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First, a hand from the Bridge Bulletin (September 2011) Bidding Box:
#2: Both East players opened 2NT with KJ AK97 A4 AJ874, both Wests transferred holding
Q10975 J54 82 KQ6 and rebid 3NT, both Easts naturally passing. There's some chance They won't find a diamond lead, so 3NT is not competely hopeless, but it is clearly bad. I don't like straining to open 2NT with such an off-shape hand: east can open 1C and has an easy 1H rebid over 1D or 2H over anything else. However, most pairs lack good agreements over opener's reverse so 2NT may be the practical opening.
A good way to organize your bidding after opener's reverse is to use lebensohl: any 3 level bid by responder shows enough for game (opener will have 17+, so 8 hcp is enough.) Weaker responding hands bid something at the two level, with 2NT used as a request for opener to bid 3C. Responder generally plans to pass 3C or correct to 3 of another suit.
Responder can rebid his major with any 5 card suit, weak or strong; the reverse promises the values for 2NT and so oepner will not pass 2S. However, here it will work better for responder to simply support clubs:
1C-1S; 2H-3C, establishing the fit and game force. But with a minor suit fit, we want to try to play 3nT or perhaps a 7 card major fit before committing to the five level with only 8 trumps.
Opener has a diamond stopper but Ax is shaky -- you can't hold up twice, and so if partner has xx or xxx you'll need 9 fast tricks to make 3NT. Better is for opener to try and get responder to bid 3NT, using the 4th suit forcing gadget: 3D. Responder has no help there, however; having shown club support respondeer can show his toelrance for hearts, 3H. A 4-3 fit might play well since responder can ruff the third round of diamonds in the short trump hand. Opener's hearts may be OK for game, but he can show his good spade doubleton with 3S. This must be a doubleton since with 3 card support he would've bid 3S a round earlier. Now responder can raise with his good spade spots and the best contract is reached:
1C-1S;2H-3C;3D-3H;3S-4S . A delicate auction; 4H and 5C are also reasonable spots, and chances are you'd have a lot of company if you reached 3NT.
The given Bridge Bulletin auction is silly: after 1C-1S; 2H-2S, opener rebids 3C which is NOT FORCING. Not a sensible call with 20 hcp. Again, opener could bid 3D as an artificial force:
1C-1S; 2H-2S; 3D-4C; 4S or 5C, pass.
Back to our club hands:
Board 1: North opens 1S on a powerful 5-5 hand, just a bit light for 2C with this shape. South has 8 hcp (ignoring the stiff Jack), 3 card support, a singleton, and a good club suit. The hand rates to be worth 10 or 11 points in support, just on the edge between a simple raise and a game-invitational sequence.Visualizing opener with something like AKQxx xxx xx Kxx, game is not quite a laydown, you'll need a normal trump split and no over-ruff on the third round of diamonds. Playing standard where 2C is not forcing to game, it would be reasonable to bid 2C and then support spades. 2/1 game force bidders would have to bid 1NT and then 3S, which does not describe the hand very well, so I think I'd settle for 2S, eager to accept any invitation.
Over 2S, North coudl bid game, but it wouldn't be hard for partner to cover 3 losers and make slam. North bids 3H, which at this point sounds like a game try. South accepts by leaping to 4S, and now North can reasonably proceed with 4NT, bidding 6S after South repleis with one Ace or Key Card. (North could check on Kings, but South's hand is limited and grand slam would be a stretch.)
The auction does not help East find a lead -- anyting could blow a trick. Guessing that anything partner has in trumps is a dead duck anyway, East tries a low spade. There aren't enough trumps in dummy to ruff out the hearts, so declarer might try an set up hearts with a finesse and some ruffs, or might concede a heart and take a club finesse to try and pitch his losing diamond. I think a reasonable line would be to win the trump, lead a low heart to the Jack, win the trump return, and try to pitch two diamonds on the AQ of hearts. If the player with 3 trumps has at least 3 hearts declarer can then ruff his diamond loser with dummy's last trump. Unfortunately East has the 9 of sapdes and only two hearts so that line fails, as does the club finesse. 6S is makeable double-dummy but I don't see a winning line that I would take at the table.
Board 24: West opens 2C, planning a notrump rebid with his 24 hcp. East should respond 2S, natural and slam-positive. Bidding 2D "waiting" on a hand like this is a great way to miss good slams. ("Steps" bidders, of course, respond 2NT artificially to show 10-12 hcp.) West rebids 2NT as planned, and East rebids the strong spades.. West can count 12 tricks opposite AQxxxx and so leaps to 4NT; East replies with 1 Ace or Key Card (5D, or 5C playing "1430" style.) Key card bidders can bid the next suit (5H or 5D) to ask about the Queen of trumps, and East replies "yes" with either the second step method (5NT over 5H) or 6C to show that King along with the trump Queen. The King of clubs is enough for West to bid 6NT, otherwise the pair should land in 6S. Five pairs reached 6S or 6NT.
South on lead may cash his Ace for an average board. If North is on lead, perhaps South was able to double 5D for a lead. Declarer wraps up 13 tricks on any other lead.
Board 30: South opens 1H; North intends to support eharts but his hand is not suitable for any immediate raise: 4H shows fewer points and more shape, Jacoby 2NT promises 4 trumps. With only 3 card support spades may be better, and in any case bidding them will help opener judge slam prospects. Over 1S opener might jump to 2NT to show his 18 hcp, treating the singleton King in partner's suit as equivalent to a doubleton; otherwise opener must bid a hefty 2C. This might be passed but responder will typically take a preference back to hearts on a doubleton, giving opener another bid. Since Q109 might not stop diamonds even once, I think I'd settle for 2C, although the strong hearts may justify a game-forcing 3C jump.
Over 2C, responder could simply bid 4H, but 2C may conceal a powerful hand. Responder can create a game force with 3D, the fourth suit, planning to support hearts the next round. Opener rebids 2NT, responder 3H, and opener is worth 4NT since responder has shown opening bid values. The 3 Ace reply delights opener, but 5NT reveals no King and opener signs off at 6H.
West should not want to help set up dummy's spades or declarer's clubs, nor underlead a King versus a slam; perhaps a trump lead won't cost a trick. Declarer counts 2 spades, 5 hearts, 1 diamond and 2 clubs for 10 tricks; if clubs split 4-3, declarer can ruff one club low and another high before pulling trumps. Another possibility is to ruff out the Queen of spades, but this requires finding Qx or Qxx and declarer would still need another trick. Can declarer combine his chances? Win the trump in hand, cash the King of spades, cash the two high clubs, ruff a club low. If this get over-ruffed East may not have a third trump to return and may have to help declarer with a spade or diamond lead. Today the clubs behave and declarer retunrs to hand with a spade ruff, ruffs the 4th club high, ruff another spade (all his trumps in hand are high), pulls trumps and claims his diamond and spade Aces from dummy.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Friday, August 19th 2011
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Board 8: North opens 1D; East chooses between 1H and 2H. I like the mild preempt with the good suit (AJ109xx is better than KQxxxx.) Odds are E/W have a heart fit and no one has a spade fit; if anyone does, it is likely that hearts will play as well as spades for E/W, and of course the suit would be breaking badly for N/S, so hearts can be viewed here as the "Master Suit." Don't try to get cute with a Michaels cue-bid, bid hearts and ignore spades unless partner happens to bid them.
The 2H jump freezes South out of the bidding, though he suspects a good fit in one or both minors. West raises to 3H based on his good support; it is generally correct to raise a 2 bid to 3 with three trumps, especially ones as good as KQx. North doubles for takeout, and South chooses 4C or 5C. The heart bids suggest partner has no more than a singleton, and partner's bidding suggests he can cover some of SOuth's diamond and club losers, so I'd take a stab at 5C. If you choose 4C it should be with the intention of doubling 4H, not changing your mind and bidding 5C the second round.
North has excellent controls but as South made no bid on the first round I would assume 5C may be a stretch, so 5C ends the bidding. Luck in both minors makes for 12 tricks, which would score a top -- no need to bid the slam as few pairs found their way to a club contract. (6D makes double-dummy but is more difficult in practice due to the bad trump split.)
Board 10: East opens 1S, West raises to two. I'd ount Eat's hand as 4 1/2 losers -- the fourth heart may be a problem -- and a simple raise typically delivers 2 or 3 cover cards; with 3 1/2, West would make a limit raise. On point-count West counts 18 hcp + 1 for each doubleton + 1 for the five card suit after the raise; 21 + partner's 6-10 does not add up to slam, so I would expect 4S to end the bidding. What about 3NT? East's hand is full of fast winners and low-card losers; partner may be able to trump a heart, so I would not consider 3NT as East. Although it is true +630 outscores +620, many players overlook the fact that +650 or +680 outscores +630 or + 660; having a trump suit will usually deliver an extra trick.
