Bidding Quiz                                                   21st May, 2008

 

                                                    Board 1      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

With that East hand, after North’s 3♦ preempt, would you double or bid 3NT?  Either could work, and it’s a close decision in our view.  That Diamond holding says “3NT”, the two 4-card majors seem to be saying “Double!”  If East does double and West bids 3♥ or 3♠ then East will raise to game, of course.  With West likely to be short in Diamonds there is an improved chance that he has a 4-card major (substantially better than 50% we would say).  But, even so, we’d guess to bid 3NT, it might make the same number of tricks even if there is a 4-4 major fit (remember a 4-1 trump break is an increased possibility after the preempt).  But it really is a guess, you could no doubt find many fine players who would opt for a Double.

 

It turns out that West does indeed have a 4-card major (Spades), and furthermore that the Spades obligingly break 3-2.  Does that mean that Double was the winner, getting E-W to the par spot?  Actually no, because (with good squeeze technique) it’s 11 tricks in 3NT and 4♠.  Score one up for the 3NT bidders.

 

Here’s a similar hand, North held his collection on Board 14:

            ♠ AK85

            ♥ K4

            ♦ A32

            ♣ AJ85

Another 3-level preempt, another 19-count, another “3NT or Double” decision.  Here the holding in the enemy suit is less imposing (suggesting Double), but there are also two factors which suggest 3NT:

-         It would be nice if we could protect that K♥ from the opening lead.

-         There is only one unbid major which reduces the likelihood of a major suit fit.

So, we would try 3NT once again (for +430), but alas the winner this time is Double (as 4♠ scores +450).  Oh, well!

 

                                                    Board 2      Dealer East       N-S Vul

 

 

West can be pretty sure that this hand will eventually play in some number of Spades (game or slam), but for the time being he has no convenient Spade raise.  Not Jacoby 2NT, that usually shows 4-card support (there are some exceptions, but this hand is not one of them).  So, West must make a 2/1 bid before showing the Spade fit.  Do you bid 2♣ or 2♥ in this situation?

 

A 2/1 normally shows a 5-card suit, but sometimes we have to fudge things a bit when we have no other convenient bid.  And, when there is some fudging to be done, we much prefer to do it in the minor suits than in the majors.  So, we fudge with 2♣, planning to raise Spades next.

 

 

                                                    Board 3      Dealer South       E-W Vul

 

 

This one is more about methods than it is about judgment.  Let’s say that your 2NT was a Minor Suit Transfer, in this case showing Diamonds.  Let’s further suppose that you are part of an enlightened partnership which plays that 3♣ says “I don’t like Diamonds”.  What next?  Perhaps a better question is “What do 3♥ and 3♠ mean in this situation?”  A common treatment is that this bid shows shortness.  It’s not necessarily a slam try, it could merely be an attempt to find the best game.

 

OK, so you bid 3♠, Partner bids 3NT.  Do you give up slam?  Surely not!  What is needed now is a Roman Key Card bid that allows N-S to play in 4NT (not enough Key Cards) or in 6♦ (enough Key Cards).  The solution is to use 4♦ here as Minorwood.  If you don’t like Minorwood, then use 4♥ here as Redwood.  Using 4NT here as Roman Key Card might work on the actual hand (because Partner has enough Key Cards), but it’s a poor method, so we strongly recommend that you consider the alternatives.

 

 

                                                    Board 4      Dealer West       Both Vul

 

 

Opposite a Weak Two, South is thinking slam, of course.  How do you play 2NT here?  There are numerous methods available, our own favorite is a variation of Ogust, Opener’s responses being:

            3♣:      5-card suit, any strength (after which 3♦ asks about hand strength)

            3♦:       6-card suit, bad hand

            3♥:      6-card suit, medium hand

            3♠:       6-card suit, good hand

So, our choice would be 2NT, but when Partner responds with 3♦, showing a poor hand, we would give up on the slam and settle for 4♥.

 

                                                    Board 5      Dealer North       N-S Vul

 

 

As in Board 2, this hand illustrates the dangers of two-level vulnerable overcalls.  And it also illustrates the dangers of not making them.  First, let us see what happens if North, having passed originally, chirps in with 2♦ over 1♥.  Not so unreasonable, you might think, but on the actual hand an aggressive East might go for the jugular by passing, and then passing again when Partner makes a reopening Double.  That’s an easy 500 for the defense and a top board.

 

In that case, the overcall was not a success, but it will work out fine against a less aggressive East who will end up in 3NT.  Now, the 2♦ bid will get Partner off to the right opening lead, holding the opponents’ 3NT contract to 9 tricks instead 10.

