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Bidding Quiz 25th October, 2006
Board 1 Dealer North None Vul
If the hand were about a King stronger there would be no problem here, we’d simply open our longest suit, planning to reverse to 2♦ next time around. But, with less than reverse values, as here, we have these three choices (we are assuming that Partner will respond 1♠): - Open 1♣ and rebid 2♣: Our least favorite, this sequence should really show 6 Clubs, or at least 5 good ones. - Open 1♣ and rebid 1NT: A most reasonable plan, though we might wish that our Hearts were a tad stronger. The only real problem with this plan is that Responder cannot so freely rebid 2♠ for fear of us having a singleton. - Open 1♦ and rebid 2♣: Also reasonable, though the minor suit length distortion can lead to problems. For example, if Responder is, say, 4-3-3-3, with around 8 or 9 points, she will be obliged to bid 2♦, landing in the 4-3 Diamond fit instead of the 5-3 Club fit (or 1NT). Even worse, Responder may be 5-3-2-3 and would still rebid 2♦ (the so-called “false preference”) … playing in a 4-2 fit this time! It’s a thorny problem, we like to rebid 1NT ourselves, though if the Hearts were any weaker we’d open 1♦.
Board 2 Dealer East N-S Vul
After West’s Michaels bid, North’s Double shows a good hand, not necessarily one with Heart support … a 2♠ cue-bid is available for showing support and a decent hand (a limit raise or better). How much of a force does this Double create? We’d suggest that it commits N-S either to doubling the opponents or else to playing in game or 4 of a minor. On this particular hand, North will double opposing Spade and Diamond contracts, and bid 3NT if the opponents escape to Clubs.
Board 2 Dealer East N-S Vul
Partner’s Michaels call showed Spades and a minor. As for North’s Double, the two most common interpretations are: - Shows support for Hearts - Shows a good hand, with an interest in penalizing them or getting to game somewhere
To be honest, we don’t really care what the Double means. We have no clear direction on this hand. With a 3-card Spade suit, we’d bid 2♠, but with 2-5-3-3 shape we are not quite sure where we belong. A 5-2 fit at the 2-level? Or a 5-3 fit at the 3-level? Who can say, let’s leave this one up to Partner. Out with the green card.
Board 6 Dealer East E-W Vul
Now here’s an interesting problem! How would you tackle this hand? Which of the following plans do you prefer? - Jacoby Transfer to Hearts, then bid 3♣? This is a game-forcing sequence, and gets our best two suits into the picture. It’s possible that 6♣ will be a good contract, but we’d rate this as a long shot, partner would need close to a perfect hand, with little or nothing wasted opposite our Spade void. As 6♣ is so unlikely, and as it will be difficult to conduct an effective slam auction anyway, we don’t see much point in telling the opponents about our Clubs. We expect some strenuous objections to this opinion! - Jacoby Transfer to Hearts, and then bid 3NT? Absolutely not! - Texas Transfer to Hearts? Not a terrible plan at all, even though this bid usually shows 6+ Hearts. But 5 very good ones is almost as good. If we are not going to bring Clubs into the auction, then we must play the hand in Hearts, regardless of Partner’s opinion, in which case there is a lot to be said for just bidding game directly. - Jacoby Transfer to Hearts then 4♥? For those pairs that play Texas, this sequence is played as a mild slam try. We don’t think that the hand is good enough to make a general slam try. - Jacoby Transfer to Hearts then a 3♠ Splinter? Yes, the hand may not be good enough for a general slam try, but perhaps it is just about good enough for a specific slam try, namely one showing Spade shortness. Now Opener is in a position to evaluate his hand, and will no doubt like it if he has good controls and no Spade wastage. As it happens, he has a good hand but serious Spade wastage, and will have an easy 4♥ sign-off.
A very difficult hand for West, there will be numerous differing viewpoints on how best to handle this one.
Board 7 Dealer South Both Vul
Normally, with a 5-card major opposite a 1NT opening we start out by transferring to that major. This hand is a rare exception to that rule. West’s plan should be to Stayman the hand and then, over 2♦, to bid 2♠. This sequence shows 5-4 in the majors, with invitational values.