+680 was, in fact, the top score, and three pairs actually bid slam. How should East play? On the likely King of diamonds lead, East counts 5 spades, 3 hearts, and two minor suit Aces for 10 obvious tricks; the lead suggests a second diamond toward dummy will score the Jack, Either a 3-3 heart or diamond split (or in fact simply dropping the 10 of diamonds) may provide a 12th trick. The AQ of hearts provide easy entries to reach the diamonds, so declarer wins the lead, cashes one high trump, low to the Jack of spades (to avoid blocking the suit if it breaks 4-1), trump back to hand, low diamond toward dummy's Jack. If South pays attention to the spot cards, he'll realize that grabbing the Queen gives declarer two more diamond tricks, since partner's 10 must fall. +680 is a top for E/W, and +650 earns 6/9 matchpoints.
Board 12: West opens 1H and North leaps in spades with his solid eight-card suit -- how high? At our table NOrth chose 4S and I'd do the same -- if partner fails to provide a trick perhaps E/W have a slam. They do, in fact, but not one they're likely to bid. East could stretch a negative double of 3S -- he's well prepared for anything partner bids -- but 4S is passed around to West. With three Aces, I figured partner might provide one trick, or two North has a side void; +500 seemed more likely than -790. Doubling yields the desired +500 as North takes only his 8 trumps. Several Easts apparently pulled to 5D, and one pair bid 6.
Board 13: East has a good 1C opener despite only 11 hcp (including a jack doubleton); the good suit and 2 1/2 quick tricks make for a sound opening. Look at it this way -- the AK K will please partner at any contract (defending or declaring), and the clubs should provide a good source of tricks.
West plans his auction -- many would automatically respond in the major, but West does not want to rebid in notrump with a small doubleton in hearts. 1D is the most flexible response, avoids giving the impression of five cards in spades (which spades-then-diamonds would suggest), aims toward partner playing notrump if he has hearts stopped, and will sometimes result in a good 6D contract. With game-going values, it's usually best to bid your suits in natural order (up-the-line with 4 card suits, down-the-line with five) especially when the natural response is also your best suit. The spades won't go away -- West can easily bid them at any level.
East rebids clubs, West continues with 2S: not necessarily a suit since opener skipped over them, but clearly forcing and essentially asking partner to bid notrump with a heart stopper. East cannot bid notrump and simply repeats the clubs. West takes a shot at 5C, figuring on at most 2 heart losers.
The defense cashes two hearts and switches to a diamond or trump. Declarer counts only 10 winners: 6 trumps and two AK's. There's no finesse or suit that can be established for the needed 11th trick. This has all the earmarks of a squeeze hand -- nothing else to try! Typically, declarer needs a squeeze card (the long trump), an enty to the hand opposite (diamonds or spades), and more than one threat (again, diamonds and spades could provide a trick if a defender fails to keep enough length.) It usually helps if declarer has lost all but one trick (the two hearts took care of that) and can ensure only one defender can guard at least one of the suits. The diamonds must divide 4-3 or worse, so if declarer plays two rounds of diamonds and ruffs a third, only one defender can guard that suit. Now, if that defender happens to be South and also has the QJ of spades, he can't guard both suits. It won't work today, but defenders don't always keep the right cards and two declarers managed 11 tricks at clubs. East should pull trumps, cash AK of diamnds and ruff a diamond, cash the King of spades and play his remaining trumps, watching for the QJ10 of diamonds to fall or be discarded. If the nine doesn't set up, declarer pitches it on the last trump and crosses to dummy with the spade. Sometimes that last card is good, and in any case it's better than no chance at all. On defense, North must keep spades while South keeps diamonds.
Board 8: North opens 1D; East chooses between 1H and 2H. I like the mild preempt with the good suit (AJ109xx is better than KQxxxx.) Odds are E/W have a heart fit and no one has a spade fit; if anyone does, it is likely that hearts will play as well as spades for E/W, and of course the suit would be breaking badly for N/S, so hearts can be viewed here as the "Master Suit." Don't try to get cute with a Michaels cue-bid, bid hearts and ignore spades unless partner happens to bid them.
The 2H jump freezes South out of the bidding, though he suspects a good fit in one or both minors. West raises to 3H based on his good support; it is generally correct to raise a 2 bid to 3 with three trumps, especially ones as good as KQx. North doubles for takeout, and South chooses 4C or 5C. The heart bids suggest partner has no more than a singleton, and partner's bidding suggests he can cover some of SOuth's diamond and club losers, so I'd take a stab at 5C. If you choose 4C it should be with the intention of doubling 4H, not changing your mind and bidding 5C the second round.
North has excellent controls but as South made no bid on the first round I would assume 5C may be a stretch, so 5C ends the bidding. Luck in both minors makes for 12 tricks, which would score a top -- no need to bid the slam as few pairs found their way to a club contract. (6D makes double-dummy but is more difficult in practice due to the bad trump split.)
Board 10: East opens 1S, West raises to two. I'd ount Eat's hand as 4 1/2 losers -- the fourth heart may be a problem -- and a simple raise typically delivers 2 or 3 cover cards; with 3 1/2, West would make a limit raise. On point-count West counts 18 hcp + 1 for each doubleton + 1 for the five card suit after the raise; 21 + partner's 6-10 does not add up to slam, so I would expect 4S to end the bidding. What about 3NT? East's hand is full of fast winners and low-card losers; partner may be able to trump a heart, so I would not consider 3NT as East. Although it is true +630 outscores +620, many players overlook the fact that +650 or +680 outscores +630 or + 660; having a trump suit will usually deliver an extra trick.
+680 was, in fact, the top score, and three pairs actually bid slam. How should East play? On the likely King of diamonds lead, East counts 5 spades, 3 hearts, and two minor suit Aces for 10 obvious tricks; the lead suggests a second diamond toward dummy will score the Jack, Either a 3-3 heart or diamond split (or in fact simply dropping the 10 of diamonds) may provide a 12th trick. The AQ of hearts provide easy entries to reach the diamonds, so declarer wins the lead, cashes one high trump, low to the Jack of spades (to avoid blocking the suit if it breaks 4-1), trump back to hand, low diamond toward dummy's Jack. If South pays attention to the spot cards, he'll realize that grabbing the Queen gives declarer two more diamond tricks, since partner's 10 must fall. +680 is a top for E/W, and +650 earns 6/9 matchpoints.
Board 12: West opens 1H and North leaps in spades with his solid eight-card suit -- how high? At our table NOrth chose 4S and I'd do the same -- if partner fails to provide a trick perhaps E/W have a slam. They do, in fact, but not one they're likely to bid. East could stretch a negative double of 3S -- he's well prepared for anything partner bids -- but 4S is passed around to West. With three Aces, I figured partner might provide one trick, or two North has a side void; +500 seemed more likely than -790. Doubling yields the desired +500 as North takes only his 8 trumps. Several Easts apparently pulled to 5D, and one pair bid 6.
Board 13: East has a good 1C opener despite only 11 hcp (including a jack doubleton); the good suit and 2 1/2 quick tricks make for a sound opening. Look at it this way -- the AK K will please partner at any contract (defending or declaring), and the clubs should provide a good source of tricks.
West plans his auction -- many would automatically respond in the major, but West does not want to rebid in notrump with a small doubleton in hearts. 1D is the most flexible response, avoids giving the impression of five cards in spades (which spades-then-diamonds would suggest), aims toward partner playing notrump if he has hearts stopped, and will sometimes result in a good 6D contract. With game-going values, it's usually best to bid your suits in natural order (up-the-line with 4 card suits, down-the-line with five) especially when the natural response is also your best suit. The spades won't go away -- West can easily bid them at any level.
East rebids clubs, West continues with 2S: not necessarily a suit since opener skipped over them, but clearly forcing and essentially asking partner to bid notrump with a heart stopper. East cannot bid notrump and simply repeats the clubs. West takes a shot at 5C, figuring on at most 2 heart losers.
