In Tune

17th October – Board 23: Game All. Dealer South.

It’s all too easy to get excited when partner opens and you have a nice-looking hand opposite but at times like these you have to be aware that the hands may not mesh as well as you hope and you have to try and stay in tune with partner.

	North: S A 10 4 H A J 5 D 3 C A Q J 9 3 2
West: S J 9 2 H Q 10 8 2 D Q 5 4 C K 10 5		East: S Q 8 7 6 5 3 H 3 D A 9 7 6 C 6 4
	South: S K H K 9 7 6 4 D K J 10 8 2 C 8 7

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

You may be horrified at the thought of opening that South hand and indeed it may work out badly but you would be equally appalled if you passed and the bidding was at the four-level next time it came back to you. Obviously North is excited with his six-loser hand but there is no need to rush things. 2S is fourth-suit forcing and 3D shows a hand with at least 5-5 in the red suits. 3H now becomes game forcing because otherwise North could simply have bid 3H over 2D as a limit bid. When South signs off in game North should respect that decision knowing now that he has shown a strong hand with slam interest.

Under Control

21^st March – Board 1: Love All. Dealer North.

The hand shown below caused no problems in the play as far as I am aware but sometimes the bidding went a little astray.

The reason why West has to introduce the fourth suit bid of 2♥ is because a jump rebid of 3♠ would not be forcing. Over 2♥ East should rebid the club suit to show 5-5 (at least) in the minors, but now 3♠ from West does become forcing and shows a six-card suit, leaving it easy for East to raise to game. Of course this bidding does give a blueprint of dummy to the defender on lead, making a trump lead almost mandatory in order to cut down heart ruffs. However with the club finesse working declarer has an easy route to game via six spades, two diamonds and two clubs.

Boundless Optimism

3rd Jan – Board 14: Love All. Dealer East.

It can be really exciting at times when you hold a big distributional hand and your partner opens because it might seem that the sky’s the limit. However two big hands usually only ever make one big contract if there is a fit to be found somewhere, a fact sadly lacking on the featured hand where many people sitting North showed boundless optimism until the wheels came off.

Although North’s initial heart bid was fourth suit a subsequent repeat showed values there, but by this time he knew that his partner held at least ten cards in the pointed suits. When South signs off in 3NT I think North should respect his judgement for chasing slams can be a disappointing occupation. In fact years ago I remember an analysis of the British team’s performance in the European Championships showed that they would have fared better if they had bid no slams at all.

Avoiding The Trap

23rd February – Board 18: North/South Vul. Dealer East.

Any pair who reached 5C on the featured deal can rightly feel pleased with their effort, with the lure of the no-trump game a trap to be avoided at all cost.

West	North	East	South
		1C	No
1H	No	1S	No
2D	No	3C	No
4C	No	4S	No
5C	End

There are several things to note in the bidding. First East is worth an opening bid but South is not really worth an overcall. At adverse vulnerability it is fraught with danger and if West ends up as declarer you do not want partner to lead a spade from Ax or Kx. It might also encourage North to get too involved, expecting as he might better values in his partner’s hand. Over 1S West should introduce fourth suit forcing as neither a 2H nor a 3H rebid would be forcing in any way and game certainly needs to be reached once partner has opened. Over 3C it might be tempting to bid 3NT, but that would fail even on a diamond lead if South won and switched to a spade – not so unlikely as it happens, in an attempt to stop declarer from getting at dummy’s club winners. Having introduced 4thSF 4C also becomes forcing and is in effect a slam try, but once partner denies a diamond control West should sign off in game. Essentially the game requires either the ace of diamonds to be well placed, or no diamond lead when a diamond from hand can be thrown on a top heart from dummy.

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.

Over Optimistic

15^th September – Board 16: East/West Game. Dealer West.

