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Bidding Quiz 13th September, 2006
Board 1 Dealer North None Vul
After Partner’s 1♠ it’s hard to imagine how we’ll stay out of slam, so the question is simply “What is the best plan for finding out about 7?” Let’s review the options:
Blackwood? We can forget about this one, of course, if Partner shows one Ace (or Key Card), we’ll not know whether it’s the useless A♦ or the much-to-be-desired A♥. Splinter? Not a good idea when we are short in two suits, and, anyway, when we splinter we are putting Partner in charge of the auction … instead we should be taking charge, on a quest for the A♥ and a Club control (singleton or King in this instance). 2♣? Again, not a good idea, in our opinion, though many might go this route … 2♣ is the start of a descriptive auction, whereby South will say “I have Clubs and Spade support” … and, again, we’ll reiterate that this is a “take-charge” type of hand. Jacoby 2NT? Now we are talking! Let’s make the bid which asks Partner to describe her hand!
OK, suppose that we bid 2NT, and Partner bids 3♣, showing shortness. There goes Problem # 1, namely the potential Club loser. Now we are simply left with Problem # 2, which is the potential Heart loser. We cue-bid 3♦, and Partner now bids 3♥. Can we be sure that this cue-bid shows the A♥ and not the K♥? Maybe, maybe not! We’ll offer up two methods of cue-bidding, but be assured that we are merely scratching the surface of a most complicated subject: Aces First: According to this method, we don’t cue-bid a King until we have denied the Ace, or until Partner has shown the Ace. The straightforward style works like a charm on the actual hand! Ace or King: In this style, the first cue-bid of a suit shows either a first- or second-round control, and is well-suited as a prelude to Roman Key Card … first we make sure that there are no two-loser side-suits, then we try Blackwood. Using this method, it won’t be obvious whether that 3♥ bid is the A♥ or K♥. But, perhaps it should be … after all, North has space to deny the A♥ and show the K♥, both below game. So, we’d say that the 3♥ bid shows the A♥, but now we would be testing the partnership agreements quite severely.
Board 4 Dealer West Both Vul
When we are 5-5 in the black suits, our preferred style is to open 1♠. One problem with opening 1♣ occurs when Partner responds 1NT … now Opener is stuck for a rebid if her hand is not up to the Reverse strength needed for 2♠. Does this mean that it’s OK to open 1♣ here with the actual South hand? It’s certainly strong enough to overcome the rebid problem, and some players would open 1♣ accordingly. Nothing terrible about that, although we still prefer the 1♠ opening ourselves … Spades (being a major) is a more likely place to play, so there’s a lot to be said for mentioning that suit first. Compare these two auctions:
North South North South Pass 1♠ Pass 1♣ 2♠ 4♠ 1♥ 2♠ Pass 3♣ 3♠ 4♠ Pass
The left-hand auction is completely uninformative, but the right-hand auction gives the opponents all sorts of information as they seek to find the best opening lead and defense.
Board 10 Dealer East Both Vul
North is not good enough to bid 2♠ over 2♣, but it’s not that far off … put the Q♣ somewhere useful (in the Spade suit would be nice!), and add a bit of oomph and bingo, it’s a 2♠ bid. In fact, for some players, the extra oomph would be overkill, they’d just fall in love with the 6-card Spade suit and the singleton in the opponents’ suit.
Anyway, we recommend a Negative Double here, planning to bid quite aggressively later if Partner offers even the mildest provocation.
Board 11 Dealer South None Vul
What are your methods opposite Partner’s simple overcall? The two most common treatments are as follows New Suit is Forcing: If you play a new suit as forcing for one round, then East has an obvious 2♦ call (over their 1♠). New Suit is Constructive: With this method, the overcaller is allowed to pass with an execrable overcall … we like to use 10 HCPs as the tipping point … with less, a Pass is permitted, with more it is not … as always, there’s more to bidding than counting HCPs, so that “10” number is no more than an indication.
Board 13 Dealer North Both Vul
South’s 2♥ was “Fourth Suit Forcing”, in other words an artificial bid, one which usually means one of two things: - Either: Responder isn’t sure where the auction is headed; - Or: Responder doesn’t want to give up on slam.