The defense cashes two hearts and switches to a diamond or trump. Declarer counts only 10 winners: 6 trumps and two AK's. There's no finesse or suit that can be established for the needed 11th trick. This has all the earmarks of a squeeze hand -- nothing else to try! Typically, declarer needs a squeeze card (the long trump), an enty to the hand opposite (diamonds or spades), and more than one threat (again, diamonds and spades could provide a trick if a defender fails to keep enough length.) It usually helps if declarer has lost all but one trick (the two hearts took care of that) and can ensure only one defender can guard at least one of the suits. The diamonds must divide 4-3 or worse, so if declarer plays two rounds of diamonds and ruffs a third, only one defender can guard that suit. Now, if that defender happens to be South and also has the QJ of spades, he can't guard both suits. It won't work today, but defenders don't always keep the right cards and two declarers managed 11 tricks at clubs. East should pull trumps, cash AK of diamnds and ruff a diamond, cash the King of spades and play his remaining trumps, watching for the QJ10 of diamonds to fall or be discarded. If the nine doesn't set up, declarer pitches it on the last trump and crosses to dummy with the spade. Sometimes that last card is good, and in any case it's better than no chance at all. On defense, North must keep spades while South keeps diamonds.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Wednesday, August 17th 2011
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Board 3: South opens a maximum 15-17 1NT. West considers a leap to 3C, but vulnerable vs. not settles for 2C. North counts six losers, and at 3 points a trick partner may well provide 5 cover cads, so slam is a distinct possiblilty. It is somewhat unlikely that hearts will provide more tricks than spades; you won't need ruffs to set up the spade suit, and there are few minor suit losers to pitch, so North can simply force to game with 3S. (To check on a heart fit North could bid 3C, cue-bidding the overcaller's suit as Stayman, and follow with 3S if South replies 3D.) South has a spade fit and excellent controls, and so bids 4C as a slam try "on the way" to 4S. (Having opened 1NT, South would not be arguing about the trump suit at the four level; with only 2 spades South would retreat to 3NT.) North cue-bids 4H, confirming more than mere game interest, and South proceeds with 4NT, with the bidding ending in 6S. Declarer counts 6 spade winners, 2 hearts, 2 diamonds and a club, one trick short; running the Queen of hearts doesn't gain even if West covers. To score another heart trick, play low toward the Jack or even the Queen, preserving chances to drop the ten or pick up a singleton or doubleton King. It may be possible to ruff four times in hand, but that requires taking two heart winners before pulling trumps, which seems to require good luck in hearts anyway. I'd win the club lead and try a low heart to the Jack immediately; East wins and returns another club. North ruffs, spade to dummy (seeing the bad break), finish pulling trumps, then Queen and Ace of hearts. Hearts split 3-3 to provide declarer's 12th trick.
Board 5: North opens 1H, and East has enough to overcall 2D. West thinks slam, but the Kx of hearts looks exposed; perhaps partner can support spades? A 2S bid is risky if it isn't forcing; experts favor a 3S "fit jump", but my usual style is a simple 2S forcing. East rebids 2NT to show his stopper, which relieves West's concern about the Kx of hearts (whether East has the Ace or Qxx), so West can leap to 4D. An earlier 4D would've been preemptive in most styles, but the delayed sequence should be seen as a forcing slam try. East cue-bids 4H and West continues with 4NT, landing in 6D. East pulls trumps in one round and ruffs a heart and a club in dummy for an easy 12 tricks and a top board.
Board 19: South can open 1S or 1NT; with 5 in one major and only 2 in the other, I generally open the major, but 1NT will often work well. (This is especially true with exactly 16 hcp: passing 1NT may catch partner with 10, while raising to 2NT may find him with 6.) Over 1S, West overcalls his good club suit. North has five trumps and two doubletons -- not classic, but 4S at this vulnerability seems worthwhile.
East was hoping to show his good hearts before supporting West's clubs, but 4S makes that impossible. The ehart suit and spade singleton rate to be useful to partner, so East tries 5C, which should end the bidding. 12 tricks are easy when the club suit splits 3-2. A misguided 5S call from South risks chasing E/W into a slam.
Board 3: South opens a maximum 15-17 1NT. West considers a leap to 3C, but vulnerable vs. not settles for 2C. North counts six losers, and at 3 points a trick partner may well provide 5 cover cads, so slam is a distinct possiblilty. It is somewhat unlikely that hearts will provide more tricks than spades; you won't need ruffs to set up the spade suit, and there are few minor suit losers to pitch, so North can simply force to game with 3S. (To check on a heart fit North could bid 3C, cue-bidding the overcaller's suit as Stayman, and follow with 3S if South replies 3D.) South has a spade fit and excellent controls, and so bids 4C as a slam try "on the way" to 4S. (Having opened 1NT, South would not be arguing about the trump suit at the four level; with only 2 spades South would retreat to 3NT.) North cue-bids 4H, confirming more than mere game interest, and South proceeds with 4NT, with the bidding ending in 6S. Declarer counts 6 spade winners, 2 hearts, 2 diamonds and a club, one trick short; running the Queen of hearts doesn't gain even if West covers. To score another heart trick, play low toward the Jack or even the Queen, preserving chances to drop the ten or pick up a singleton or doubleton King. It may be possible to ruff four times in hand, but that requires taking two heart winners before pulling trumps, which seems to require good luck in hearts anyway. I'd win the club lead and try a low heart to the Jack immediately; East wins and returns another club. North ruffs, spade to dummy (seeing the bad break), finish pulling trumps, then Queen and Ace of hearts. Hearts split 3-3 to provide declarer's 12th trick.
Board 5: North opens 1H, and East has enough to overcall 2D. West thinks slam, but the Kx of hearts looks exposed; perhaps partner can support spades? A 2S bid is risky if it isn't forcing; experts favor a 3S "fit jump", but my usual style is a simple 2S forcing. East rebids 2NT to show his stopper, which relieves West's concern about the Kx of hearts (whether East has the Ace or Qxx), so West can leap to 4D. An earlier 4D would've been preemptive in most styles, but the delayed sequence should be seen as a forcing slam try. East cue-bids 4H and West continues with 4NT, landing in 6D. East pulls trumps in one round and ruffs a heart and a club in dummy for an easy 12 tricks and a top board.
Board 19: South can open 1S or 1NT; with 5 in one major and only 2 in the other, I generally open the major, but 1NT will often work well. (This is especially true with exactly 16 hcp: passing 1NT may catch partner with 10, while raising to 2NT may find him with 6.) Over 1S, West overcalls his good club suit. North has five trumps and two doubletons -- not classic, but 4S at this vulnerability seems worthwhile.
East was hoping to show his good hearts before supporting West's clubs, but 4S makes that impossible. The ehart suit and spade singleton rate to be useful to partner, so East tries 5C, which should end the bidding. 12 tricks are easy when the club suit splits 3-2. A misguided 5S call from South risks chasing E/W into a slam.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, August 14th 2011
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Board 10: East opens 2NT (20-21); West transfers to spades and then bids 3NT. I have a strong preference for treating this sequence not as "Which game would you like to play, partner?" but instead as "Please bid 4S if you have three of them." Otherwise, what is responder to do with a five card major and a singleton? East dutifully bids 4S; West can add 1 point for the long suit (or doubleton) butthe total falls short of the usual 33 point target for slam. Try visualizing: can you construct a 20 point hand that would make 6S a laydown? Best would be a double-fit with diamonds: Jxx Ax AKQJx Axx looks like an easy 12 tricks, and that's only 19 hcp. Unfortunately, there's no room to invite slam below game, and one can just as easily construct hands where slam has no play, and in fact the five level is risky: xxx Qxx AKQxx AKQ, for example, has adequate key cards but the defense may take the first 3 heart tricks -- but declarer may take all 13 tricks on different lead. 2NT has a reputation as a "slam killer" since it crowds the bidding. 4NT here will keep you out of a slam missing two Aces (or key cards) but tells you nothing about the prospects for 12 tricks. I'd pass. As it happens two finesses work and clubs split 3-3, so declarer takes all 13 tricks at spades or notrump. Don't feel like you should've bid this one.
Board 14: West opens 1NT after two passes, though a few players might downgrade the KQ doubleon and open 1C instead. In general I do not recommend such adjustments for notrump bidding -- points in short suits tend to provide stoppers. North overcalls 2S. What should East do with 11 points but no spade stopper? (East should deduct for no aces but can add something back for the five-card suit.) I suspect 3NT would be the near-unaminous choice of any expert bidding panel -- the strong notrumper usually has a stopper in the overcaller's suit. For those playing lebensohl, 3NT explicitly denies a stopper, with the alternate sequence 2NT-then-3NT used to show a stopper. West does, in fact, have the expected stopper, but one low spade establishes North's suit and West cannot develop 9 tricks without losing the lead. Declarer can choose to knock aout the Ace of hearts and finish with 7 tricks, or lose to the Queen of diamonds and score only 6. Such disasters aren't enjoyable but keep in mind the game bonus: exchange either of West's Queens for the Queen of diamonds, or give East the Jack of spades and nine tricks would be easy. That's bridge.
