Improving Jacoby 2NT

Like a lot of people I've played the convention:

When partner opens one major a bid of two no trumps shows four card trump support and is forcing to game.

I've also played it in a more stepwise fashion so 1♥ - 2NT is Jacoby and 1♠ - 3♣ the same. Whichever way around you do it we're talking about the same convention.

The question is; what next? The way I learnt it was a little bit like this (assume the auction 1♠ - 2NT):

3♣/3♦/3♥	Shortage with extras
3♠	15 - 17 balanced
3NT	18 - 19 balanced
4♣/4♦/4♥	Void with extras
4♠	Minimum

On the surface this seems like a good idea. Fast arrival tells us that it's good to bid game immediately when we have no interest in anything further. There's two problems though, firstly what does "extras" actually mean and secondly 4♠ hamstrings a strong responder. Consider the following hand from the NZ pairs semi-final:

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

Playing the above structure the West hand opened 1♠ and East responded 2NT. What is your call?

12 points therefore minimum? But you have 2 Aces, a King and a singleton. Opening bids don't need to be nearly this suitable for slam. If you bid 4♠ partner is shut out.

So our hero West bid 3♦ to show his singleton and controls and East drove to slam. Even if you find the ♠Q 12 tricks are impossible on a diamond lead. When both go bad you'll have to admit you should never have broken cover in the first place.

Here's what I've learned :

3♣		Minimum
	3♦	Even so, what's your shortage?
	Others	Responder shortages stepwise
3♦		Extras but no shortage
	3♥	Start the cue bidding!
	Others	Responder shortages stepwise
3♥/♠/NT		Opener shortages stepwise (extras!)
4♣/♦/♥		5 card suits no extras

The advantage is subtle. In fact the number of ranges you can immediately show maybe isn't as good. The big benefit is that after you show minimum a moderately interested partner can make further tries below game. That means that you can happily show min on the hand above safe in the knowledge that if partner wants to know more all they need do is ask.

As for showing extras just because you've got all your points in Aces. There's another convention for solving the Aces problem. Blackwood. It works really well.

Come on in

Every so often you open your mouth then suddenly wish you didn't. Happens to me daily. Teams is much better at producing these situations than pairs because everything can go so much worse. Here's an example from the NZ teams qualifying.

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

West	North	East	South
1♦	Pass	1♥	?

The South hand doesn't look bad. Maybe a sneaky 2♣ overcall will secure the lead. Problem is partner might feel the need to show their spades. That will get doubled and you'll have to run back to clubs. Then you'll go for 500 when your opponents were about to stop in 2♥. Thanks guys, we needed the IMPs =)

Embarrassing stuff but there's worse to come on this deal from the Swiss Pairs...

The system I was playing contained a 2♣ opener that could be a weak two in diamonds. Over the course of the congress it was a game force more than three times as often as the weak two which seems counter-intuitive but I haven't worked out the proper expectation. The good thing is it raises the spectre in some minds that they're being swindled. Combine that with an inadequate system discussion and you get this:

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

West	North	East	South
-	-	2♣	Pass
2♦1	X2	XX3	2♠
Pass	3♦	Pass	Pass
X	Pass	Pass	3♥
X	Pass	Pass	Pass

1. Passable by the weak two option
2. Explained as "Takeout"
3. 22-23 balanced with poorly contained grin

3♥ was not a success, ♣K lead followed by two rounds of hearts got the ball rolling. Four rounds of spades West ruffing were followed by three more clubs on the last of which West covered South's trump. That left my ♥9 clear to take an eleventh trick +1700.

2♦xx would have been an amusing challenge for partner. Too bad I'll never get to see that one played out.

Slams abound

Holding the lovely set of cards:

♠	A K Q 4 3
♥	Q J T 8
♦	A Q J 9
♣	-

I opened 1♠ and heard my partner respond 1NT (semi-forcing). A two club overcall rescued me from an awkward rebid, I doubled for takeout. Partner obliged with 2♦ so I continued 3♣ still not sure exactly where we should play. Partners 4♦ surely denied a decent club stopper so he must have his 6 points in the red suits. 6♦ seems like a clear winner.

