South has 10 HCP’s and a total of 10 cards in her two longest suits.  According to the Rule of Twenty, this is an opening bid.  Of course, passing the Rule of Twenty does not mean that we shouldn’t look at the whole hand and use some judgment. And when we have done so, we can see that this is very much an opening bid, look at those muscular intermediates in the long suits and the astonishing absence of wasted values.  This is a charming 10-count and one that is full value for a 1♦ opening bid.

What does 2♦ show here?  It could be made with various super-distributional and slammish hands, but more likely it is a hand with both majors and at least-game-invitational values.  The idea is to get our doubling Partner to bid his better major, just in case he is 4-3 in those suits.  Is that a good idea on this hand?  Absolutely not!  There is no good reason to think, if Partner has 3 Spades and 4 Hearts, that 4♥ is a better spot than 4♠.  But, with East’s Diamond holding, there is every reason to believe that the hand should be played from the East side.  So, an obvious 4♠ bid.  Not surprisingly, right-siding the contract gets 11 tricks, playing it from the West side is worth just 10 tricks.

As South, holding that lovely 19-count opposite a 12-14 Partner, are you good enough for slam?  We’d rate it borderline between insisting on slam and inviting to slam, so we’ll let you decide that one for yourself.  But let us suppose that you are an optimistic soul and that you decide that you are going to slam regardless.  Well, at least, let us make that “almost regardless” it’s quite possible that there are two missing Aces.  So, the optimistic South might want to try Gerber first, in which case here is a set of modified Gerber responses that is worth consideration:

            4♦        1 or 4 Aces

            4♥        0 or 3 Aces

            4♠        2 Aces with a minimum

            4NT     2 Aces with a maximum

As can be seen, these responses are influenced by the 1430 responses to Roman Key Card, and, if in use in the featured auction, would, as it happens, allow North to show 2 Aces and also warn Partner of a rotten hand.

East is strongly advised not to pass that 2♣ bid.  West’s 2♣ (as on the actual hand) might well contain enough extras to make game opposite a good 9-count such as East’s.  Should East bid 2NT?  With all the values in the unbid suits, that would be descriptive, but it’s also quite an overbid.  So, East gives a “false preference” to 2♠, keeping the bidding alive in case West has something more to say.  As it happens, it was necessary to give Partner one more chance to bid, as 3NT is the place to be.

West might well pass 1♠, but if he must dredge up a response he does best to start with 1NT.  The problem with raising to 2♠ is that Partner is apt to think we have a better hand, and might well drag the partnership too high.  So, Pass is OK, 1NT is OK, but 2♠ is certainly not OK.  On the actual hand, a direct raise to 2♠ will have dire consequences, getting E-W to at least the 3-level and probably out of their depth.

For those who don’t play Bergen Raises, East has an easy 2♠ bid after which West might dredge up a game try, one which East will decline.  But suppose that E-W are playing Bergen.  Now, there are no fewer than three reasonable bids from which to choose:

-         3♠: A preemptive 4-card raise, typically played as 0-6 HCP’s.  East’s hand fits into this general range, but it’s not exactly ideal, with two outside cards and weak trumps.

-         3♣: A constructive 4-card raise, 7-9 HCP’s.  East might choose to upgrade his hand, primarily because 3♠ is somewhat undescriptive.

-         2♠: As neither of the 4-card raises feel quite right, East might bid 2♠, ostensibly a 3-card raise.  This lies about the number of trumps but is a reasonable choice considering that neither of the alternatives are ideal.

We like a 2♠ response, thousands won’t.

Do you play Lebensohl opposite a Double of a Weak Two?  If so, then 2NT here is a relay to 3♣, after which East can either pass (weak hand in Clubs) or else bid 3♦ or 3♥ (also weak bids).  “Weak” here is less than game-invitational strength, so East’s hand is at the top end of the weak range.  Nonetheless, playing Lebensohl, we’d bid 2NT, planning to pass 3♣.  Not playing Lebensohl, we’d just bid 3♣ directly!

Playing Michaels, would you bid 2♥ over 1♥, showing a two-suited hand in Spades and a minor?  Surely it’s not a good idea when that major suit is both longer and stronger than the minor.  So, South overcalls 1♠, being prepared to introduce the Clubs, if necessary on the next round.

Here, we suggest a preemptive raise to 3♠.  Isn’t that rather strong for a preemptive raise?  It may be relatively strong in terms of HCP’s, but there is not much defense in this hand … the K♥ is likely under the Ace, the Diamond suit is suited to offense, not defense … and the K♠ will be worthless of offense unless the opponents are 2-2 in Spades (not very likely).  So, though 3♠ is not guaranteed to succeed (what bid is?), it looks like the best guess to us.

Earlier, South might been more adventurous and opened 1♣.  It’s a tad short on the “Rule of Twenty” basis, but it is a lovely suit and the vulnerability is favorable.  Anyway, she didn’t, and next time around, in the actual auction, South had a hand which wanted to show game-invitational values and Heart support.  A cue-bid is usually just the ticket in such a situation, but here South has a choice of cue-bids.  A common treatment here is:

-         The cheaper cue-bid (2♦ here) shows a 3-card raise

-         The expensive cue-bid (3♣) shows a 4-card raise.

See Board 22 for another manifestation.

How about 3♠ here?  He has a minimum opening bid (at least in HCP’s) and his side is vulnerable, those are two reasons for caution.  On the other hand, all the HCP’s appear to be working, there is the singleton in the enemy suit and, most important of all, West has an extra trump, and knows that his side has a 9-card fit.  3♠ looks reasonable enough, though once in a while it might get punished.

What should South do over 3♥?  3NT might be a fine place if Partner has the Hearts stopped.  Would 3♠ here be showing something in Spades or would it say “I have something in Hearts, do you have Spades stopped?”  Normally, when we cue-bid their suit we are asking for the suit, but here the enemy has bid two suits, one more strongly than the other.  So, logic suggests that bidding 3NT over 3♥ says “I have the Hearts, I may have the Spades also”, and 3♠ says “I have the Spades, not the Hearts”.

After 2♣, East decided that his hand was worth a good (at least game-invitational) raise in Spades.  The normal way of showing that in a competitive auction is to cue-bid the enemy suit.  However, here, East has two cue-bids available (as did South back on Board 19), in which case a common treatment is:

-         The cheaper cue-bid (2♦ here) shows a 3-card raise

-         The expensive cue-bid (3♣) shows a 4-card raise.

Yes, South had a similar situation back on Board 19.

This is an easy one if you are playing Responsive Doubles.  If that is the case, a Double here shows the unbid suits.  As West is forcing the partnership to the 3-level, this is not a bid that should be made on junk, we’d say that the actual West hand is close to being minimum.  Remember Responsive Doubles, they can quite often provide a useful option when Partner has made a Takeout Double or has overcalled.

South’s main fear in this situation is that the hand will get passed out.  If it does get passed out, then, with the points equally distributed around the table, the odds suggest that it will be N-S who will have missed the boat.  Why?  Because South’s majors suggest that her side will have the advantage in a part-score battle.  So, to avoid the pass-out, South tries 1♥, not liking 1♦ which might get North off to a terrible opening lead. 

26 and 29

Board 26                                          Board 29