Friday, January 3rd 2014

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Board 13 North Deals Both Vul	♠ K J 10 9 ♥ A Q 10 3 ♦ 10 4 ♣ K 5 4
♠ 7 3 ♥ 8 4 2 ♦ A J 2 ♣ A J 8 7 3	N W E S	♠ Q 8 5 ♥ 9 7 5 ♦ 9 8 7 6 ♣ 10 6 2
	♠ A 6 4 2 ♥ K J 6 ♦ K Q 5 3 ♣ Q 9

North opens 1C; South responds 1D. With full opening bid values, don’t skip over a good minor suit – there may be a diamond slam, and you do not want partner to avoid notrump if he happens to be short in diamonds. West should stay out of this auction with his balanced, trick-poor hand; this isn’t a vulnerable overcall. North rebids 1H and South bids 1S. If you play the fourth suit gadget, it should not apply at the one level – Bridge World Standard uses a jump (1C-1D; 1H-2S) as the artificial game force in this auction. North raises spades; does South have enough to consider slam? Probably not – North has bid three suits and so must be short in diamonds. That would be good news opposite Axxx but not so great opposite South’s KQxx. North would probably give a jump raise with as many as 15 hcp and a singleton diamond and would’ve opened 1NT with a 4432 15 count, so North’s upper limit should be 14 hcp. South ends the bidding with 4S, and scores 10 or 11 tricks depending on how he plays trumps. As West, I’d probably lead a trump, which unluckily finds East’s only high card and saves declarer a guess.

Board 14 East Deals None Vul	♠ J 7 ♥ 7 3 ♦ 6 3 ♣ K J 9 8 6 5 4
♠ 10 9 5 4 ♥ A Q 10 4 ♦ A Q 2 ♣ 7 3	N W E S	♠ K Q ♥ 8 ♦ K J 9 8 5 4 ♣ A Q 10 2
	♠ A 8 6 3 2 ♥ K J 9 6 5 2 ♦ 10 7 ♣ —

East opens 1D and South tries a Michaels’ cue-bid to show the majors. Perfectly normal, but West doubles to show 10+ points and some defense in the majors. (This is basically the same as a redouble over a takeout double.) North gives his opinion of the majors by bidding 3C! Again perfectly normal, but East slams that with a penalty double. South should not chase a possible heart fit; North will have very long clubs and be short in both majors.

East leads the King of spades and the defense collects a spade, two hearts, two diamonds and three trumps for +800. With solid diamonds and winning finesses in hearts and clubs, E/W could make a lucky slam but I can’t imagine bidding it. The Michaels bid will pay off and many, many other hands – this one was extremely unlucky. North might pass to let South pick his best major but I think bidding the seven-card suit will work more often than not.

Board 16 West Deals E-W Vul	♠ 10 8 5 ♥ A J 9 8 4 ♦ J 6 2 ♣ Q 7
♠ — ♥ 7 ♦ K Q 10 9 5 3 ♣ A 10 9 8 4 2	N W E S	♠ A Q 9 7 4 3 ♥ K 5 ♦ A 4 ♣ J 6 5
	♠ K J 6 2 ♥ Q 10 6 3 2 ♦ 8 7 ♣ K 3

:
What, if anything, should West open with 6-6 in the minors? Pass, 1D, 2D, 3D, 4D and 5D are all plausible. 5D seems a bit rich, vulnerable against not, and is no more than a guess about which minor you should play in; that objection also applies to 3D or 4D.  1D is acceptable as a Rule of 20 opening or Goren 14 count; the two quick tricks are a must when you open this light in terms of high cards. I might choose a one-bid if either long suit were a major. 2D suggests “6-10 hcp with a good six-card suit”; chances are you will be able to show the clubs later. This is less efficient in terms of preemption but very accurate in terms of constructive bidding. Or you can pass and perhaps throw in an Unusual Notrump bid later. I hate passing hands with a good long suit so 2D would be my usual style but I overlooked that bid today and passed instead.

East opened in third seat and our auction proceeded pass-1S; 2D-2S; 3C-3NT; 5C-pass. East would correct to diamonds with equal or greater length there than in clubs. E/W score +600 in notrump or either minor; a 3D or 4D opening might miss game. What about 2D? Either East or South will probably bid, giving West the chance to jump in clubs.




Several pairs overbid to slam; one N/S pair "sacrificed" all the matchpoints at 6H doubled. Perhaps West opened 1D and allowed N/S to find their fit.

Board 28 West Deals N-S Vul	♠ Q J ♥ J 2 ♦ Q J 5 4 3 ♣ K J 6 5
♠ A 9 8 5 4 3 ♥ Q 8 4 ♦ 10 9 ♣ 10 8	N W E S	♠ 10 6 ♥ 10 9 7 6 3 ♦ 8 ♣ Q 9 7 4 3
	♠ K 7 2 ♥ A K 5 ♦ A K 7 6 2 ♣ A 2

South has a prime 21 count with a five card suit but absolutely no intermediates. Chances are the hand will play better in a trump suit and if I had a major suit I’d consider opening that, but 2NT is probably best as is. Throw in some tens and nines and I’d upgrade the hand to a 2C opening.

North has 11 “low-card” points (“Quack! Quack!”); there may be slam in a minor, but few pairs have good tools for investigating minor suit slams after 2NT and North does not expect quite so many controls in South’s hand. 3NT looks like the practical bid. Some pairs play 3S asks for a four-card minor (Minor Suit Stayman.) The hand looks like it has too many scattered values for slam, but the 5-5 fit and top tricks prove to be gold. One pair bid the hopeless notrump slam; top scores went to 3NT making six on imperfect defense.