Board 9 Dealer North E-W Vul
Here is a hand that has interest in game but no clear direction. We cannot bid No Trump without a stopper in the enemy suit, and the hand is too good for a 3♦ bid. So what else but a cue-bid of 2♠? This may not seem like much of a problem, but it does raise the general question of when a cue-bid shows support for Partner and when it just shows a good hand which has no other convenient bid. It’s difficult to come up with hard-and-fast rules on the subject, and the best rule that we can come up with on the meaning of a cue-bid is as follows: The cue-bid is always at least invitational to game, and it means whatever makes sense in the context of the rest of your system. Yes, it probably sounds a bit vague, maybe some examples will help:
South West North East 1♠ 2♥ 3♥ … What does 3♥ mean? If you play that a jump raise here is preemptive, then it makes sense to use the cue-bid as the method of showing Spade support. Could the cue-bid in this situation be ambiguous, could it show maybe Spade support or maybe some other type of good hand? No, there are other ways available to show good hands of another type.
South West North East 1♣ 1♥ Pass 2♣ This time we are the overcaller. What does 2♣ mean in this situation? Again, it depends on the rest of your system. Assume in all cases that a jump raise to 3♥ would be preemptive: (a) If you play that, opposite an overcaller, a new suit is forcing, then you can use the cue-bid when you want to show support and at least invitational values. Could the cue-bid be ambiguous, could it also be used when we have no support and are angling for No Trump? No, with that type of hand you have other forcing bids available, such as 1♠ and 2♦. So here the cue-bid should absolutely guarantee support. (b) If you play that, opposite an overcaller, a new suit is non-forcing (but constructive) and a jump in a new suit is forcing, then things are not so clear-cut. You could play that in this scenario the cue-bid guarantees support, but those jump shifts to create a force are somewhat cumbersome, we’d suggest that the cue-bid here be used for all sorts of good hand types just as a practical necessity. Most of these cue-bids can be figured out by logic, but this one requires an agreement with Partner. (c) If you play that, opposite an overcaller, a new suit is non-forcing, and jump shifts are preemptive, then the only thing that makes any sense is for the cue-bid to show all good hands … well almost all, there are still strength-showing No Trump bids available.
South West North East 1♦ Pass 1♥ 1♠ 2♦ Pass 2♠ This time the auction has progressed further, but again the cue-bid means what it needs to mean. Here, South has no forcing Heart bid available, no forcing Diamond bid available, and may have a good hand which wants to play in No Trump if Partner can cooperate. So, what the cue-bid need to do is cover all those bases, and in this particular case it is quite ambiguous.
OK, that’s enough on cue-bids, let’s push on.
Board 10 Dealer East Both Vul
The higher the opponents preempt the more flawed and limited are our options. Here is a case in point. North does not really have the strength to intervene safely at the 3-level (and she’s vulnerable, no less). But, intervene she must. It’s an important principle in competitive bidding that there is an added onus on the partner with shortness in the opponent’s suit, she’s the one who should be straining to get into the auction. Why? Because, in that case, Partner may well have 3 or 4 cards in their suit, and may have no easy way into the auction herself.
Alright, North must take her life in her hands and bid something over 3♥. But what? 3♠ or Double? We like 3♠ (but wish it were a 6-card suit), others might prefer Double. But the most important thing is that South must bid something.
Board 11 Dealer South None Vul Here we show both hands: South West North East ♠ AKQJT ♠ 43 ♥ Q532 ♥ 74 ♦ J6 ♦ AKQT85 ♣ 73 ♣ KQ8
South West North East 1♠ Pass 2♦ 4♣ ?? Pass ??
When the opponents get into a Two Over One auction, it’s usually best to keep out of the auction, but here East bid 4♣, as an attempt to create chaos and confusion for the enemy. In fact, chaos and confusion are a definite possibility, not many partnerships have discussed this sequence, we suspect. The point of this entry in the Quiz is to discuss what a Double would mean by South and by North.
