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Bidding Quiz 20th February, 2008
Board 5 Dealer North N-S Vul
Suppose that South had passed instead of bidding 1♥. What would be your choice of opening bid after those three hypothetical Passes. We know that we would open 1NT as a matter of practical necessity. If we were to open 1♣, Partner would likely bid 1♠, and now we would be stuck for a rebid. The hand’s not good enough for a reverse to 2♥, nor is that Club suit appropriate for a 2♣ or 3♣ rebid. So, opening 1NT seems the least of evils to us. After South’s actual opening bid of 1♥, we would say that a 1NT bid was even more appropriate, given that highly suitable Heart holding. Sure, we’ll end up playing in the occasional 5-1 Spade fit but that’s not exactly the end of the world.
Board 5 Dealer North N-S Vul
In part-score battles, when deciding whether or not to compete further, it’s usually a 9th trump or extra distribution which persuades us to go to the 3-level. As far as South can tell here, her side has only 8 trumps, but she does have that nice singleton in the enemy suit. Does that make the hand worth a 3♥ bid? Considering the vulnerability we would categorize 3♥ here as highly risky. The strong hand is on our left so both of the Kings may be badly placed and we have miserable trump quality. We think that bidding 3♥ is just asking for trouble, and trouble is what it gets on the actual hand when West doubles and the opponents extract a 500 penalty.
Board 8 Dealer West None Vul
Here’s a familiar problem. Without that pesky 2♠ preempt West would have had a simple 2♥ bid, showing support and minimum values. But 2♥ is no longer an option and if we bid 3♥ Partner might place us with some extras, whereas if we pass we’ll be withholding our support. Without any gadgets available, we’d bid 3♥ and hope for the best, but there actually is a gadget available to solve the problem, we’ve encountered it on The Wednesday Game a few times, it’s called the Good-Bad 2NT (it’s actually a variation of the Lebensohl convention). Consider these two auctions: West North East South West North East South 1♣ Pass 1♥ 2♠ 1♣ Pass 1♥ 2♠ 3♥ 2NT Pass 3♣ Pass 3♥ In the left-hand auction, West is showing a good raise, a hand that would have jumped to 3♥ if South had been silent. In the right-hand auction, West’s 2NT was a relay to 3♣, saying “I want to compete to the 3-level (not necessarily in Hearts)”. After East obediently bids 3♣, West makes his intentions clear with 3♥. Playing this convention, should West be bidding 3♥ directly or via 2NT? We’d go the 2NT route, showing the weaker hand, this 14-count is not quite good enough for a direct 3♥.
Board 8 Dealer West None Vul
West’s 2NT was a gadget (called Good-Bad 2NT) which said “I don’t have extras but I want to compete at the 3-level, please bid 3♣ so that I can clarify my intentions”. No doubt Partner has a 6-card Club suit or 4-card Heart support, at this point we have no idea which, but we certainly won’t be following instructions and bidding 3♣, our hand is too good (we cannot risk a Pass by Partner). That becomes moot when North bids 4♠. Now what? Clearly, with our 6-5 distribution and powerful hand we are bidding again, and the choice is between 5♦ and 5♥. We like to offer Partner a choice when we can and that suggests a 5♦ bid. On the other hand, our Hearts are so much better, and there’s the danger that, if we do offer Partner a choice, he’ll guess wrong. For example, suppose his distribution is 2=2=3=6 … in this case we’d prefer to be in the higher-scoring Heart suit (all the more so as the Diamonds are so weak), but Partner may see things differently. Our own guess, as East, would be to bid 5♥ but we freely admit that it won’t always work out.
Board 9 Dealer North E-W Vul
Yes, we would bid 4♦ here. Our side has a 10-card fit and we are non-vulnerable, that’s enough to make the bid relatively safe. Having said that, we hate to keep our support a secret for so long, we’d have bid 2♦ immediately, getting our hand off our chest and leaving all future decisions to Partner. By the way, there’s nothing wrong with bidding a 4-card Spade suit after their Double, but not here, the suit is pathetic and the hand too weak.
Board 12 Dealer West N-S Vul
Would you open this hand? And if so, would you open 1♣ or 3♣? Perhaps this is not a good problem for a Bidding Quiz, as the answer is mostly a matter of personal preference. It’s always tempting to make a White vs Red preempt, but we don’t like 3♣ because the suit is fillerless, and we have that outside Ace. But in third seat 3♣ would be hard to resist, don’t you think? In first seat we’d prefer 1♣ to 3♣, but it’s really not quite good enough, so our own choice is to pass. Your own choice may well be different!