We like to play it as game-forcing, it just makes life so much easier … no need to jump to keep the auction alive, no risk of playing in 3♣ when 6♣ is cold! Anyway, North bids 3♣, showing 5-5, South bids 3♦ and now we must decide to do with the North hand. We confess that we’d try Blackwood, and 4NT will get us quickly to 6♦, an excellent contract. Our only point here is that we’d much prefer not to have to bid 4NT for Blackwood in minor suit auctions, there are alternatives available, namely Minorwood and Redwood, or even Bothwood. But tread carefully, these swamps can be most treacherous!
Board 14 Dealer East None Vul
South’s hand is a Pass by all the commonly used methods, such as HCPs, Rule of Twenty, Quick Tricks. But to us it looks awfully close to an opening bid anyway! Let’s say that South passes nonetheless, and then their 1♠-2♠ auction gets back to us.
Should a hand that could not even open now make a Take-out Double, thereby committing her side to the 3-level? It may sound rather wacky, but we say “Yes!”. It’s the so-called “pre-balance” … South knows that Partner will have trouble balancing if West passes, she obviously has too many Spades to make a Take-out Double … so South “pre-balances”, she is the one with shortness in their suit, so the onus is on her to get her side into the auction.
Remember this situation, and also remember that technical term, the “pre-balance”, it’s a real winner in the post-mortem, especially after you have just gone for -300 on a part-score hand. If Partner does not know what a pre-balance is, then she’ll be shamed into silence (well, maybe), and if she does know then no doubt she’ll be suitably understanding (well, maybe).
But, seriously, this pre-balancing Double is really quite safe, nothing bad is likely to happen … passing is far more dangerous.
Board 15 Dealer South N-S Vul
After 1♦, a Negative Double is generally used to show both majors, which East certainly has. However, with a 4-5 hand, and game-going values, it’s preferable to bid the 5-card suit first … the hand is good enough to get the Spades into the auction later on.
The auction has reached a critical point after West’s 3♣ bid, with East still in search of the best game … Hearts, Spades, Clubs, or No Trump?
Partner’s major suit holdings are easy enough to figure out … no more than 3 Spades, no more than 2 Hearts. On that basis, let’s forget about playing in 4♠, we cannot have better than a 4-3 fit, and when they attack our weak suit (Diamonds), we’ll have to ruff in the long hand, so that trump control will be a serious issue, and we’ll have to rely on 3-3 trumps.
How about 4♥? The 5-2 fit will be better protection against that onslaught of Diamonds, so, if Partner can cooperate, we’d like to keep that one in the picture. We’d say that he should cooperate with honor doubleton in Hearts.
Therefore, our choice is 3♦, expressing uncertainty. If Partner bids 3NT we’ll pass, if he bids 3♥ we’ll bid 4♥, if he bids 3♠ we’ll try 5♣.
Tragic Footnote: Alas and alack, your delicate auction will get you to 5♣, the theoretically superior contract, but the friendly breaks will mean that those less accomplished bidders who played in 4♥ or 4♠ will outscore you 420 to 400.
Board 16 Dealer West E-W Vul
There’s not much to this one, West has little choice but to pass here and hope that he can beat 2♥. Actually, he should be quite optimistic about beating it, and, if not exactly drooling, he should be passing with positive expectations. The point here is that, playing matchpoints, most players just don’t double enough for penalties, fearing the occasional -470 or -730. Fear not, the occasional disaster is more than compensated for by the lovely succession of +200 and +300 scores, and we know that Partner will be there with comfort and solace when it turns out to be the occasional -470 (well, maybe).
But let’s not be too trigger-happy, here are the ideal conditions for low-level Doubles: - no fit with Partner - game unlikely - quick tricks in the side-suits - strength over their side-suit - trump tricks (slow trump tricks such as QJT9 give more bang for the HCP than AK2) Happy doubling!
Board 20 Dealer West Both Vul
West’s 3♠ is obviously a fishing expedition for 3NT, no doubt he has oodles of Diamond tricks, something outside, but needs a Spade stopper from us. We don’t have one, of course, so what should be our plan?
