Choice of Response

 

24th January, 2007           Board 4      Dealer West       Both Vul

 

 

Are you in the habit of suppressing 4-card majors when you have a square hand?  We are not a big fan of this practice, just because we have no ruffing values does not mean to say that Partner won’t.  If we really had to by-pass a major once in a while, we’d prefer to do it on the following kind of hand:

-         Weak major suit (here the major is quite strong)

-         Better holdings in the side-suits (Hearts and Clubs here), not all our values concentrated in the major and Partner’s suit

-         A good reason to grab the No Trump first (holdings which require protection from the opening lead, such as Kxx or Qxx).

The actual hand fails miserably on all counts, not to bid 1♠ would be unthinkable!

 

 

31st January, 2007            Board 25      Dealer North       E-W Vul

 

                                        

What are the choices here?

-         2♣?     If you don’t play this as game-forcing, then look no further!  You bid 2♣,  then rebid 3♣, and be content that you have described your hand quite well.  So, the rest of this section is for those who do play 2♣ as game-forcing, and who therefore must find an alternative. 

-         1NT?   This shows something in the 6-10 HCP range and it denies a 4-card major, so in that regard it qualifies.  But do we really want to bid 1NT with a void in Spades?  If we are to play this one in No Trump we’d much prefer that Partner played the hand to protect her major suit holdings.

-         1♥?      Yes, this bizarre-looking bid seems like the best choice to us.  Far from appealing, just less unappealing than the alternatives.

 

Having said that, some 2/1 pairs play 1♦ 3♣ as an invitational bid … not a bad treatment, it plugs a gap in the system, and would be the perfect choice for this particular hand.

 

 

24th May, 2006                 Board 2       Dealer East        N-S Vul

 

 

What would you (or did you) bid opposite Partner’s 1♣ opening?  It seems wrong to invite game with 2NT (showing 11-12) when we have three small Hearts, often that contract will play better from the other side.  So, we’d bid 1♦, hoping that things became easier on the next round of bidding.

 

 

31st May, 2006                  Board 3       Dealer South        E-W Vul

 

 

North could go one of two ways on this hand … either bid a Forcing No Trump, planning, on the next round, to show a 3-card limit raise in Spades … or to start with a game-forcing 2♣ bid.   We wouldn’t argue with the Forcing No Trump plan (especially if Partner is apt to open light), but, as North has a hand we would open in first seat, we prefer 2♣, even if it is a slight overbid.  Here’s a comparison of the two approaches:

 

Auction A                                                        Auction B

            1♠                                                                    1♠

1NT     2x                                                        2♣       2♥

3♠        …                                                        2♠        …

- shows 3 Spades                                             - shows 3 Spades

- and 10 other cards                                         - and 5+ Clubs

- invitational values (a bit heavy)                        - game values (a bit light)

 

The more we think about it, the more we like Auction B!

 

 

28th June, 2006                Board 4       West Dealer        Both Vul

 

 

After Partner has opened one of a suit, most players use a general rule of thumb that they will pass with less than 5 or 6 points, but there are exceptions, as always:

(a)    if we have a big fit with Partner, we should raise, especially if we have a weak, preemptive raise available (as we would playing Bergen Raises or Inverted Minors);

(b)   if we have a promising major suit holding, we can shade our responses a little;

(c)    if we are short in Partner’s suit, and we have a suit we can bid at the one-level, it’s usually best to bid it, without worrying unduly about HCPs … yes, it’s true that Partner often rebids his suit when we are short in it, but then at least we are in a 6-1 fit, which is surely preferable to toiling in a 3-1 or 4-1 fit at the one-level.

 

Here we have shortness in Partner’s suit and a 4-card major we can bid, so 1♠ looks pretty clear.  Also, although we only have 4 HCPs, it is an Ace and that alone is enough to find a response, almost regardless of the rest of the hand.

 

 

18th October, 2006           Board 11      Dealer South       None Vul

 

 

East’s hand raises the question: “Opposite a 1♠ opening bid, what does 3NT mean?”  The simple answer is “Whatever you would like it to mean”, because there are numerous possibilities.  The following is far from a complete list:

-         13-15 HCP’s and a specific hand type, such as “only 2 Spades” or “square distribution with 3 Spades”

-         15-17 HCP's with 2 Spades … this is the SAYC treatment, and we really don’t like it very much, seems like we are preempting our own auction when our hand is that good.

-         Our own favorite is a bit more obscure … 3NT shows 5-card support and a defensive trick outside the trump suit, something like:  ♠ QJ764 ♥ A75 ♦ 85 ♣ 874.  The benefit of this treatment is that it allows Responder to preempt the auction, while also clueing in Opener that he is not entirely bereft of defense.  Without the A♥, he would be inclined to bid 4♠ if the conditions were right.

 

Anyway, back to the job at hand.  Even if we were playing a variety of the first option, where 3NT is 13-15 and square, that would not be our choice.  We have too much high-card strength in Partner’s suit, and precarious holdings in Hearts and Clubs.  Our choice would be 2♦, not very pretty, we’ll grant that, Partner will certainly expect more in the suit than we actually have, usually a 5-card suit for starters.  But nobody seems to take the minors seriously any more, so why should E-W be any different?

 

 

6th December, 2006          Board 29      Dealer North       Both Vul

 

 

To bid or not to bid?  True, we only have 4 HCP’s but there are a couple of reasons to take a call here.  Firstly, we can lay claim to the Spade suit, which is rarely a bad thing.  Secondly, we have the comforting safety of a Diamond fit.  When, as Responder, we bid with 4 or 5 HCP’s, the one bid that we don’t want to hear from Partner is 1NT … her 12-14 opposite our 4-5 gives us 16-20 which, most of the time, will be woefully inadequate for the job.  But here it’s not a concern because, if Partner rebids 1NT, we can bail out in 2♦.

 

 

12th September, 2007       Board 22      Dealer East       E-W Vul

 

 

At first glance this might seem like a no-brainer.  We bid 1♠, right?  Actually, no, at least not in our opinion.  Consider this auction:

            East     West

            Pass    1♥

            1♠        2♣

            2♥

What has East shown so far?  Not much, he might well have 2 Hearts, or else perhaps 3 Hearts and a weak hand.  What has East actually got?  Real 3-card support and a singleton and that lovely A♦.  It will be hard for Partner to visualize such a good Heart hand in this sequence, so we think that it is better to show the Heart support right away, by raising 1♥ to 2♥, this way Partner will know that we really mean it and are not retreating to 2♥ under duress.  Yes, this gives up on the Spade suit, but, on balance, we think that it’s very much the way to go.

 

 

21st November, 2007        Board 21      Dealer North       N-S Vul

 

 

We cannot see any point in introducing that crummy Diamond suit into the auction when we have a perfectly good 1NT bid available.  Here’s why we like 1NT here:

-         Bidding 1NT limits our hand immediately, which is always helpful for Partner.

-         1NT has preemptive value, all the more so against vulnerable opponents.  If they want to bid Hearts or Spades they must do so at the two-level, and that may be sufficient deterrent to keep them out of the auction.

-         A No Trump contract may well be better played from our side (for example, picture Partner with ♠Qxx or ♥Kx.

-         If the above is not sufficiently persuasive, then look at the hand, isn’t it just plain No Trumpish?

 

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