Board 16: West opens 1C and North tosses in a weak 2S bid at the favorable vulnerability. East doubles (negative, showing hearts); South does not have a classic raise (only 2 trumps) and should probably give partner some leeway at this vulnerability. West rebids his clubs (or passes of South's 3S) and East ends the aucton at 3NT. Axx is a good stopper to have against a weak two bid, since you can hold up twice if needed to exhaust South's spades -- then losing a trick to South will not be fatal. Good luck in both red suits allows 11 tricks at notrump or 12 at clubs -- another slam not worth bidding.
Board 20: West opens 1C; vulnerable, I would expect North to pass, but I'm sure some jumped to 2S. East smells slam but can reasonably start with 1H. West's hand almost qualifies as a Bridge World Death Hand (strong hand, strong suit, 3 card support for partner) but with only 15 hcp including a stiff Ace I'd settle for a simple 2C rebid, eager to drive to game if partner invites. East bids 3D; as 2D would be forcing (many play it artificially, an extension of the New Minor Frocing gadget, but natural or artificial it is forcing) the jump shows 5-5 shape and game-forcing values. West bids 3H to show belated (3-card) support, and East continues with 4C. Some would read this as a simple cueb-id, others would say it shows East's pattern, suggesting a fitting honor and the shortness in spades; either way East's hand qualifies. In any case 4C is a clear slam try, and West proceeds with 4NT. Playing Roman Key Card Blackwood, East shows 3 key cards (5C = 0 or 3, or 5D using the "1430" variation); West can rule out zero on East's previous bidding and counts 5 heart tricks, at least 5 clubs (might need a ruff if East has the stiff ace or the suit break 4-1), two side Aces and one diamond ruff totals 13 tricks, so West can bid 7H. The only reason to bid 5NT would be in an attempt to get to 7NT, but 7H may have better chances and I wouldn't expect many pairs to bid either grand. In fact, only 2 pairs bid even a small slam.
Board 10: East opens 2NT (20-21); West transfers to spades and then bids 3NT. I have a strong preference for treating this sequence not as "Which game would you like to play, partner?" but instead as "Please bid 4S if you have three of them." Otherwise, what is responder to do with a five card major and a singleton? East dutifully bids 4S; West can add 1 point for the long suit (or doubleton) butthe total falls short of the usual 33 point target for slam. Try visualizing: can you construct a 20 point hand that would make 6S a laydown? Best would be a double-fit with diamonds: Jxx Ax AKQJx Axx looks like an easy 12 tricks, and that's only 19 hcp. Unfortunately, there's no room to invite slam below game, and one can just as easily construct hands where slam has no play, and in fact the five level is risky: xxx Qxx AKQxx AKQ, for example, has adequate key cards but the defense may take the first 3 heart tricks -- but declarer may take all 13 tricks on different lead. 2NT has a reputation as a "slam killer" since it crowds the bidding. 4NT here will keep you out of a slam missing two Aces (or key cards) but tells you nothing about the prospects for 12 tricks. I'd pass. As it happens two finesses work and clubs split 3-3, so declarer takes all 13 tricks at spades or notrump. Don't feel like you should've bid this one.
Board 14: West opens 1NT after two passes, though a few players might downgrade the KQ doubleon and open 1C instead. In general I do not recommend such adjustments for notrump bidding -- points in short suits tend to provide stoppers. North overcalls 2S. What should East do with 11 points but no spade stopper? (East should deduct for no aces but can add something back for the five-card suit.) I suspect 3NT would be the near-unaminous choice of any expert bidding panel -- the strong notrumper usually has a stopper in the overcaller's suit. For those playing lebensohl, 3NT explicitly denies a stopper, with the alternate sequence 2NT-then-3NT used to show a stopper. West does, in fact, have the expected stopper, but one low spade establishes North's suit and West cannot develop 9 tricks without losing the lead. Declarer can choose to knock aout the Ace of hearts and finish with 7 tricks, or lose to the Queen of diamonds and score only 6. Such disasters aren't enjoyable but keep in mind the game bonus: exchange either of West's Queens for the Queen of diamonds, or give East the Jack of spades and nine tricks would be easy. That's bridge.
Board 16: West opens 1C and North tosses in a weak 2S bid at the favorable vulnerability. East doubles (negative, showing hearts); South does not have a classic raise (only 2 trumps) and should probably give partner some leeway at this vulnerability. West rebids his clubs (or passes of South's 3S) and East ends the aucton at 3NT. Axx is a good stopper to have against a weak two bid, since you can hold up twice if needed to exhaust South's spades -- then losing a trick to South will not be fatal. Good luck in both red suits allows 11 tricks at notrump or 12 at clubs -- another slam not worth bidding.
Board 20: West opens 1C; vulnerable, I would expect North to pass, but I'm sure some jumped to 2S. East smells slam but can reasonably start with 1H. West's hand almost qualifies as a Bridge World Death Hand (strong hand, strong suit, 3 card support for partner) but with only 15 hcp including a stiff Ace I'd settle for a simple 2C rebid, eager to drive to game if partner invites. East bids 3D; as 2D would be forcing (many play it artificially, an extension of the New Minor Frocing gadget, but natural or artificial it is forcing) the jump shows 5-5 shape and game-forcing values. West bids 3H to show belated (3-card) support, and East continues with 4C. Some would read this as a simple cueb-id, others would say it shows East's pattern, suggesting a fitting honor and the shortness in spades; either way East's hand qualifies. In any case 4C is a clear slam try, and West proceeds with 4NT. Playing Roman Key Card Blackwood, East shows 3 key cards (5C = 0 or 3, or 5D using the "1430" variation); West can rule out zero on East's previous bidding and counts 5 heart tricks, at least 5 clubs (might need a ruff if East has the stiff ace or the suit break 4-1), two side Aces and one diamond ruff totals 13 tricks, so West can bid 7H. The only reason to bid 5NT would be in an attempt to get to 7NT, but 7H may have better chances and I wouldn't expect many pairs to bid either grand. In fact, only 2 pairs bid even a small slam.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Thursday, August 11 2011
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Board 15: West opens 1H -- move the stiff King to one of the long suits and I'd vote for 2C. North passes at this vulnerability. East is too strong for a single raise, and lacks the fourth trump expected for a jump raise, so he should respond 1S and plan to jump in hearts later. West forces to game with a jump shift (3D.) And now what does East do? "Fast arrival" devotees may argue that 4H would be weaker than 3H, but the standard view I think is that 3H may indicate mere preference (a doubleton) while 4H prtomises genuine support and therefore a hand too strong for a simple raise. West uses 4NT just to make sure partner has at least one key card, hoping it isn't the Ace of clubs. I've seen players leap to 6H on this sort of hand because "you can't Blackwood with a void", but it seems tto me partner is unlikely to have the King of hearts or the Ace of spades if his reply to 4NT shows 0 key cards. Here he shows 1 and West takes a shot at slam.
It is often best to lead an Ace against a suit slam (especially at matchpoints, where saving the overtrick may be important) but here it's fatal: club ruff, cash the King of spades, Ace of diamonds, ruff a diamond -- over-rufffed by South's King, heart return but declarer can still ruff a diamond and pitch his remaining three diamonds on the Ace of spades and the two top clubs.
With the auction as given, North should try to protect his diamond winners -- declarer's second suit -- and lead a trump, leaving declarer a trick short. 6H down one ties for a bottom, no surprise when a key suit breaks 5-1. Unlucky.
Board 24: North opens 3C in second seat, catching partner with a monster. Picturing little more than KQxxxx in trumps and out for a non-vulnerable preempt, South can still figure the heart suit can be established and slam looks excellent. May as well try 3H (100% forcing!) in case partner can support; North bids 3S as a probe toward 3NT. Unfortunately this muddies the waters for Key Card bidders, what would be the agreed suit if South now jumps to 4NT? Probably hearts; some partnerships assume simple Blackwood when no suit has been clearly agreed. North shows zero Aces or Key Cards and South settles for 6C.
East leads a spade, hoping not to give away anything. Declarer wins in hand and proceeds to establish the hearts: Ace of hearts, heart ruff (no 5-1 break here!), finesse in trumps or not? With ten trumps missing the King, the finesse offers better as well as some addded safety -- when East follows, if the suit is 3-0 the finesse will succeed, while if it fails trumps are 2-1 one way or the other. Finessing does not appear to interfere with declarer's plan to establish hearts, so North runs a high club to West. A diamond is led to dummy, a heart is ruffed high, a trump to the Ace pulls the last of those, ruff another heart, ruff a diamond, spade to dummy's Ace and pitch a spade on the now established Queen of hearts. Six making six scores a top. My partner and I made what turned out to be a "striped-tail-ape" double -- we doubled five when declarer can make six! But of course they weren't headed for six. Note to self -- watch out for those underbidders! At our table North/South bid Pass-1H; 2C-2H and I doubled to "compete for the part-score." North rebid his clubs, South leaped to 5C which East, not unreasonably, doubled. Oops.
