N-S vul, IMPs, as South you hold: ♠AKQ1062 ♥KJ762 ♦A ♣5

What do you bid?

Here is a hand from the April 2014 Winnipeg Regional where my opponent was unsure as to what was the best course of action. There are four ‘reasonable choices’:

1)    Double

2)    3♠

3)    4♦

4)    4♠.

The actual West chose double - not the best choice. The reason is that partner will play you for a more balanced hand, and may jump in clubs expecting you to have at least three of them. North may even pass the double with a bad hand and Jxxxx in diamonds.

Three spades is too conservative. This could get passed out when you have a slam in hearts. For example North would pass with: ♠x ♥Qxxx ♦Axxx ♣xxxx, and a cold 6xHx is missed.

The next choice is 4♠. This makes sure you get to game, but loses hearts as a potential trump suit. An advantage of this bid is that it brings slam into the picture (See Hand 75).

The final choice 4♦, also brings slam into the picture and specifically shows at least five cards in each major with a strong hand. The more distribution, the less high cards are needed for this call. I think this is the bid most players would make, and I am with the majority.

However there is a key element missing in this analysis. You must ask yourself the question, ‘What will I do after partner’s response to any of these choices?’ After a double and a 3NT bid by partner I will bid 4 spades. Over a major response I will cue bid 4 clubs.

Over a raise of 3 spade I will ask for key cards. If partner bids 3NT I will bid 5xHx, trying to catch up.

Over any bid over my 4 spade call I will likely cue bid clubs in case there is a grand, on the way to 6 spade.

Finally over 4 diamonds. The important auction is if partner bids 4 hearts. The correct rebid by you is 4 spades. This implies a much better spade suit than hearts, and is a mild slam try, otherwise you would have passed 4 hearts, or started with 3 spades. The full deal:

Lessons to Learn

1)    Even after you find a good bid, explore if there is a better one available.

2)    A cue bid of 4 diamonds does not promise a diamond control.

3)    Analyze what partner may bid, and what you will do then. This process may help you detect flaws in your original plan, and come up with an improved choice.

4)    Notice this potential auction I addressed over a 4xSx initial call:

5xCx is a cue bid in support of spades. The important lesson here is if partner jumps to game in a suit, a new suit at the five level cannot be natural to find a better place, as the 4 hearts has promised a self-sufficient suit. So 5 clubs on this auction is a slam try with 1^st round control in clubs.

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Intended audience: Intermediate and up

E-W vul, matchpoints, as south you hold: ♠1093 ♥- ♦AJ84 ♣A107642

West     North    East     South

-        1♠      2♦        ?

What do you bid?

The question you need to answer is whether to penalize the opponents in 2♦, or bid game or maybe slam with a fit for partner’s suit and three first round controls.

In favour of doubling (playing negatives doubles you pass, and your dependable partner will reopen with a double):

·        They are vulnerable

·        You are not

·        You have four tricks in your own hand.

On the other hand:

·        You have great slam potential if partner fits clubs.

·        There is a better chance that partner has some clubs (or longer spades) as you expect him to have diamond shortage.

What do you do?

The Last Question (But not the least)

There is an extremely important question you must ask yourself – where are the hearts?

Yes you are missing 13 of them!!West could have 7 or more, as he hasn’t had a chance to bid, but most likely they are split between West and North. Partner rates to have a two suiter.

True, he could be something like 5-4-1-3 and slam will be a very good chance against even a minimum opening. But the right bid is to pass for penalties. You should get at least +500. This is better than +480, and even if slam makes, few if any will bid at the local duplicate game.

Here is the full deal (hands rotated):

♠A K J 8 2 

♥A 9 6 4

♦7 5  

♣9 8

♠Q 6 5                                            ♠ 7 4  

♥Q J 10 3 2                                     ♥ K 8 7 5

♦3 2                                               ♦ K Q 10 9 6    

♣J 5 3                                            ♣ K Q

♠10 9 3

♥-

♦A J 8 4 

♣A 10 7 6 4 2

I did not go for penalties and bid 3♣ instead, and we ended up in 4♠. Although easily makeable, partner had a bit of blind spot at trick one and went down. You are the J♣ away from making 6♣, but even if you had this card, it is tough to get to the minor suit slam. 2♦goes for 800, and would have been a top.

Intended audience: Intermediate and up

N-S vul, IMPs, as south you hold: ♠J10 ♥A10 ♦KQ972 ♣AKQ7. The auction:

What do you bid?

I think this hand is a good example of bidding constructively, trying to decide how high to bid.

South’s first double shows a good opening bid. His 3♦ shows a hand simply too good to bid 2♦. This hand is close to a minimum for this sequence. Your partner has come to life with a cue bid. What does he have?

First he has diamond support. Otherwise he would either pass, bid a new suit or bid 3NT. What about values? He probably has one sure trick. Does three spades mean anything? True he could have simply bid 4♦, but he probably wanted to keep 3NT open in case you have a stopper. What should you bid? 4♦. This will be plenty high enough. Partner was catering to you having one of the following hands:

♠Ax ♥Kx ♦KQJxxx ♣AKx or

♠x ♥A10 ♦KQ9872 ♣AKQ7

Partner actually held ♠xx ♥J9xx ♦Axx ♣109xx and passed 4♦, which made on the nose.

Lessons to Learn

1. Remember to make decisions in the context of the auction. Here you are a minimum for your double followed by three diamond approach, which is why four diamonds is right.

2. Another way to look at it is that North has a maximum, considering his passes and two bidding opponents. His 3 spades, therefore, is a very good bid recognizing this point.

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Intended audience: Intermediate and up

Neither vul, matchpoints, as south you hold: ♠K1032 ♥QJ1094 ♦4 ♣QJ3

West     North    East     South

1♠       -        1NT        P

2♦      P        2♠          P

2NT    P       3♥          ?

What do you bid?

Don’t double!! This is what the actual south did last night in an online game. First, if they play 3NT you will be on lead. Secondly, the opponents are about to bid 4♥! How do you know?

West has 5-2-4-2 shape with 17-18 HCPs. Why? First they have that number of points as they are inviting game knowing east has at most 9 (or a bad 10)HCPs. You know their shape as they have read my books and they know to pattern out with either 5-1-4-3 or 5-3-4-1 shape.

East has accepted the game invitation, showing hearts, at least five good ones, and giving West a chance to pick the final contract.

Here is the full deal (hands rotated):

♠Q 6 

♥3

♦A 10 8 6 5 3  

♣10 8 6 4

♠A J 8 7 4                                                  ♠ 9 4

♥K 5                                                           ♥ A 8 7 6 2

♦K Q J 3                                                    ♦ 9 7       

♣K 4                                                          ♣ A J 10 6

♠K 10 3 2

♥Q J 10 9 4

♦4 

♣Q J 3

You lead a heart and luckily nip 3♥ one trick, risking -730. Had you passed West would have bid 4♥.

Lessons to Learn

1.Don’t double a part score when the opponents are in a game forcing auction.

2.This is one of the rare times that it is best to lead a high trump and not a singleton.

3.Make sure you understand the opponents’ auction.

4.Don’t make a lead directing double when you are most likely going to be on lead. All you are doing is helping the future declarer use this information to play the hand better.

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