By South, a Double should be penalty-oriented … we are over the bidder, we probably have two or more trump tricks, and we have a strong preference for defending … if we had a mild preference for defending, we could always just pass and see what Partner has to say. On the actual hand, South has no preference for anything and should be delighted to pass and leave things up to her esteemed Partner.
By North, a Double should be “co-operative”. Not familiar with the term? Well, listen up, if you would. Co-operative doubles are an advanced expert device which are used to transfer the blame whenever Partner guesses wrong. As in “It was co-operative, not take-out, why didn’t you just Pass?”, or “It was co-operative, not penalty, why didn’t you just bid something?” Well, perhaps we are being flippant, but it is important for North, in the pass-out seat, being forced to do something (no, Pass is not an option), to have a non-committal option. That option is Double.
Having said all that, there’s something to be said for North bidding 4NT when that 4♣ bid gets back to her. We think that this should be natural, typically showing a Club stop and a source of tricks in Diamonds. We wouldn’t argue with either Double or 4NT here.
Board 15 Dealer South N-S Vul
Two questions here. Does a 3♠ bid in this situation show a good Spade suit? Or does it show a 6th Spade and extras? In a 2/1 Game-Forcing scenario, the emphasis here is on hand-type, not hand-strength. In other words, 3♠ shows good Spades, but could be made on a quite minimum hand.
So far, so good, but now we get a bit more controversial. What constitutes a good suit? We are probably in a minority on this one, but we think that the jump to 3♠ should be used to show: A suit that does not expect to lose more than one trick opposite a singleton, nor does it expect to lose a trick on the 3rd or 4th round of the suit, when playing opposite a singleton.
How does this work in practice? Consider these holdings: ♠ AKQJT3 More than adequate! ♠ KQJT32 Just about adequate ♠ AQJT32 Likewise ♠ QJT9876 Not adequate, two losers ♠ AKQ983 Quite unsuitable. Most of the time, opposite a singleton, this suit will lose just one trick, but that loser is a slow loser … if we show a great suit, and Partner takes control in a slam auction, she will be quite disappointed when our second loser in 6♠ turns out to be the J♠.
The point we are trying to make is that our holding should be such that Partner knows what to do when holding a singleton in our strong suit, especially as it appertains to slam bidding.
Board 16 Dealer West E-W Vul
Here’s a fairly common situation … North would like to compete to 3♥ with her minimum hand, but doesn’t want Partner placing her with extras. On other deals, she’ll have something extra (say the same hand with an extra King) and will want to invite game in Hearts. Obviously, it’s far from ideal to use the same 3♥ bid for both the competitive hand and the invitational hand. A variety of Lebensohl, commonly known as the Good-Bad Two No Trump, can be used to solve this dilemma.
Briefly put, playing the Good-Bad Two No Trump, with the given hand, North merely want to compete to 3♥, and her method of doing that is via 2NT. Partner is supposed to accept the relay to 3♣, and then North will convert to 3♥, sending the message "Just competing, Partner!". Please see the new addition to the System Library on this one.
Board 17 Dealer North None Vul
As West, what would you do with that 16-count, after RHO opens 1♣? There are a bunch of flawed choices, and our own preferred flawed choice is 1♥. We don’t want to pass, and it’s generally good to get our major into the auction. We’d say that overcalling 1♥ here is a much smaller lie than overcalling 1NT, and passing is just too feeble.
Board 18 Dealer East N-S Vul
There are some Total Trick addicts who might bid 4♠ here, on the grounds that N-S appear to have 10 trumps, so there is safety at the 4-level. That argument is overly simplistic, there is also the vulnerability to consider, and the fact that our hand is so shapeless. No, committing this one to the 4-level based on our combined trump count would be way over the top.
