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Getting Top Marks.

Only two pairs out of 17 got to grips with today’s deal from a recent tournament. It started off with an interesting decision for the hand which opened the bidding:

 

 

I asked our Panel whether they were happy with East’s opening bid and also what they would bid next. The game was Pairs.

There was general agreement that 1 was the best opening bid but there were three alternatives for East’s second bid.

Peter Newell “Yes Agree with 1 - Not suitable for a 3NT opening with a side ace and a hand that could be suitable to play in hearts which will be hard to find after a 3NT opening.  There is nothing wrong with a 1 opening other than the challenging rebid (even worse if partner responds 1).”

Stephen Blackstock “ I agree with opening 1; even if a gambling 3NT is available, the side ace is more than this should hold.”

The others all agreed with 1 if only because there is no alternative, certainly not 2. On then to our rebid. The textbook says:

Bruce Anderson “3NT:  obviously there is the risk we are off the diamond suit but with 8 tricks for no trumps, the alternatives of 3 or 2NT understate the hand in terms of playing strength.

It is Pairs, making a game if partner is weak but has a trick source and making game is sure to be a very good result. 

Even if we are off the diamond suit, we may escape that lead, so 3NT it is.”

With 2NT showing 18-19, 3NT here is gambling style, stronger than the traditional 3NT "gambling" opener.

Michael Cornell “3NT: Solid clubs ,too strong for 3. The good news is that LHO did not bid 1 so even if we have a problem there, that suit may not always be led.

The important thing is that I have got my playing strength across to partner and we have reached a game with 8 solid tricks. If partner has say, 7-9 points ,with a short club, he would often not bid 3NT after a 3 rebid.”

and a little under-bid from:

Nigel Kearney “3: It is quite close between rebidding 3 and 3NT. 3 will work out better if 3NT does not make or if it plays better from partner's side. 3NT will work better if it makes and partner has a hand that would pass 3, maybe something like Axxxx xx QJxx xx. My guess is the advantages of playing from partner's side, especially at Pairs, will outweigh the times we stop in 3 with 3NT making. So I would choose 3.”

and “reversing” are:

Stephen Blackstock “2: Easy for now, but may get unavoidably harder next round. Too strong for 3, and 3NT is a wild shot in the dark with other contracts often much better.”

Peter Newell “2: it shows my strength and where my values are and I can rebid clubs next.”

Back in the days when I learnt about reversing, it seemed in our sequence above that if you reversed into 2, that your diamond suit might be short. However, reversing into 2, a major, always promised a 4+ card suit. That said, I do not think it is best to reverse by bidding one’s singleton..very misleading. So, here’s the exception to confirm the rule! Yes, 2 sounds good to me…and to Papatoetoe’s Shirley Xu as well.

Unfortunately for Shirley and Peter, the bidding then took off with Key Card. It sounded like West had a 4-card heart suit. However, Shirley and her partner, Rob Davies, had two interesting bids to conclude the auction.

 

 5 showed 2 key cards but no Q and so Rob satisfied himself with small slam. Shirley was unimpressed with the 4-3 fit and bravely converted to 6NT. Rob knew that all the key cards were present and had his own extra source of tricks in spades. So, he went the whole way!

North led a diamond, a great lead as the defence would start taking tricks after declarer had won the first 16! Rob found his dummy very adequate.

After a 3 response to 1, West can find partner with the top 3 clubs and A.. and presumably a little more for the jump to 3. So, with 12 almost solid tricks, they could try for 13. After the 3NT rebid, a partnership needs to have an understanding how to check for aces as once they discover the A, they can certainly count 13 tricks.

Only 1 other pair, Jenna Gibbons and Julian Foster, reached grand slam, in spades, while 8 more pairs out of 17 reached a making small slam. It would seem whatever the initial response to 1 was, some slam should be reached. Well done, Shirley and Rob, for getting the top score.

Richard Solomon

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