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One Point, One Bid, One Unhappy Partner!

Well, that’s what happened but did it have to? North picked up a very very poor hand. They did not want to bid at all with just 1 high card point but they knew they had to because their partner opened 2Club-small, a strong bid, and not one that necessarily showed clubs. They bid 2Diamond-small, also artificial and saying they had very little in the way of high card points, normally less than 7. Partner then bid 2Spade-small and guess what happened next:

Bridge in NZ.png nz map.jpg  

 

10 9 6 5

7 6 5 2

J

9 7 5 3

 

West

North

East

South

 

 

 

2 ♣

Pass

2 

Pass

2 ♠

Pass        

 

 

and not just at one table, either. Several times, North passed 2Spade-small. Well, that seemed high enough with their very poor hand…and of course, the opposition passed as well.

North forgot two things. The first was that their partner had a very good hand. North could not be sure how strong but they said “strong enough to open 2Club-small” which should be strong enough to play game opposite a very weak hand. Secondly, the North hand was not that weak, anyway! Let’s look at all 4 hands:

South Deals
E-W Vul

10 9 6 5

7 6 5 2

J

9 7 5 3

7

J 8 3

K 10 8 5 2

A K 10 8

 

N

W

 

E

S

 

J 4 2

K 10 9 4

7 6

Q J 6 4

 

A K Q 8 3

A Q

A Q 9 4 3

2

 

West

North

East

South

 

 

 

2 ♣

Pass

2 

Pass

2 ♠

All pass

 

 

 

On this day, North’s hand provided extra tricks because South could ruff their losing diamonds in the North hand. Let’s say West started with Club-smallA and then Club-smallK. South can ruff and lead Diamond-smallA and a second diamond, ruffing in dummy. Now, they can play a heart to the Heart-smallQ and ruff another diamond. East  over-ruffs this with the higher Spade-smallJ and should at that point return a trump since if South had more diamonds to ruff (they do), East’s trumps are too small to win a further trick.

South wins the trump in hand and ruffs again in dummy before playing a heart to the ace and drawing the remaining opposition trumps. The bad diamond break meant they will still lose one diamond along with the club and the over-ruff in dummy. That’s 10 tricks, game in spades but South was in part-score. South had only average luck. The heart finesse worked but the diamond break was unkind.

Fast Arrival: bid to game in a hurry!

The key is that a 2Club-small opening is best played as a bid forcing to game, some game. When South bid 2Spade-small, North knew which game because they held 4 spades. 2Spade-small promises at least 5 spades so that even 3 spades would have been enough support for North to raise to game. Since North-South are committed to go to game, the faster North bids it, the weaker is their hand. So, North should have bid 4Spade-small which asks their partner to pass, not to go looking for a slam. Perhaps strangely, but 3Spade-small from North would have shown a stronger hand. That is a demonstration of the principle of “slow and fast arrival”.

Never pass 2Spade-small

Imagine, though, that instead of the North hand above, North held just 1 spade but 4 diamonds. Now, neither 2Spade-small nor 4Spade-small would not be the right contract. North-South should be playing in diamonds, 5Diamond-small, in game. North must not pass 2Spade-small but then should bid 2NT, which is called a “double negative” saying they have very few points, maybe none, and no support for spades. South would then bid 3Diamond-small and the fit would be found. On other days, North-South may be able to make 3NT. 

On this day, North forgot that their partnership should be in game and also under-valued the strength of their own hand. Some may play a 2Club-small opener has just 20+ hcp and is not necessarily forcing to game. That makes it harder for the strong hand to find the best contract. Best play 2Club-small as game-forcing and then South can explore in the comfort that their partner will not pass short of game.

What a shame game was missed. South would so much liked to have recorded +420. 

Richard Solomon

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