Friday, November 29th 2013

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East/West scores were really close -- with one round to go my partner and I were next to last -- but we wound up winning!

Board 8 West Deals None Vul	♠ A K 10 4 3 ♥ 9 4 ♦ J 10 8 2 ♣ 9 3
♠ J ♥ K 7 6 2 ♦ A Q 6 ♣ A K 7 5 2	N W E S	♠ Q 9 8 5 2 ♥ A Q J 10 3 ♦ 5 ♣ J 6
	♠ 7 6 ♥ 8 5 ♦ K 9 7 4 3 ♣ Q 10 8 4

West opens 1C, East responds 1S and West bids 2H, a reverse, suggesting at least 4-5 shape and 17+ value. East starts thinking slam -- six losers, and partner could cover five or six with her reverse. Visualizing, slam would be a near laydown opposite, say, x Kxxx Axx AKQxx . Oddly, it's harder to construct a good hand where partner has two or three spades, but that's less likely in view of East's diamond shortage. So a 4H jump understates East's playing strength.

With no discussion at all, the only obvious forcing bids would be 3D (a new suit-over-suit bid by a responder who has never passed; also, the fourth suit forcing convention if you play that) and 4NT (Ace or key-card asking.)

However, East is rather short of controls; the five level could be too high opposite, say, K xxxx KQx AKQxx, a perfectly sound reverse. So East would like to suggest slam without getting beyond 4H if partner's hand is unsuitable. Agreements are critical here -- you must be certain partner will not pass or misunderstand your next bid!

An improved method of bidding over a reverse is yet another application of the lebensohl convention: any rebid by responder at the three level forces to game; with a minimum hand responder can bid 2NT, requesting that opener bid 3C. Responder can then pass that or correct to another suit at the three level (such as 3H on today's auction.) (Responder can also rebid his own suit at the two level, showing 5+ in the suit and neither promising nor denying extra values.) (Another method is known as Ingbergman, where the cheapest of 2NT or the fourth suit is used with weak hands; that really only applies to a 1C opening and a 2D reverse.)

Using lebensohl or Ingbergman, responder can bid 3H here as a game force, but opener will simply raise to 4H and responder must still guess whether to proceed. What about 4H? I would say that should show a 5-5 hand; opener might have a "manufactured" heart bid on a hand like Kx AQx x AKQxxxx, aiming for 3NT. 3C would be a huge, non-forcing underbid. (Personally I prefer opener to make a jump reverse "fragment" bid with that sort of hand, but that's not at all standard and many play the jump reverse as a splinter.) Responder should never jump raise a reverse or jump-shift suit except, possibly, with five-card support. So, with careful agreements, 4H might suggest the sort of hand East has today.

I thought of what seemed the ideal bid -- a 4D splinter! That shows four trumps, slam interest, and a singleton or void in diamonds -- perfect! Oops, partner did not recognize it as a splinter; we crashed in burned in 5D while everyone else stopped at 4H (making six.) OK, it's obvious to me that there is no use for a natural jump in the fourth suit; with a genuine 5-5 responder would bid 3D and probably accept whatever denomination opener chooses. With 6-6 responder could bid and rebid the diamonds. But the simplest definition of a splinter is a double-jump-shift, and any other cases must be clearly agreed on in advance, to avoid this sort of disaster. Mea culpa!

Board 9 North Deals E-W Vul	♠ 8 5 ♥ K Q J 8 6 3 2 ♦ 10 8 ♣ 3 2
♠ J 9 7 ♥ A 10 9 ♦ A K Q 9 3 2 ♣ K	N W E S	♠ Q 10 6 3 2 ♥ 7 ♦ 6 4 ♣ J 9 7 5 4
	♠ A K 4 ♥ 5 4 ♦ J 7 5 ♣ A Q 10 8 6

We followed that disaster with another: 3H by North, passed around to West. Looking at seven likely tricks and hoping for two from partner, West tried 3NT. Looking at a hand much worse than partner was likely to expect, I tried 4H as a transfer. We play "systems on" for notrump overcalls, so I assumed that would apply here. West did not read it that way (Stayman would be the other possibility) and retreated to her strong diamond suit, down 3. Although the situation is unfamiliar, I think any partnership that plays "systems on" for notrump overcalls should apply the same method regardless of level, as long as the first bid for our side is a natural notrump overcall.

Some N/S pairs played 4H, down one. This is mostly a matter of style: if you apply the rule of 500, North should be expected to have 6 tricks opposite a singleton trump. South has 3.5 quick tricks and a suit that may set up, in case partner has three or four small spades. (The defense would probably collect any diamond tricks before the clubs could be established.) So a 4H bid by South would be reasonable. However, the modern style is to overbid by four tricks not vul vs. vul, in which case South should pass. North might open 4H rather than 3, but this may well push the enemy into game at spades. I tend to be more aggressive with three bids than four.

I don't think West is strong enough to venture the five level, vulnerable; and
West may well collect four tricks on defense out of his own hand. At 4H I would expect East to lead a spade, won in dummy; West wins the first trump, cashes two high diamonds and continues with another diamond or spade. Declarer can be expected to pull trumps and finesse the club for down one.

Board 18 East Deals N-S Vul	♠ 9 6 3 ♥ 9 4 ♦ Q 9 8 6 5 ♣ 7 5 3
♠ Q J 10 5 4 2 ♥ — ♦ A J 3 ♣ Q 10 9 2	N W E S	♠ 7 ♥ K 10 7 ♦ K 10 7 2 ♣ A K J 8 4
	♠ A K 8 ♥ A Q J 8 6 5 3 2 ♦ 4 ♣ 6

East opens 1C; what should South bid? The 3-8-1-1 shape argues for a preempt, but 3.5 quick tricks suggests a slower approach -- there may be a slam, despite East's bid. Basically I'm inclined to preempt with no more than 10 hcp, and to consider a double-then-bid sequence with around 17+. In between, I would be inclined to make a simple overcall. With this much shape there is little risk 1H will be passed out; the only question is whether a different approach will produce a better result. I would plan to bid 1H and then 4H, suggesting more defense and high card strength than an immediate 4H.

West bids 1S over 1H, promising at least five spade in most partnerships -- with only four you would start with a negative double. North passes and South rebids either 1NT or 2C. South leaps to 4H as planned. West probably bids 4S in any case, passed around to South. At a team game, I'd go ahead and bid 5H with South's hand -- there could be a double-game swing (both 4S and 5H making.) At matchpoints, it's hard to guess whether North or East is short in spades, and whether North might produce a defensive trick. I'd probably sell out to 4S. As it happens, that's a wise decision, and East-West discover they've missed slam in clubs.

If East did rebid clubs, West might gamble on slam. South is likely to lead one of his Aces or the spade King. East should play to ruff spades in his hand while avoiding ruffs in dummy.