Scrambling Auctions

 

Here we explore auctions where we are scrambling to find our best fit, often after a balancing Double, and frequently with the aid of that most useful device, the Scrambling 2NT.

 

2nd January, 2008            Board 24      Dealer West       None Vul

 

 

South’s Double was a tad light, but, with 10 HCP’s and the perfect shape, it would be criminal to pass here.  North’s Double was Responsive, ideally showing both minors, but she may not have been dealt the ideal hand, and could well have just 4-3 in the minors and some values.  How many values?  Let’s say around 9+, considering that North is prepared to go the 3-level.

 

The goal here is to make sure that we play in a 4-4 minor suit fit, and the way for South to do that is to use the Scrambling 2NT.  Assuming that you are playing this most useful convention, 2NT here says “pick a minor”.  This is so much better, don’t you think, than guessing to bid 3♣ and finding that Partner is 3=3=4=3.

 

Could 2NT usefully be natural in this situation?  Not really, we did not overcall 1NT originally, and if we were too strong for that bid we would be bidding 3NT this time around (once Partner has shown us some values).

 

 

8th August, 2007               Board 10       Dealer East       Both Vul

 

 

Opposite Partner’s Takeout Double, our only goal here is to bail out in 3 of the safer minor.  Using standard methods we would be guessing here between 3♣ and 3♦, but there is a useful device known as the Scrambling 2NT which takes the guesswork out of this awkward situation.  Here’s how it works:

-        When Partner has made a balancing Double of 2♥ or 2♠, 2NT is used as a scrambling mechanism, usually saying “I have two (or three) suits to choose from”.

-       After the Scrambling 2NT the Doubler will bid her lowest-ranking 4-card suit, and eventually the partnership will be able to scramble into a playable fit.

 

On the actual hand, the Doubler was slightly off-shape, with 3-4-4-2 distribution, so after Partner’s Scrambling 2NT she bids 3♦ which is where she will play it.  Without this scrambling device, South would bid 3♣ after the Double, leaving the partnership in danger of playing in it’s 4-2 fit.

 

 

22nd November, 2006      Board 21      Dealer North       N-S Vul

 

 

Even vulnerable it seems right for North to balance, and the choices are:

(a)    As he is a passed hand, North can bid 2NT for the minors;

(b)   Or, North can make a simple Take-out Double.

 

We much prefer the Double.  It will gain whenever Partner is lurking with a Spade stack, and when Partner has 5 Hearts.  What is the down-side to the Double?  Using standard methods, there’s the danger that N-S will end up in a 4-3 Heart fit instead of a 5-4 or 5-3 minor fit.  So, on balance we like the Double, and we like it even more if we are playing the Scrambling 2NT opposite balancing Doubles.

 

No doubt we’ll add this to the System Library in the not too distant future, but in the meantime the basic rules for the Scrambling 2NT are as follows:

-         only on opposite a balancing Double of their 2♥ or 2♠ bid

-         if that is the situation, then we bid directly to the 3-level when we are sure where we belong (usually, we’ll have a 5-card suit)

-         otherwise, we’ll bid 2NT, putting the partnership into “scrambling” mode

The relevance of this is that the availability of scrambling methods makes a balancing Double all the more safe.

 

 

22nd November, 2006      Board 21      Dealer North       N-S Vul

 

 

If you got to this point and have not read the previous item (introducing the Scrambling 2NT) then please backtrack.  OK, let’s proceed.  Partner has doubled and we have to guess where to place the contract.  Here are some of the distributions Partner might have opposite our own 4-2-3-4:

-         1-4-4-4:  We’d like to play in 3♣

-         1-4-5-3:  Now, 3♦ is the place to be

-         1-4-3-5:  A 9-card fit in Clubs!

-         1-3-5-4:  3♣ or 3♦ will likely be equally serviceable.

 

We’d hate to bid 3♣ with this South hand and catch Partner with the 1-4-5-3 hand.  What’s the solution?  Yes, it’s the Scrambling 2NT!  We’ll bid 2NT expressing doubt and increasing our chances of landing in the right spot.  More on this convention at a later date.

 

 

25th April, 2007                Board 21      Dealer North       N-S Vul

 

 

To balance or not?  That K♥ looks like a highly dubious asset, which leaves us with just 6 working points.  Nonetheless, we would Double.  Partner must have some values, hopefully he has 4 Spades or 4 Diamonds or 5 Clubs.  There’s no guarantee that the Double will work, but more often that not it will either push them one higher or buy the contract.

