Bidding Quiz                                                    16th May, 2007

 

                                   Click here for print-formatted version of the Bidding Quiz

 

                                                    Board 1      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

Anyone for the Unusual 2NT here?  This bid conventionally shows the two lower unbid suits, and South certainly has that.  But is it the right bid?  No, we don’t think so, we’d prefer a hand with less defense, and our own choice would be 1♥, planning to compete later in Diamonds if it seems appropriate.  So, what would be an appropriate 2NT bid here?  Something like:

            ♠ 62

            ♥ KQJT2

            ♦ QJT87

            ♣ 4

That’s more like it!  Some stuffing in the long suits and not much in the way of defense.

 

 

                                                    Board 4      Dealer West       Both Vul

 

 

 Let’s assume that 2♣ is game-forcing (though the arguments that follow apply equally well if it is not game-forcing).  The question is simply this:  “What kind of a hand is required to make a jump to 3♠?”

 

We’ll do this in two parts, here’s Part 1.  Does the 3♠ bid show extra values?  We do not think extras are necessary for the bid.  That jump is all about the Spade suit, there’s no need to jump in a forcing auction just because we have extra values.  That’s not to say that a jump to 3♠ denies extra values, by the way.  As we said, it’s about the Spades, not the points.

 

OK, here’s Part 2.  What kind of a Spade suit does 3♠ show?  Solid such as AKQJxx?  That’s a possibility, but it won’t come up very often.  How about AKQxxxx?  This suit is very good, of course, but could well have a slow loser opposite a singleton or void.  No, our own preference is a suit which does not have the likelihood of a slow loser opposite a void.  These would all qualify:

            AKQJTx(x)

            AQJTxx(x)

            AKJTxx(x)

            KQJTxx(x)

When it comes to showing a “good” suit, it’s those intermediate cards which are important, and which make the suit playable opposite shortness.  Minor details such as the absence of the Ace or King or Queen can always be resolved later with Roman Key Card.

 

 

                                                    Board 5      Dealer North       N-S Vul

 

 

No arguments with a 1♠ opening but our own preference would be to stretch it into a 2♣ bid.  Perhaps it is a slight overbid, but we can just about count 8½ tricks, which is a measure used by some.  And 2♣ sequences work quite well for major-oriented hands, better, in our experience, than opening 1♠ and making a fake jump shift into a 2- or 3-card suit.

 

But, we are talking personal preference here, if opening 1♠ here works for you then fine.  However, we would certainly draw the line at opening 2♣ with this hand if the long suit were a minor, let’s say:

            ♠ 74

            ♥ AJ6

            ♦ AQ

            ♣ AKQT64

The same hand with the black suits switched, but those 2♣ openings just don’t work efficiently when the long suit is a minor.

 

Post Script

Back to the original hand.  You open 2♣, Partner bids 2♦.  Are the Spades suirable for a jump to 3♠?  No, not if you agree with the comments in Board 4 of the Bidding Quiz.

 

 

                                                    Board 6      Dealer East       E-W Vul

 

 

We suspect that most matchpoint players would chirp in with a Spade bid here, but we wonder if it is such a great idea.  True, we are not vulnerable, but the shape is ugly, and there are so many losers.  We’d say that competing to 2♠ is far from obvious when non-vulnerable, and downright wrong when vulnerable.

 

 

                                                    Board 7      Dealer South       Both Vul

 

 

Is this hand good enough for a Negative Double at the two-level?  With only 7 HCP’s we are a bit below strength but we have the compensation of a Diamond fit, so we’d say that we are good enough for a Double.  Nonetheless, we’d give up on the Heart suit and bid 2♦.  This auction is most likely to decided at the 3-level, and the limited bid of 2♦ will put Partner in perfect position to make the right competitive decision over 3♣.  If we double, then LHO bids 3♣, what do we do next?  3♦ would be an overbid, but not supporting would be uncomfortable.  So, better to support right away, we think, even at the risk of missing a 4-4 Heart fit.

 

 

                                                    Board 12      Dealer West       N-S Vul

 

 

We rather like the Rule of Twenty as a measuring stick for opening bids.  To recap, the Rule says to add HCP’s to the length of your two longest suits, and, if the answer is 20 or more, then we have before us an opening bid.  By that logic this 6-4 10-count qualifies.  Even so, we’d pass, the hand has flaws.  We don’t much care for that singleton Ace, but the real problem is that doubleton Queen, a potential wasted value.  We like opening 6-4 and 5-5 10-counts, but the values need to be working better than they are on this hand.  And it’s not as if we are desperate for a Club lead, either!

 

The computer dealt West a similar type of hand on Board 28, repeated here for convenience:

            ♠ KJ42

            ♥ T

            ♦ QT8764

            ♣ AT

Another 6-4 10-count, but this one we would open.  No wastage.

 

 

                                                    Board 15      Dealer South       N-S Vul

 

 

It seems normal enough to balance here with 1♥, but let’s also consider a bid of 1NT.  First of all, what is your range for a balancing 1NT.  It’s usually played as weaker than a direct 1NT overcall (15-18), and a typical balancing range is 11-14 or thereabouts.  Some players expand that range quite considerably, to 10-15 or 11-16, but to make such a wide range work they incorporate a gadget called Crowhurst (better known as Meckwell in the United States).  For more on this please see the Convention Library for the article “Our 1NT Overcall”.

