The 'ideal' overcall

An overcall at the one level should be single suited, 10 - 15 highs and have a quality suit. In reality two of the above is absolutely fine but were the world perfect that's what you'd have. Those of you who have ever taught someone to play will know what I'm getting at; forever explaining that takeout doubles are for 4441 hand shapes with opening values. No trump openings never contain singletons.

It occurred to me that the perfect one level overcall isn't any of those things. It's actually this:

♠	9 6 5 3 2
♥	A K Q 6
♦	8 7
♣	9 3

When the hand on your right opens 1♦ you bid 1♥. Done? Good. Now, watch this. Someone will double, there'll be a fourth suit forcing. One hand wants a heart stop and the other just wants their partner to agree spades. They'll frown and worry and shake their heads and end up in 4♦ on a layout like this:

	♠ K Q T 4 ♥ 8 5 4 2 ♦ K 4 ♣ A Q 5
♠ 9 6 5 3 2 ♥ A K Q 6 ♦ 8 7 ♣ 9 3		♠ A 7 ♥ T 9 3 ♦ T 6 5 2 ♣ J T 4 2
	♠ J 8 ♥ J 7 ♦ A Q J 9 3 ♣ K 8 7 6

Your teamies are in 3NT and think nothing of it.

Maximising Matchpoints

Here's another hand in a long series where I switched off a little in the bidding. It's a 'bad hand' and not very interesting so it must be easy. That's a terrible habit to be in, I'm sure it costs buckets of matchpoints but here's your chance to help me out! There's no way I'm telling you what I did yet though, first you have to try!

♠	K T 8
♥	8 6 2
♦	Q J T 6 4
♣	T 7

Here's the auction so far:

North	East	You	West
1♣	Pass	1♦	1♥
1♠	Pass	?

It's worth pointing out a couple of things just so you can really feel involved. Firstly we're playing a 12 - 14 no trump and secondly partners 1♠ is forcing (still as unlimited as 1♣). I know this probably isn't what you normally play but that just makes it more fun. There's not much to say except I'm putting the hand to a vote:
Oh and did I mention, you're playing Matchpoints and you want tonnes of them!
 
Update: I bid 2♠ at the table and partner holding a 4216 with 17 highs bid 4♠. Would have been ok if the Q♣ could be found or the spades snapped but it wasn't to be. Bidding 1NT the first time might have solved this particular problem. To 'weakNT' I usually don't play these methods but you never get everything your own way in the system argument discussion.

Helping out the opponents

Whenever you light a wee fire and send smoke signals to partner the enemy are quietly watching. An opponent with keen ears and eyes will use that information against you to aid their bidding and play. There are lots of cases where the information leaked to the opponents costs far more than the bid is worth. Lets say you think I'm about to demean bidding Michaels on weak hands and hold:

♠	K 5
♥	9 7 5 4 3
♦	9
♣	A Q 7 6 2

I'm not going to do that, I have another target. My partner opens a weak 1NT and I dutifully transfer, partner bids 2♥ and I pass. I'm playing matchpoints, have only 9 highs, and if partner doesn't actually have a heart fit she could be off in 2NT. Blah blah, lots of ways to make myself like the decision.

But that's not how the auction went. What really happened was this:

East	South	West	North
Pass	1NT	Pass	2♦
X	2♥	Pass	?

Well now. Partner is likely to have little wasted in diamonds and by bidding 2♥ she surely has a heart fit. This hand has changed completely. Now instead of a marginal invite I've got a raise to game!

	♠ K 5 ♥ 9 7 5 4 3 ♦ 9 ♣ A Q 7 6 2
♠ Q J 8 6 3 ♥ Q T 8 ♦ A 6 4 ♣ J 4		♠ 9 7 4 2 ♥ J 6 ♦ K J T 7 2 ♣ K 3
	♠ A T ♥ A K 2 ♦ Q 8 5 2 ♣ T 9 8 5

I put the dummy down with a sheepish "I upgraded a few things" hoping for the best. 10 tricks.

When it does come up

If you have a hole in your system the most common way to deal with it is to discuss it. Everyone knows that discussing a situation is the best way to guarantee you won't see it at the table. Tongue in cheek? Sure.