Board 17 Dealer North Vul Vul
3♥ here would be non-forcing, perhaps the kind of hand that was a tad too good for a 2♥ opening bid. And there is certainly no point in introducing the Spade suit, Partner would have made a Negative Double of 2♣ if she had 4 Spades. North is going to game, of course, but her Hearts are not so good that she wants to play in 4♥ regardless. So, what else makes sense other than a 3♣ cue-bid, hoping that Partner can shed some light on the matter.
Board 19 Dealer South E-W Vul
Bidding 2♥ here would normally require about 10+ HCP’s, but this 7-count has enough plusses that we would 2♥ anyway: - It’s a really nice suit, one we would love Partner to lead - Non-vulnerable - There is a Diamond fit to fall back on On the actual deal 2♥ will be followed by 3♣ from East, after which the hand is worth one more competitive effort, this time 3♦.
But how about South’s original Pass? Our own choice would be a Weak Two. Hard to resist considering the quality of the suit and the vulnerability, don’t you think?
Board 22 Dealer East E-W Vul
It may seem obvious to bid 3♠ here, but consider making a super-accept instead. Super-accepts are normally made when holding 4-card support for the transfer suit, but surely it’s worth stretching the point here with such excellent 3-card support and with that Club suit as a potential source of tricks.
Board 22 Dealer East E-W Vul
East’s super-accept of 4♠ presumably showed 4 Spades, then, in response to Roman Key Card Blackwood, he showed “1 or 4”, obviously the latter. What next? Clearly this hand is going to bid slam and the question is whether 7♠ is a possibility. Before 7♠ can be bid we’d like to find out about the trump Queen, and the method for finding out about that card is to make the “cheapest non-signoff”. That would be 5♦, but before East makes that bid, it’s advisable to have an agreement with Partner as to what the responses mean.
Here’s one common set of responses to the 5♦ Queen Ask: - 5♠ denies the Q♠ - 6♠ (or 5NT by some pairs) shows the Q♠, and denies a side-suit King - A side-suit bid (in this case 6♣ or 6♦ or 6♥) would show the Q♠ and the King in the bid suit.
On the actual hand, Partner would bid 5♥, showing the Q♠ and K♥. As Partner would always bid the cheaper side-suit King, that leaves open the possibility that he also has the K♣. After 5♥, West knows 20 HCP’s in East’s hand … AKQ♠, K♥, A♦, A♣. That’s 11 top tricks, with two or three HCP’s unaccounted for. The Q♥ or J♦ or K♣ would take the trick count up to 12, and a ruff in Dummy is hopefully available for the 13th. Another possibility is that East is 4=2=3=4, which would allow a Dummy Reversal, with the long hand scoring 3 Club ruffs to get the trick total to 13. But let’s not over-analyze this, it looks like 13 tricks in Spades is a reasonable proposition and that is what West should bid.
Board 23 Dealer South Both Vul
We like the Rule of Twenty, and by that measure this hand qualifies as a 1♣ opening bid. But most bridge rules are really no more than mere guidelines and the Rule of Twenty is no exception. Is this hand really a one-bid? We don’t think so. There’s a minimum amount of defense, and the Q♠ and J♦ are both dubious values. So, what do you bid with a hand that is not quite up to snuff as an opening bid, and which is all about Clubs? Yes, of course, it’s a 3♣ preempt!
Board 24 Dealer West None Vul
It’s too bad that South doesn’t have available a two-suited overcall, that would describe this modest hand perfectly. But, alas, 2♣ would be Michaels and for the majors, so South must decide whether to pass or bid 2♦ or bid 2♠. What would be your choice? First, let us eliminate the Pass, surely not a good idea when non-vulnerable with 5-5 and a void in their suit. That narrows the field down to 2♦ or 2♠. At first glance it might seem obvious to bid 2♠. After all those major contracts do score more points (at least they do when the contract actually makes), and it is customary to bid the higher-ranking suit first when we are 5-5.
But let us rethink this. If you bid 2♠ and the enemy competes to 3♣ is your hand really worth going to 3♦ without any help from Partner? We don’t think so! Our choice would be 2♦, which is a better lead-director, and which still gives us the chance of bidding 2♠ if the opponents challenge our ability to make 2♦ by wielding the red card.
