Sunday, May 27th 2012

Right-click here for hands.

Board 9: East opens 1H, South overcalls 2D, and West has just enough for a 2H raise. North has a good hand for a Responsive Double -- length in the two unbid suits, a tolerance for partner's suit, and about 8-10 hcp at this level. This double applies when the opponents bid and raise a suit and partner makes an intervening overcall or takout double. East has a minimum in hgh cards but good 4-6 shape -- Losing Trick Count suggests an immediate 4H bid. Basically, you expect to lose two spades and three minor suit cards, but hope partner can cover two of those with his raise (6 points might be two Kings or an AQ, etc.) as well as take care of your fourth spade. I'd call that an overbid -- whatever partner has in the minors may not help you, and the fourth spade will often be a problem, but as a competitive bid 4H has a lot going for -- even if it won't make, they may guess wrong and take a phantom sacrifice. 4H ought to be hand like this -- with more in high cards, East should cue-bid or something to show a better defensive hand.

The responsive double tells South about the club fit; should he bid 5C? Not as a sacrifice -- South is looking at 4 possible defensive winners in his own hand, and partner has shown values. Might 5C make? South counts 5 losers and the double suggests three cover cards, but some of North's values rate to be in sapdes, which may not help. How about doubling 4H? This looks reasonable -- a spade lead could be effective if partner has either major suit Ace. No luck -- declarer wins, pulls two rounds of trumps, cashes the remaining spades and ruffs the last in dummy.

Several E/W pairs stopped at 3H. At our table the bidding started 1H-2D-2H-pass; pass. It doesn't pay to let them play 2 of a major (with a fit)  so South naturally competes with 3C. West and North passed and East competed with 3H. South and West passed but North made a classic competitive mistake by bidding 4C. This simply chased a reluctant E/W pair into a makeable game they weren't going to bid. Be very cautious about competing over 3 of a major! "Let sleeping dogs lie."

Board 16: North has an Aceless Wonder, but even after deducting a point the hand is well worth a normal 1D opening. East should want to bid something with 6-5 shape, 8 hcp, and a void in diamonds; normally, I would recommend a simple 1H overcall, getting the six-card major into action quickly, but with such poor hearts and good clubs 2NT "Unusual for Two Lower Unbid" is a good alternative, showing both suits at once. South should double to show a good hand -- this is a good general rule, when they bid notrump (naturally or artificially) over partner's bid, double to show strength. West fits both suits, and may be tempted to select the major, but with such a weak hand you don't expect to buy the contract or make anything so 3C looks safer. North would double this with good trumps; today's hand is a balanced minimum, so North passes -- he's already told most of his story with the opening bid. Likewise, East has done enough, so 3C is passed around to South.

Several contracts appear plausible at this point: 3NT if North can stop clubs, 6D if North has a stiff club, 4S if North has a spade fit, or all else failing, 5D. South must bid a game or slam or make an unumistakable forcing bid. The only forcing bid that keeps all contracts in play appears to be 3H -- this must be a cue-bid in the face of East's bid. How should North interpret this? One of Karen Walker's dictums is "game before slam", so North should view 3H as confirming game values and showing a heart stopper. When they've shown two suits, you bid the one you have stopped, inviting partner to bid notrump with a stopper in the other. If South has slam ambitions he'll continue bidding over 3NT.

North cannot stop the clubs and so retreats to 4D; rebidding a five card suit is normal when partner forces you to bid and you have no other obvious choice. South should expect the two losing clubs but has enough to raise to 5D, which is cold.

Vulnerable vs. not, E/W would never sacrifice, but what if the vulnerability were reversed? As it happens 5H goes off three tricks (doubled, of course), so -500 would be a success, but consider the risks when you bid over a five level contract: (1) you may push them into slam and it makes; (2) bad breaks or poorly fitting cards result in -800 or worse; (3) they weren't making 11 tricks. I doubt if many "five over five" bids show a profit.