Bidding Quiz                                7th May, 2008

 

 

                                                    Board 3      Dealer South        E-W Vul

 

 

What does Double mean in this situation?  Is it penalty or take-out?  Sitting over the Spade bidder, it’s usual for the Double to be penalty-oriented, typically a hand with good Spades and good defense generally.  This hand certainly qualifies for that with two likely Spade tricks, a couple of side-suit Aces, and the likelihood that at least one of those AQ holdings is sitting over the King.  There’s no guarantee that 2♠ is going down, but it certainly looks like a good bet.

 

Next, suppose that the auction was:

            South   West    North   East 

            1NT     2♠        Pass    Pass

            ??

In this situation, under the Spade bidder, a penalty double is less attractive, so the common treatment is for a Double here to be for take-out.  Typically, a doubleton in the enemy suit, maybe this hand: ♠ 95, ♥ AQT4, ♦ KT94, ♣ AQJ7.

 

                                                    Board 4      Dealer West       Both Vul

 

 

For an opening bidder, West has precious little defense, maybe just a trick in Hearts and nothing else.  On the other hand, West has good offensive potential and if East has just one useful card  it’s easy to see 9 tricks in Diamonds and 10 or 11 in Spades.  This type of bid has two ways to win: (a) it might well be a good sacrifice, and (b) sometimes, even when it isn’t, the opponents bid again.

 

 

                                                    Board 7      Dealer South       Both Vul

 

 

East has a good hand and exemplary support for all the unbid suits, but nonetheless he should overcall 1♠ rather than make a take-out double.  The basic rule is not to make a take-out double at the one-level when holding a 5-card Spade suit unless the hand is very strong.  East’s hand is certainly strong, but is still an Ace or King short of being too strong to overcall.  Of course, if the shape were 4=4=5=0 instead of 5=4=4=0 then we would double in a flash.

 

Anyway, having overcalled, East can always come back in later with a takeout double, as in this auction:

            East     South   West    North 

                        Pass    Pass    1♣

            1♠        2♣       Pass    Pass

            ??

Now a Double completes the description of the East hand: 5 Spades, good hand, support for the unbid suits.

 

 

                                                    Board 7      Dealer South       Both Vul

 

 

Here’s a straightforward choice, do you preempt to 3♣ (or 4♣) or do you bid 2♠ showing invitational values in Clubs?  We’d bid 2♠, it looks like a little too much for a preempt.  Those major suit fillers could be quite useful in a No Trump contract or on defense so our own choice would be to make a constructive 2♠ bid.  We’d be nervous about going beyond 3NT by preempting to 4♣, and preempting to 3♣ does not seem to do justice to the hand.

 

                                                    Board 8      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

The possible bids here are 3♠ (or even 4♠), 3NT or Double.  What’s your choice?  Let’s eliminate the Spade bids first.  4♠ is too unilateral, but 3♠ is hardly better as that would make 3NT impossible to reach (South can hardly be expected to have the Clubs stopped).  So, 3NT or Double?  With 3 stops in the enemy suit it’s tempting to try 3NT but then again it would be most embarrassing to miss a 5-4 Spade fit (or even 5-5!).  So, we like the Double here, with 3NT a close second in the voting and Spade bids a distant third.

 

 

                                                    Board 9      Dealer North       E-W Vul

 

 

The Rule of Twenty is a useful guideline when it comes to deciding whether a hand is worth an opening bid, but we like to use a little judgment, too.  There is such a thing as a “bad twenty”, that hand-type is characterized by defects such as singleton honors, doubleton Queens, weak long suits, and an absence of fillers.  Too many of those defects and the Rule of Twenty should give way to common-sense.  How does the North hand rate?  It’s a 5-4 11-count, so the Rule of Twenty is passed, but on the down-side there is that dubious value of a doubleton Queen.  Normally that would be enough for us to say “Pass”, but there is the compensating value of those lovely Spade fillers.  That, plus our strong urge to get a good 5-card Spade suit into the auction whenever reasonably possible, are enough for us to open 1♠.

 

 

                                                    Board 9      Dealer North       E-W Vul

 

 

Partner has made a take-out Double and purports to have support for the unbid suits.  Then RHO went and bid one of those suits.  The Double here is usually played as showing some values and length in that suit, typically 4 of them.  So, in the absence of support for an unbid major, Double would be our bid here.  So far, so good, now let’s suppose that the auction develops as follows:

            East     South   West    North

                                                1♠

            Pass    1NT     Dbl      2♦

            Dbl      2♠        Dbl      Pass

South took a preference to 2♠ and Partner doubled again, showing extra values.  What next?  We don’t have support for Hearts or Clubs, nor do we have a Spade stopper so that eliminates 2NT.  A natural 3♦ is a possibility, but that might turn out to a 4-3 fit with a 5-1 break against us.  No, surely the most promising choice here is to pass.  And having passed, our opening lead will be a trump, attempting to minimize the Diamond ruffs on the board.

 

                                                    Board 10      Dealer East       Both Vul

 

 

Would you open that East hand 1NT?  Some might not like the 5-4 shape, others may say it is too strong, considering the distribution and the maximum point count.  We’d open this 1NT anyway, perhaps to a howl of protests, after all the majority of East’s points are in his short suits and we don’t think that this hand is as wonderful as it might seem at first sight.

 

Nonetheless, 1NT has been opened, and Partner has transferred to Spades.  What next?  Most players are familiar with the concept of the “super-accept” whereby the 1NT opener bypasses Partner’s major when he has 4-card support.  It’s not a bad idea, and it has the obvious benefits of (a) it will get the partnership quickly to the 3-level on the 9-card fit, perhaps preempting the opponents out of their fit; and (b) once in a while it will get the partnership to a game that might otherwise have been missed.