Like losing a tennis match when your opponent has a winning net-cord at match point it is infuriating when the opponents at the bridge table earn a huge swing due to the vagaries of Lady Luck. At least three pairs reached a grand slam in diamonds on the hand shown below, a contract with a chance of success somewhat less then 20% instead of the near 70% required. The main fault lay with the choice of opening bid, and while I appreciate that the West hand is a three-loser that is only a good thing if a fit is found. Imagine a hand opposite with a void diamond and a small doubleton club and you will see what I mean. I think the auction might go something like:

West	North	East	South
1D	No	1H	No
2C	No	2S	No
4D	No	4H	No
5C	No	6D	End

2S is fourth-suit forcing of course and 4D sets up a game-forcing sequence. East should not get over-excited because good as his long suits are they are not going to be useful in getting rid of any trump loser! The play in 7D is not a problem; win the opening lead and play ace and a low club to ruff on table. With the fall of the club king all that is now required is to hope for the favourable trump position and when that occurs to try not to gloat.

Delicate Picture

30th June – Board 1: Love All. Dealer North.

I’m not sure any pair reached the top spot of 6S on the hand shown below but a well-controlled auction with a little bidding theory should get there.

West	North	East	South
	1D	No	1S
No	2H	No	3C
No	3S	No	4S
No	4NT	No	5D
No	6S	End

Once North has reversed it should be obvious to South that game values are present and as a reverse is only forcing for one round after a one-level response South should resist the impulse to bid just 2NT as that might be passed. 3NT is nearer the mark but misses out on the superior 4S if partner happens to have three card support, so why not find out by bidding 3C – fourth suit forcing and game–forcing to boot – to see what partner will do? Opener will paint a delicate picture and show secondary support for spades and I imagine South will bid game there but North should not be satisfied. With his five-loser hand he will surely invoke everyone’s favourite convention and even with just the one key-card opposite there must be a play for a slam. In fact as long as declarer doesn’t panic there are an easy twelve tricks available. A trump lead would be best for the defence but whatever line declarer chooses he is almost bound to succeed as long as he plays on the diamond suit at some time before attempting a heart finesse one way or the other.

The Forgotten Bid

The Forgotten Bid

19th May – Board 11: Love All. Dealer South.

It is imperative that as a player you should not only think about the bid you are about to make but any follow up bids as well. People who ignored that precept came unstuck on the featured hand as they were left trying to make a number of ‘catch up’ bids.

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

The jump shift is the forgotten bid of bridge but used in the right place it has the merit of making subsequent bids so much easier to find. So 2H in the above sequence shows at least a good five card suit and usually upwards of 16 points. And when the suit is rebid it more or less demands that that suit is going to be trumps. After South bids 4H North might make another try by bidding 5D I guess but South will surely rebuff any thoughts of a slam. Can you see that if North had started by simply bidding 1H he would have an impossible rebid, as any bid he makes would have to be forcing. A jump rebid of 3H is not forcing so the only alternative would be to employ the ‘pitiful crutch’ of 2D, Fourth Suit Forcing, but then of course the quality of the main suit never comes across.

Painting A Picture

9th December – Board 21: N/S Vul. Dealer North.

You would be really unlucky to fail in 6S on the hand shown above, a better slam than 6D which would require something nice to happen in trumps. However slams with only seven trumps are notoriously hard to bid and it may be with hindsight that I suggest the following auction:

West	North	East	South
	No	1S	No
2D	No	2H	No
3C	No	3S	No
4S	No	4NT	No
5D	No	6S	End

With the final (game) contract unknown West must be careful to paint a delicate picture of his hand by bidding 3C at his second turn, fourth suit forcing but also game forcing after a two-level bid. When East bids 3S this nearly always shows a six-card suit because there are other options open otherwise, and now West has a choice between bidding 4S or 4D, showing a six-card suit there. I think it’s close but in either event East will invoke RKCB, find there is only one key player missing and bid the slam. You would get away with 3NT with the jack of clubs well-placed, but that would be awful with a slam in two suits available.