6th 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
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East
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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.
I remember enjoying defending this one against 4H.
ReplyDeleteNot sure who it was against...
But thankfully as they went 1 down the swing of 12 imps stopped us being completely last. I am coming to realise that my best chance of doing well is just to pass (I haven't yet been able to apply that strategy to my comments of course).
The Comeuppance Kid :-)
But by missing out 1S rebid on West's hand with a weak hand if East had 4-4 in hearts and spades wouldn't you miss a possible spade fit? East would bid 1H before spades with a 4-4 shouldn't he?
ReplyDeleteIf East has four spades and four hearts he would certainly bid 1H but when his partner bids 2H he could then bid 2S if he was looking for a game. It's true that with a weak responding hand where he would pass 2H you might end up in a 4-3 fit instead of a 4-4 one but it is a price worth paying; it is essential to be able to show a strong 4-3-1-5 hand after you open 1C and partner bids 1H - you bid 1S and then support partner's hearts. I'm sure it was just a temporary blip by the people you were playing against. Where did they come? Do you know?
ReplyDeleteSurely you meant to address that last bit to Comeuppance?
ReplyDeleteDon't tell 'em your name Pike!