Board 25: North opens either 1D (textbook) or 1NT (slightly off-beat.) Over either bid South should be thinking slam, but the topless suit may discourage an immediate jump shift. So, 1D-1H; 2C-2S, fourth suit artificial, forcing to game. (North skipped over spades so there's no chance of a fit there.) Now 2NT-3H; and North can take charge with 4NT, Roman Key Card for hearts. South replies one (5D, or 5C playing "1430".) That leaves one key card missing, and "1430" pairs may want to bid 5D to make sure the Queen is not also missing -- DANGER! Diamonds was North's original suit; might partner think 5D is to play? Better to skip the Queen ask and just gamble 6H. Two pairs reached 6NT but on the given auction I don't think North can assume 12 tricks at notrump -- South may need to establish the diamond suit by ruffing, for example.
West would dearly love to punt the lead; since that's not allowed a low spade may have the best chance to avoid blowing a trick. Leading the Queen of clubs hoping to catch King in dummy and Ace with partner strikes me as swinging for the fences on a slider low and away -- North bid clubs, and leading them is much more likely to lose a trick than gain.
South counts 13 tricks, but loses a heart if West glances at dummy before blindly covering the Queen. A rare hand where 6 of 9 pairs bid slam despite only 31 high card points.
Board 31: After South passes, West may open 3S with QJ98765 and out, or pass. I'm not a fan of extremely weak preempts, especially second seat where partner is just as likely to have a strong hand as LHO. North opens 2NT, and if South "does the math", 11+20 or 21 does not add up to slam. I'd probably just raise to 3NT with the 3433 shape, but 4H was the popular contract, whether due to Stayman or in response to North's double of 3S. Twelve tricks can be made when East has trouble guarding both minors.
Board 32: 1S-2C; 2D-3NT looks like a normal auction for E/W, and while West can add two or three points for the excellent spades 16+13 to 15 does not equal slam, and the club misfit argues for passing 3NT. The solid suit looks like a good source of tricks for partner, no need to insist on spades as trumps.
Board 15: West opens 1H -- move the stiff King to one of the long suits and I'd vote for 2C. North passes at this vulnerability. East is too strong for a single raise, and lacks the fourth trump expected for a jump raise, so he should respond 1S and plan to jump in hearts later. West forces to game with a jump shift (3D.) And now what does East do? "Fast arrival" devotees may argue that 4H would be weaker than 3H, but the standard view I think is that 3H may indicate mere preference (a doubleton) while 4H prtomises genuine support and therefore a hand too strong for a simple raise. West uses 4NT just to make sure partner has at least one key card, hoping it isn't the Ace of clubs. I've seen players leap to 6H on this sort of hand because "you can't Blackwood with a void", but it seems tto me partner is unlikely to have the King of hearts or the Ace of spades if his reply to 4NT shows 0 key cards. Here he shows 1 and West takes a shot at slam.
It is often best to lead an Ace against a suit slam (especially at matchpoints, where saving the overtrick may be important) but here it's fatal: club ruff, cash the King of spades, Ace of diamonds, ruff a diamond -- over-rufffed by South's King, heart return but declarer can still ruff a diamond and pitch his remaining three diamonds on the Ace of spades and the two top clubs.
With the auction as given, North should try to protect his diamond winners -- declarer's second suit -- and lead a trump, leaving declarer a trick short. 6H down one ties for a bottom, no surprise when a key suit breaks 5-1. Unlucky.
Board 24: North opens 3C in second seat, catching partner with a monster. Picturing little more than KQxxxx in trumps and out for a non-vulnerable preempt, South can still figure the heart suit can be established and slam looks excellent. May as well try 3H (100% forcing!) in case partner can support; North bids 3S as a probe toward 3NT. Unfortunately this muddies the waters for Key Card bidders, what would be the agreed suit if South now jumps to 4NT? Probably hearts; some partnerships assume simple Blackwood when no suit has been clearly agreed. North shows zero Aces or Key Cards and South settles for 6C.
East leads a spade, hoping not to give away anything. Declarer wins in hand and proceeds to establish the hearts: Ace of hearts, heart ruff (no 5-1 break here!), finesse in trumps or not? With ten trumps missing the King, the finesse offers better as well as some addded safety -- when East follows, if the suit is 3-0 the finesse will succeed, while if it fails trumps are 2-1 one way or the other. Finessing does not appear to interfere with declarer's plan to establish hearts, so North runs a high club to West. A diamond is led to dummy, a heart is ruffed high, a trump to the Ace pulls the last of those, ruff another heart, ruff a diamond, spade to dummy's Ace and pitch a spade on the now established Queen of hearts. Six making six scores a top. My partner and I made what turned out to be a "striped-tail-ape" double -- we doubled five when declarer can make six! But of course they weren't headed for six. Note to self -- watch out for those underbidders! At our table North/South bid Pass-1H; 2C-2H and I doubled to "compete for the part-score." North rebid his clubs, South leaped to 5C which East, not unreasonably, doubled. Oops.
Board 25: North opens either 1D (textbook) or 1NT (slightly off-beat.) Over either bid South should be thinking slam, but the topless suit may discourage an immediate jump shift. So, 1D-1H; 2C-2S, fourth suit artificial, forcing to game. (North skipped over spades so there's no chance of a fit there.) Now 2NT-3H; and North can take charge with 4NT, Roman Key Card for hearts. South replies one (5D, or 5C playing "1430".) That leaves one key card missing, and "1430" pairs may want to bid 5D to make sure the Queen is not also missing -- DANGER! Diamonds was North's original suit; might partner think 5D is to play? Better to skip the Queen ask and just gamble 6H. Two pairs reached 6NT but on the given auction I don't think North can assume 12 tricks at notrump -- South may need to establish the diamond suit by ruffing, for example.
West would dearly love to punt the lead; since that's not allowed a low spade may have the best chance to avoid blowing a trick. Leading the Queen of clubs hoping to catch King in dummy and Ace with partner strikes me as swinging for the fences on a slider low and away -- North bid clubs, and leading them is much more likely to lose a trick than gain.
South counts 13 tricks, but loses a heart if West glances at dummy before blindly covering the Queen. A rare hand where 6 of 9 pairs bid slam despite only 31 high card points.
Board 31: After South passes, West may open 3S with QJ98765 and out, or pass. I'm not a fan of extremely weak preempts, especially second seat where partner is just as likely to have a strong hand as LHO. North opens 2NT, and if South "does the math", 11+20 or 21 does not add up to slam. I'd probably just raise to 3NT with the 3433 shape, but 4H was the popular contract, whether due to Stayman or in response to North's double of 3S. Twelve tricks can be made when East has trouble guarding both minors.
Board 32: 1S-2C; 2D-3NT looks like a normal auction for E/W, and while West can add two or three points for the excellent spades 16+13 to 15 does not equal slam, and the club misfit argues for passing 3NT. The solid suit looks like a good source of tricks for partner, no need to insist on spades as trumps.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Sunday. August 7th 2011
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Board 18: East opens 1C; South may preempt 3C if partner will take that as long clubs (I think that's the most common understanding over a minor. Over a major suit, the jump cue would be asking partner to bid 3NT with a stopper.) West bids 3S (forcing, a new suit by responder who has not yet passed.) East raises to game. West takes stock: one or two spade losers, a heart, two or three diamonds. About 5 losers and partner opened the bidding; but anything in clubs will be wasted. Try visualizing: KQx Axxx Kx xxxx is possible, but you need diamonds to break no worse than 4-2 and even then it may be hard to set them up by ruffing. Better would be Kxxx Axx KQx xxxx, now both diamonds and spades come in and in fact 7S is likely to make. With a possible 13 tricks opposite 12 hcp, gambling on 6S seems reasonable. West can use 4NT to make sure partner has at least one Ace or key card. It's not ideal with the void, but slam would be terrible if partner has no key card, and that's the basic goal of 4NT -- stay out of hopeless slams. East shows 2 Key cards plus the Queen (5S) using RKCB or 1 ace using plain Blackwood, and West should bid 6S. (Absent the preempt, West might stop at 5S using plain Blackwood, guessing East has the Ace of clubs.)