Our plan would be to avoid a doubled contract. We’d suggest a 4♣ bid here. If Partner passes, we are surely in a good spot. If Partner bids 4♦, then we would just give up, leaving our 6-card Heart suit withering on the vine. Hoping for a playable 4♥ contract seems altogether too optimistic to us. Is 4♣ more likely play well than 4♥? No, it’s not, but at least it has that 4♦ safety net.
Board 22 Dealer East E-W Vul
This one is more of a Bidding Movie than it is a Bidding Quiz, let’s track South’s sequence, frame by frame.
1♦: Nothing not to like about this bid. Dbl: Partner obviously has a terrible hand, but we have the goods, a Double here seems pretty routine, though South would no doubt have preferred a 4th Heart. Pass: We offered Partner a choice of Clubs and Hearts (or even belated Diamond support), and she chose Hearts. At this point, we have nothing more to say, despite our fine hand we have no game aspirations opposite a hand that was unable to respond to 1♦. We are therefore happy to play in 2♥. 3♦: Of course, the opponents were not so accommodating as to allow us to play in 2♥. Do we really want to defend 2♠? No! They appear to have a 5-3 fit, we are not vulnerable, and we are in the balancing seat. We surely should compete to the 3-level. And the way to do it is with a 3♦ bid. The message being sent here is “I only have 3 Hearts, but I do have good Diamonds, you choose”. Pass: Well, Partner chose, and we wish him luck!
For the record, 3♥ doubled works out quite well for N-S, it’s down one for -100, as opposed to defending 2♠ for -110.
Board 22 Dealer East E-W Vul
This is Take Two of Board 22, this time from the West perspective. Here’s our bid-by-bid analysis: Pass: No reason to double here, we have decent values but no playing strength. Rdbl: Partner has balanced with 1♠, RHO has made a strength-showing Double, now it’s our turn to make a strength-showing Redouble! No doubt this bid shows Spade tolerance, but above all else it shows strength (for a passed hand). 2♠: Now it’s our turn to balance, and how could we not compete to 2♠ with our magnificent support (let’s not dwell on the distribution, though!). Pass: The auction continues, and we are in the direct seat over that 3♦ bid. Do we have anything worth saying? Actually, no! No 4th Spade, no Diamond tricks, no distribution … we’ve already shown a decent hand, it’s up to Partner from here on in. Dbl: Well, maybe not quite! Once again, we are in the balancing seat, and we don’t want to go too quietly here, our quick tricks and trump holding suggest that we can beat this. We won’t always, but most of the time surely we shall. Of course, this Double would be more attractive if they were vulnerable, because down one would score the magic 200, but even non-vulnerable it seems like a good bet to us.
Board 22 Dealer East E-W Vul
This is Take Three of the same auction, this time from the perspective of North: Pass: Nothing much wrong with this bid! 2♥: Partner opened and then made a take-out Double, and RHO redoubled … that Redouble gives us an extra bid, namely Pass if we are uncertain … but we don’t want to do that, we want to show a clear preference for Hearts. Pass: Over their 2♠, in the direct seat, we have nothing more to say, we’ve already expressed our weakness and our preference for Hearts … we have no distribution to get excited about, so we just pass. 3♥: Partner’s balancing with that 3♦ bid, and he’s offering us a choice between 3♦ and 3♥ … no doubt Partner has 3 Hearts and a much better Diamond suit, either 5 good ones, or a 6- bagger. Our preference is still quite clear, so we bid 3♥. Pass: Oh, well!
It turns out that all parties have bid rather well, and that 3♥ doubled down one is the par result. An interesting auction!
Board 23 Dealer South Both Vul
What are North’s options here? - 4♠? 4♠ will probably make, but bidding it directly like that is usually played as a preemptive bid, showing 5 Spades and not much else. - 2NT? The hand does not seem good enough for that, Partner might get carried away and take us overboard. - 4♦? A Splinter bid, showing Spade support and Diamond shortness, but perhaps the hand is not quite strong enough, and, anyway, it’s generally not a good idea to splinter with a singleton Ace or King, it’s altogether too misleading to Partner. - 3♠? A limit raise … this (or 2NT) would be our choice, but it’s not ideal, we might miss game opposite quite a few minimum hands.
Actually, if N-S are playing Bergen Raises they’ll have another option, and one that we rather like. After the opening bid, North will bid 3♣ or 3♦ (whichever one the partnership plays as the limit raise), and then, if Partner signs off in 3♠, she’ll go to game anyway. To us, this seems exactly right, we want to be in game, just in case it happens to make, but we don’t want to preempt and we don’t want to show game-forcing values.