 

Suppose that Partner’s distribution is 2-3-4-4.  We make our balancing Double, what next?  He could just guess to bid one of those 4-card minors, but there is a better way, and it is called the Scrambling 2NT.  Using this device, opposite that balancing Double, a bid of 2NT says “pick a suit”, in this case obviously one of the minors.  That way, the balancing team has no problem finding the 4-4 fit.

 

30th May, 2007          Board 2

West    North   East     South

Pass    Pass    1NT     2♠

Pass    Pass    Dbl      Pass

??

 

West               

♠ 93

♥ KQ87

♦ T862

♣ Q96

 

Partner’s Double of 2♠, sitting under the Spade bidder, was for take-out.  He probably has two Spades and a good hand, and wants to compete.  He’s not guaranteeing 4 Hearts for his Double, he might well be 2-3-4-4, for example.  We have the option of passing, of course, but that’s not an option when we hold only two Spades ourselves.  No, our objective here is to make sure that we find a 4-4 fit, and the way to do that is to use the Scrambling 2NT.  Playing this device, 2NT here is not natural, instead it initiates a scrambling auction to uncover a fit.  Here are both hands and the complete auction:

 

West    North   East     South

Pass    Pass    1NT     2♠

Pass    Pass    Dbl      Pass

2NT     Pass    3♣       Pass

3♦        Pass    Pass    Pass

 

West                 East                

♠ 93                 ♠ J5

♥ KQ87           ♥ A65

♦ T862             ♦ AJ97

♣ Q96              ♣ AK82

 

As we said, 2NT initiates a scramble.  Now, East’s 3♣ says “I have 4 Clubs”.  West’s 3♦ says “No Club fit, but I do have 4 Diamonds.  And you can also be sure that I have 4 Hearts, because with only one 4-card suit I would not have initiated this scrambling sequence”.  Thus, the safety of the 4-4 Diamond fit is reached.

 

 

31st October, 2007            Board 17      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

What’s going on here?  First Partner passes 1♥, then she balances with 2NT.  What does this mean?  First of all, let’s eliminate the natural interpretation.  If Partner couldn’t find a natural 1NT bid on the previous round, she cannot have a natural 2NT bid now.  So, if not natural, then what?  Surely it is a No Trump bid of the scrambling persuasion, in other words an attempt to find a fit at the three-level, with a hand that has no obvious bid of its own.  Let’s make some educated guesses about Partner’s hand:

-         She has more than one place where she can play, with a single destination in mind she would have simply gone there directly.

-         She does not have 4-card Club support, if she did she would have bid 2♣ earlier.

-         She doesn’t have a 6-card suit, if she did she would no doubt be bidding that instead of 2NT.

-         She probably has less than 4 Spades, due to the failure to make a Negative Double earlier.

 

We cannot be sure, but we would expect partner to have a smattering of values, with a 5-card Diamond suit and 3-card Club support, and she would like us to choose between 3♣ and 3♦.  If we trust our judgment, we’ll bid 3♦, it’s usually better for the weak hand’s long suit to be trumps, as that eases communications between the two hands.

 

 

7th November, 2007          Board 29      Dealer North       Both Vul

 

 

Partner has made a balancing Double (and, anyway, she’s a passed hand), but nonetheless we want to compete to the 3-level.  What is the best way of doing that?  Partner usually has 4 Hearts for her Double so there’s a good chance that 3♥ will be a good spot.  But why take a chance when there is the possibility that 3♦ is our only 4-4 fit?  The solution here is the Scrambling No Trump, whereby we bid 2NT, telling Partner that we have two places where we can play.  Those two places are not necessarily the minors, here, with 3 unbid suits we can use the bid with Hearts and a minor also.  On the actual hand, will bid 3♣, the one suit we did not want to hear.  No problem, we simply bid 3♦ telling Partner “Try again, my suits are Diamonds and Hearts”.

 

Is there any rule to indicate when 2NT is being used for the purposes of scrambling?  Well, one rule that can be used is that 2NT is always scrambling opposite a balancing Double of two of a major.  But that’s not an all-inclusive rule, there are many other cases which don’t fit that description but where 2NT is obviously a scrambling bid.  This agreement works perfectly only when your “obvious” is always the same as your Partner’s “obvious”.  Is it?

 

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