More hands with 11 cards in two suits.

I like opening major minor 5-6 shapes the 5 card major suit. Possibly making an exception for the blacks. What that means is in practise is I look out for hands that it works on and brush under the rug those where it's less successful.

Here I present two examples of hands where bidding the major was "right":

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

Here North opened a heart and on finding support bid 4. East doesn't have much chance of finding a diamond lead (best) and even then West may slip by cashing two rounds. At the other table North opened 1♣ which allowed South to steal the heart game. West led a big diamond and shifted to the K♣ and after three rounds of clubs declarer had a losing option. Now that's a pretty arbitrary wishy-washy reason to open 1♥ but looking at the North hand hearts is the most likely game. It's better if the 6-5 is declarer and kept secret; defenders who don't see the shape won't defend as well.

In my second example an expert West opened 1♦ and reversed into 2♥:

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

There's simply no hope of a good contract now. Burying 5 card majors is wrong and if you open 1♦ you either do just that or pray reversing won't cost too much. In the play a couple of defensive errors allowed declarer to make two thirds the required tricks for 3NT but it was Easts sobbing at the sight of dummy that made the hand memorable.

What East will do after 1♥ - 1♠ - 2♦ is an interesting discussion in itself but there's now a chance to play 3♦ for a positive score. What I'm trying to say is that if I play often enough, hands to support my theories come up in droves!

Combination

Suit combinations are odd things. You look at a suit, play it how it looks like it should be played and find yourself looking silly at the score up.

Here's a suit that came up recently:


J 9 3        A Q T 4

Pretty dreary stuff; beginners can take finesses. If you look up a book on suit combinations it probably won't be there because given sufficient entries it's dead simple. Of course this time there aren't sufficient entries, you're on the table for the last time.

Now it's not quite so simple. You must, in fact, run the 9 then assuming it holds advance the knave squashing the ten. The thing I find odd is, if you casually call for the Jack you cannot recover by dropping the ten. If you do then when next you play the 9 it gets covered and you're a trick short.

7 - 4 without bidding the 7

So there I was, three sessions into a tournament in which I was destined for mediocrity when I picked up:

♠	Q T 7 6 5 4 2
♥	J T 9 5
♦	T
♣	8

Weee! That's a lot of spades. Still I have 4 hearts and that makes preempting dangerous plus unfavourable which makes preempting expensive. Maybe I'll go back to sleep.

 
After another pass partner opened 1♣. Of course. RHO bid 1♠ and I... wait, 1♠? Really? Guess I'm going to have to write this up. Better bid it perfectly; pass. 2♦ from my left, 2♥ from partner passed to me. 2♥ from partner! He could have just doubled; 2♥ should be good stuff. Finally I get to bid, I choose 4♥! Pass, think, think, think, oh no, 4♠. Yes partner I know you have a void, it's not nearly as useful as you imagine. 5♥ all pass.

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

Had the club Jack been short 5♥ would have had a happy ending but 1 off is the best it can be played for. Matchpoints is a funny game though and it seems the other N/S players had got even more excited (or more doubled) and -100 was worth a comforting 83%!

Didn't help much though, dead on 50% after 78 boards. Ah well, teams tomorrow.

Sure I have a stop

Bidding NT without a stop always holds an amount of risk. How much risk depends on the auction. 1NT - 3NT not much risk. When they've overcalled lots of risk. Risk isn't a bad thing outright, balanced risk is the key.

But what is a stop anyway?

♠	K
♥	A Q 9 6
♦	K J 8 6 5 4
♣	T 9

I started out with a 1♦ call which drew a 1♠ overcall. When partner bid 2♠ showing a balanced force and asking for a stop I couldn't resist. Sure they might lead the Ace but in the real world I have a stop. Partner might even put down a Jack third and then we have a real stop. Unfortunately for me West didn't do what they were supposed to. Instead of casting out a small spade as convention might dictate they cashed the K♣:

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

Between Easts 4♣ and my 9♣ West thought it correct to continue. The hand fell to pieces a bit here and all told I tallied only 3 tricks.

Non material defence

Plays that don't gain any tricks would seem to be of theoretical import only. Sometimes however the correct card makes all the difference, even when that difference isn't measured in tricks. Good defenders make life easy for their partners. Imagine the following:

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

and the auction has gone:

North	East	South	West
-	1♠	X	2♠
3♣	Pass	3NT	Pass
Pass	Pass

In this situation I play count leads. Partners card will always be a third or fifth. If we hadn't bid there'd be an element of reverse attitude applied but given the auction, that's a third.

Declarer must  have either KTx or Kxx. Without a hand record we can't know. Also provided I don't contribute the duck there's no difference to the number of tricks we have in the suit. Try it: win Ace and return the Queen, play the Queen or 8 and later cash the Ace. It all amounts to the same thing.

Assuming partner unblocks their hypothetical T♠ under the Jack. If they don't do that the suit becomes blocked and we might not get in again. Give declarer something like:

♠	K 5 4
♥	A K 5
♦	A 8 7 5
♣	A 7 6

It could all be over. Let's not make partner work this out. The 8♠ will tell you the holding declarer has and better it lifts the load off partner.

Bidding Challange #2

Since I'm in the mood for bidding challenges, here's another one. You're unfavourable, second seat and playing matchpoints (agreed, worst situation imaginable). You know you're about to get pre-empted because you pick up:

♠	Q 6
♥	A K J T
♦	Q 8
♣	A J 7 4 3

Short Queens, lovely. RHO stares into her cards, sips her tea several times, and opens 4♦. Natural. Worse, you're in a field where most players play namyats or Texas transfers. Maybe no one else will have to deal with this.