West pulls trumps, cashes the Ace of diamonds and concedes a diamond, and then ruffs two more diamonds to establish the 5th as a winner. Along the way West may as well ruff clubs in hand, in case the Ace drops or a squeeze develops.
Our auction, with no preempt, was 1C-1S; 2S-4NT; 5S-6S. The raise from 1 to 2 gave me confidence partner had 4 trumps or a good 3 card holding. I would've stopped at 5S if partner had shown zero or one key card; I don't know of a good way to portray the void or ask about key cards excluding partner's first suit.
Board 26: South opens 1NT; West may overcall 2C, natural or DONT (showing clubs and another suit.) Some may pass but those two tens would inspire me to bid despite being vulnerable. North counts 3.5 heart losers, a diamond and a club; partner's 15-17 can easily provide 5 cover cards so slam or grand slam looks plausible. Point counters can count 14 + 2 for the long suits for at least 16, and three aces are a plus. For slam purposes the heart suit is very anemic; I'd treat it as a four-bagger, bidding Stayman (2C if West passed, or 3C, cue-bidding West's suit.) South shows hearts, let's assume 3H over 3C. North can bid 4NT as RKCB, or use a gadget to show a fit -- bidding the other major after Stayman is one expert tretment, so 3S to confirm a heart fit and show slam interest. (It should stirke partner as weird that you would bid Stayman and then volunteer the unbid major, so this gadget has some protection against memory failure.)
South lacks a spade control -- the 3S bid has nothing to do with spades -- but lovely trumps, so a 4C cue-bid is recommended. I think of this as "borrowing" one of those high trumps to treat the club like an Ace. North now checks key cards (4NT), South replies 5H (2 without the Queen) and North settles for 6H as there may be a trump loser. That was the popular contract; one pair scored a matchpoint top with 6NT, but as North only has 14 hcp that seems riskier than 6H. Everyone took 13 tricks when both red suits came in with no losers.
Board 18: East opens 1C; South may preempt 3C if partner will take that as long clubs (I think that's the most common understanding over a minor. Over a major suit, the jump cue would be asking partner to bid 3NT with a stopper.) West bids 3S (forcing, a new suit by responder who has not yet passed.) East raises to game. West takes stock: one or two spade losers, a heart, two or three diamonds. About 5 losers and partner opened the bidding; but anything in clubs will be wasted. Try visualizing: KQx Axxx Kx xxxx is possible, but you need diamonds to break no worse than 4-2 and even then it may be hard to set them up by ruffing. Better would be Kxxx Axx KQx xxxx, now both diamonds and spades come in and in fact 7S is likely to make. With a possible 13 tricks opposite 12 hcp, gambling on 6S seems reasonable. West can use 4NT to make sure partner has at least one Ace or key card. It's not ideal with the void, but slam would be terrible if partner has no key card, and that's the basic goal of 4NT -- stay out of hopeless slams. East shows 2 Key cards plus the Queen (5S) using RKCB or 1 ace using plain Blackwood, and West should bid 6S. (Absent the preempt, West might stop at 5S using plain Blackwood, guessing East has the Ace of clubs.)
West pulls trumps, cashes the Ace of diamonds and concedes a diamond, and then ruffs two more diamonds to establish the 5th as a winner. Along the way West may as well ruff clubs in hand, in case the Ace drops or a squeeze develops.
Our auction, with no preempt, was 1C-1S; 2S-4NT; 5S-6S. The raise from 1 to 2 gave me confidence partner had 4 trumps or a good 3 card holding. I would've stopped at 5S if partner had shown zero or one key card; I don't know of a good way to portray the void or ask about key cards excluding partner's first suit.
Board 26: South opens 1NT; West may overcall 2C, natural or DONT (showing clubs and another suit.) Some may pass but those two tens would inspire me to bid despite being vulnerable. North counts 3.5 heart losers, a diamond and a club; partner's 15-17 can easily provide 5 cover cards so slam or grand slam looks plausible. Point counters can count 14 + 2 for the long suits for at least 16, and three aces are a plus. For slam purposes the heart suit is very anemic; I'd treat it as a four-bagger, bidding Stayman (2C if West passed, or 3C, cue-bidding West's suit.) South shows hearts, let's assume 3H over 3C. North can bid 4NT as RKCB, or use a gadget to show a fit -- bidding the other major after Stayman is one expert tretment, so 3S to confirm a heart fit and show slam interest. (It should stirke partner as weird that you would bid Stayman and then volunteer the unbid major, so this gadget has some protection against memory failure.)
South lacks a spade control -- the 3S bid has nothing to do with spades -- but lovely trumps, so a 4C cue-bid is recommended. I think of this as "borrowing" one of those high trumps to treat the club like an Ace. North now checks key cards (4NT), South replies 5H (2 without the Queen) and North settles for 6H as there may be a trump loser. That was the popular contract; one pair scored a matchpoint top with 6NT, but as North only has 14 hcp that seems riskier than 6H. Everyone took 13 tricks when both red suits came in with no losers.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Friday, August 5th 2011
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Board 13: North opens 1C. East, vulnerable with only a King, may nevertheless trot out a Michaels cue-bid on his 6-6 shape. Assuming a pass, South counts 4 losers (a spade, a diamond and two clubs) and can expect to make slam or grand slam unless two key cards are missing. Clubs are probably the best trump suit, planning to pitch any spade losers North has on the long diamonds, but as it is possible North has only 3 clubs South needs more information before setting trumps. Playing strong jump shifts, South starts with 2D, planning to support clubs next. Most American experts require a five-card suit for a jump shift, so North would certainly raise with Axx support; I prefer fewer restrictions, so South might have only KQxx for his jump; North's natural rebid would be 2NT but lacking a spade stopper he may prefer to raise. Another common restriction is no side suit, which would allow opener to cue-bid 2H, certainly a more economical bid than 3D. Again, I don't make that restriction, so I would probably rebid 2NT to describe the shape and strength. South now shows his club supprt with 3C, and North continues with 3D or 3H. South at any rate should drive the bidding to 6C or 6D.
Playing weak jump shifts, South must begin with a nebulous 1D response. This is supposed to "save bidding room" but does so at the expense of keeping North clueless about South's slam ambitions. North may rebid 1NT (my choice) or rebid the clubs or raise diamonds or even try 1H to avoid bidding notrump without a spade stopper. (My attitude is that I don't worry much about stopping a suit no one bothered to overcall.) Over 1NT, South can force with 2S; this need not be a real suit since North skipped over it. Such a reverse by responder is best played as forcing to game. North now shows delayed diamond support (3D.) South may consider 4C, but that bid could easily be taken as showing a control rather than support; simplest is probably 4NT followed by 6C or 6D. If partner would understand 4H over 3D as showing a void (some would play it as Exclusion Key Card Blackwood) that's another option. I think the potential for a bidding mishap is quite high if South never makes a clarifying jump, which exposes the fallacy that not jumping immediately saves bidding room. 6C, 6D and 6NT all make easily.
Board 25: My partner and I had this auction: 1S-2H; 3C-3H; 4H-4NT; 5C (1 or 4 key cards)-5D (do you have the Queen of trumps?). At this point North doubled, perhaps to suggest a sacrifice. Playing next step = no, second step = yes, it is unclear what the best ageement shold be over the double. East bid 6H, which certainly implied the Queen, and failing a diamond lead I was able to make 6. The key bid in our auction was East's 3C, implying extra values; with a minimum, East should rebid something at the 2 level, using 2S as a catch-all for minimum hands unsuitable for 2NT. Most E/W pairs languished in 4H, likely because no bid by East sugests extra values -- this is my chief objection to "Two Over One Game Force" with no study of the follow-up bidding.
Board 13: North opens 1C. East, vulnerable with only a King, may nevertheless trot out a Michaels cue-bid on his 6-6 shape. Assuming a pass, South counts 4 losers (a spade, a diamond and two clubs) and can expect to make slam or grand slam unless two key cards are missing. Clubs are probably the best trump suit, planning to pitch any spade losers North has on the long diamonds, but as it is possible North has only 3 clubs South needs more information before setting trumps. Playing strong jump shifts, South starts with 2D, planning to support clubs next. Most American experts require a five-card suit for a jump shift, so North would certainly raise with Axx support; I prefer fewer restrictions, so South might have only KQxx for his jump; North's natural rebid would be 2NT but lacking a spade stopper he may prefer to raise. Another common restriction is no side suit, which would allow opener to cue-bid 2H, certainly a more economical bid than 3D. Again, I don't make that restriction, so I would probably rebid 2NT to describe the shape and strength. South now shows his club supprt with 3C, and North continues with 3D or 3H. South at any rate should drive the bidding to 6C or 6D.
