hand is quacky and shapeless, but at least the suit is strong.  We would not say that Pass is clearly wrong here, but it is certainly timid.

East’s Second Pass:       We like a 2♦ bid here … East has already denied the ability to make an immediate 2-level overcall, so bidding now is not going to cause Partner to go overboard … in our view, this was the best chance for E-W to get into the auction.  If East does bid 2♦ here, that will be sufficient encouragement for West to try 2♠.

West’s Second Pass:     If West thought that 2♠ was too risky before, it is even riskier now, with the opponents having exchanged additional information.

East’s Third Pass:          By now, it’s too late … it would be bizarre to make a balancing Double with 3-6 in the unbid suits … and going out on a limb with 3♦ would be quite extreme.

 

So, it was a joint effort, in our view, either player could have got into the auction, especially East at his second turn.

 

                                                    Board 10       Dealer East         Both Vul

 

 

North is vulnerable, has a skimpy 5-card suit, and modest values, but notwithstanding this, we like a 2♠ bid here.  West’s 2♥ bid has improved North’s hand considerably … Partner is clearly short in their suit, and is likely to have a fit in Spades.  Yes, 2♠ stands out, no craven Pass here, please.

 

                                                    Board 10       Dealer East         Both Vul

 

 

The Bidding Quiz seems to be extra easy this week!  Here, South has a clear 4♠ bid … she’s not sure whether or not 4♠ will make, but, if it doesn’t, it rates to be a good save against their making 4♥.

 

 

                                                    Board 14       Dealer East         None Vul

 

 

Do you play Drury?  This convention is available to a passed hand when Partner has made a 3^rd or 4^th seat opening … it says “I have support, is your 1♥ opening bid for real?”.  Some partnerships use 2♣ as Drury, others play Two-Way Drury, in which both 2♣ and 2♦ are used for Drury.

 

How strong does the Drury bidder need to be?  Limit raise values, or something pretty close.  If Drury is not already in your repertoire, consider adding it, it’s both useful and simple.

 

                                                    Board 14       Dealer East         None Vul

 

 

That 2♣ bid was Drury, or, as just about everybody plays it these days, let’s say that it is Reverse Drury … we use it as a passed hand when Partner has made a 3^rd or 4^th seat opening … it says “I have support, is your 1♥ opening bid for real?”.  In response to this, 2♥ says “not real”, other bids confirm a bona fide opener.  So, what is West’s rebid here?  There’s no need to get too scientific here … just bid game directly … no point in further describing your hand when you know where you belong.

 

                                                    Board 15       Dealer South         N-S Vul

 

 

North’s 2NT was natural, showing around 10-12 HCPs, with a stopper in Hearts.  What next by South?  The options are:

(a)    Pass:  Let’s scratch this off the list, altogether too feeble on a hand which is 6-5, void in their suit, opposite a hand that has shown some values;

(b)   3NT:  It’s conceivable that 3NT is the best spot, but highly unlikely, this hand screams to be played in a suit contract;

(c)    5♣:  This seems like a bit too much … Partner has shown a Heart stopper, and if too many of her HCPs are wasted in that Heart suit, game will not make.

(d)   4♣:  That’s the ticket!  You’ve probably never discussed this auction before (we certainly haven’t!), but surely a new suit at the 4-level has to be forcing … however, if, after 4♣, Partner merely gives us a preference to 4♦, then we’d pass.

 

                                                    Board 15       Dealer South         N-S Vul

 

 

North was very much at the top end of her 2NT bid.  Then her hand got spectacularly better when East bid 3♥ … now, North could see that Partner was short in Hearts, and that there was negligible wastage in that suit.  It got even better when South bid 4♣!  Now North can see a fit, and precious few losers … game is a given, but that North hand is so good, it would be wrong not to try for slam.  We suggest a 4♠ bid, the meaning of which has yet to be precisely defined in the bridge literature … but, until it is, we’ll go along with this interpretation … “Oh, baby, have I got a hand for you! … nothing wasted in Hearts, a Spade control, and Club support, too!”.

 

                                                    Board 17       Dealer North         None Vul

 

 

At her second turn, South has these 4 bids to choose from:

(a)    4NT:  Yes, South has a terrific hand, but it’s not quite that good.

(b)   4♥:      Not recommended, because South has two more descriptive options available.

(c)    4♣:     A Splinter raise, surely a better choice that 4♥, because it gives Partner a better chance to

                 evaluate her hand for slam purposes.

(d)   4♦:      By partnership agreement, this can be used to show a raise to 4♥ with solid Diamonds.

 

Yes, we suggest 4♣ or 4♦ here, take your pick.  We like 4♦ ourselves, but the partnership needs to be on a sure footing as to precisely what the bid means.  Back in the Aces Scientific days, 4♦ was defined as showing nothing outside the two long suits, so that K♠ would have disqualified South’s hand.  But, nowadays, the preference of some players is not to have 2 losers in any one suit, so, in fact, that K♠ is required.

