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Bidding Quiz 13th June, 2007
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Board 1 Dealer North None Vul
South’s Double was a Support Double, showing 3-card support for North’s Hearts. Now what?
We have a 9-count opposite an opening bid (albeit a third-seat one), and we hardly want to pass here. We have but a 7-card Heart fit and there is no reason to think that Partner has 5 Clubs, although she might. This hand looks rather No Trumpish to us. We have Diamonds stopped, scattered values, and a 1NT bid here would describe our values perfectly.
Oh, you noticed one small defect, we don’t have a Spade stop. True, but in the absence of a Weak Two by East, and with no Spade raise by West, it seems likely that Partner has something in the suit. And even if she doesn’t, and if the opponents run 5 Spades against 1NT, we’re not down yet, and the opponents will doubtless be wondering why they are not declaring 2♠.
Board 3 Dealer South E-W Vul
Suppose that you deem the North hand to be invitational in strength. How do you show that 5-4 shape in an invitational setting? The most commonly used method is to bid Stayman … if Partner shows a major, we’ll raise … if Partner bids 2♦, we’ll bid 2♠ showing 5 Spades, 4 Hearts, and invitational values, leaving it up to Partner to place the contract.
But, is this hand really just invitational? We don’t care much for the absence of Aces and Tens, and the proliferation of Queens, but, even so, a 9-count and a 5-card suit, and a singleton all adds up to a game-forcing hand in our opinion. So, the next question is how do we show game-forcing values with 5-4? The natural approach is to bid 2♣ and then, if Partner bids 2♦, to bid 3♠, offering Partner a choice of games. Another approach is Smolen where, instead of bidding 3♠, we bid 3♥ (the four-card major), allowing the strong hand to become Declarer is 4♠ is the final contract.
While we are on the subject we might as well cover the case where Responder has 4 Spades and 5 Hearts. If she is game-forcing, the same approach as above applies. How about invitational hands? Here are two approaches, take your pick: - Either, the same as above, so 1NT 2♣, 2♦ 2♥ shows 4-5 in the majors (and invitational) - Or, use 1NT 2♣, 2♦ 2♥ as “Garbage Stayman” showing a weak hand with both majors, and use 1NT 2♦, 2♥ 2♠ for the invitational 4-5 hands.
Board 5 Dealer North N-S Vul
That North hand is out-of-range for a Weak Two in most partnerships, but even if it were not it would still be an awful preempt at unfavorable vulnerability, altogether too awful to contemplate seriously. And when the bidding comes back to North? Absolutely right, pass again!
Board 11 Dealer South None Vul
3♦ was a Weak Jump Shift. What next? One possibility is simply to bid 4♥, that is likely to be the final contract anyway, why not just bid it right away? Well, the problem with that is that takes Partner out of the auction, he’ll have no idea whether we have extreme distribution, or a big hand, or just a very long suit, and, as a result, he cannot be counted on to make a useful contribution to the subsequent proceedings. Surely it’s better to double first, then to bid 4♥, showing a really strong hand, one that was too good for 4♥ directly. This sequence also creates a Forcing Pass situation if the opponents should venture to the 5-level.
Board 12 Dealer West N-S Vul
2♣ was Fourth Suit Forcing (to game). What would your bid be here with the West hand? Nothing is quite perfect, here are the options: - 3NT: This usually shows 15-17, and should be reserved for ideal hands. “Ideal” here means poor slam values, presumably shortness in Hearts (no 1NT opening bid), and two stoppers in the 4th suit. But, this hand has good slam values (especially if Partner has Spade or Diamond support), and the Club holding is not the best for No Trump. - 2NT: Generally shows 12-14 and a Club stopper. Not a bad choice. True we have a bit extra, but at least we keep the auction low and give Partner the chance to make a descriptive bid at the 3-level. - 3♣: Natural, showing 4-1-4-4 or 4-0-5-4 shape, perhaps even 4-1-5-3. The downside here is that the strength of the hand remains a complete mystery, Partner might be in an awkward position if he too has extras.
To be honest, we are not crazy about any of the above, we’ll leave it to you to make your own choice. Having done that, let’s look at things from the East perspective:
♠ A74 ♥ AKJT ♦ Q54 ♣ KT8
West East 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ 2♣ 2NT ?? Opposite a 12-14 hand, with no apparent fit, our square 17 does not look like enough for slam, so we simply sign off in 3NT.
West East 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ 2♣ 3NT ?? Opposite a 15-17 hand, it’s a close call between 4NT and 6NT, we suppose we’d try the latter.
