Getting Into The Auction 

Auctions don't become competitive if one player or the other takes action.  Usually that player is the one with shortness in the enemy suit, as will be seen in these examples.

 

 

22nd November, 2206       Board 7      Dealer South       Both Vul

 

 

We are vulnerable holding an uninspiring 10-count.  Did you make a sleepy Pass?  Not good, this hand is worth a Double!  We have close to a maximum for our previous Pass, and we are 4-4 in the majors, it’s far from out of the question that this is our hand in 2♥ or 2♠.  There is a fair degree of safety in this Double, Partner has three suits to choose from, and we won’t come to grief very often.  If we find this Double, Partner will bid 2♥, a contract which makes.  Failure to double will let the opponents steal it in 1NT (making or down one).

 

Partner happens to have a 3-4-3-3 hand with 10 HCP’s.  That’s not the sort of hand that wants to jump into the auction opposite a passed Partner.  As usual, it’s the hand with the right shape that must take the initiative.  That hand is South.

 

 

26th April, 2006                Board 9       Dealer North         E-W Vul

 

 

In this auction the E-W have contributed 5 Pass cards to the auction, and have ended up defending 2♥ when they have half the deck (well, almost) and an 8-card Spade fit.  Which of those 5 E-W Passes was the culprit?

 

East’s First Pass:            No wimpishness here, this is not a vulnerable two-level overcall in the direct seat.

West’s First Pass:         West could well have bid 2♠ here.  True, the hand is quacky and shapeless, but at least the suit is strong.  We would not say that Pass is clearly wrong here, but it is certainly timid.

East’s Second Pass:       We like a 2♦ bid here … East has already denied the ability to make an immediate 2-level overcall, so bidding now is not going to cause Partner to go overboard … in our view, this was the best chance for E-W to get into the auction.  If East does bid 2♦ here, that will be sufficient encouragement for West to try 2♠.

West’s Second Pass:     If West thought that 2♠ was too risky before, it is even riskier now, with the opponents having exchanged additional information.

East’s Third Pass:          By now, it’s too late … it would be bizarre to make a balancing Double with 3-6 in the unbid suits … and going out on a limb with 3♦ would be quite extreme.

 

So, it was a joint effort, in our view, either player could have got into the auction, especially East at his second turn.

 

 

Board 18      (from 19th December, 2007)

♠ Q75              ♠ KJ

♥ AQ               ♥ T942

♦ QT653          ♦ 2

♣ Q65             ♣ KT7432

 

West    North   East     South

                        Pass    1♠

Pass    1NT     Pass    2♥

Pass    2♠        Pass    Pass

Pass

 

That’s a nice cozy 2♠ contract for N-S and the question to be asked is “Where were E-W for the duration of the auction?”  They have 9 or 10 tricks in Clubs and yet they never got into the auction, surely someone should have said something.

 

Let’s start with West.  With 12 HCP’s he has the stronger hand, and he might have bid 2♦ over 1♠.  But, let’s face it, that’s not such a great suit, and, with all those Queens and that dull distribution, it’s far removed from being a sound two-level overcall.  We think that West’s Passes were all just fine.

 

How about East?  That first Pass was fine, no reason to preempt with such a rotten suit and a 4-card major.  But that second Pass was distinctly feeble, surely East should be in there with a 2♣ bid.  Why is 2♣ OK here, but 2♦ by the stronger West hand was not?

-         East is already a passed hand

-         East has a six-card suit

-         East has exciting distribution

 

 

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