Do Something Intelligent

Here’s your hand sitting east, EW vulnerable and you are dealer:

♠ KQ10

♥ J8632

♦ AK10

♣ J6

A pretty normal 14 HCP 1H opener. Here’s the bidding:

West          North         East           South

                                  1H              Dbl

Rdbl *          2D           P                 P

Dbl               P            ?

*10+ HCP, implies no fit

What’s that? My partner, who is a teaching pro when playing with others, and I had only played a few times and hadn’t established enough rapport to know what ambiguous bids mean. Is it penalty or takeout or DSI (Do Something Intelligent)? I’ve got a run of the mill 14 HCP opener, a seven-loser hand. We’re vulnerable. Can we make 3NT? If we can make game we would have to set them four to get a good board (800 v. 600), which means we would have to take nine of the 13 tricks (in which event we could make 3NT). Was it worth the risk? If we only set it three we only get 500 for a certain bottom board.

North was in one of the most unenviable positions in bridge in this auction. Almost by definition in an auction that goes as this one did; 1 of a suit, dbl, rdbl, the fourth hand can’t have much. Two players, opener and doubler, are pretty much promising opening hands, at least 12 HCP each and redouble is promising at least 10 HCP. That’s a minimum of 34 HCP, leaving fourth hand with a maximum of six, and probably less.

However when you find yourself in that position in fourth seat, you must bid if you have an unbid four card suit. Why? Because if you don’t bid and it is passed around to doubler, doubler has to guess what is in your hand. Where is your longest suit? You have to tell her immediately by bidding your unbid longest suit if it’s got at least four cards in it. If you pass, you are telling partner you don’t have an unbid four card suit but can support any unbid suit she bids, so she may freely bid her longest suit, confident that you have at least three of them.

Here are the four hands:

North

                        ♠ 54

                        ♥ Q954

                        ♦ 6542

                        ♣ Q74

West                                        East

♠ J982                                     ♠ KQ10

♥ A10                                      ♥ J8632

♦ QJ9                                       ♦ AK10

♣ A1032                                 ♣ J6

                        South

                        ♠ A763

                        ♥ K7

                        ♦ 873

                        ♣ K985

Sitting north was a teaching pro playing with a student. The student’s takeout double was dubious at best and this hand exemplifies why. When my partner redoubled, North was required to bid his longest unbid suit, but South should know he doesn’t have much, if anything. So he bid diamonds.

Have you decided yet what you would do? I had a tough call because I didn’t know exactly how strong partner was. We might be able to make 3N. If so, we would have to set them four doubled to get a good board. I decided to defend so passed my partner’s double, knowing that it was a top or bottom decision. South, who got her partner into this mess can’t do anything but pass with her three little diamonds. It was their longest suit at 4-3 because the other two suits were 4-2.

I figured that we had the bulk of the points and the only way they could make tricks was by ruffing, so I led the AK10 of diamonds and we took the first three tricks. It was downhill from there on for North. We took nine tricks (three diamonds, two spades [declarer got the ace and a ruff with his fourth diamond], two hearts and two clubs) for down 4, doubled, 800 for us and a top board.

The hand was played 12 times, nine EW were in 3NT, making three and four; two made four spades, although only one bid it.

If there’s a lesson here, it’s to be careful with your takeout doubles. With only two quick tricks and only 10 HCP, that’s not a hand with which to make a takeout double in second seat because it puts partner on the horns of a dilemma if LHO redoubles, which happens a lot. And if you are playing against experienced players, they double low level contracts more than the average player.

After the hand was over I asked my partner what his double was. He looked at our 800 point score and said, “penalty.”

How to Find Slam With a Distributional Hand

Here’s your hand sitting South, North dealer, nobody vulnerable.

♠ KQ6432

♥ 

♦ 6

♣ KQ9732

West          North         East         South

                  1C           P              1S

2H              Dbl*        P              ?