West East 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ 2♣ 3♣ ?? This is the really difficult case, at least it is without good partnership agreements. The problems here are that Partner’s strength is completely unknown and that we have substantial extras. We would like to bid 4NT, but only if Partner can be relied upon to treat this as natural. If not, then we confess that we have no satisfactory suggestion, we’d probably try 3♦, hoping that this does not further add to the confusion.
Board 13 Dealer North Both Vul
Pass is certainly an option considering the vulnerability, but if we were feeling more adventurous we might make the bid which says “I don’t have much of a hand but I would like to compete to 3♣, please don’t place me with more than a smattering of points”. Does such a bid exist? Well, it does for those pairs who play Good-Bad 2NT in this situation. If that is the case then 3♣ directly says “I have a real 3♣ bid with invitational values” and 2NT is a Lebensohl-style relay to 3♣, after which East passes to signify the lesser hand with Clubs.
Board 16 Dealer West E-W Vul
Bergen players will recognize the North hand as a “constructive raise”, something that is too good for a preempt and not good enough to invite game. However, this is not a Bergen situation so for most players the solution is to raise to 2♥, being prepared to compete further to 3♥ if necessary.
The above approach has the defect of making it too easy for the opponents to compete, which is why some pairs have incorporated Bergenesque constructive raises opposite major suit overcalls. Here’s how one schema works: - If Partner overcalls 1♥ or 1♠ and if RHO’s call leaves available a jump to 3♣, then 3♣ is a constructive raise with a singleton somewhere and 3♦ is a constructive raise without a singleton. Both bids guarantee 4 trumps. - In this situation, the jump to 3 of the major and the cue-bid retain their usual meaning (preemptive and limit, respectively) - If 3♣ and 3♦ are not jumps, this treatment no longer applies - If, after Partner 1♥ or 1♠ overcall, the opponents bid 2♣, the only jump is to 3♦ so this shows a constructive raise with or without a singleton.
Something to think about. If the above treatment is in effect, then North has a 3♦ call, showing 4 Hearts, no singleton, constructive values. Otherwise, it’s 2♥, then 3♥ if necessary. Of course, when we have a 9-card fit it’s almost always necessary to go to the 3-level, except against the most accommodating of opponents. And, if we have to go there, how much better to go there quickly!
Board 16 Dealer West E-W Vul
We like a 4♥ bid here. We’d be most pleasantly surprised if this contract actually made (in real life it did!) but we don’t have much defense against Diamonds so why not apply maximum pressure right away? We have a lot of latitude and safety in this situation … Partner has limited her hand, we are White versus Red with a good fit, we have shortness in their suit, the opponents have yet to agree a suit.
Is there a downside to bidding 4♥ here? Sure, they may double us and get us down two on what is just a part-score hand. This may well happen, but not very often.
Board 16 Dealer West E-W Vul
If you have a strong suspicion that South is jerking you around then you are probably right. You have 16 HCP’s and Partner made a Negative Double, your side clearly has the balance of power. But can you make 5♦? Or beat 4♥? Let’s face it, you have absolutely no idea, do you? Neither do we, and we present this auction merely as proof positive that White vs Red opponents who bid a lot make our life most difficult. It’s better to be the pigeon than the statue in these situations.
For the record, we would guess to double here. On the actual hand they will make 10 tricks, and we’ll get a statuesque -590.
Board 17 Dealer North None Vul
Our original plan was to bid a Forcing No Trump, and then 3♥, showing a 3-card limit raise. But our hand has gotten better! We think that the singleton Spade makes our hand worth a 4♥ bid now. Maybe it will make, maybe it won’t.
Board 18 Dealer East N-S Vul
East has almost the purest preempt imaginable: - The suit is good, if we also had the Ten it would be perfect. - East does not have the A♥ … the absence of the Ace reduces East’s defense, and that’s good when we preempt. - Nothing outside the trump suit - Some distribution, namely that singleton.
Who would not want to bid 3♥ with this hand? Well, actually, we wouldn’t! No, at favorable vulnerability, this is a 4♥ bid! 3♥ would be criminally pusillanimous.
Board 18 Dealer East N-S Vul
We bid 4♠. It won’t always make, and it may be a disaster, but we’ve gone -1100 before and know that the pain subsides eventually. Bidding 4♠ over 4♥ often seems to work out rather well, and a 6-card suit with opening values seems like a good enough excuse for us to test that theory.
