Guessing Games

27^th October – Board 5: N/S Vul. Dealer North.

Some hands are just so difficult to bid with any degree of certainty. All kinds of things might have happened – and indeed did – on the featured hand, but who was right and who was wrong is hard to say.

West	North	East	South
	1H	No	2D
2S	4H	4S	No
No	5D	End

South might conceivably have bid 1NT at his first turn, lest partner got too excited, but I can’t see that 2D can come to too much harm, and 1NT seems just a bit too off-centre for my liking. West is bound to compete giving North a tough decision, but with the good diamond fit a direct bid of 4H does not look unreasonable. Of course East should not be silenced at that vulnerability but with no wasted values in spades opposite North should probably have one more go with 5D. In truth nobody really knows who can make what and 6D is on the (failing) diamond finesse. And if West decides to compete at the five-level then he will find that to be a cheap save against the vulnerable game.

Wildly Different

27^th October – Board 19: E/W Vul. Dealer South.

I watched the hand shown below at a couple of tables last Thursday and witnessed a couple of wildly different results, largely depending on whether West elected to open the bidding or not. Put me down for a definite ‘yes’, partly because of the intermediates and partly because the hand is playable in three suits.

West	North	East	South
			No
1D	Dbl	2D	No
3D	3S	End

That was how the bidding went at one table and there were a lot of critical decisions. East might – should - have bid 1H instead of raising diamonds but when West raises the suit North is much better placed to picture a singleton heart opposite which is the key to 4S being lay down. And West did well to raise the ante by bidding 3D, not constructive in any sense because there are so many other options open, but merely putting extra pressure on North. The latter chose to bid 3S, correctly in my view, and perhaps South was unduly pessimistic to pass. At another table West passed initially and North opened 2NT. What should happen is that South bids 3H, a transfer to spades, and North breaks the transfer by bidding 4C, an advanced cue-bid in support of spades in case of better things. Ideally South should re-transfer by bidding 4H (discuss with partner) and 4S by North should end the auction. In the event the auction was not a pretty one and a no-play slam was reached when Blackwooditis made a premature and unjustified appearance.

A Little Ingenuity

20^th October – Board 17: Love All. Dealer North.

Being old and set in my ways I have never been a fan of inverted minor suit raises but I have to confess it would have made West’s task somewhat easier on the hand shown below. Nevertheless a little ingenuity might have saved the day.

West	North	East	South
	No	1D	No
1H	No	2C	No
2S	No	3S	No
4D	No	4S	No
6D	End

If an initial 2D response by West is not forcing then he has to invent a bid and I would try 1H and hope for the best! 2S becomes fourth-suit forcing prior to raising diamonds and the 3S bid by East shows a good hand for the bidding so far. Of course it denies a four-card spade holding or he would have bid that suit over 1H but it does show values there and a hand too good to bid a stultifying 3NT. 4D is game forcing and looking for more which in turn poses a problem for East who can hardly bid RKCB because a response of 5H would push you to 6D with two key cards missing. A well-thought out 4S should allow West to make a sound judgement with his three big cards, and indeed he would bid the same holding the ace of clubs and not the ace of spades. I know it’s not easy, but it’s not supposed to be.

Good Judgement

20^th October – Board 17: Love All. Dealer North.

Both East and West showed good judgement when they bid to the five-level on fairly minimum values but the contract they reached was a sound one.

West	North	East	South
	No	1D	1S
No	3S	4C	No
5C	End

I report the auction as it actually happened although I think it was faulty in one respect. North should really have made an Unassuming Cue Bid of 2D in response to his partner’s one-level overcall, for the latter bid could have been made for a variety of reasons and with a hand ranging from about eight points upwards. The corollary to all this is that any immediate raise of the suit by the responder to the overcaller is NOT showing a good hand in terms of high card points but a more distributional one – and it is fairly common practise to bid to the same level as the number of trumps are held. So North was right to have four trumps but perhaps wrong in that he held too many points. Nevertheless it posed a problem for East who solved it admirably by introducing his second suit and finding his partner well at home. The play in 5C was trivial with declarer able to set up the diamond suit with a couple of ruffs.

Unhappy Outcome

13^th October – Board 12: North/South Vul. Dealer West.

East would doubtless feel disappointed if his partner failed to land the slam on the hand shown below but in truth the layout was not kind for declarer.

West	North	East	South
1NT	No	2H	No
2S	No	3D	No
4S	No	6S	End

East takes a practical approach when his partner shows positive spade support with West unable to hold enough ‘right’ cards for the grand slam to be viable. However on the normal looking lead of the jack of hearts declarer is faced with a series of guesses. If the diamond finesse is working there is clearly no problem but as long as the defence keep completely passive and fail to open up any other suit declarer will ultimately be faced with the decision of whether to hope for the 3-3 break in diamonds or take a finesse against the ten. My instincts tell me the latter is right but I know I would do the former!

Missed Opportunity

13^th October – Board 18: North/South Vul. Dealer East.

Most people know that a double of an opening 1NT is for penalties but somehow lose sight of the fact that the same rules should apply after an opponent has made an overcall of 1NT. That’s what happened on the hand shown below although the outcome for N/S wasn’t as good as it might have been.

West	North	East	South
		No	1H
1NT	Dbl	End

Knowing that his side has the majority of the points North was quite right to double and South waited eagerly for the heart lead. He is still waiting, but North could hardly be blamed for leading his own suit. With diamonds acting kindly E/W escaped for one down although of course on a heart lead an alert defence would make sure that declarer never came to a spade trick and chalk up a 300 point penalty as a consequence. As a corollary if North did bid 2S over the intervention this should show a very weak hand but with a six card suit – but a hand definitely not good enough to double 1NT. And opener would be expected to pass.

Impossible Rebid

6^th October – Board 15: North/South Vul. Dealer South.

What would – or did – you respond on that East hand if partner opens with a weak no-trump bid?

West	North	East	South
			No
1NT	No	2NT	No
3C	No	3S	No
5D	End

The above sequence was the one Nick and I had but I have to admit there was a certain amount of guesswork from both sides of the table. 2NT was a transfer to diamonds and 3C showed positive support, usually a top honour to three or better. Now East had an impossible rebid because although 3NT might still be the best game, to bid it with a singleton heart and with a known diamond fit opposite might be a bit risky. On the other hand 3S should show a spade suit…As it happens both games are likely to make but I find it hard to provide a convincing route to either.

Bidding Theory

6^th October – Board 20: Game All. Dealer West.

It is easy to be convinced that partner is giving real support for one of our suits when in reality all he is doing is giving some mild sort of preference. In the featured hand it is almost certain that West only has two card support for hearts but the reason may not be immediately obvious.

West	North	East	South
1C	No	1H	No
1S	No	2D	No
2H	No	3D	No
3NT	End

With a minimum opener and a 4-3-1-5 distribution you obviously would want to open 1C but over the 1H response it is correct to bid 2H and not 1S. The reason for this is that if you have a strong hand – say 15 or more points – you do rebid 1S but then if partner returns to your first suit and bids 2C you now complete the picture of your hand by bidding 2H. In the sequence above West has not bid 2H immediately and yet over the fourth suit forcing bid of 2D he has made the weak bid of 2H, but if he had started with three card support he would have bid 2H as his rebid and not 1S. Geddit? So with a known doubleton diamond opposite East should rebid the suit in the hope that his partner can bid 3NT with an independent stop. All that East is ever trying to do is to find the best game contract, which he is fairly certain must exist somewhere.