*Support Double

You’ve got a huge hand now that you know you have a double fit (you know that North has at least three clubs). You know that you and partner have two suits in which you have at least nine cards. You have to make a forcing bid, but what?

Any bid of one of your two suits would be non-forcing. If you jump to game, the bidding will probably be over if partner has a simple 12-14 HCP opener. You want to look for slam. If she’s got both black aces, six spades should be cold. Lacking one of them, though, it would be down unless she’s got the diamond ace or the heart ace and gets a heart lead.

Your best bid here could be 3H, but that could be ambiguous because partner could interpret it as Western Cue, asking for a heart stopper to play in no trump instead of showing first round control and telling partner you are interested in slam. If it were Western Cue, North would bid 3N showing a heart stopper. So this depends on partnership understanding. If it’s Western Cue, North’s response of 3S would simply deny a heart stopper. Because most pairs play Western Cue, 3H is not a good bid.

Here are the four hands:

North

                        ♠ A85

                        ♥ K1032

                        ♦ J95

                        ♣ AJ4

West                                        East

♠ 97                                         ♠ J10

♥ AQJ854                                ♥ 976

♦ A873                                     ♦ KQ1042

♣ 5                                           ♣ 1086

                        South

                        ♠ KQ6432

                        ♥ Void

                        ♦ 6

                        ♣ KQ9732

Here’s how the bidding could go with an advanced pair:

West          North         East         South

                  1C                P              1S

2H              Dbl*             P              4H**

P                 4S***          P               5C****

P                 6C*****     P                6S

All Pass

*Support Double showing three spades

**Big hand implying but not promising first round control of hearts, confirming spades as trump, looking for slam

***Cue bid showing the spade Ace but this could be an ambiguous bid and partner could just be signing off in spades.

****Regardless of North’s ambiguous bid, I’ve got a great club suit and fit for you and worst case it’s a three loser hand! Even if you were signing off in 4S I still think we might have slam because you opened and you should have at least two tricks for me. If not, bid 5S and I’ll pass.

*****I’ve got the Club Ace but you pick the slam, clubs or spades

This bidding shows how an experienced pair can reach a difficult-to-find slam with cooperative bidding.

This hand was played 12 times. One pair got to 6C, two pairs got to 6S. Confirming the difficulty in bidding this hand, 4S making seven was an average board. Two pairs were in 6N, a ridiculous contract, but one made it, and it was played by south!

West, on lead, has two aces. How could this possibly have made 6N when West can take the first two tricks? Even if north plays 6N, the standard lead would be the diamond queen or partner’s suit. If the diamond, West would overtake with his ace, take the heart ace, and return a diamond so EW should take the first six tricks for down five. But even if East leads his partner’s bid suit, hearts, west should take his two aces for down at least one.

That’s what makes bridge such a challenging game. It’s not so much who is playing the hand as who is defending!

Two Minor suited hand response to minor suit open over a preemptive 3H bid

Here’s your hand sitting south:

♠ Void

♥ J

♦ AKQJ94

♣ J109754

Your partner, North, opens 1C. Here’s the bidding to you:

West          North         East           South

                  1C            3H            ?

You’ve got a terrific diamond suit and for all you know your partner might only have three little clubs and the AKQ are held by opponents, so you could lose two clubs and a heart, so a jump to 5C is not the best bid for two reasons; you might not make 5C and you might miss a slam. But a simple raise to four clubs doesn’t do justice to this hand. And to bid your diamond suit, which would be forcing, puts your partner in a bind if she opened with, let’s say distribution of 4-3-2-4. So what’s your call?

You have a perfect call, 4H! This is a cooperating call because you are a partnership and you should make decisions together, not unilaterally. This bid tells partner that you have a good hand with support for her suit. And if she goes to 5C, you have an easy call to six, thinking that you certainly won’t lose anything but a heart. You just have to hope that she’s got the AK of clubs. Sometimes you have to rely on instinct and take a chance.

