Bidding Quiz                                         10th October, 2007

 

                                   Click here for print-formatted version of the Bidding Quiz

 

                                                    Board 5      Dealer North       N-S Vul

 

 

We have a good hand for a Strong Jump Shift, but let’s assume that this is not part of the partnership methods.  3♣ was game-forcing and (the way that many pairs play this) artificial, not necessarily with Clubs, being analogous to the New Minor Forcing convention after a 1NT rebid by Opener.  Presumably, East does not have 3-card Heart support when he bids 3♦.  Nonetheless, we bid 3♥ (forcing, of course) and finally Partner supports our suit.

 

What next?  Slam is still on the horizon, of course, but we can hardly use Roman Key Card here holding two losers in the unbid suit.  We could cue-bid 5♣, but surely the straightforward bid here is 5♥.  What does this show?  With one suit conspicuously unbid, and with a 4♠ cue-bid available if we wanted to show a Spade control of our own, what can this bid mean other than “Do you have a Spade control?”

 

How does Partner respond to this 5♥ bid?

-         Pass obvious denies a Spade control

-         It makes sense that 5♠ would show the Ace (in case Partner can bid the grand slam)

-         It further makes sense that, if Partner has the Kx of Spades, he would bid 5NT, right-siding the contract if 6NT is playable.

-         Therefore, it’s logical that 6♥ should show a singleton or the KQ♠.

 

We wouldn’t classify these responses as conventional, merely practical logic.

 

 

                                                    Board 6      Dealer East       E-W Vul

 

 

It’s true that this hand is most No Trumpish, but we would not bid 1NT here.  The problem with that is that, if Partner rebids 2♣ or 2♥, we’ll have to bid 2♠.  Now Partner will place us with reluctant doubleton Spade support.  Much better to raise to 2♠ immediately, showing real Spade support and some decent values.

 

 

                                                    Board 7      Dealer South       Both Vul

 

 

Normally, a 1NT rebid by opener shows 12-14 HCP’s (assuming a 15-17 range for the 1NT opening), but here Partner is silent, so 1NT shows 18-19, in other words a hand that was originally planning to make a jump rebid of 2NT opposite a bidding Partner.

 

 

                                                    Board 10      Dealer East       Both Vul

 

 

Do you slavishly follow the Rule of Twenty?  It’s a good guideline, but let’s not forget to use some judgment.  Yes, the 5 Spades plus 4 Hearts plus 11 HCP’s add up to 20, but look at all the defects.  7 of the HCP’s are in Queens and Jacks, and even worse there is the doubleton QJ and doubleton Jx.  Lots of potential wastage in this hand, so we pass.

 

OK, suppose now that LHO bids 2♦ and RHO raises to 3♦.  Now what?  At this point we might be wishing that we had opened the bidding!  But we didn’t, so our suggestion is to double now.  This bid may not work out, we hasten to add.  But it does seem feeble not to pre-balance here with decent values and both majors.

 

 

                                                    Board 10      Dealer East       Both Vul

 

 

Here’s a tricky problem!  Partner is a passed hand and yet has pre-balanced with a vulnerable Double.  It’s reasonable to place her with decent major suit holdings, but she could easily be 4-3-1-5 or 3-4-1-5, or 5-4-2-2, so getting to the best fit is purely a guess.  As we cannot find our best fit with any certainty, how about passing?  Yes, the opponents are vulnerable so +200 will be a fine result.  Of course, -670 is also possible, but we do have good defensive values, with three likely tricks in our own hand.

 

On the actual board, Pass is the winner, 3♦ is down one.  Partner was 5-4-2-2, so guessing to bid 3♥ gets N-S to the wrong major for down one.

 

                                                    Board 11      Dealer South       None Vul

 

 

North has the right hand-type for a No Trump bid, but should that bid be 1NT (6-10) or 2NT (11-12)?  We think that North’s 10-count is very close to a 2NT bid, it has all those lovely fillers and a couple of Aces.  On the downside, the shape is square and there is only one sure stopper in the enemy suit.  But, change one of those low Spades to the Ten and we’d bid 2NT in a heartbeat.

 

 

                                                    Board 13      Dealer North       Both Vul

 

 

Every three months or so the Wednesday Game does some lobbying for a sensible method of Super-Accepts opposite a Jacoby Transfer.  It’s that time again.  South’s Double was a DONT Double showing a one-suiter somewhere.  In these circumstances N-S were playing “systems on”, so 2♥ was a transfer, putting us, with our 4-card Spade support, in a potential Super-Accept situation.

 

So, what exactly is a “sensible method” for Super-Accepts?  We’d say that the two main criteria are:

-         Let’s not Super-Accept with a rotten square hand, why go to the 3-level unnecessarily?

-         If we do Super-Accept, let’s not offer the opponents gratuitous information (for example, some Super-Accepters show their doubleton, which normally helps Partner not at all but which is highly useful information for the defenders).

 

So, we suggest that 3♠ here is a non-minimum Super-Accept, and 2NT here is a good Super-Accept.  For more on this please follow this link.

 

 

Board 14

Here we show both hands and review an interesting slam auction.

            North               South

            ♠ AQJ             ♠ 2

            ♥ K5                ♥ Q42

            ♦ K9                ♦ AJ752

            ♣ KJ6543       ♣ AT97

 

            North               South

                                    1♦

            2♣                   3♠

            4♣                   4♠

            6♣                   Pass

 

Let’s start by saying that 2♣ was game-forcing.  With that in mind, what do you think about that 3♠ Splinter by South?  Our own opinion is that it’s just fine, we don’t play that this bid shows extras, it’s merely a descriptive bid, with at least 4 Clubs.

