Friday, April 20th 2012

Right-click here for hands.

At one table, we defended against 5C, declared 5D, and declared 5C. None of these were the optimal contract! Note that slams and part-scores are often good in a minor, especially when you have a none-card fit or are competing for the part-score. But your attitude toward 5 of a minor should be to try and play either 3NT or 6 of the minor unless both are clearly wrong.

Board 7: South opens 1C. Many prefer 1D with 4-5, especially as here when the diamonds are strong and the clubs weak, but I think such uncertainty about lengths when opener rebids 2C creates as many problems as it purports to solve. North replies 1S, South rebids 2C, and North raises to 3C. With 6 losers, South should not expect partner to cover 4 of them -- unless the enemy bids and raises hearts, marking partner with a shortage there. South's hand is nice but 3C should end the bidding.

If diamonds were never bid, West may fear to underlead his KJ of hearts and may "punt" with a diamond. South wins, cashes two high trumps and dumps his losing hearts on diamonds; a spade toward the King allows South to claim 12 tricks! On an auction like 1D-1S; 2C-3C; pass or 5C, a heart lead is mandatory (if either had hearts stopped they would likely have found notrump) and the defense can claim four tricks quickly.

Board 8: I opened a slightly off-beat 2D, not an uncommon tactic with a good 5 card suit and length in both minors. 2D preempts both majors and sometimes they have trouble finding their fit. Partner inquired with 2NT. We play "features", but when I showed a minimum by rebidding diamonds, partner was under the mistaken impression that all that denied was a side Ace or King. I've always felt a hand like Qx xxx AKxxxxx xx was well above minimum and would not hesitate to bid 3S over a 2NT inquiry. Here, of course, the club Queen would be of enormous value to East. Don't assume "feature" means "Ace or King" without discussing it with partner. Over 3D, East tried to invite game by bidding 4D. Let me make a strong recommendation -- never use 4 of a minor as a game invitation! Game invitations such as 2NT, 3H and 3S are of limited value; using 4 of a minor in the same way is a dead loser. Four of a minor should always be a slam try except in those rare cases where one player bids 3NT as a mere suggestion (the previous bidding making it clear he has doubts about notrump) and partner pulls it. East should pass 3D; with less infomration, gambling 5D might be reasonable.

If West passes initially, East opens 1C and South jumps to 2S. This leaves West with no convenient bid. North rasies to 3S or 4S -- the balanced shape and "poison Queen" (in East's clubs) argue for caution while the known 11 card fit favors the more agressive bid. I would raise a 1S overcall only to 2, but I think 4S is likely best over 2S. West may as well double at matchpoints, with two quick tricks opposite a partner who opened the bidding. Two high diamonds and a heart switch net five tricks (+300) for the defense.

Board 9: East opens 1NT (15-17); West has lively slam interest if a minor suit fit can be found, but the combined  values (30-32 hcp) are a bit thin for 6NT. Ideal here would be 2S as Minor Suit Stayman (game-forcing and asking for a four card minor.) More common is to play 2S as a weak hand with a long minor, or some sort of transfer scheme, such as 2S = clubs and 2NT = diamonds. A simple approach would be transfer to clubs and then rebid 3NT -- this is a clear slam try; with mere game values West should raise to 3NT and not mention the clubs. With five card support and 3 key cards East should then drive to slam, likely using 4NT to confirm one Ace or Key card.

Not playing transfers, 3C should be natural, forcing to game, and suggests an unbalanced hand and/or slam interest -- again, no reason to bid clubs on the way to 3NT with mere game values. Opener assumes partner may have a singleton and should bid a suit where he has a "concentratin of values" sufficient to play notrump if that's partner's singleton. Here, East's AJ tight of spades does not look strong enough and East's next best bet is to bid 3NT, suggesting something in both majors. What about diamonds? Well, partner has to have points somewhere and they may lead a major anyway. Responder will generally pull this with a singleton since opener failed to show any particular concentration.

After 1NT-3C; 3NT, responder may pass or try for slam. I'd say responder has 5 1/2 losers and at 3 points a trick it's a fair bet opener can cover 5 of them. Try visualizing: Kx Ax KQxx QJ1098 opposite Axx Kxx Axxx Kx would make any of 6C, 6D or 6NT a heavy favorite; Axx Kxx Axx Kxxx looks good for 6C on a dummy reversal. Partner won't necessarily have such perfect cards but you should have good chances if he has extra values. Lacking a sure fit 4NT, quantitative, looks right; partner can show club support via 5C or 6C if he likes his hand. While I generally play "notrump-over-notrump" as quantitative, there's a major exception -- when responder jump shifts and 4NT at his next opportunity, it should be asking about key-cards for his suit. With only one key card, West cannot handle a 5D or 5S reply so 4NT is too risky if it would be taken as any form of Blackwood. West must proceed with a natural 4C or 4D or a 4D or 4H cue-bid. All should clearly be taken as slam tries and East should be happy to cooperate.

One other approach: Stayman. 1NT-2C; 2 any - 3C or 3D are game-forcing, and many partnerships have no other way to show a minor suit on the way to game or to investigate slam. Despite the Stayman inquiry, such rebids do not promise a major suit in standard methods (unlike notrump rebids, which must be alerted if no major suit is imlied.) I like to play the immediate jumps (3C and 3D) as one-suited hands and use Stayman with two suits, even if both are minors.

So: 1NT-2C; 2D-3C. The 2D reply assures West there must be a fit, and partner does not have clubs he can bid 3D. On today's hand East has a big club fit but must remember the target is still 3NT if possible. 3NT seems more of a gamble after this auction (partner may be 3415 or such) so East must either raise clubs or try 3S. I think 3S is best -- if responder now bids 3NT, the implication is that he was short in spades and opener is justified in pulling to 4C with his excellent support. Instead, responder today is encouraged by the assured fit and spade bid -- it looks like he can dump a heart loser on spades. The problem with 4NT remains, so over 3S responder bids 4D and opener can easily proceed with 4NT, trusting responder's bidding to indicate real slam interest.