The smallest things

Just a small bidding problem for you all today. You've very little so weren't really expecting to make a bid at all. That would have been quite ok; but, when forced, what will you do? The auction proceeds 1♣ on you left, double from partner, pass on your right:

♠	8 7 4 3
♥	T 2
♦	Q 8 7 4
♣	Q 7 3

If it's worth anything the game is matchpoint pairs and you've at unfavourable vulnerability. The debate is surely between your two suits, you weren't thinking 1NT were you?

Further analysis

In my last post I described me misplaying a contract but getting away with it. After publishing it I got thinking more about the hand and what I could have worked out before even playing a card. It's always hard to do analysis after the fact so stop me when this turns from a genuine analysis to an exercise in hindsight.

If you haven't read the previous post don't as it'll make this easier to follow. I'll repeat the important bits of the hand here:

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

North	East	South	West
Pass	Pass	1♣	2♥
3♣	4♥	Pass	Pass
Pass

North leads the 4 of clubs Ace from the table, 8 from South and time to stop and think.

First things first, we have 23 high cards between us leaving 17 for the defense. Presuming both defenders have their bids opener might have 11 or 12 and responder 5 or 6. The clubs we've seen so far and the three level bid holding only 6 highs indicates North has 5 clubs and South only 4.

Now holding only 4 clubs and a minimum opening why has South neglected a 1NT opening? All the 4333 or 4432 hands would fit 1NT and anything with a longer suit would be opened that suit instead. The only answer is a 4441 shape. The modern convention is to open black singletons a diamond and red singletons the suit underneath. Which is an odd way of saying bid diamonds if you got em. The only 4441 opened 1♣ is 4=4=1=4.

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

Back to the values. There's the  ♠AQJ, ♥K, ♦KJ and ♣QJ. Given North didn't lead a big club we can assume that South has at least one of those honours. What do we need to make 4♥?

How to butcher a contract

While I'm sure you need no such instruction let me share a story. After two passes my RHO opened 1♣, I jumped to 2♥ (intermediate), 3♣ from dealer followed by 4♥ by dearly beloved partner. Small club lead:

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

Yuk. Lots of points, lots of shape but poorly fitting. Worse the club lead destroys our one good entry to dummy. Even if we can set the diamonds up we may never reach them. There aren't many good chances but I decided to play a diamond to the Ace so I could ruff my club then finesse in trumps. I'm still going to need something unlikely like the A♠ onside though.

No sooner had I designated the diamond deuce from the deck the King dropped from South. Well that's wonderful as I'm just about home now; I'll lose a heart and two spades. So I ruffed my club, South covered the Q♥, so I cashed the J♥ and North showed out. Hmmm, no matter, if I exit hearts to South spades cannot be attacked and I'll get one away on the diamond. That's all very cute, work well, South was suitably grumpy at being end played twice and my partner happy.

At another table after identical play South ducked the Q♥!

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

How ill do you feeling now with the lead stuck in the East hand? I got that spine chilling, sweat inducing shaking feeling that I'd misplayed it.

How to correct this little problem? Ruff the club with the Q♥ then lead the five towards the knave or nine.

The wrong card in tempo

I'm sure you've heard the saying. Better than the right card out of tempo or something. Except it isn't. If you don't believe me remember back to when you were explaining to your team mates how you let through a slam on defence. How many of those biting and sarcastic questions were about the tempo? How often do you bid 'in tempo' then find, while partner sits and thinks, a better option?

I'm not advocating unethical play nor am I suggesting one might break tempo needlessly just that being right is important. If you need the time to think take it. Often no information is conveyed. Other times partner gets information like "I'm really close to either a double or bidding one more". Helpful.
Game All:

♠	x
♥	A 9 x x
♦	Q T x x x x
♣	x x

North	East	South	West
Pass	1♣	1♠	X
Pass	4♥	X	Pass
?

You considered opening a weak 2♦. Schooled on the value of 4 card majors you hold off. The whole auction has been in tempo so far. What's your call?

Everything immediately screamed pass to me but I've got into a habit of stopping and thinking about these hands. What occurred to me after some time was, partner after making a simple overcall and, hearing nothing from me has doubled a confidently bid game holding either one or no trumps. Suspicious. Maybe it's not strictly a penalty double... I bid.

	♠ A J x x x ♥ J ♦ A K x x ♣ T x x
♠ x x ♥ K Q x x ♦ - ♣ A K Q J x x x		♠ K Q J x x ♥ T x x x ♦ J x x ♣ x
	♠ x ♥ A 9 x x ♦ Q T x x x x ♣ x x

Partners double is mostly penalties, opposite as much as xxx - T9xx - xxx - xxx the contract will likely fail. Would the auction have been the same had partners only heart been small? Who knows. It's akin to the adage that you should always play to win the post mortem. Well yes but I'd much rather win the datum, match, session or tournament.

What suits?

There seems to be a new fashion at my bridge club; a new style of bidding is taking hold. I don't know who the preacher is, but they've attracted quite a following. It seems that suits are no longer important! Imagine you witness the following auction:

West	East
2♣	2♠
4♣	4♥
6NT	Pass

Your partner enquires before making his lead and gets told that 2♣ was a normal Acol game force. 2♠ showed 10 - 12 high card points. 4♣ was Gerber and one ace sufficient for 6NT. This drifted 2 off and was followed by some instructional counting proving, among other things, that 8 is not in the range 10 - 12. A little later in the night I observed something similar

West	East
2♣	2NT
6NT	Pass

2NT I was informed showed 3 controls, Ace two, King one. This contract made but one can't help but think that when the 9 card club fit makes grand comfortably one would at least want know it existed. I don't like to dwell on the lunacies of anyone but myself here but these systems deserve special mention.

What follows can only be an adoption of the Stag Homequest system as described on PoorBridge (6th on the page).