Bidding Quiz                                           16th January, 2008

 

                                                    Board 3      Dealer South       E-W Vul

 

 

West has 15 HCP’s, a 6-card suit and a singleton and that would normally be plenty to make a game try in this situation.  But not here!  This hand has defects:

-         That singleton K♣ is not necessarily useless but it would be more gainfully employed in a longer suit.

-         Qxx in a side-suit is another unpromising holding and this hand has two such side-suits.  Those Queens would be more appetizing if accompanied by other honor cards, even just a Ten would be helpful.

 

Think how much better this hand would be if, keeping the same shape and honor cards, we changed it to:

            ♠ KQ8

            ♥ AJ6543

            ♦ KQ6

            ♣ 2

Here there are no dangling Queens, no singleton King, the honors are working together, this hand is easily worth a game try.  In fact, some would say that it’s worth bidding game directly with these cards.  Quite a difference!

 

The sad footnote to this hand is that the 4♥ contract is a fortunate make, thanks to a 2-2 trump break and a Spade finesse.  How unfair!

 

                                                    Board 5      Dealer North       N-S Vul

 

 

 What are the choices here?

-         2♦?  The problem with this is that the Heart suit may be lost

-         Dbl?  Here the problem is the doubleton Club.

 

Usually, when we make a Takeout Double and then bid a new suit we are showing a really good hand, one that is too good to make a simple overcall.  West has 17 HCP’s, but we don’t think that it is too good for an overcall, all the more so as that Q♠ is likely to be quite worthless.  Our suggestion is to make 18 HCP’s as the upper range of your overcalls, though, as always, distributional considerations will result in exceptions.

 

Do you and your Partner play Equal Level Conversion?  Here is an extract from the System Library, introducing this concept:

 

“There is a situation where we can double and then bid a new suit without showing a strong hand.  It’s a conventional agreement, known as Equal Level Conversion (ELC), here are the two auctions in question:

 

            1♥        Dbl       Pass    2♣                              1♠        Dbl       Pass    2♣

            Pass     2♦                                                       Pass     2♦

 

Playing ELC, that 2♦ bid does not show a strong one-suited hand, as per the earlier examples … instead it shows opening values, shortness in Clubs (less than 3), 4 cards in the unbid major, and typically a 5-card Diamond suit.  So, in the second auction, perhaps:  ♠ 76, ♥ AQ42, ♦ KQJ76, ♣ 93”

 

Those are the two common cases, but there’s no reason not to extend the idea to the auction in the problem.  So, we’d double 1NT, and if Partner were to bid 2♣ we’d convert to 2♦, not to show extras but typically showing 4 Hearts and 5 Diamonds.  Follow the link for more on this subject.

 

 

                                                    Board 6      Dealer East       E-W Vul

 

 

Clearly this hand is worth a Diamond raise, bit which one?

-         2♦?  No, that would be altogether too feeble, don’t you think?  Well, if you bid 2♦ planning to compete to 3♦ later then perhaps it’s only semi-feeble.

-         3♦?  As generally played, this would be preemptive, but we really hate to preempt with an outside Ace.  And, anyway, the hand is just too strong, don’t you think?

-         2♠?  Yes, that’s the ticket!  Let’s upgrade this lovely 7-count to a limit raise!  5-card support, an Ace, a singleton, 5-5 distribution.  Looks like enough to us.

 

 

                                                    Board 8      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

This is not an opening bid by normal standards and it’s unlikely that this hand opposite a passed hand can compete effectively for the part-score.  But if we end up defending, wouldn’t it be nice if Partner found a Club lead?  So, of course, we would open this miserable collection 1♣ for that very purpose.

 

Our recommended bids do not always work out on the actual deal (see Board 3, for example), but we are delighted to report that 1♣ is indeed the winner on this particular deal, a Club is the only lead that gives the defense a shot a beating 4♥.

 

 

Board 9                                            Board 22

 

♠ J2                                                                 ♠ K754

♥ QJT86                                                         ♥ KJ842

♦ 964                                                               ♦ T7

♣ AT2                                                             ♣ 82

 

South   West    North   East                             North   East     South   West

                        1♥        Dbl                                          1♦        1♠        Dbl

??                                                                    ??