 

There are different methods of super-accepting, here’s the one which we like best:

-         With 4-card support and a good hand, bid 2NT

-         With 4-card support and a middling hand, bid 3 of the major

-         With 4-card support and a rotten hand, don’t super-accept

We like this method because it doesn’t reveal too much to the opponents.  For example, those who play 1NT 2♥, 3♣ as being a super-accept with a doubleton Club, are helping the defenders far more often than they are helping Partner.  Needless to say, using this method, East has a clear 2NT super-accept.

 

As luck would have it, this week’s hands gave us two more super-accept situations:

            Board 21                                          Board 27

            ♠ K95                                                              ♠ KQ9

            ♥ AT93                                                           ♥ KQJ8

            ♦ Q2                                                                ♦ T8

            ♣ AQ96                                                           ♣ KQ74

            North   East     South   West                            South   West    North   East

            1NT     Pass    2♦        Pass                            1NT     Dbl      2♦        Pass

            ??                                                                    ??

On Board 21, North has a minimum point count, but she does have a ruffing value which would be enough for us to bid 3♥ to show a middling hand.  But if you’d rather not super-accept with this one then that’s fine too.  On Board 27 (West’s Double was DONT) South has 16 HCP’s and nothing wasted.  Good enough for a 2NT super-accept, showing a maximum?  We don’t think so with this Aceless hand, again we would bid 3♥.

 

 

                                                    Board 11      Dealer South       None Vul

 

 

Opposite a 1NT opening, some players decline to use Stayman when they are 4-3-3-3, reasoning that as their hand is flat they have no ruffing value and therefore no reason to play in a suit contract.  Sometimes these players are right, but often it is Opener who has the ruffing value and the major contract plays a trick better than No Trump anyway.

 

If your own 1NT 3♦ sequence is not particularly useful and almost never comes up, then consider using it as a Stayman bid, but one with a twist.  The 3♦ bidder is always 4=3=3=3 or 3=4=3=3, and the 1NT opener bids 3NT when his hand is also square, only showing a major when he has a ruffing value.  Using that gadget you need never play in 4♥ or 4♠ with matching mirror distributions.

 

 

                                                    Board 16      Dealer West       E-W Vul

 

 

Even at favorable vulnerability, it would be somewhat “out there” to jump in (directly over 1♠) with an Unusual 2NT, but we are sure that some Norths will do so.  But when 2♠ gets back to North she can hardly pass, that would be altogether too accommodating to the opponents.  So she bids 2NT now.  Is this also for the minors?  Many people play it that way, but, when the enemy is bidding Spades, it’s surely better for 2NT here to be any two-suiter.  That treatment works out rather well on this board,  South’s shape is 3=4=3=3, so she bids 3♦, being prepared to play 3♦ if North has the minors, and 3♥ if North’s two-suiter is Hearts and Clubs (North will correct 3♦ to 3♥).  And, if North has both red suits, she can pick the one she prefers.

 

 

                                                    Board 17      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

West has two ways to show the unbid suits here.  He can double or he can bid the Unusual 2NT.  Double would surely be wrong, just not strong enough.  Does that mean we would bid 2NT?  It’s not unreasonable, but we prefer to bid 2♥ here, giving up on the Diamonds in exchange for a lead-directing bid.  It’s a trade-off that we would expect to work in our favor more often that not.

 

 

                                                    Board 17      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

First of all, would you have bid 1♠ with that square South hand or would you prefer to bid 2NT, showing 11-12?  2NT could certainly work, but we prefer to show our 4-card major first even though we have no ruffing values (yes, as we also mentioned on Board 11, Partner may have a fit and have ruffing values).  Anyway, you bid 1♠, Partner makes a Support Double (showing 3-card Spade support), and now you must decide what to do after the enemy preempts to 4♥.

 

Pass is out of the question, you have yet to show your strength, so the options are to double or to pick a game contract.  What does Partner have?  Probably no more than one Heart, considering that the opponents have bid up to 4♥ on slender values.  Three Spades, of course, which leaves 9 cards in the minors, presumably with at least 5 Diamonds.  With those nice Diamond cards, 5♦ is a possibility, but the winning bid is 4♠!  True, N-S have only a 4-3 fit, but it looks like a fit that should play well, as the Heart attack can be handled in the short hand.  On the actual deal, even though the Spades break 4-2, 11 tricks can be made in Spades or Diamonds.  This being matchpoints, we know which we prefer!

 

Board 21

See Board 10

  

                                                    Board 25      Dealer North       E-W Vul

 

 

What’s the plan here?  We want to go to game, of course, but which one?  Presumably Partner does not have 4 Spades so there is no point in bidding 2♠.  We cannot bid 3♥, that would show our 6 Hearts alright, but it’s only game-invitational.  The solution is to bid 2♣ as New Minor Forcing, then if Partner fails to show 3-card Heart support, we’ll bid Hearts again ourselves.  This shows a 6^th Heart and is forcing.  Now Partner will be in a good position to pick the best contract.

 

Board 27

See Board 10

 

                                                    Board 30      Dealer East       None Vul

 

 

After South has raised Hearts, North’s “Aces and spaces” are not enough to go to game, all the more so if opposite one of those Rule of Twenty adherents who have been known to open on slender values  Furthermore, it’s not obvious that this one belongs in Hearts, perhaps Partner has raised with 3-card support and 3NT is preferable.  Not to worry, our featured North just happens to have the perfect club in her bag, it’s a 2NT asking bid, to which the answers 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

 

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