 

 

                                                    Board 20       Dealer West         Both Vul

 

 

Some players routinely Redouble with this type of hand, but we question the wisdom of that on this hand.  Sure, it passes the test of “10+ HCPs” … but, let’s face it, East has no plans to penalize 1♥ or 1♠, so why bother?  He should just bid 3NT directly over the Double, perfectly describing his hand … there’s no reason to mess around here with an irrelevant Redouble. 

 

 

                                                    Board 21       Dealer North        N-S Vul

 

 

As East, would you use a Michaels Cue-Bid (showing both majors) instead of a 1♠ overcall?  Some partnerships use Michaels in this situation whenever they are 5-5 in the majors, almost regardless of strength.  Another approach, and our own preference, is to use Michaels with weak hands or strong hands, but not with middling hands.  If you adopt the same style, then East’s hand is on the cusp, borderline between a weak Michaels and a 1♠ overcall, we'd go for the overcall ourselves.

 

 

                                                    Board 24       Dealer West        None Vul

 

 

East makes a Jacoby Transfer to Hearts, and West, with 4 cards in Partner’s suit, has the chance to make a “Super Accept”, by which we mean that he is allowed to go beyond the 2-level based on the 9-card fit in Partner’s major.  There are many schools of thought on this subject, and here is our balanced analysis of your partnership options:

(a)  Neanderthal:  Using this method, there are no super-accepts … after the transfer, Opener is not allowed to look at his hand, he must bid two of the major regardless … but let’s not scoff at this method, it’s actually our second favorite.

(b)   Obsessive:  This method says that, with a 9-card fit, you always super-accept, notwithstanding the awfulness of your overall hand and the potential for unnecessary undertricks.

(c)    Futile:  Here, the partnership goes out of its way to be helpful to the opponents, they super-accept in some scientific manner, thereby conveying gratuitous information to the opponents, and usually helping Partner not one little bit.

(d)   Sensible:  This one just happens to be our own favorite, check the link.

 

So, there you have it, the world’s first balanced and completely unbiased analysis of Super-Accepts.  Using the “Sensible” approach, we would say that West is just about worth a super-accept of 3♥, notwithstanding the doubleton Q♣.

 

                                                    Board 26       Dealer East        Both Vul

 

 

What’s your plan on this one?  Or, more to the point, is this hand worth forcing to game with?  No, it’s not … it may be 12 HCPs, but a rather poor 12 HCPs, especially considering that square shape.  When evaluating hands, you could do a lot worse than automatically to deduct one HCP whenever you have that 4-3-3-3 distribution.

 

Once you have decided that this is not game-forcing material, the plan should be to respond 1NT, and then to invite with 3♥ on the next round.  And, yes, there is something to be said for inviting (at your second bid) with 2NT instead … but, there’s absolutely nothing to be said for unilaterally taking this one all the way to game.

 

 

                                                Board 29       Dealer North          Both Vul

 

 

North’s opening was the so-called Gambling 3NT, showing a solid minor suit and very little outside.  With a hand that is unsuitable for 3NT, South can now bid 4♣, which instructs Partner to pass if Clubs is his long suit, and to bid 4♦ if that is his suit.  Note that South cannot bid 4♦ over 3NT, even though South knows for sure what is North’s suit, that 4♦ is conventional (the most common treatment is for it to be asking for shortness).

 

On this hand, South certainly does not want to be in 3NT, not with Spades wide open.  But, signing off in 4♦ (via 4♣) is rather feeble … surely it’s worth a shot at game, so we would try 5♦.

 

 

                                                Board 29       Dealer North          Both Vul

 

 

North’s 3NT was the Gambling 3NT, showing a solid minor and nothing much outside.

 

Of course, N-S have a huge fit in Spades, which, as it happens, makes 11 tricks.  The question is “How do they get into the auction?”  Over the Gambling 3NT there are some hands, such as the one held here by East, where you would like the Double to be take-out … but, a more common, and, in our view better, treatment is for this to be a penalty double … typically, the Doubler has some fast tricks, and expects to collect a number.  There’s a lot to be said for East bidding 4♥ here, it’s as good a guess as any.

 

Over to West.  Suppose that East has passed, and now West must decide whether to come in over 5♦ … we say “Yes”, let’s bid 5♠ here!  There’s no way of knowing if this bid is the winner (as it happens, it is!), but it hardly seems right to take no bid in the auction with a good 7-card major and a void in their suit.

 

Yes, a tough hand for E-W, on this auction their partnership requires one non-mouse.  But, it is better not to have two tigers, otherwise this may happen:

 

          West   North   East     South

                     3NT     4♥       5♦

           5♠      Pass    6♠       Pass    

           Pass  Pass  

 

Down one for the tigers, but at least that is better than defending 5♦. 

 

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