|
Bidding Quiz 28th June , 2006
Board 2, Board 26, Board 32
Coincidentally, there were three hands this Wednesday where a 3rd seat player (after two Passes) had to decide whether or not to throw in a lead-directing 4-card major on a marginal hand. Here they are, in each case it’s gone Pass, Pass:
Bd 2, West Bd 26, West Bd 32, East Non-Vul Vul Vul ♠ Q54 ♠ 863 ♠ AQ52 ♥ AK95 ♥ AQ84 ♥ Q6 ♦ K52 ♦ AT7 ♦ Q863 ♣ 975 ♣ JT4 ♣ J98
We would pass all three of these hands in 1st or 2nd chair … yes, even the first one, those square 12-counts don’t really do it for us.
In third seat, on Board 2, we’d open this 1♥, notwithstanding our 5-card major system … most of the time we’ll end up defending this one, and when we do we’d really like Partner to lead Hearts. Actually, we’d open 1♥ even if we were vulnerable here (though it’s less appealing), so much do we want a Heart lead.
On Board 26, we would advise passing. Yes, it would be nice to suggest a Heart lead, but we are alarmingly vulnerable with a square distribution … the danger of Partner competing and depositing us in -200 territory is quite real … we don’t think that the Heart suit is that good, the risk/reward ratio does not seem to be in our favor. But if we were non-vulnerable, we’d give 1♥ a shot.
On Board 32, we’d also advise a Pass … true, the shape is better this time, but that’s off-set by the abundance of Queens … and again, there is the vulnerability issue.
Our advice for light third-seat situations is: (a) Be wary of opening light when vulnerable; (b) When you do open light, bid a good suit; (c) Consider violating the 5-card major style if the suit is good; (d) Don’t feel obligated to open garbage in 3rd seat, have a lead-directing purpose.
Board 4 West Dealer Both Vul
After Partner has opened one of a suit, most players use a general rule of thumb that they will pass with less than 5 or 6 points, but there are exceptions, as always: (a) if we have a big fit with Partner, we should raise, especially if we have a weak, preemptive raise available (as we would playing Bergen Raises or Inverted Minors); (b) if we have a promising major suit holding, we can shade our responses a little; (c) if we are short in Partner’s suit, and we have a suit we can bid at the one-level, it’s usually best to bid it, without worrying unduly about HCPs … yes, it’s true that Partner often rebids his suit when we are short in it, but then at least we are in a 6-1 fit, which is surely preferable to toiling in a 3-1 or 4-1 fit at the one-level.
Here we have shortness in Partner’s suit and a 4-card major we can bid, so 1♠ looks pretty clear. Also, although we only have 4 HCPs, it is an Ace and that alone is enough to find a response, almost regardless of the rest of the hand.
Board 4 Dealer West Both Vul
After East’s 1♠, South must decide whether or not to risk a 2♥ bid. She does have 13 HCPs, but we would pass anyway, there are altogether too many minus factors here … no Heart fillers, no side-suit fillers, the singleton Q♣, these are all negatives. Need we go on? Oh, alright, we shall … there’s also the K♦ under the Diamond bidder, no Aces, and the issue of vulnerability. Yes, it’s safe to say that a 2♥ overcall is not without risks and flaws.
Then, later in the auction, after Partner’s “pre-balancing Double”, South must decide between 3♥ and 4♥. In a team game we would bid 4♥ in a flash, but at matchpoints it’s far from obvious. Perhaps we are not keeping faith with our earlier Pass, but we would take a shot at 4♥ here anyway … after all, Partner’s pre-balance is forcing us to the 3-level vulnerable, so she must have something over there!
Board 4 Dealer West Both Vul
After West raises to 2♠, would you take a call as North?. You had a perfect take-out Double of 1♠ earlier on, except that the opponents were thoughtless enough to open 1♦ instead. Now, second time around, with the opponents bidding and raising Spades, you can make a take-out Double, and should, in our view. True, the opponents’ strength is unlimited, but they have found their Spade fit, and if they have a game they’ll no doubt bid it. But if they don’t have game you’d like at least to get them up to the 3-level. North’s Double in this situation is sometimes called a “pre-balance”, and the classic shape is 1-4-4-4 (the Spade shortness explaining the absence of an earlier Double).