 

And the moral to this story?  Be extra careful with those vulnerable overcalls when the opponents are non-vulnerable.  This deal is a case in point, as 2♦ doubled, when Red vs Red would be -500 against their 600 game.  That’s a real bargain, but not so when the -500 is against a 400 game.  So, it’s not just our vulnerability that counts!

 

                                                    Board 8      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

What are your methods here?  As usual there are choices available, here is the commonly used treatment:

            Dbl:     A bad hand.  How bad?  One that might have been about to make a “waiting 2♦” followed

                        by a so-called “second negative”.  In other words, less than     a King or Ace, probably less

                        than two Queens also.

            Pass:  Some values (too good for a Double) but also a hand with nothing useful to say (no good suit

                        in other words).

            Other: A suit worth bidding as well as some values.

 

If these were our methods, then the South hand looks like a Double to us, it’s not quite good enough for a value-showing Pass.

 

                                                    Board 9      Dealer North       E-W Vul

 

 

What’s the preferred approach with these 6-4 hands?  Should Opener rebid her 6-card suit or should she show her 4-card suit?  There’s no absolute rule, here are some thoughts (we are assuming that the 4-card suit is lower-ranking than the 6-bagger):

-         Generally speaking, with a minimum hand, we would rebid the 6-card suit before introducing the 4-card suit, one of the benefits being that it limits the hand.  However, if the 4-card suit is strong and the 6-card suit is weak, then there is a lot to be said for treating the hand as if it were 5-4 and rebidding 2♣ here.

-         If our hand were a little better than minimum we would consider bidding 1♦ then 2♣ then 3♦, which is a stronger sequence than 1♦ then 2♦ and then 3♣.

-         With a good enough hand (say a very good 14 to 17 HCP’s) we would jump to 3♦.

-         With an even better hand we would make a jump rebid to 3♣.

That being the case, North’s minimum opening calls for a simple rebid of 2♦.  See also Board 18 (West) for a similar problem.

 

                                                    Board 13      Dealer North       Both Vul

 

 

If it were not for all of those nice fillers, one might well pass here, but let’s suppose that South takes a slightly more optimistic view of her hand and is not prepared to give up on game.  In that case, do you bid 1NT or 2♠?  With only 3-card support and with over half of the HCP’s in the unbid suits, there is something to be said for bidding 1NT.  But we like 2♠ ourselves, the suit is good, there is a ruffing value in Clubs, and, perhaps best of all, this bid has preemptive value, making it tougher for the opponents to get into the auction.

 

Suppose that South does bid 2♠ and then Partner bids 3♠, saying “Bid game if you like your hand”.  Does South like her hand?  We don’t think so.  With only 3 trumps and a hand that might well have passed 1♠, this is a clear Pass.

 

                                          Board 14

                                                    Please see Board 1

 

 

                                                    Board 17      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

Redouble here would show 10+ HCP’s.  Is that your choice?  Surely not!  N-S probably can make game, and the chances of getting a sufficient penalty are pretty remote, all the more so as the opponents appear to have at least 8 Spades.  No, save the Redouble for hands which are more balanced, but with this strong 5-5 hand it is essential to start bidding suits immediately.  So, a simple 1♥ is called for.  This bid does not begin to show the strength of the hand, that will come later, to start with we do better to show our distribution.

 

 

                                                    Board 17      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

South’s 3♣ might be a “New Minor” type of bid, investigating a 5-3 Heart fit, and it would certainly be wrong for North to go zooming past 3NT to 4♣ at this point.  However, North cannot bid 3NT herself without a Spade stop, nor can she support Hearts.  How about 3♠?  No, that might be confusing, it might convey the message “I’ve got the Spades, have you really got Clubs or was that 3♣ bid purely artificial?”  So we would simply bid 3♦ and await developments.  Partner might expect a 7-card suit for this third Diamond bid, but that’s too bad, we have no sensible alternative.

 

 

                                                    Board 18      Dealer East       N-S Vul

 

 

On Board 9 we discussed how to bid 6-4 hands, and here is another example.  To paraphrase what we said earlier:

-         Generally speaking, with a minimum hand, we would rebid the 6-card suit before introducing the 4-card suit, one of the benefits being that it limits the hand.

-         If our hand were a little better than minimum we would consider bidding 1♠ then 2♣ then Spades again, which is a stronger sequence than 1♠ then 2♠ and then 3♣.

-         With a good enough hand (say a very good 14 to 17 HCP’s) we would jump to 3♠.

-         With an even better hand we would make a jump rebid to 3♣.