 

Anyway, if we were playing a 10-15 or 11-16 balancing 1NT overcall, that would be our choice.  Descriptive and limiting.

 

                                                    Board 16      Dealer West       E-W Vul

 

 

Yes, balanced with 17 HCP’s, but altogether too good for a 15-17 1NT opening bid.  There is a 5-card suit and an abundance of fillers, our choice would be to open 1♣, planning to jump to 2NT (18-19) if Partner responds with one of a suit.

 

                                                    Board 17      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

How awkward!  Here are the unsavory choices for South’s rebid:

-         3♣:      This one is our least favorite, primarily because Partner’s 2♣ is frequently made on a 3-card suit.

-         2NT:   This could work, but it’s something of an overbid, we’d prefer 11-12 or a really good 10.  This one is not “really good”.  True it has the most useful T♣, but the other suits are completely devoid of any stuffing.

-         2♠:       Our own chance, but not perfect.  We sure wish we had better than 2 small Spades, hopefully our spare HCP strength will compensate.

 

What was the winning call on the actual hand?  2♠ and 3♣ will both make (with some good guessing), 2NT has no chance.

 

                                                    Board 18      Dealer East       N-S Vul

 

 

West has extras for his opening bid, but no way of showing them with his rebid.  He’s not good enough for a reverse to 2♥ (though pretty close), and it’s not a good idea to jump to 3♠ here with only 3-card support.  The only option is a slightly heavy raise to 2♠.

 

 

                                                    Board 18      Dealer East       N-S Vul

 

 

Only 6 HCP’s but the lovely 6-4 shape makes this worth a game try.  Let’s look at a different hand, by way of comparison:

            ♠ KT987

            ♥ J32

            ♦ K92

            ♣ A8

Not many would argue with making a game-try on this 11-count, but in fact, once a Spade fit has been identified, the 6-count in the problem has about the same playing strength.  Using the Losing Trick Count, both hands have 8 losers, which happens to be a good rule of thumb for invitational values.  Counting up the HCP’s is a good start, but it’s not the only factor to consider.

 

 

                                                    Board 27      Dealer South       None Vul

 

 

There were two hands this week where the Partner of a 2♥ opener raised to 4♥.  The two hands were:

-         3-4-4-2 distribution with 8 HCP’s

-         3-2-4-4 distribution with 16 HCP’s

In the first case, Responder was merely jamming the auction.  In the second case, Responder was bidding to make.

 

If we knew which of the two cases applied to this Board we would know exactly what to do.  In the first case we’d take a shot at 4♠, in the second case we’d go quietly.  But the fact of the matter is that we are guessing, we have no idea.  We got a split vote on this one, so we’ll leave it up to you to make the right guess.

 

What was the winner in real life?  North had the hand with 16 HCP’s and was bidding 4♥ to make.  4♠ would be doubled, and with normal play will be -300 (-100 is possible but improbable).  How about 4♥?  That might make, or might be down one.  So somewhat inconclusive as to what was the winning call.

 

 

                                                    Board 28      Dealer West       N-S Vul

 

 

 Back on Board 12 we looked at this West hand and concluded that it was worth an opening bid … only 10 HCP’s, but none of them wasted and then there is that lovely 6-4 distribution.

 

East’s 2NT bid was conventional, for which the responses are:

            3♣       3-card support, bad hand

            3♦        3-card support, good hand

            3♥        4-card support, bad hand

            3♠        4-card support, good hand

 

Our opening hand has gotten considerably better now that we have uncovered a Spade fit, so much so that we would characterize this as a “good hand”.  Of course, once we have shown 4 trumps and a good hand, Partner will be going to game, so we should feel to extend the responses to include a 4♥ Splinter.  Yes, that would be our choice here.

 

Let’s roll the clock forward to the next round of bidding.  After our 4♠ Splinter, Partner bids 5♦, obviously a slam try.  He appears to be looking for Club help, and we have it!  So, we make our third positive assessment of this hand and bid 6♠.

 

                                                    Board 29      Dealer North       Both Vul

 

 

There’s not much to this one, we simply bid 4♥ and let the opponents decide what to do.  It’s not a good idea to bid 3♥ hoping to play it there, and then to bid on to 4♥ if they compete to 3♠, that just gives them altogether too much room for maneuver.  We don’t really expect 4♥ to make (though it might), we’re simply bidding to our Total Trick level right away.

 

                                                    Board 29      Dealer North       Both Vul

 

 

10 HCP’s opposite a vulnerable two-level overcall.  This looks like it should be our hand, but the opponents have bid up to the 4-level.  No doubt they have 10 Hearts between them.  As for our side, we may have as few as 7 Spades.  The bid here is Double, showing values and uncertainty about how to proceed.  Partner should not necessarily expect trump tricks from us, nor would we usually have as many as 3 Spades.  It’s very much an “optional” Double.

 

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