 

Both of these hands are what we would consider to be “constructive raises”, which is to say somewhere between a preemptive raise and a game-invitational raise.  Those who play Bergen Raises are familiar with constructive raises in an uncontested auction, and, in the last Wednesday Game (2^nd January, Board 24), we discussed how the idea may be extended to certain contested auctions.  The general idea is that, when Partner has opened or overcalled one of a major, then jumps to 3♣ or 3♦ are constructive raises with 4-card support, as in:

 

            Them   Us        Them   Us

            Pass    1♠        Dbl      3♣/3♦

 

                        1♥        1♠        3♣/3♦

 

            1♥        1♠        Pass    3♣/3♦

 

                        1♥        2♣       3♦

 

In all auctions (as well as those from Boards 9 and 22), jumps to 3♣ and 3♦ can be used to show a 4-card constructive raise, one method being:

            Jump to 3♣ is a constructive raise with a singleton somewhere

            Jump to 3♦ is a constructive raise with no singleton

            In the last case, 3♣ is not a jump, so 3♦ does double duty (with or without singleton).

 

 

                                                    Board 9      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

South’s 2NT was Jordan (aka Truscott), showing at least game-invitational values, and, as it is most commonly played, 4-card support for Opener’s suit.  If West had passed 2NT, we would bid 3♥ with that North hand, declining the game invitation with our minimum values.

 

However, after that 3♦ bid by West, we have the option of passing.  How does your partnership distinguish between Pass and 3♥ in this situation?  Our suggestion is:

-         3♥ is the weakest bid available.  Partner’s 2NT was forcing to 3♥, so we’d consider bidding 3♥ directly to be an extension of the Principle of Fast Arrival, therefore showing weakness.

-         Pass here is more encouraging, at least better than a complete minimum.

 

Not everybody plays these bids the same way, so the important thing is that you and Partner play the same way.

 

                                                    Board 10      Dealer East       Both Vul

 

 

Clearly, North has enough for game here.  Does that mean that she should just up and bid 4♥?  Many would, but we’d suggest that 4♥ is better used as a preemptive bid, and that all “real” 4♥ bids should go via a cue-bid of 3♠.  The idea of this is not to make a slam try (though the hand would certainly cooperate if Partner made a try) but to convey the message: “I have a high-card raise to 4♥, this is our hand, a Forcing Pass situation has been created, and if the opponents are to play the hand they must play it doubled”.

 

 

                                                    Board 10      Dealer East       Both Vul

 

 

North’s 3♠ created a Forcing Pass situation, so after the opposing 4♠ bid, the three obvious options are:

-         5♥:  Bidding 5♥ (or 5♣ or 5♦) shows a strong preference for playing the hand.  Such a bid is more likely to be based on extra distribution than on extra HCP’s.

-         Dbl:  This suggests a hand that prefers to defend, and that bid is as likely to be made on poor offensive values as it is to be made on strong defensive values.

-         Pass:  The beauty of the Forcing Pass situation is that South can pass here, safe in the knowledge that Partner will bid again.  The Pass says “I’m undecided, I’m not sure whether we should declare or defend, you choose”

 

Those are the options, what is your choice?  We would say that this hand should be leaning strongly towards defending … no extra trump, the singleton is a King, control of the trump suit (increasing the chances of getting a defensive ruff or two).  So, we would double.  Partner will not be bound to pass that Double, but she’ll know our preference and only pull it with a good reason.

 

 

                                                    Board 11      Dealer South       None Vul

 

 

South has a difficult rebid to make, being too good for 1NT and not good enough for a 2♥ reverse.  2♦ is a possibility but that usually shows a 6-card suit or at least 5 good ones, so we rather like the actual choice of 2♣, something of a fudge but the most flexible option.

 

 

                                                    Board 13      Dealer North       Both Vul

 

 

This one is not so much a problem, more of a refresher course in Support Doubles.  Generally speaking, when Opener makes his rebid in the face of competition on his right, a Double (or Redouble) shows 3-card support for Responder’s suit, and a raise of Responder’s suit shows 4-card support.  Well, at least that is the method for those pairs that are playing Support Doubles.