 

By this logic, East’s hand is too good for a simple 2♠ rebid, even if it does have only 13 HCP’s.  At the very least we would say that it is worth a 2♣ rebid, then when Partner gives us a preference to Spades we would raise to 3♠.  We would be highly tempted to go a step further and rebid 3♠ directly, that’s now much we like this hand.  So, take your pick here, just don’t make a minimum rebid of 2♠.

 

 

                                                    Board 19      Dealer South       E-W Vul

 

 

Clearly E-W are in the right spot, and game is out of the question.  Does this mean that West should pass here?  We prefer 3♦ ourselves, but, of course, only if the partnership agreement is that 3♦ is preemptive, and that with a hand that was trying for game West would have to bid something else (such as a new suit).  Passing 2♦ will make it altogether too easy for the opponents to get into the auction, and as this hand will want to compete to 3♦ if necessary, West might as well go there directly.  West is a dreamer if he thinks that 2♦ will get passed out by North.

 

                                                    Board 25      Dealer North       E-W Vul

 

 

Let’s suppose that you are playing DONT, and if you do not care for that convention then let’s assume that Partner made you do it.  Anyway, DONT it is, what do you bid?  DONT works well with two-suiters, but South of course has a three-suiter.  Which two-suiter do you choose?  It would be a mistake to bid 2♣ on the false assumption that this will keep all three balls in the air.  It won’t.  If Partner does not like Clubs she will bid 2♦ and now you will be left with a guess between Spades and Diamonds.  So, we like 2♦ here, treating the hand as a two-suiter in Diamonds and an undisclosed major, simultaneously bidding the best suit and giving N-S a chance to play in the better-scoring major.

 

 

                                                    Board 27      Dealer South       None Vul

 

 

2NT here would show 11-12 HCP’s, balanced hand, no 4-card major, exactly what East has got.  But this does not look like a 2NT bid to us, with all the values in Diamonds and so little in the unbid suits.  So, we would bid 1♦, followed by a game-invitational 3♣, that seems more descriptive of our hand.

 

 

                                                    Board 29      Dealer North       Both Vul

 

 

Assuming that we have an appropriately weak hand, we preempt at the 2-level with a 6-card suit, at the 3-level with 7, and at the 4-level with 8.  But there are exceptions and we would say that this is one of them.  The trouble with bidding 4♣ here is that the suit is so good, it would be a shame to go beyond 3NT.  In fact, on the actual hand, South had a 12-count and 3NT was cold (though perhaps not biddable).  Anyway, our choice would be to open the North hand 3♣.

 

Suppose that, after the 3♣ opening, E-W get to 4♥.  Is North allowed to bid 5♣ now, on the basis that she has an extra Club?  No, once North has decided to open just 3♣, the die is cast, and North must leave future decisions to Partner.

 

                                                    Board 30      Dealer East       None Vul

 

 

Is this hand too good for a simple overcall?  Or would you prefer to double first, then bid Hearts?  Our own choice would be a 2♥ overcall.  First of all, we like our overcalls to have an upper range of around 18 HCP’s.  Secondly, even if you prefer a lower maximum for your overcalls, this hand is not as good as it looks, that singleton K♦ may not be worth much.

 

If you still think the hand is too good for an overcall, try the Losing Trick Count.  North has two Spade losers, two Heart losers (or 1½ if you prefer), one in Diamonds and ½ in Clubs.  That adds up to 5 or 5½, we’d prefer something closer to a 4-loser hand if we are to double and then bid Hearts.

 

 

                                                    Board 32      Dealer West       E-W Vul

 

 

Would you open the West hand?  It’s not often that an 8-count passes the Rule of Twenty, but this one does!  But, more to the point, if West does not start bidding his long suits right away he will never get to describe that hand.  So, we would open 1♣, then rebid 1♠, then bid 2♠ next time around (we are assuming that, in the meantime, Partner is perversely bidding red suits and/or No Trump).

 

Next, suppose that the bidding develops thusly:

            West    North   East     South

            1♣       Pass    1♥        Pass

            1♠        Pass    2♦        Pass

            2♠        Pass    2NT     Pass

            3♣       Pass    3NT     Pass

            ??

That 3♣ bid suggests 5-7 in the black suits.  Does that mean that West has done enough and should let Partner play in 3NT?  We don’t think so, this is going to be a highly disappointing Dummy!  Our own guess would be to try 4♠, suggesting that maybe a 5-2 Spade fit is the way to go.  West has good Spade intermediates and if Partner has honor doubleton then 4♠ could well have a play.

 

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