Playing weak jump shifts, South must begin with a nebulous 1D response. This is supposed to "save bidding room" but does so at the expense of keeping North clueless about South's slam ambitions. North may rebid 1NT (my choice) or rebid the clubs or raise diamonds or even try 1H to avoid bidding notrump without a spade stopper. (My attitude is that I don't worry much about stopping a suit no one bothered to overcall.) Over 1NT, South can force with 2S; this need not be a real suit since North skipped over it. Such a reverse by responder is best played as forcing to game. North now shows delayed diamond support (3D.) South may consider 4C, but that bid could easily be taken as showing a control rather than support; simplest is probably 4NT followed by 6C or 6D. If partner would understand 4H over 3D as showing a void (some would play it as Exclusion Key Card Blackwood) that's another option. I think the potential for a bidding mishap is quite high if South never makes a clarifying jump, which exposes the fallacy that not jumping immediately saves bidding room. 6C, 6D and 6NT all make easily.
Board 25: My partner and I had this auction: 1S-2H; 3C-3H; 4H-4NT; 5C (1 or 4 key cards)-5D (do you have the Queen of trumps?). At this point North doubled, perhaps to suggest a sacrifice. Playing next step = no, second step = yes, it is unclear what the best ageement shold be over the double. East bid 6H, which certainly implied the Queen, and failing a diamond lead I was able to make 6. The key bid in our auction was East's 3C, implying extra values; with a minimum, East should rebid something at the 2 level, using 2S as a catch-all for minimum hands unsuitable for 2NT. Most E/W pairs languished in 4H, likely because no bid by East sugests extra values -- this is my chief objection to "Two Over One Game Force" with no study of the follow-up bidding.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Thursday, August 4th 2011
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Forcing Minor Raise -- Board 6: South opens 1D and North has a prime 14 count with six card support. North can count two points for the long suit with a known fit and perhaps one or two more for his doubletons, as South may be able to pitch a loser or two. Call it 17 in value, enough to invite slam but not enough to insist on it opposite a minimum. Oddly, many players lack a method of establishing partner's minor suit as trumps and then exploring for slam. Most of the time you'll have another suit to bid, so such hands are rare, but missing a good slam or going down in a bad one would be quite frustrating.
Let's confirm North's slam interest with visualization: can we construct a balacned 12 point hand that would make slam a virtual laydown? Try KQxx xx Kxxx Axx opposite North's Ax Axx AQ109xx xx -- 11 top tricks, ruff a heart for 12 (after conceding a heart), and pitch a club on the Queen of spades to avoid a loser there. If North drives to slam, South may have a less suitable 12 count and the cotract may have no play. But if North can invite slam and South accepts, there are many more hands that will make 12 tricks. So inviting slam is justified. However, if the combined values don't add up to 6D, North would like to play 3NT or at least 4NT unless the clubs are wide open. That adds to the complication -- if North can establish a game force with a diamond fit, any 4NT bid is sure to be interpreted as Blackwood or a Key Card asking bid. And yet it is nearly impossible to suggest slam in a minor below 3NT -- all the bidding tools are aimed at the all-important 3NT game.
As a practical matter, North should probably settle for 3NT at matchpoints -- with only 14 hcp, the field won't be in slam and 3NT should score reasonably well. At teams, it would be better to try for slam and stop, if necessary, at 5D.
Now let's look at bidding tools. Some pairs may still play 1D-3D as an old-fashioned forcing raise, and I'd recommend that for far more partnerships -- simple, and reasonably effective. On today's hand South would probe for 3NT with 3S; K10xx may not be a double-stopper opposite a singleton, but then again 5D might fail on the duplicated values in that case. North lacks a club stopper and may as well cue-bid 4H on the way to 5D. South has a prime 14 count, control of the unmentioned suit (clubs) and is delighted to hear about the heart control, so I would expect 4NT (Blackwood), 5S (3 Aces), 6D, pass. South should bid the slam over 5H (two Aces) as well, and can pass a 5D reply. The only drawback to this method would be landing at 5D rather than 3NT at matchpoints.
More popular is 1D-3D as a "limit raise", inviting game but not forcing. Unfortunately, many pairs combine this with 1D-2NT not forcing, leaving North with absolutely no sensible way to bid this hand! Many would guess to bid 4NT (Blackwood or RKCB), and compound the crime by stopping at 5D if partner shows no Ace with the excuse "I was worried about clubs, partner." The purpose of Blackwood is to stay out of slam missing two Aces. (Completely unethical, of course, is the common habitof thinking a long time after, rather than before, using Blackwood, inviting partner to proceed to slam if he likes his hand. But pairs who bid this way make enough mistakes I try not to leat it bother me.)
Better would be to combine "limit raises" with a forcing 2NT and splinter raises: a double jump in a new suit shows game values, good trump support, and a singleton or void in the suit jumped. Many play splinters over a major but they are also useful over minors. "Game values" should be at least 13 high card points (enough for 3NT if opener has a stopper-and-a-half opposite the shortage), and trump support should be 5 or 6 cards with no side four-card major.
On today's hand Norrth has no singleton and so cannot splinter, but a forcing 2NT at least keeps the bidding open. Since 2NT generally denies a four-card major, South's rebid over 2NT can be similar to Jacoby 2NT over a major (Warning! -- non-standard method here.) South bids a new suit to show a singleton, which will guide North to choosing between 3NT and 5 or 6 diamonds. With a balanced 12-14 such as today's hand, South simply raises 2NT to 3NT. With a balanced 18, South can invite slam by raising to 4NT (quantitative, not Blackwood; 4C would be Gerber.) Finally, with no singleton but 5 or 6 diamonds and extra values, South can rebid 3D over 2NT.
After 1D-2NT-3NT, North must decide between a matchpoint pass or trying for slam. 4NT, quantititive, is a possibility (no suit has been agreed and it is a raise of notrump, so it shouldn't be Blackwood) but 4D confirms the fit, is a clear slam try (it would be senseless for North to suggest 3NT and then run from it in fear) and seems a good description of North's hand. South, having limited his values with 3NT, should love his hand and can proceed with Blackwood or RKCB or can cue-bid spades or clubs and the slam should be reached. Again, the drawback with this approach is that once North bids 4D, it is impossible to land back at 3NT or even, in most partnerships, 4NT. A look at the results shows 3NT scored 6 of 8 matchpoints (75%), 6D a full top, and 5D making 6 earned a mere 25%. So the reward for bidding slam was only 25% of the matchpoints while stopping a 5D cost 50% and 6D failing would likely have cost a 75% score. I think passing 3NT is the practical matchpoint bid.
For those not prepared to play splinters, a reasonable alternative is to use the jump shift in the other minor as a forcing raise: 1C-2D and 1D-3C. Actually, I'm such as fan of strong two-level jump shifts that I'd prefer to keep 1C-2D for that purpose, but 1C-3D would be fine, so "3 other minor = forcing raise." It is normal to show notrump stoppers after such a raise; South can bid 3S (suggesting a problem in hearts) or perhaps 3D (asking North for major suit stoppers, so implying a stopper in clubs.) North is essentially faced with the same 3NT-or-diamonds dilemma as above, and 3NT is the practical bid.
Finally we come to the popular "Inverted Minor" raise, which most 2/1 Game Force partnerships use. 1D-3D is 6-9 with 5 card support (just enough for 3NT if opener has a balanced 18 count) and 1D-2D shows 10+ with 4+ diamonds (and no major and no great length in clubs.) It is common to play opener's rebids of 2NT and 3D as minimum, not forcing; with extra values opener begins bidding stoppers (any new suit) or jumps to 3NT (keeping in mind responder may have a singleton somewhere.)
Today's South (looking at a good 14) can bid 2S or 3C over the raise; planning ahead 3C may be the better call since North likely cannot stop the clubs and may be stuck for a second bid on a good hand like today's. "Extra values and stuff in clubs" should delight North, who can proceed with 4NT followed by 5NT (all the Aces or all five key cards + the Queen.) But 5NT will prove disastrous if South is expected to show how many Kings he has, as his 6H or 6S reply will land the partnership too high at 6NT or 7D.
Better to get South to do the asking: 1D-2D; 3C-3H; 3NT-4S (an obvious slam try); 4NT-5S (3 aces) or 5C (0 or 3 key cards) or 5D (0 or 3 playing "1430"). The 4S cue-bid rules out 0 key cards and South can bid 5H to ask about the Queen. There are two popular methods of replying to the Queen-asking bid: first step = no, second = yes; or, agreed suit = no, other bids = yes, and any suit bid also shows the King of that suit. (I actually play cheaper of agreed suit or 5NT as the negative.) North shows the Queen but no side King and South signs off at 6D.