 

However, are you quite sure that your partnership is on solid ground when RHO (in this case South) bids 1NT naturally?  There are two common approaches here:

-         Double shows extra values, and says nothing about Hearts (unless the 1NT was not natural, perhaps a Sandwich No Trump or some similar bid)

-         Double shows 3-card support for Partner.

 

We like to play that the Double still shows support.  We are not suggesting that this is theoretically superior, merely consistent and easier to remember.  And that’s never a bad thing.

 

 

                                                    Board 16      Dealer West       E-W Vul

 

 

Let’s face it, East has no suitable natural bid available.  He wants to play in game, of course, but needs Partner’s cooperation to help him find the right game.  3NT or 4♥ or 5♦ will be the final contract, and the best way to investigate the best spot is by bidding 3♣.  We suggest that you play this as another New Minor situation, giving Partner a chance to show 3-card Heart support.  If he cannot do that then he will bid 3NT if he can.  Failing that, the poor scoring 5♦ will be the contract of last resort.

 

 

                                                    Board 21      Dealer North       N-S Vul

 

 

East’s 2NT was a super-accept showing, in your partnership’s methods, 4-card Heart support and a good hand.

 

Is the West hand worth a slam try?  Oh, yes!  Is it good enough to insist on slam?  Not quite!  For starters, E-W could be missing two Aces, or perhaps East has a most unsuitable Diamond holding (imagine a hand with loads of Diamond values and no K♠, for example). 

 

This is a difficult hand, we offer alternative suggestions:

-         Splinter to 4♦, inviting Partner to evaluate his hand in the light of your singleton Diamond.  It turns out that Partner has ♦ AKxx, which is a lot of wastage opposite shortness, and is likely to settle in 4♥.

-         Bid 3♦ (which in this sequence is a re-transfer to Hearts), then cue-bid 4♣, trying to get Partner’s cooperation in your slam venture.

 

It turns out that the slam requires a little luck, E-W are missing AJxx in trumps, and the chances of playing that for one loser are 59%.  So, it’s a slam you should not be ashamed to bid, nor to miss, the secret here is to be lucky rather than good.

 

 

Board 22

For commentary on North’s hand, please see Board 9.

 

 

                                                    Board 24      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

Partner clearly has some values for her 2♣ bid and game is a definite possibility here.  How to proceed?

-         3♥?  Our Heart suit is hardly worth rebidding, it may be a 6-card suit, but it’s a rather mangy one.  And, anyway, that bid would suggest a weaker hand, Partner will hardly place us with all those outside values, so let’s scratch this one off the list as just plain misdescriptive.

-         3♦?  This is just a plain overbid.  It’s hard to see how the bidding can now stop short of game, and our hand is just not good enough to insist on that.

-         3♣?  We have Professor Oddbid to thank for this suggestion.  Like many of his bids it looked peculiar at first sight, but the more we thought about it the more we liked it!  3♣ gives Partner an out, but may encourage her to bid 3NT with a Spade stopper.  And it’s also a bid that can be passed, so if Partner decides to bid 3♥, we’ll know that it is being bid constructively rather than under stress.  Yes, thank you, Professor, we like your 3♣ bid!

 

 

                                                    Board 24      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

West has opened the bidding, whereas East has a mere 4-count.  Nonetheless, at this point in the proceedings, East is very much in charge.  West has limited his hand and can snooze through the rest of the auction.  East, as the snoozer’s Partner must make all future bidding decisions, and surely he should apply maximum pressure by bidding 4♠.  This is not being bid to make, of course, but to jam the auction, no doubt the opponents have a making game in Hearts or Clubs.

 

This hand is a good commercial for Support Doubles.  Playing that esteemed convention, West’s 2♠ bid shows 4-card support (a Double would show 3-card support).  This tells East that there is a 10-card fit, making the 4♠ bid that much easier.

 

                                                    Board 25      Dealer North       E-W Vul

 

 

We have no aversion to opening 1NT with a 5-card major, and doing so often solves a rebid problem.  But it’s not our choice here, we would open 1♥ with this hand.  If Partner now bids a Forcing 1NT, we’ll rebid 2♣, and if his second bid is 2♥ we’ll make one more call with 2NT, showing a hand which is at the top end of the 1NT opening range.

 

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