 

Opposite that Splinter, we’d say that North has a suitable hand for Roman Key Card, so the question becomes “How does your partnership invoke Roman Key Card when a minor suit has been agreed?”  Using 4NT may work fine when a major suit is agreed, but when a minor is involved the auction gets awfully crowded.  For this reason, some partnerships create rules whereby 4 of the agreed minor is Roman Key Card (aka Minorwood).  Here’s a basic set of rules that works fine:

-         The auction is already game-forcing

-         The minor suit has already been agreed

-         Another suit has not been agreed

Sure, we could make it more complicated, for more on this please follow the link.

 

After the 4♣ Minorwood bid, South’s 4♠ shows 2 Key Cards without the Q♣.  The missing Q♣ is not a worry, we have a 10-card fit, at least if we can trust Partner to have 4-card support for that 3♠ Splinter.  So, 6♣ it is!

 

                                                    Board 15      Dealer South       N-S Vul

 

 

Would you double?  Or would you overcall 2♦?  Pretty close we would say.  Our own choice would be 2♦, but with the same 2-3-5-3 shape and a different high card structure (let’s say better Clubs, worse Diamonds) we would not hesitate to double.  Sure, we prefer to have 4 cards in the unbid major, but that is not always what we are dealt.

 

                                                    Board 19      Dealer South       E-W Vul

 

 

The Law of Total Tricks brigade won’t approve, but we would open 1♥ here, even in the context of a 5-card major system.  Yes, we are bidding for the lead when we do this, and taking the small risk that Partner may over-compete by playing us for a 5-card suit.

 

 

                                                    Board 23      Dealer South       Both Vul

 

 

It’s vaguely conceivable that there might be a slam, but rather unlikely, we think.  Do you play Texas Transfers?  If so, then 4♥ would be our bid.  On the actual deal, there are two Diamond losers, so 4♠ is high enough.  And, if the Diamonds are not cashed immediately, then one of the Diamond losers will go away and 12 tricks will be made.

 

Consider this hand to be a triumph for Texas Transfers.  If North had tried a 2♥ Jacoby Transfer instead (perhaps planning an optimistic slam try, or perhaps not having Texas available), then West will throw in a 3♦ bid, and that will be the end of any chance of Declarer making 12 tricks.  When you know where you belong, it pays to get there quickly!

 

                                                    Board 25      Dealer North       E-W Vul

 

 

It might be easy for South to snooze through this auction with such a nondescript hand, but that would not be a good idea.  Sure, there was no good reason to make a light 3^rd seat opening, there’s no suit worth bidding.  But, when the bidding comes back to us, surely this hand is worth a Takeout Double.  We have both the majors covered, tolerance for Clubs, and a maximum Pass, who could ask for more?  Sure, our high-card structure is rather poor (all our points in short suits), but it’s worth a Double nonetheless.

 

 

                                                    Board 28      Dealer West       N-S Vul

 

 

Yes, indeed, Partner is up the creek without a paddle, our hand may produce precisely zero tricks, and, moreover, it appears that East has two or three trump tricks.  Do you pass and, then, as you are putting down your pathetic Dummy, say “Good luck Partner, you’ll probably need it”?  No, of course not, you must rescue Partner.  You could bid 2♥, that might work, but we think that the more flexible escape would be an SOS Redouble, showing something in both majors and a severe distaste for Partner’s Diamond contract.

 

The bottom line?  2♣ doubled is -500 or -800.  2♥ is +140.

 

 

                                                    Board 30      Dealer East       None Vul

 

 

This 6-4 10-count passes the Rule of Twenty, but in third seat we prefer to preempt, the hand is very much about Diamonds and is not even come close to having the defense that we would expect from an opening bid.  Are we therefore suggesting a 2♦ preempt?  No, that’s just not enough, that Diamond suit demands a 3♦ preempt.

 

                                                    Board 30      Dealer East       None Vul

 

 

Let’s back up and pose the question “What would you choose to bid if East had bid only 4♦?”  We’d say that 4♥ is called for, hopefully Partner will realize that we are under pressure and will not get too carried away.

 

But, that’s not what actually happened, that pesky East bid 5♦.  Now, 5♥ would be altogether too much, so we’d simply Double, showing at least a smattering of values.

 

 

                                                    Board 30      Dealer East       None Vul

 

 

There’s a lot to be said for passing here, surely this contract is going down for more than the value of our game.  Indeed it is, 5♦ doubled is going down for 800.  But, we wouldn’t be able to resist bidding a slam, in which case we simply have to find the best way of finding the right slam.  As we are not sure which slam might be best, we would elicit Partner’s opinion with a 5NT bid.  This could be based on a three-suiter or a two-suiter.

 

OK, let’s move over to the South hand.  She happens to be 2-5-2-4.  What should she do?  The answer is that she should bid 6♣.  It would be a big mistake for Partner to bid 6♥ and then discover that our hand is, say, 5-2-0-6.  No, over 5NT, Partner, with that 2-5-2-4 hand, should bid 6♣, maximizing the chances of getting to the best slam.  As it happens, this gets the partnership to the lower-scoring slam, but that’s what sometimes happens in the face of vigorous enemy preempting.

 

 

                                                    Board 31      Dealer South       N-S Vul

 

 

 Yes, we’d bid 3♥.  We’ve got good trumps (makes it harder for them to double), and we are not vulnerable.  3♥ buys the contract, it’s unlikely to get doubled, it will be down one or two, for a good result.

 

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