Here's the four-hand layout:

North

                        ♠ AJ84

                        ♥ A6

                        ♦ 76

                        ♣ AK862

West                                        East

♠ KQ752                                 ♠ 10963

♥ Q98                                      ♥ K1075432

♦ 1083                                     ♦ 52

♣ Q3                                       ♣ Void

                        South

                        ♠ Void

                        ♥ J

                        ♦ AKQJ94

                        ♣ J109754

This hand was played 13 times in a club game. Five played it in 5C. Four played it in 3N. Two played it in 5D. Two pairs found the club slam and played it in 6. All pairs made seven except one who somehow lost a trick and only made 6N.

A hand with a weak response playing inverted minors

Here’s your hand sitting East as dealer:

♠ K5

♥ A8

♦ A9

♣ AQ109652

Bidding:

West          North       East         South

                                1C             P

3C*            3S           ?

*weak, at least five clubs

EW was playing inverted minors, so the jump to three clubs showed a weak, preemptive hand with at least five clubs. So what’s your call?

You have seven clubs. You know partner has five clubs but not many points. Forget slam and forget about playing it in five clubs. You have 3N cold.

If you bid 3N, and get the contract, you can make three (nine tricks) regardless of the lead. Since you know that partner has five clubs there is only one club outstanding in opponents’ hands. If it’s the king it will drop. So with a diamond or a heart lead you will make three (seven clubs, the ace of hearts and the ace of diamonds. If you get a spade lead, you will make at least four because the lead into you makes your king of spades a winner.

Here are the four hands:

North

                        ♠ AQ1082

                        ♥ Q10632

                        ♦ J73

                        ♣ VOID

West                                        East

♠ J94                                       ♠ K6

♥ 95                                         ♥ A8

♦ 1054                                     ♦ A9

♣ KJ743                                  ♣ AQ109652

                        South

                        ♠ 763

                        ♥ KJ74

                        ♦ KQ862

                        ♣ 8

In the actual hand as played by East, she jumped to five clubs over 3S, going down one, not even attempting 3NT. If north bid 4C instead of 3S, East would be in a quandary because if she didn’t get a spade lead she would not make 4NT. She could take 9 tricks off the top but once the two red aces are gone she’s got no stopper in the red suits. And she’s going to get a heart lead (despite South’s good, five card diamond suit; from the bidding South knows partner has five hearts, so her best lead is from her four card heart suit) so after East takes her nine tricks, they are going to run their hearts and the spade ace for down one. Even if South leads the diamond six, the result will be the same, only the winners they take will be in diamonds, not hearts.

The only question on the hand depends on North. An aggressive north might bid 4C (Michaels Cue Bid promising 5-5 in the majors). This would be aggressive because it’s a game-forcing bid when he doesn’t have an opening hand as it doesn’t even satisfy the Rule of 20 (10 cards in two suits and 10 HCP). So to make a game forcing bid like this would be super aggressive. When this north merely overcalled 3S (a good overcall giving partner a lead), South didn’t think a nine point hand was worth taking action by bidding game, 4S. But if North bids 4C, South can comfortably bid 4H if East passes, and 4H makes.

It was an interesting hand with game for both pairs if they can find it. This hand was played 9 times, only three got it right. However, if EW is not playing inverted minors, West’s initial response would be 2C (a weak raise) and North could then overcall 3C showing the majors at a lower level so it would not force to game, and NS would find their good heart fit. Two pairs played in 3NT, making three; one pair played in 4NT, making four; two pairs played in 5C, down one; only one NS found a heart bid, playing in 3H making four; one pair played in 5S down one and one pair played in 6C, down two.

What should East do if North bids 4C? She has only three possible tricks on defense, the aces of hearts and diamonds and possibly the spade king. One of the opponents is void in clubs (she’s got seven and her partner is promising five) so her club ace is dead. As a result, she doesn’t want them to find a major suit fit, so it would be appropriate to sacrifice in 5C. If they go to five spades or hearts she would set it, since North, with the strong hand, has the spade ace and East is sitting behind with the king.