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

Looks like a nice spot but the hearts were 5-1 and a ruff destroyed any chances. Even if they miss that, a club lead causes timing problems when the diamonds don't break. Fortunately there was a good contingent getting doubled in 4 or 5 clubs making 11 tricks. That bad diamond and heart break had to be good for something!

How do you play 6♠ given the ♦K lead after the auction:

West	North	East	South
1♠	2♦	2♠	Pass
4♣	X	4♦	Pass
6♠	Pass	Pass	Pass

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

Yes you read correctly. Not only did the player on lead double for one but my third opponent moved with half his hand in my splinter.

The 10 - 3

Most of the way through the first session of the NZ pairs final I picked up this hand:

♠	A
♥	A K J 8 6
♦	A K T 5
♣	J 8 4

Nice cards. I opened a heart because I don't really like using a game force and LHO jumps to 4♠. This is passed back to me and I double, partner pulls to 5♥ which is nice but LHO competes to 5♠! Double again, who knows what's going on.

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

Unlucky. On the club guess 5♠ rolls in. To achieve the par result you must sacrifice at the 6 level holding 20 hcp. Pity those who led a small club from West; they didn't get more than the trump Ace.

The Pairs

Martin and I achieved 6th in the pairs which is at least 50 places better that ever before. Previously out of the four qualifying sessions there's always been one where instead of playing bridge I have played snap; poorly. I have a myriad of hands to write up but here's a hand from the second to last round of the pairs final.

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

Sitting North I opened 1♣. Initially my ♥A was sorted in with the diamonds but just as my pen was heading for the paper it changed suit. Opponent overcalled a heart and my partner had something of a problem.

He decided that 2♦ was the best description of his hand which West doubled. I splintered to 3♠ and hearing my partner announce a club control I showed the ♥A which is not the ♦A and there we were. In an unbreakable 24 hcp slam.

A nice touch to add to the board is that my brother also played in the final and his partnership was the only other to bid this slam so we shared 25/26 matchpoints.

Card Trick

A few years ago I was in Sydney and had the pleasure of a performance by a magician. He started out by doing the normal thing; asking us to pick a card. We put the card back in the pack which he shuffled once before turning over the whole deck to show us our card was no longer there.

Not immediately impressive but then he opened his jacket, took out his wallet, opened it, unzipped a pocket and drew out that very card we had picked. Very smooth. I'm still not sure how he did it but I'll wager the zip wasn't the only way into that pocket.

So years later I'm directing a tournament when someone calls me over to tell me there's a card on the floor. It could be from about three different tables and there's three boards on each table; that's nine boards to check. But I know that all good players count their cards before they look at them so I'll just pop it in my wallet and wait for someone to be short.

A full hour later I'm called over to the table to perform my magic trick much to the delight of the assembled. It's not till much later that it occurs to me that two tables in a pretty serious pairs tournament bid, played and scored the board without that one card.

Don't worry guys, I won't tell anyone who you are ;)



I'm off to play the NZ congress with Martin Löfgren tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll have some time to post but if not I assure you I'll catch up when I get back.

Speculating Seven

Playing club pairs I picked up this:

♠	-
♥	K 8 7 5
♦	A Q T 8 7 5 2
♣	6 5

So much potential. If only partner has a fit for one of my suits this is huge. Sitting third in hand I'll get a chance to see what partner does before I have to act.

2NT she opens. Two no trumps. Heavens to Betsy!

The next hand starts to think. I guess I'm not the only one with a distributional monster. 3♠ appears on my right. Bet I know what I'm getting for a lead. If the defense hold the spade honors and I get a spade lead...

7♦!

In tempo. Like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Feels a little like one of those famed five or seven hands that get written up. I'll admit I'm very nervous waiting for dummy. Bad luck.

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

Sadly, not the hand I was hoping it might be.

Don't ask me why but West led a spade. So the cows went on mooing, the chickens nibbled at their corn and the world was at peace and stuff.