About 10 days ago a friend of mine gave me this hand:

♠	A x x x
♥	-
♦	K J x x x x
♣	x x x

and asked what I would bid over an Acol 2♣ opening. Some thought later I bid 2♦ then pushed for slam when the auction continued 2NT - 3♣ - 3♠!. On Tuesday this week I played just 2 boards out of 26 against the same friend, on the second one I picked up.

♠	K T x x
♥	-
♦	x x x
♣	K J T x x x

and my partner opened 2♣. I twitched a little and glanced at her; discretely trying to determine whether I was being set up for something. If I thought 2♦ was right before it must be right now. The expected 2♥ came back and I followed with 3♣ hoping to get both suits in. No need for that however, partner snatched the reigns and propelled us into 6♣.

♠ A ♥ A K x x x ♦ A Q x ♣ A Q x x		♠ K T x x ♥ - ♦ x x x ♣ K J T x x x

Comfortable 13 tricks on a 2-1 club break. There are more situations in bridge than any of us could ever count or hope to see. It's interesting and amusing when you see the same rare situation twice in a short time.

Extra chances

It can be annoying to come to the end of a session of bridge, not score as well as you'd like and be a little baffled at exactly what you could have done better. Sure you bid the wrong thing on board 9 and the play on board 14 was less than perfect but even if you got those right you're still down on the leaders. I believe there's two things at play. Firstly the top players expect to do well and the field expects them to do well which self fulfils nicely. Secondly there's tonnes of extra chances each session, missing them isn't really a mistake but finding them gets you ahead.

♠	A 6
♥	9 4 3
♦	A 6
♣	A Q T 7 4 3

You open a club.
Left bids 1♥, your partner 1NT and 2♠ comes in from your right. You're playing against two non-demeaning euphemisms for average club players.
Partner can't have 5 spades on this auction and there's a good chance he doesn't have 4 so it looks like the ops are going to settle here in an 8 card major fit. It's pairs so that sort of thing is completely unacceptable, 3♣ ends the auction.

	♠ K J 7 3 ♥ K 7 5 2 ♦ 8 7 3 2 ♣ 9
♠ 9
	♠ A 6 ♥ 9 4 3 ♦ A 6 ♣ A Q T 7 4 3

Bother. Can we go back to 2♠? Please? Ah well. I can't believe the spade finesse is working and we need to lead towards the clubs so jump up with the K♠ and lead the 9♣. In an ideal world the trumps will be 3-3 with the King onside and you'll overtake the 9 with the Queen but if they're 4-2 the overtake will cost a trick. The 9 holds!

Well that's good, I don't want to risk coming back to hand in spades especially when I've a convenient entry in diamonds. A♣, Q♣ losing to the K♣, turns out the clubs were 3-3. East returns a spade and you win the Ace. In summary you've chalked up 5 club tricks, 2 spades and a diamond, all that remains is to collect your heart trick. Can you see the extra chance?

	♠ J 7 ♥ K 7 5 ♦ 8 7 ♣ -
♠ - ♥ Q J T 8 ♦ K Q 9 ♣ -		♠ Q T 8 5 ♥ A ♦ T 5 ♣ -
	♠ - ♥ 9 4 3 ♦ 6 ♣ T 7 4

It's almost certain the hearts started off 5-1 and therefore almost certain the Ace is onside but it didn't hurt to duck a round just to be sure now did it?

Defensive follow up

You're playing a reasonably social teams match against some good players. The points have been mostly their way so you've been on defense far more than you'd like. Nothing like defense though, leading the right card or switching at the right time and you'll be a game up.

West	North	East	You
1♣	Pass	1♥	Pass
1♠	Pass	1NT	Pass
2NT	Pass	3NT	end

Considering your options, carefully remembering your suit combinations and thinking back to old crones in smoky huts rambling about leading unbid suits you select the J♦.