But, we would commit it to the 3-level, and the real question is how? Do we bid a preemptive 3♠ immediately, applying maximum pressure to the opponents? Or do we compete more slowly, first bidding 2♠, then bidding 3♠? We like the slow approach here. It’s not because our hand is too good to preempt, it’s because it’s the wrong type to preempt. All of our HCP’s are outside our suit, and we have one, and quite possibly two, tricks on defense. Bidding 3♠ is just a misdescription, in our view. But at least it’s better than bidding 4♠!
Board 18 Dealer East N-S Vul
And our plan is what here? We hate to sell our 5-card major short, but the best that East can do is to double first, and then compete to 3♣ later. True, we might miss a 5-3 Heart fit this way, but the hand is just not good enough to introduce the Hearts directly. Perhaps the real problem on the hand comes later in the auction: East South West North Pass Pass 1♦ 1♠ Dbl 2♠ Pass Pass 3♣ 3♠ Pass Pass ?? Should we compete to 4♣? It’s awfully tempting with that lovely 6-5 shape, and we consider ourselves, well, er, awfully tempted. On the other hand, the probability is that both sides have only 9 trumps, and there is the further possibility that our singleton K♠ is worth a trick on defense but not on offense. Good thinking, as it happens, at least in theory … on the actual deal, N-S actually have 10 trumps and can make only 9 tricks, whereas E-W have 9 trumps and can make 8 tricks. Yes, the Law of Total Tricks is out by a whopping two tricks on this one.
So, the winning bid, in theory, is to pass here and go plus. But, in practice, the winning bid is 4♣ … it might even make, as it requires good defense to beat it … more to the point, 3♠ will almost certainly make, it takes an impossible opening lead to beat it. So, as is often the case, bidding one more when you have extreme distribution is the winning action.
Board 20 Dealer West Both Vul
Hands with 5 Hearts and 6 Clubs can be just plain awkward to bid. We had one on Board 18, and here’s another one. One possibility here, after that 1♦ opening bid, is to bid 2NT, showing the two lower unbid suits. We really don’t like this bid at all. Sure, it shows both our suits, but it doesn’t show our values. We much prefer a 2♣ bid here, hoping that we’ll be able to bid our Hearts later. No, of course, that’s not ideal either, the Heart suit might be lost if they bid Spades vigorously, but at least Partner will know we have some values and will find it easier to get into the auction if he also has values.
As on Board 18, there is no easy solution to this one. Some hands are just plain difficult!
Board 20 Dealer West North Vul
East’s Unusual No Trump showed the lower unbid suits, namely Clubs and Hearts. By partnership agreement that 3♠ bid was purely competitive (please follow the link for more on that). By competitive, we mean “less than invitational”, so it’s fair to expect Partner to have a decent 6-card suit, with something in the 7-9 range, or thereabouts. Opposite such a hand, game is unlikely, but we would bid it anyway! The point is that it seems likely that the opponents can make 4♥ or 5♣ given the paucity of our defensive values. Why give them an easy ride?
In real life, a 4♠ bid here works like a charm … they can indeed make 4♥, and, even better, 4♠ will likely escape undoubled, probably down only one trick.
Board 30 Dealer East None Vul
We’ve had a few 2♣ openers followed by enemy overcalls in recent weeks. To reiterate, what are your partnerships methods. We suggest: - Double shows a bad hand, defined as less than a King, or less than two Queens - Pass shows better than that, and the inability to make a positive suit response
Using this method, we have a Double.
Board 31 Dealer South N-S Vul
South has only 11 HCPs, yet she has a 5-loser hand and is good enough to invite to game opposite a simple raise. However, East’s preemptive 4♦ puts paid to any invitational sequence, now we must decide between 4♠ and Pass. We think it’s a pretty close call … at teams we’d bid 4♠ in a heartbeat, but vulnerable at matchpoints it’s not entirely clear. In a friendly Club game, against opponents who are too polite to double, we’d certainly give it a try, though. Maybe 4♦ will make, and 4♠, undoubled, down one, will be a good save. It pays to know your opponents on this one!
P.S The winning bid is 4♠, and it makes … Partner has, for once, right hand … A♥ and the K♣ over West’s Ace.
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