Board 5 Dealer North N-S Vul
After North’s 2♣ raise, South is going to the 5-level regardless, and with the expectation of making. But, the opponents may well push on to 5♠, which they will no doubt play doubled. In that case, it’s likely that an opening Club lead from Partner will get ruffed. So it’s imperative to get Partner (if she is on lead against 5♠ doubled), to lead a Heart, lest Declarer is able to ruff that opening Club, draw trumps, and pitch some Heart losers on Diamonds. Yes, a 3♥ bid here would be lead-directional.
Let’s not forget those lead-directors in competitive auctions, they can pay big dividends!
Board 9 Dealer North E-W Vul
After South’s opening 1♣, West is stuck for a bid: Dbl: Not a good idea with only 2 cards in an unbid major. Pass: Better than doubling, but with 17 HCP’s it would be nice to bid something. 1NT: Right on values, but no Club stop. 1♥: Yes, that would be our choice, a nice chunky 4-card overcall.
We don’t suppose that everyone will agree with a 1♥ bid here, but to us it seems like the best choice in an awkward situation.
Board 10 Dealer East Both Vul
This is an awkward hand using standard methods. South is good enough to make a jump shift to 3♥, but then North would have no idea whether South is 5-4 or 5-5 in the majors … so, with 3 Hearts, she’ll be forced to guess between 3NT or 4♥.
There's a useful gadget to solve this dilemma, please see Convention of the Week.
Board 12 Dealer West N-S Vul
North’s hand is solid (well, almost) except for the small matter of those 3 missing Aces. There’s no point in using regular Key Card because an answer of “two” will leave us none the wiser, we’ll not know whether the Aces include the useless A♣ or not. This is a hand for Exclusion Key Card Blackwood … a leap to 5♣ here can be used as Roman Key Card Blackwood, but excluding the (useless) A♣. Partner will respond as if the A♣ does not exist, and we’ll get to 6♥ if Partner has two of the “right” Aces, and 7♥ if she has 3 of them.
By the way, South is right to bid 5♣ immediately … if she prevaricates by bidding 3♣ (shortness) first her Partner might inadvertently preempt her with a 4♠ bid, taking away the Exclusion option. In general, Exclusion is at the 5-level, and must be a jump.
Board 13 Dealer North Both Vul
Suppose, for the sake of argument, that West had passed instead of bidding 2♠ … in that case, a bid of 1NT by North would show 18-19 HCPs. Now, back to the actual auction … over West’s 2♠ bid, does 2NT show the same 18-19 HCPs? No, that’s too big a bid opposite a silent Partner, with such a hand you’d just have to double. So, what does 2NT means here? Yes, a minor-oriented hand, 4-6 being a very likely distribution but make sure that Partner is on the same wavelength before you try bids like that!
Board 14 Dealer East None Vul
When 2♦ gets back to South, should she go quietly or balance? Notwithstanding the boring distribution, it seems pretty clear to do something, especially as N-S are non-vulnerable. The obvious way back into the auction is with a Double … N-S will probably end up in Spades, but the Double also keeps other irons in the fire … for example, North might have 5 Hearts, and, notwithstanding East’s 1♥ bid, the best spot for N-S could well be 2♥.
Board 18 Dealer East N-S Vul
Clearly E-W can make 4♠ here, probably scoring 11 or 12 tricks, so North wants to apply the maximum pressure opposite Partner’s preempt. At any other vulnerability, 5♦ would surely be called for, as it seems reasonable to expect at least 9 tricks here, in which case 5♦ doubled will be just fine. However, the unfavorable vulnerability makes 5♦ doubled too expensive so bidding 4♦ is as much as North can do. This bid won’t be much more than a bump in the road for E-W on the way to 4♠, but it does take away a couple of rounds of bidding, maybe that will be enough to nudge them overboard.
Board 19 Dealer South E-W Vul
What are your partnership’s methods after the opponents make a Michaels Cue-Bid? The method outlined in the System Library is to use the major suit cue-bids to show invitational (or better) hands in Clubs or Diamonds, and for direct minor suit bids to show weaker hands. This is far from being the only workable method over their Michaels, but it does have the advantage of working well on the actual hand, as it allows South to compete with 2♦ … the bid is natural and “competitive”, by which we mean that it shows less than invitational values.
Board 19 Dealer South E-W Vul
With 5-5 in the majors, after they open 1♣ or 1♦, many players use the “weak-strong” style of the Michaels cue-bid: Weak: They bid Michaels, and then (usually) leave it up to Partner to do the rest of the bidding. Intermediate: They overcall 1♠, planning to compete in Hearts later. Strong: They bid Michaels, planning to bid again later. “Intermediate” is an imprecise term, but we’d say something in the 10-15 range is about right … needless to say, this is a guideline, not a rule, there’s always scope for hand evaluation.