♠ A Q T x ♥ T 5 ♦ Q 3 ♣ A Q T 8 3
	♠ 9 6 2 ♥ 7 6 4 ♦ A J T 9 5 ♣ K J

Despite nagging feelings that partner might have a few big cards in hearts this looks pretty good. Problem is everyone ducks. Partner plays the 4♦ which could be from 42, 4, K4, K42 but not x42. What next? Your carding methods have left the diamond suit as ambiguous as practical. If you want to get this right there's two key things to take in 1) the KJ of clubs look really bad, 2) you don't have any heart royalty so whatever parter has looks just as valuable. Lets face it, you're not getting in again.

Problem was I couldn't help fantasizing about partner having that K42 so I played a small diamond. It's wrong for so many reasons. Mainly because if partner does have  K42 they can work this out and dump the King under the Ace that I should have led. As is to be expected when you make such a mockery of logical thought partner holds K4. Nothing like defense though, leading the wrong card or switching at the wrong time and you'll be a game down.

Last guess

A couple of posts back I was talking about never being the last to guess. What that really means is guess early and then leave it. Once you've guessed don't change your mind. Sounds like a mandate for wanton aggression justified by "Daniel said guessing was good". I don't want to hear about it. Here's a hand that was bid slowly and carefully to the par spot:

Vul: All Dealer: South	♠ 8 x x x ♥ J ♦ J T x x x ♣ T x x
♠ A Q J x x ♥ x x x ♦ x ♣ A Q x x		♠ K T x x ♥ A K Q x x x ♦ x ♣ 9 x
	♠ - ♥ T x x ♦ A K Q x x x ♣ K J x x

South	West	North	East
1♦	1♠	Pass	2♦
3♦	4♠	5♦	6♠
Pass	Pass	7♦	Pass
Pass	X	end

I was West on this particular deal. My 4♠ might be a touch aggressive but that's IMPs for you. There's some other calls in there that might not be your choice but it's not a bad auction. Hold your palm up to your screen obscuring the hand enough to pretend you're East. Then think about this auction:

South	West	North	East
1♦	1♠	5♦	?

Now what? What you interpret 5♥ as here? You're going to bid 5♠ just because 5 over 5 is always right though aren't you. Can you really bid 6♠ when partner might hold:

♠	A Q J x x
♥	x x
♦	K x
♣	Q x x x

You won't even make 5 on that layout! Punishing partner for suggesting a good lead against no trumps isn't the way to play bridge. My point is that North has got the ability to work out that it's correct to sacrifice presented with all the information he just didn't guess a round earlier. Of course the first thing to do once you've learnt something is to unlearn it:

Vul: E/W Dealer: West	♠ K Q 4 ♥ Q ♦ J T 9 3 2 ♣ A Q 7 3
♠ J ♥ 8 4 ♦ A K 8 6 ♣ K J T 6 5 2		♠ A T 9 8 6 3 ♥ 9 7 6 ♦ Q 7 ♣ 9 4
	♠ 7 5 2 ♥ A K J T 5 3 2 ♦ 5 4 ♣ 8

West	North	East	South
1♣	Pass	1♠	5♥
X	end

Ouch.

A big two suiter.

What's the biggest hand you've ever picked up? I've been unlucky in these stakes, the highest point count I've ever held was 26. Still worse there wasn't a makeable game. In terms of playing strength the hand I picked up last Thursday gets pretty close:

♠	A K Q T 7
♥	Q 7
♦	-
♣	A K Q T 8 5

I was glad to be fourth in hand. It gave me lots of time to take in the beauty of those black suits. Righto, what's everyone else been up to? (1♦) - Pass - (Pass), that's not exciting. Because I come from Christchurch I've agreed to play "Spade Michaels" which is the same as the Michaels convention the rest of the world plays but it guarantees the highest unbid suit. 2♦ - (Pass) - 2♥ - (Pass), interesting. Partners failure to bid 2♠ surely denies 3 spades which is excellent because it increases the chances of clubs, means I can ruff a spade and doesn't steal the contract.

An Italian black two suiter

It's worth pointing out here that I'm not playing with a regular partner and we haven't had enough discussion about competitive auctions. I do however know of one convention I can rely on, Blackwood. 4NT key card in hearts. If partner has none I can pass the 5♣ which gets me style points and with 1 I'll bid 6♣ and take my 2/3 chance it's not the A♦. Partner showed one, I bid 6♣ and everyone fell silent.

