Sunday, January 29th 2012

Right-click here for hands.

Board 1: North opens 1C, East overcalls 1S. South has a good hand for a junp riase "weak after overcall." This bid should show 0-5 hcp and at least five card support. With less than 6 hcp, game is very unlikely, and showing the trump length will help partner judge well in competition. Don't consider a negative double to show the hearts -- they've got you outgunned with the spades, so make the best competitive bid. West leaps to 4S with a classic distributional raise, five card support with a singleton and around 5-9 hcp. North, alerted to the big club fit and lack of defense by partner's 3C raise, can estimate 19 or 20 total tricks: 10 card fit for N/S and 9 or 10 spades for E/W. Five clubs should be down no more than two tricks, and there looks to be little chance of beating four spades.

East has a defensive hand, with three Aces and poor 5332 shape for offense. There is no reason to expect to be able to make 11 tricks: assume five spade winners, two Aces, a singleton for two ruffs, and a side card for partner -- that only adds up to 10. With a stronger hand partner could've cue-bid 4C. East doubles; should West pull to 5S? It turns out the fifth diamond can provide the crucial 11th trick, but despite the void I think passing 5C will be the long-run winner, unless you know the enemy is apt to foolishly bid six clubs. Only one declarer managed eleven tricks at spades.

Board 2: East opens 1S and South overcalls 2C. Once again West leaps to game with a freakish hand. Should North consider a bid? Only three card support for partner, but the spade void and good diamond suit rate to provide several tricks for partner while being useless on defense. But vulnerable vs. not, South would have to score ten tricks, so North prudently passes. West has a control-rich hand; it's not hard to guess partner is short in clubs, in which case all that's needed is one side winner to cover the heart loser. With three Aces, East simply leaps to 6S, which ends the bidding. (No reason to bid 4NT with 3 Aces and no interest in the seven level.) West's dummy does, in fact, provide the needed club ruffs and heart winner.

Some players believe any jump to game "closes out" the bidding, but that's a silly notion when partner's hand is nearly unlimited. West's jumps on hands 1 and 2 are descriptive bids, not "close-outs".

Board 9: North opens 3S and East doubles for takeout. This suggests a trick or so better than an opening bid as partner will be forced to bid at the four level. South can visualize a lot of tricks in the majors, but partner's weak hand suggests you cannot expect to enjoy any discards; South must pass. West considers bidding 3NT, 4 or 5 clubs, or passing 3S doubled for penalties. The usual guideline is that partner assumes 7 points or so in your hand, which is all West has; holding up the spade Ace may shut out North's suit, but West's clubs are frightfully weak and 3NT looks like too much of a gamble. Likewise passing or 5C seem to require a lot from partner. West bids a simple 4C, passed out: East has a fine hand but inadequate trump support. As it happens the hands mesh very well; West pulls two rounds of trumps and then runs the diamonds to dump a heart. South can ruff the third diamond but the heart still goes away and dummy's last trump takes care of one spade. (Making six appears to require a lucky guess, such as taking the King of diamonds and a diamond finesse before playing the top trumps. This is odds-against as South is more likely to have diamond length than North, who is known to have long spades.)

Several N/S pairs bid on to 4S, perhaps paying attention to the favorable vulnerabilty while overlooking the fact that 4C isn't a game contract. West gleefully doubles and the defense collects five top tricks and a late diamond or over-ruff for +500. It doesn't pay to sacrifice when the opponents aren't bidding game.

Board 11: South opens 1NT and North bids 2C, Stayman. Pleased with South's spade reply, might there be enough for slam? North has seven losers, and at 3 points a trick South can be expected to cover five of those -- not enough. Viewed as dummy, North might cover as many as six losers for South: the trump Queen, two Aces, perhaps two heart ruffs and the fifth diamond, with the two Jacks thrown in for good measure. The hands will fit well if partner has little wasted in hearts; a leap to 4H would be played as a singleton-showing splinter by most pairs familiar with such bids. With almost half his points opposite the shortness, South signs off at 4S.

The strong diamond spots and two winning finesses make for a lucky twelve tricks, but the 5-0 split dooms either 6S or 6D. 6NT is simply not a contract to consider bidding, and +450 should be the normal result.