On the above basis, East, with a lovely 16 HCP’s, decides he is worth a Michaels bid and another call later in the auction, in other words the “strong” variety. As it happens N-S start competing in Diamonds and East must decide what to do over 3♦. 3♥ here would be purely competitive, showing a weak Michaels, presumably with extra distribution. The way for East to show strength here is to double.
Board 19 Dealer South E-W Vul
East’s 2♣ was Michaels, showing the majors, and South’s 2♦ was “competitive”, showing a less-than-invitational hand. Before we consider how many Diamonds to bid, let’s consider the evidence so far: (a) The HCPs appear to be more or less equally divided; (b) N-S have a 9 or 10-card fit; (c) E-W have an 8 or 9-card fit.
It seems more than likely that, if we bid 3♦ here, the opponents will bid 3♥. If they do, we’ll surely want to bid 4♦. If that is the case, then why don’t we bid 4♦ directly? This gives up on the naïvely optimistic hope that we might buy it for 3♦, in exchange for the chance to put E-W under pressure.
As it happens, East has a good Michaels, a 5-5-2-1 16-count. With that in mind, consider East’s position in these two sequences:
South West North East Pass Pass 1♣ 2♣ 2♦ 2♥ 3♦ Dbl Etc In this auction, East should feel pretty good about things. He showed a major two-suiter, Partner supported Hearts, then East showed a good hand with his Double … at this point, East is willing to abide by Partner’s future decisions, happy that he has accurately described his hand.
South West North East Pass Pass 1♣ 2♣ 2♦ 2♥ 4♦ ?? In this auction East is very much under the gun. He has shown a major two-suiter, and Partner should reasonably expect him to have the weaker variety. Now, here he is at the 4-level with all sorts of extras, opposite a partner who freely bid 2♥. It’s hard to conceive of a Pass by East in this situation, and, on the actual hand, this is most unfortunate for E-W. East will surely double 4♦ (showing a good Michaels) rather than bid 4♥ (showing a highly distributional Michaels), but either way E-W are in trouble … if they defend 4♦ doubled they will score -510 … if they bid on to 4♥ they’ll score -200 (always bad on a part-score hand), or -500 if doubled.
To summarize, yes, we really, really like that 4♦ bid by North!
Board 21 Dealer North N-S Vul
North is in an unusual situation after West’s Double. If the Double was for penalty, then presumably Support Redoubles are off, and we would interpret North’s Redouble as SOS, as in “We belong anywhere but Clubs!”
Board 23 Dealer South Both Vul
East’s 2♣ was Fourth Suit Forcing … what should East bid at his third turn? It appears that E-W will play this one in some number of No Trump … game or slam? It seems to us that East is not quite good enough to insist on slam and should be making an invitational bid here. How does East do that? 3NT: East has 19, and 3NT here shows 15-17, so this is not an option. 4NT: This could be used as Key Card for Diamonds, but we’d prefer a 4♦ Minorwood bid for that … playing Minorwood frees up 4NT as a natural and quantitative bid. 2NT: This shows 12-14, normally, so it might seem odd for us even to mention it … but, 2NT is also forcing (assuming that you play Fourth Suit forcing to game), so it can be used as an either-or bid, showing 12-14 or 18-19. Normally, it’s the former, but, once in a while, as here, after 2♦, the auction will proceed 2NT 3NT, 4NT, that last bid showing 18-19.
If you like the idea of 2NT followed by 4NT as showing 18-19, and if you are also playing Minorwood, then what should a direct 4NT (over 2♦) mean? Perhaps just straight Ace-asking, though we are not sure how often the need for this will arise.
Board 24 Dealer West None Vul
North had a couple of noteworthy choices to make in this auction. First of all, 1♣ or 1♦? When we hold 3-3 in the minors, and are constrained by our 5-card major system to open one of these 3-card minors, we can adopt any one of these three styles: Better Minor: We open whichever of those 3-card minors is stronger. Always 1♣: We open 1♣, even with ♠ Axxx, ♥ xxx, ♦ AKQ, ♣ xxx Usually 1♣: We open 1♣ most of the time, but will make an exception when the Diamonds are much stronger than the Clubs … the strength difference should be substantial, for example ♠ Axxx, ♥ xxx, ♦ AKx, ♣ Qxx.