Making a contract

Playing on BBO with 3 experts I'm in a match designed for my partner and I to practice our system and defense. We're scoring in IMPs and red against green. On this board my partner opened a club and East made a weak jump overcall, 2♠.

Blast! I have the perfect hand to penalize but there's no way to make a double stick. I do have 13 points though so I'll bid 3NT. West leads his partners suit as all long term partners who want to stay that way do and off we go:

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

Partner is light on values but that club suit is a welcome sight. East wins the opening spade with the Ace and fires back a baby diamond. Double blast! That diamond was a good idea, I'll need to lose a trick to set up the clubs and running diamonds is going to ruin me. Given the 2♠ call was weak it's unlikely the A♦ is on my right so lets hope for the Jack.

The 8♦ wins on the table, victory. Problem is the clubs may not break. I'm going to cross to hand and run the 8. I don't have an entry to finesse twice but if the defense want the diamond suit they'll have to give me one. The 8♣ wins pinning Easts 7 so now I cash Ace, King and exit the fourth round to West.

	♠ - ♥ K T 9 ♦ T ♣ T 9 6
	♠ K J T ♥ 7 2 ♦ K Q ♣ -

I've lost the A♠ and Q♣. West cashes the A♦ and exits in hearts. With KT9 remaining if I rise I stand to lose the last two tricks but I can duck to create a tenace. The duck loses but the defense are out of steam, on any return I can claim the final four tricks.

That's 100 posts. It's taken me just over 9 months but I got there. Thank you to everyone who has read a post and especially to those who have taken the time to comment.

First lessons

From a very early age my father taught me that if things weren't looking so good I should cash my long suit and see what happens. That came across as pretty cryptic until years later when I learned to play bridge. With that learning came some understanding and more confusion but finally I think I know what he was on about.

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

The auction goes how you'd expect. As South you open a diamond, West overcalls a spade, partner negative doubles. 2♣ seems the normal action over which partner continues 2♠, you fess-up to a spade stop and find yourself tendering for 9 tricks.

West leads her 4th best and whether you're awake enough to play the knave or not you'll win on the table. It seems on the surface that you're a trick short, 5 diamonds, 2 hearts and a spade is not enough. If West has the A♣ then you can safely play on clubs but if it is with East, not so. Even looking at all four hands it might take a moment to see how to break the conundrum.

Whether it's possible to work out this hand as declarer I'll leave to you but when the diamonds are run West must discard twice. The first, a heart, is simple enough but another heart would be a concession, a spade leaves the defense without the firepower to defeat the contract and the club robs the critical entry to partners hand for a spade back.

Assuming the club gets marching orders cashing the A♥, K♥ then exiting the T should be sufficient to earn you +400 and a icy stare from West.

Playing a break

Let me tell a story of how I ended up playing in a sub-optimal fit at the 5 level. I say fit but I mean break. One of the opponents had as many trumps as my partner and I combined.
Here's my hand and the auction:

♠	Q 5 4 3
♥	A 9 3
♦	J T
♣	Q T 7 6

North	East	South	West
1♣	1♦	1♠	2♦
3♦	Pass	3♥	Pass
4♣	Pass	5♣	5♦
5♥	Pass	Pass	Pass

That's me sitting South. Here are some insights into what I thought was going on:

• 3♦ asks for a diamond stop which I sure don't have.
• Maybe if I bid 3♥ we can play in a Moysian 4♥ or 4♠.
• 5♥ thoroughly confuses me.

Some conflicting insights from my partner:

• 3♦ is a cue raise in spades, I'd double if I wanted a stop.
• 3♥ cue, 4♣ cue, 5♣ must be a singleton
• 5♥ another cue on the way to 5♠

Here comes the layout:

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

When the phrase "bid to the level of the fit" was coined it wasn't meant to mean "if you have a 5 card fit play at the 5 level". Yet here I am. I think we can forgive the defense for not extracting the maximum value here but -250 did score better than some who were in 5♠x.