Vul: All Dealer: West	♠ 9 2 ♥ A T 5 4 3 2 ♦ 6 4 ♣ J 7 6
♠ J 8 6 ♥ J 6 ♦ A K Q J 8 3 ♣ 9 4		♠ 5 4 3 ♥ K 9 8 ♦ T 9 7 5 2 ♣ 3 2
	♠ A K Q T 7 ♥ Q 7 ♦ - ♣ A K Q T 8 5

6♣ plays itself. I saw one matchpoint "genius" in 6♥ which is cold but they couldn't untangle it and fell short.

It's a bidders game

But what if everyone's bidding? Whose game is it then? Generally the last person to make a guess loses, here's a hand:

♠	Q J 8 6 5 4 2
♥	K J
♦	T 8 7
♣	3

You're third in chair at nil vul and you're playing for IMPs rather than matchpoints. You watch the following auction:

North	East	You	West
1♦	X	1♠	4♥
Pass	Pass	?

How many points do you think you have between the two hands? We're told that 4♠ over 4♥ is right almost always, is there any reason to expect something else here? There's some chance that both games make and there's a good chance that both games fail; if that's the concern 4♠ is the bid. I thought it was a pretty clear action; any voices of dissent? What about when East doubles? Doubt creeping into anyone's mind?

Vul: Nil Dealer: N	♠ - ♥ 6 4 2 ♦ A K Q J 9 5 4 ♣ A 8 2
♠ A 9 ♥ T 9 7 5 3 ♦ 6 ♣ Q J T 7 5		♠ K T 7 3 ♥ A Q 8 ♦ 3 2 ♣ K 9 6 4
	♠ Q J 8 6 5 4 2 ♥ K J ♦ T 8 7 ♣ 3

Turns out both 4♥ and 4♠ fail, the former only if North gets a spade ruff but the later can't avoid three trumps and a heart. I'm sure you've noticed though that none of that matters when you're losing a stack of IMPs to 5♦. West has taken a wild action here but in doing so ensured that he's not last to guess.

I did learn something

Just a week ago I posted this hand:

♠	6
♥	Q J 6 4 3
♦	K J 9 8 7 2
♣	A

I suggested that the best opening was 1♥ because otherwise you'll never get your heart suit across. As the comments on that post helpfully suggested it isn't a general rule for 6m5M hands. Changing only the suits around to give:

♠	Q J 6 4 3
♥	6
♦	A
♣	K J 9 8 7 2

You'd always open 1♣ because you know you can bid your spades out cheaply, an auction like 1♣ - 1♥ - 1♠ - 1N - 2♠ might be nice. With diamonds and spades or clubs and hearts I'm planning to fake a vomiting bug to escape a decision. This week though I picked up a very similar hand to the first one:

♠	9 7
♥	K T 9 6 4
♦	K Q 8 4 3 2
♣	-

Now of course I didn't open this at the one level. That would have brought the director over as it wasn't my turn. My partner in first chair opened 1♣. Isn't this the same situation as last weeks hand? The shape is the same, the fear of the spade suit is the same and the lack of sufficient high cards to force game is the same.

I responded 1♥ which was doubled. My partner bid 1♠ and I'd like to say I bid a quiet 2♥. Unfortunately my optimism got the better of me and I bid a forcing 2♦, partner bid 2NT. Ignoring the double and therefore failing to work out that of course the diamonds weren't breaking I bid 3NT.

Dealer: South Vul: Nill	♠ 9 7 ♥ K T 9 6 4 ♦ K Q 8 4 3 2 ♣ -
♠ T 8 3 ♥ 3 2 ♦ J ♣ K Q J T 8 4 2		♠ A Q 4 2 ♥ A J 8 5 ♦ T 9 7 5 ♣ 5
	♠ K J 6 5 ♥ Q 7 ♦ A 6 ♣ A 9 7 6 3

South	West	North	East
1♣	Pass	1♥	Double
1♠	Pass	2♦	Pass
2NT	Pass	3NT	(end)

The patient died two tricks short. -100.