We prefer the “Usually 1♣” approach, because it increases the chances of our 1♦ openings being respected as (almost always) showing a 4-card suit. But we are also big on “bidding for the lead”, so when there is a serious strength discrepancy we reserve the right to throw in a 1♦ lead-director once in a while. But each partnership must choose its own poison, that just happens to be ours.
Moving along, we have forced that 1♣ bid on you, Partner bids 1♥, and it’s your call. You have three not utterly unreasonable choices here: 2♥: Yes, you have most of your HCPs in Hearts but, really, is this a hand where you want to encourage suit play? 1♠: Yes, you have 4 Spades, but again, is this really a hand where you want to encourage suit play? More to the point, if you do bid 1♠ (or 2♥), Partner is apt to expect some playing strength from you and may well invite to game … you’ll bail out at the 3-level, but that may be too high. 1NT: Yes!
If North does indeed rebid 1NT she will be blessed with a score of +90. Of course, N-S have a 4-4 Spade fit and can also make 8 tricks for +110. Does this mean that North guessed wrong when she went for the 1NT rebid? Not at all! If she had rebid 1♠, Partner would surely have rebid 3♠, inviting game … down one! So, yes, playing in Spades at the two-level is a winner, but it’s also not possible!
Board 25 Dealer North E-W Vul
We happen to like that 1♦ opening bid … it passes the Rule of 20, and there are no dubious values. But, having opened on that minimum hand because it was distributional, it would surely be wrong to let Partner wallow in 2NT with so few HCPs and such a weak suit … it seems that 3♦ must be a better spot.
Board 26 Dealer East Both Vul
Please see Board 2
Board 27 Dealer South Nonr Vul
An interesting auction! What does North’s bidding mean? She was happy merely to compete to 3♦, but then, when it came back to her, she tried 3NT …this unusual sequence surely shows a long Diamond suit in need of help and a Spade stopper … and a decent hand but not a really good one, because with a really good hand she might have tried 2NT or 3♠ earlier.
The danger on the hand is that Partner will lead a Spade (hoping that we actually have a high Spade card for our 2♠ bid), and Declarer will have 9 quick tricks. How nice if we could persuade Partner to lead a Club through Dummy’s suit! Then we can shift to Spades or Hearts, whichever seems better.
Yes, we must double 3NT if we want that Club lead! Doubling 3NT does not always call for a lead of Dummy’s suit, but on this auction it seems that it should … West has given Partner a simple raise only and cannot have much of a hand … a Spade lead is expected, and the Double should ask Partner to consider another lead.
On the actual deal, a Spade lead gives Declarer 9 easy tricks (2 Spades, 7 Diamonds) … a Club lead followed by a Spade shift holds Declarer to 8 tricks … and a Club lead followed by the unlikely Heart shift beats 3NT by two tricks.
Board 28 Dealer West N-S Vul
Without further ado, we’ll unveil our preferred choice here … as South we’d bid 1♥. Yes, really. Is this an outrageous psyche? No, of course not, our Partner has opened and we have 11 HCPs, we are in a constructive auction here, there’s no reason to fool the opposition with an outright psyche (in fact, there rarely is). We would consider 1♥ as the least of evils, so let’s review those evils: 2♣: This is perfect if you don’t play this bid as game-forcing … if you do, then it’s not an option. 2NT: Not terrible, but probably wrong-siding our likely best contract … with that lousy Spade holding, if we are to play it in No Trump, then we’d like to see Partner at the helm. 1♥: Yes, that’s all that’s left … once in a while Partner will raise, now we’ll bid Clubs and hope that Partner will see it in her heart to bid 3NT. And if Partner stubbornly persists with Hearts? Then the odds are that she has 4-card support, and, if the opponents decide on a Spade attack, at least we’ll be able to take the force in the short hand.
Board 29 Dealer North Both Vul
Of all the Fourth Suit Forcing sequences, this one is the least economical, and it leads to a crowded auction. After 3♦, South is slammish in Diamonds, what are her options? 4NT: We don’t like using this as Roman Key Card in Diamonds, surely it’s better to use 4NT here as a quantitative bid, inviting slam in a no-fit auction. Anyway, we don’t think the hand is quite good enough for Key Card, we need some cooperation from Partner if slam is to be bid. 4♣: Perhaps this bid should agree Diamonds, in which case that would be our choice. 4♦: We’d like this to be Minorwood (but only if 4♣ agrees Diamonds), but not that’s by no means a mainstream treatment.
Board 32 Dealer West E-W Vul
Please see Board 2
© BES, Inc All Rights Reserved | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Home Hand Analyses Bidding Quizzes Play Problems System Library | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
