Friday, February 17th 2012

Right-click here for hands.

Board 3: West opens 1D; East has an excellent 15 hcp with 5-5 in the black suits. Simple Losing Trick Count would rate East's hand at 4 losers, enough for slam opposite an less than an opening bid. But that's fairly optimistic; first, you must locate a fit, and even then it's more reasonable to look sceptically at the fourth card in both suits unless partner shows four-card support. The opening bid in your singleton isn't encouraging; partner rates to have wasted values and there's a fairly small chacne of getting a useful discard. Still, it's a powerhouse; how to proceed? A jump shift would show slam interest immediately, but won't leave enough room below 3NT to show the 5-5 shape. A simple 1S is probably best for the moment, planning to jump in clubs later.

West rebids 1NT. "Keep It Simple" bidders must jump to 3C to force to game; this won't promise 5-5, and doesn't really do justice to the playing strength. West rebids 3NT (most of his points are in the red suits) and East must decide to pass or continue with no known fit. I think pass is prudent.

If your partnership plays New Minor Forcing, the jump to 3C can be more specific. A typical game-invitational or better hand with five spades would bid 2C (artificial) to check back for 3 card support, so the jump in a new suit can be defined as 5-5 or better (game-forcing.) West would be aware of the 5-3 club fit, but would still bid 3NT with so much in the red suits. Slam makes, but wouldn't if clubs split badly or the heart finesse were off. If West were 4-4 in the minors rather than 5-3, slam would be excellent.

Board 9: East opens 1H and South may overcall white vs. red despite only 6 hcp. Regardless, West bids 2C, but 2/1 Game Force bidders should be aware that such a bid is not forcing to game over interference. East raises to 3C -- this should promise extra values and be game-forcing. With a minimum hand East rebids hearts before supporting clubs. West adds his 16 hcp to opener's 14+, defintely slam territory after the raise; but West is noticebly lacking in key cards. It's too much to count on partner for 3 key cards and a 5D or 5H resposne to 4NT makes it impossible to stop at 5C. 5NT may be playable but is apt to be risky. Instead, West bids 3D over 3C. Initially this sounds like a probe for 3NT ("game before slam" is one of Karen Walker's key bidding principles.) East rebids the hearts, looking for two-card support. West could raise hearts but that would give up on slam, so West makes another try with 3S. Notrump probe or slam try? Sounds like a slam try since West could bid notrump himself with stoppers in both diamonds and spades.

East, with three key cards (at clubs) plus a void should drive to slam after this bidding -- it sounds like West has the tricks but did not want to risk 4NT himself (as was, in fact, the case.) East bids 4NT followed by 6C over partner's one-Ace reply. Should West correct to 6H? I'd say no -- some pairs will miss slam altogether, and 6C protects the King of spades and stands to gain on almost any lead. Also, hearts might fail on a bad trump split, while the nine-card club fit may allow setting hearts up with a ruff. As it happens, South has the spade Ace and hearts break 3-2, but 6C scores about average. At a team game 6C would be clear-cut.

At our table North doubled 3D for a lead, and at least one N/S pair reached 5D (-800.) Looks like South has a reasonable Michael's cue-bid, 2H over 1H showing 5-5 with spades and a minor. West doubles to show a strong, relatively balanced hand (11+ hcp, much like a redouble of a takeout double.) North bids 2NT to ask for South's minor; East guesses (correctly) South has diamonds and bids 3C in front of him. South bids 3D; what now for West? It's not hard to picture partner with AQ of hearts, AK of clubs and short diamonds for his unforced 3C bid, so I think West can drive to slam.

Board 17: North opens 1D, South responds 1H and East can consider bidding any number of spades from one to four. Twelve highs would be too much for an opening preempt, but with both opponents bidding and partner passing description isn't the chief priority. Still, West has about six losers and East might cover three of them. Pure preemption argues for 3S, but the chance they can make 4H or you can make 4S argues for 1S (to give partner a chance to double them later) or 4S (make 'em guess!) The suit, while possessing good intermediates, lacks top tricks so I decided on 1S. North can rebid 2C (or employ a Support Double, opener's double of an overcall showing exactly 3 card support for responder's major. This is a popular expert gadget but is frought with danger for most partnerships.) South looks askance at his Queen of spades, but his shape is good and with 11 hcp South jumps to 3D, inviting game. North bids 3H, accepting the game try and showing delayed (three-card) support. South raises to game.

It's usually a poor strategy to let the opponents exchange information and then sacrifice; they'll generally guess correctly whether to double you or bid on. Here, however, West can reasonably hope to take 7 tricks with his own hand and with the enemy announcing a double-fit, it's reasonable to hope for one trick from partner for a paying sacrifice -- if they can make 4H. On defense, only a couple of tricks seem likely, and no reason to expect partner to provide two. I did in fact bid 4S at this point, doubled -300 and a good score. N/S can make 5H or 6D, but I don't see a clear case for either to risk the five level.