Board 28 Dealer West N-S Vul
Consider these two auctions: North South North South 1♠ 2♥ 1♠ 2♥ 4♥ 2♠ 4♠ If we assume that South’s 2♥ bid was a 2/1 game force, then what is your partnership’s agreement on those subsequent leaps to game? It’s conventional wisdom to subscribe to the “Principle of Fast Arrival”, which says that, when we are in a game-forcing auction, a jump to game is intended to be discouraging … if we liked our hand we would bid more slowly in order to facilitate a slam investigation. Our own subscription to this theory is paid up fully, but the question on this deal is how to handle No Trump jumps. As in these two auctions: North South North South 1♠ 2♥ 1♠ 2♥ 3NT 2♠ 3NT
Here are two schools of thought concerning these No Trump bids: - A bid of 2NT in these auctions is neutral, it’s often just a convenient cheap bid as the partnership investigates a fit - A more structured approach is for 2NT to be 12-14, and for a jump to 3NT to show some extras, something in the 15-17 range.
We prefer the second style, but there are arguments for both. Suppose that we have 18-19? That’s too good to jump to 3NT, and isn’t it way too good to bid just 2NT? Actually no! Make that 2NT bid show 12-14 (which it will be 90% of the time), or 18-19 … we always assume the 12-14 case, of course, and once in a while Partner will surprise us by taking an extra bid, confirming the 18-19 case.
With that treatment in mind, in the featured auction, over 2♠, we’d say that South should jump to 3NT, showing 15-17 … yes, it’s a bit on the heavy side, and it would not be wrong to bid 2NT, planning to bid on over 3NT or 4♠.
Board 29 Dealer North Both Vul
What are your agreements after Opener reverses? First, we suggest that you play the bid as forcing and that it further promises another bid, but that is not game-forcing the way that Opener’s jump shift would be. Second, Responder needs a way of showing weakness and allowing the auction to stop short of game, and one simple way to do this is for 2NT to be the weakness bid, the only bid which allows the auction to stop short of game. Another option which has become quite common is that the 4th suit at the 2-level is a weakness bid, as in 1♣ 1♠, 2♦ 2♥ … and that, if there is no such 4th suit bid available we use 2NT as the weakness bid, as in 1♣ 1♠, 2♥ 2NT.
Other bids are game-forcing, so on the actual hand we would simply bid 3♣, which is game-forcing in the absence of a weakness bid of 2♠.
Board 31 Dealer South N-S Vul
That 4♣ bid was (by partnership agreement) a Splinter bid, showing game-going values, and shortness in Clubs. South has limited her hand (and North knows that, of course) so, for slam purposes, South must evaluate her hand in that context. She has a truly magnificent hand in that context! Let’s look at the plus factors: - a perfect Club holding (nothing wasted opposite Partner’s shortness) - a 4th trump (which was not guaranteed by the 2♠ bid) - great controls
A more slammish hand is hard to construct (well, we could also have the Q♠!), and this hand should be ready to commit itself to slam. Does it seem a little odd that South should be making such a decision? It shouldn’t, Partner asked our opinion with that 4♣ Splinter, and our opinion is “We love our hand!”
How should we proceed? We’d bid Blackwood … we are not taking this one to seven, but we are going to six, and along the way we would like to give Partner the chance to bid seven if that is what her hand calls for.
Board 31 Dealer South N-S Vul
Our 4♣ bid was intended as a Splinter, don’t use this bid without prior partnership agreement! One very simple agreement might be: Once we have found a major suit fit we don’t look for a minor suit contract, unless it is being offered as a choice of slam.
Anyway, let’s say that you and your Partner are on the same wavelength concerning that 4♣ bid. Partner clearly likes that shortness very much, so much so that he is heading slamwards. 4NT was Roman Key Card Blackwood, and the question is “Do you have any void-showing responses in your arsenal?”
If not, a simple agreement is as follows: - with two Key Cards and a void, bid 5NT - with one Key Card and a void, jump to 6 of the trump suit, or, if lower-ranking, to 6 of the void suit.
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