Well, that's a lot of discussion for one hand but it certainly would be nice to reach this good slam while avoiding a poor one on a day when South's cards are less suitable. "Inverted mnors" appears to be the winner, but 3NT scored 75% and for many partnerships the added complexity of Inverted Minors may not be worthwhile.
Side note: playing forcing jumps, how can responder make a "limit raise" ? Most of the time by bidding a new suit, then 3 of the minor, and for this purpose a good 3 card holding in the other minor is acceptable. For those rare birds such as today's hand with no rational side suit to bid, just force to game with 12 and make a simple raise with 11 -- opener likely has only 12 or 13 hcp and you won't have enough for game; even opposite14 game is only about 55%-60% and stopping short is no great bridge crime.
Forcing Minor Raise -- Board 6: South opens 1D and North has a prime 14 count with six card support. North can count two points for the long suit with a known fit and perhaps one or two more for his doubletons, as South may be able to pitch a loser or two. Call it 17 in value, enough to invite slam but not enough to insist on it opposite a minimum. Oddly, many players lack a method of establishing partner's minor suit as trumps and then exploring for slam. Most of the time you'll have another suit to bid, so such hands are rare, but missing a good slam or going down in a bad one would be quite frustrating.
Let's confirm North's slam interest with visualization: can we construct a balacned 12 point hand that would make slam a virtual laydown? Try KQxx xx Kxxx Axx opposite North's Ax Axx AQ109xx xx -- 11 top tricks, ruff a heart for 12 (after conceding a heart), and pitch a club on the Queen of spades to avoid a loser there. If North drives to slam, South may have a less suitable 12 count and the cotract may have no play. But if North can invite slam and South accepts, there are many more hands that will make 12 tricks. So inviting slam is justified. However, if the combined values don't add up to 6D, North would like to play 3NT or at least 4NT unless the clubs are wide open. That adds to the complication -- if North can establish a game force with a diamond fit, any 4NT bid is sure to be interpreted as Blackwood or a Key Card asking bid. And yet it is nearly impossible to suggest slam in a minor below 3NT -- all the bidding tools are aimed at the all-important 3NT game.
As a practical matter, North should probably settle for 3NT at matchpoints -- with only 14 hcp, the field won't be in slam and 3NT should score reasonably well. At teams, it would be better to try for slam and stop, if necessary, at 5D.
Now let's look at bidding tools. Some pairs may still play 1D-3D as an old-fashioned forcing raise, and I'd recommend that for far more partnerships -- simple, and reasonably effective. On today's hand South would probe for 3NT with 3S; K10xx may not be a double-stopper opposite a singleton, but then again 5D might fail on the duplicated values in that case. North lacks a club stopper and may as well cue-bid 4H on the way to 5D. South has a prime 14 count, control of the unmentioned suit (clubs) and is delighted to hear about the heart control, so I would expect 4NT (Blackwood), 5S (3 Aces), 6D, pass. South should bid the slam over 5H (two Aces) as well, and can pass a 5D reply. The only drawback to this method would be landing at 5D rather than 3NT at matchpoints.
More popular is 1D-3D as a "limit raise", inviting game but not forcing. Unfortunately, many pairs combine this with 1D-2NT not forcing, leaving North with absolutely no sensible way to bid this hand! Many would guess to bid 4NT (Blackwood or RKCB), and compound the crime by stopping at 5D if partner shows no Ace with the excuse "I was worried about clubs, partner." The purpose of Blackwood is to stay out of slam missing two Aces. (Completely unethical, of course, is the common habitof thinking a long time after, rather than before, using Blackwood, inviting partner to proceed to slam if he likes his hand. But pairs who bid this way make enough mistakes I try not to leat it bother me.)
Better would be to combine "limit raises" with a forcing 2NT and splinter raises: a double jump in a new suit shows game values, good trump support, and a singleton or void in the suit jumped. Many play splinters over a major but they are also useful over minors. "Game values" should be at least 13 high card points (enough for 3NT if opener has a stopper-and-a-half opposite the shortage), and trump support should be 5 or 6 cards with no side four-card major.
On today's hand Norrth has no singleton and so cannot splinter, but a forcing 2NT at least keeps the bidding open. Since 2NT generally denies a four-card major, South's rebid over 2NT can be similar to Jacoby 2NT over a major (Warning! -- non-standard method here.) South bids a new suit to show a singleton, which will guide North to choosing between 3NT and 5 or 6 diamonds. With a balanced 12-14 such as today's hand, South simply raises 2NT to 3NT. With a balanced 18, South can invite slam by raising to 4NT (quantitative, not Blackwood; 4C would be Gerber.) Finally, with no singleton but 5 or 6 diamonds and extra values, South can rebid 3D over 2NT.
After 1D-2NT-3NT, North must decide between a matchpoint pass or trying for slam. 4NT, quantititive, is a possibility (no suit has been agreed and it is a raise of notrump, so it shouldn't be Blackwood) but 4D confirms the fit, is a clear slam try (it would be senseless for North to suggest 3NT and then run from it in fear) and seems a good description of North's hand. South, having limited his values with 3NT, should love his hand and can proceed with Blackwood or RKCB or can cue-bid spades or clubs and the slam should be reached. Again, the drawback with this approach is that once North bids 4D, it is impossible to land back at 3NT or even, in most partnerships, 4NT. A look at the results shows 3NT scored 6 of 8 matchpoints (75%), 6D a full top, and 5D making 6 earned a mere 25%. So the reward for bidding slam was only 25% of the matchpoints while stopping a 5D cost 50% and 6D failing would likely have cost a 75% score. I think passing 3NT is the practical matchpoint bid.
For those not prepared to play splinters, a reasonable alternative is to use the jump shift in the other minor as a forcing raise: 1C-2D and 1D-3C. Actually, I'm such as fan of strong two-level jump shifts that I'd prefer to keep 1C-2D for that purpose, but 1C-3D would be fine, so "3 other minor = forcing raise." It is normal to show notrump stoppers after such a raise; South can bid 3S (suggesting a problem in hearts) or perhaps 3D (asking North for major suit stoppers, so implying a stopper in clubs.) North is essentially faced with the same 3NT-or-diamonds dilemma as above, and 3NT is the practical bid.
Finally we come to the popular "Inverted Minor" raise, which most 2/1 Game Force partnerships use. 1D-3D is 6-9 with 5 card support (just enough for 3NT if opener has a balanced 18 count) and 1D-2D shows 10+ with 4+ diamonds (and no major and no great length in clubs.) It is common to play opener's rebids of 2NT and 3D as minimum, not forcing; with extra values opener begins bidding stoppers (any new suit) or jumps to 3NT (keeping in mind responder may have a singleton somewhere.)
Today's South (looking at a good 14) can bid 2S or 3C over the raise; planning ahead 3C may be the better call since North likely cannot stop the clubs and may be stuck for a second bid on a good hand like today's. "Extra values and stuff in clubs" should delight North, who can proceed with 4NT followed by 5NT (all the Aces or all five key cards + the Queen.) But 5NT will prove disastrous if South is expected to show how many Kings he has, as his 6H or 6S reply will land the partnership too high at 6NT or 7D.
Better to get South to do the asking: 1D-2D; 3C-3H; 3NT-4S (an obvious slam try); 4NT-5S (3 aces) or 5C (0 or 3 key cards) or 5D (0 or 3 playing "1430"). The 4S cue-bid rules out 0 key cards and South can bid 5H to ask about the Queen. There are two popular methods of replying to the Queen-asking bid: first step = no, second = yes; or, agreed suit = no, other bids = yes, and any suit bid also shows the King of that suit. (I actually play cheaper of agreed suit or 5NT as the negative.) North shows the Queen but no side King and South signs off at 6D.
Well, that's a lot of discussion for one hand but it certainly would be nice to reach this good slam while avoiding a poor one on a day when South's cards are less suitable. "Inverted mnors" appears to be the winner, but 3NT scored 75% and for many partnerships the added complexity of Inverted Minors may not be worthwhile.
Side note: playing forcing jumps, how can responder make a "limit raise" ? Most of the time by bidding a new suit, then 3 of the minor, and for this purpose a good 3 card holding in the other minor is acceptable. For those rare birds such as today's hand with no rational side suit to bid, just force to game with 12 and make a simple raise with 11 -- opener likely has only 12 or 13 hcp and you won't have enough for game; even opposite14 game is only about 55%-60% and stopping short is no great bridge crime.
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