Board 21 Dealer North N-S Vul
Partner has overcalled 1NT, showing 15-17 or 15-18, take your pick. We have 8 HCP’s and we are generally led to believe that a decent 8 up to a decent 9 is invitational strength. So, is this 8-count an invitational hand? No, of course not, this 8-count is good enough to go to game directly. Let’s look at the plusses of this scrumptious 8-count: - We have two Aces (and we all know that Aces are undervalued in the 4-3-2-1 scheme of things). - We have three Tens, no less, which add up to zero HCP’s for a whole bunch of playing strength. In fact, on the actual layout, all three of those Tens contribute to the play of the hand and yet they are not even a blip on the HCP radar. - We have a 6-card suit!
Some 8-counts are not worthy of even an invitation, but this one is worthy of a direct jump to game.
Board 23 Dealer South Both Vul
North’s 2♦ bid was the so-called “waiting” response. It did not necessarily show a bad hand, simply one which did not meet the requirements for a positive response, those requirements typically being some combination of “good suit and good hand”. Some pairs play that a “good suit” is 5+ with two of the top three honors, and that a good hand is one with at least an Ace and a King. That’s a pretty rigid set of requirements, we think, but there is a lot to be said for making that cheap waiting bid unless we have a really good reason to do otherwise, and a robust suit is the best reason of all.
Anyway, let’s say that we bid our waiting 2♦ and Partner now bids 2♥. No great surprise there! What next? If we are playing 2♦ as “waiting”, then it’s common that the “cheaper minor”, in this case 3♣, is used artificially to show a weak hand, with weak typically being defined as less than a King or less than two Queens. Rats! We still cannot show our Club suit, our hand is way too good.
This auction is not going well! In the circumstances, all that we can suggest is a rebid of 2NT, and we would further suggest that this shows a hand which is too good for 3♣ but which has no other convenient bid. Life would be intolerable if we had to have all of the unbid suits stopped, if that were the case then the bid would come up less than once a year.
So, 2NT it is! And, as we make this bid, perhaps we will also make a mental note to discuss with Partner whether or not we should be allowed to make a positive response of 3♣ over 2♣ with this hand. That would be our preference, we’re probably in a minority on this one.
Board 23 Dealer South Both Vul
What’s happened so far? Partner made a 2♦ waiting bid, and her 2NT rebid was also somewhat nebulous, it showed some values by dint of the failure to make a “second negative bid of 3♣”. Stoppers in all of the unbid suits? No, we don’t think so. North’s 3♠ bid can hardly be natural, she merely has a good hand and something in Spades. It’s not even clear at this point that she has Heart support, she may just be too good to sign off in 3NT. Our 4♣, and Partner’s 5♣, were both cue-bids, and now it’s crunch time.
It’s fair to assume that Partner has the A♠ and the K♣, so assuming that the Hearts are running we can count 11 tricks. Yes, surely there’s a 12th somewhere and the question is not whether to bid slam, but which slam to bid. No doubt we are missing the K♦ and it’s too bad that we cannot play 6NT from our side. As that is not an option, we’d suggest playing in 6♥, reluctantly settling for the lower scoring contract in order to right-side the contract.
Board 28 Dealer West N-S Vul
Do you play Responsive Doubles? And, if so, when are they on and how high do you use them. The answer to “How high?” is commonly 4♦. And the answer to “When?” is that it applies whenever they open and raise, and when Partner has overcalled or doubled.
Here, they have indeed bid and raised, and, in this case, Partner has overcalled. So the Double is Responsive and is our choice with the West hand. Oh, yes, one small detail, what exactly does that Responsive Double show? Some values, of course, but, at this low level, no more than 6 or 7 points are required. And the unbid suits, it’s very much a Takeout Double.
Board 32 Dealer West E-W Vul
Let’s assume that we feel constrained to launch into Roman Key Card here. Not ideal, perhaps, with two small Hearts, but standard methods after a 1NT opening make it difficult to set Spades as trumps and then start cue-bidding. So Roman Key Card it is, what are our options? - 1NT 2♣, 2♥ 2♠, 4NT is not one of our options, this says “I have 5 Spades and am inviting slam in Spades or No Trump”. It’s not Roman Key Card in other words. - How about 1NT 2♣, 4♥ 4♠, 4NT? Yes, Texas followed by 4NT is Roman Key Card. - A cheaper alternative to “Texas then 4NT” is 1NT 2♥, 2♠ 4♣. Some play this as a Splinter, an alternative is to play it as Roman Key Card. We like this treatment, it keeps things low, and may keep us from getting to the 5-level when we don’t belong in slam.
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