Board 24 Dealer West None Vul
Can you recognize a Penalty Double when you see one? North has a terrific hand in the circumstances except for that alarming absence of Diamonds. Yes, this the time for a Redouble! This would clearly be SOS. The old maritime distress signal conveniently is also an acronym for “Some Other Suit”, which is exactly where North would like to play this hand.
Board 25 Dealer North E-W Vul
If we were to reverse the Spades and Hearts then we would have an obvious 1♠ overcall, planning to bid 2♥ next time around, if that option still exists. But with 4-5 in the majors, it’s not so simple. If we overcall 1♥, then a 4-4 Spade fit might be lost. If we Double, then a 5-3 Heart fit might be lost. With minimum values (as here), and with that particularly moth-eaten Heart suit, we suggest a Double. But, if the Hearts were nice and chunky and if it were the Spades that were lepidopterally challenged, then no doubt a 1♥ overcall would be in order.
Board 25 Dealer North E-W Vul
What are the choices here? - 2♦? No, that’s not enough, that’s a bid that we would cheerfully make without one of those Aces. - 2NT? Over the Takeout Double, many players use 2NT to show a limit raise in Diamonds. This hand is perhaps marginal for the bid though not far off. - Redouble? Not quite good enough, and not enough defense. - 1♥? Reasonable, this bid does not have to be based on a 5-card suit. - 1NT? There’s a lot to be said for making a well-defined and limited bid at the earliest possible opportunity. And if the opponents compete to two of a major? Then we’ll try 3♦. We like 1NT, what’s your choice?
Board 30 Dealer East None Vul
Let’s assume that 2♥ was a DONT bid, showing the majors. North has an awkward hand, she knows that her side has the balance of points, but she also has a hand that would have passed 1NT, it’s not quite good enough for an invitation to game. What are your methods in this situation? Here are some options: - Double is Negative: In this case showing Spades and some values. Not such a great treatment, perhaps, all the more so here when West has already laid claim to the Spade suit. If that was on our convention card we would have little choice but to pass. - Double is Penalty Oriented: No, that doesn’t fit this hand either. - Double Shows General Values: Normally at least a hand that was planning to invite to game, without necessarily any values in Hearts.
We like the last method, though it’s far from ideal. And we also like to think that, playing that method, on this particular hand, we would dredge up an underweight Double, and that Partner would gleefully pass, and that we would collect a nice 300 penalty.
Board 31 Dealer South N-S Vul
There’s a box on the ACBL convention card which asks the HCP range for a one-level overcall. The upper range is marked by many partnerships as 16, but we do urge you to change that to something higher, let’s say 18. This particular 17-count is a good case in point. Surely we don’t want to Double, and then when Partner bids a minor be forced to bid 2♠ with that moldy suit, showing a hand that was too good to overcall originally. That sequence surely should be based on a good suit as well as a good hand. So, we suggest a 1♠ overcall, followed by later action if possible and appropriate.
Board 32
West East ♠ A7 ♠ Q86 ♥ KJ96 ♥ ♦ K9 ♦ AQT7652 ♣ AJT86 ♣ K75
1NT 2NT 3♣ 3♥ 3NT 4♥ 6♦ Pass
Our Convention of the Week is “Minor Suit Transfers”, partly prompted by this auction. Here’s what it all means: - 2NT: A transfer to Diamonds. East has hopes for slam, and failing that he seeks to discover whether 3NT or 5♦ is the place to be. - 3♣: This is the so-called pre-accept, played by this pair as saying “I have something good in Diamonds”, whereas a 3♦ bid would say otherwise. “Something good” is not just in the eye of the beholder, we suggest specific rules such as Ax, Kx, Qxx, or xxxx. The idea is that, in order to pre-accept, Opener needs a holding that can help bring in a tenuous Diamond holding by Responder. Such is the route to one of those skinny 23- or 24-point 3NT games that might otherwise be missed. - 3♥: Conventionally shows shortage in Hearts. This could be an attempt to find out whether 3NT or 5♦ is the place to be, or it could be a slam try. - 3NT: Natural, obviously something in Hearts. West has a pretty good hand for slam purposes, but his first duty is surely to announce that 3NT is a playable contract, just in case Partner was planning to scoot into the inferior-scoring contract of 5♦. - 4♥: Logically, this should show a void (unless the pair is using this for Redwood). And, if you are playing Minorwood, surely that would be the meaning of 4♦ here (which is not to suggest that this is a Minorwood hand, the Heart void says otherwise). - 6♦: With both black Aces, West can hardly do less.
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