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A TOUGH HAND TO BID AND TO DEFEAT!

This week, we are going to look at a tough pair of hands to bid…and we will later look at whether the defence could defeat the final contract.

Firstly, we will give you a bidding problem. Now, you did not say that every hand is a “bidding problem”, did you? That may be true but it is just that some are a little harder than others!

So, here is today’s problem with you as South.

     
South Deals
Both Vul
 
N
W   E
S
   
 
K J 4
K Q 5 2
8
A K 10 5 2
West North East South
      1 
2  3  Pass ?

 

With your 16 high card points, you open your longest suit, 1Club-small. West on your left enters the bidding with 2Spade-small, which is what is called a weak jump overcall, showing a 6-card suit and about 6-10 high card points (hcp). They aim to describe their hand to their partner and at the same time perhaps be a little destructive by using up the opposition’s bidding space. “Second aim successful!”. They have!

Your partner has found a bid to support your clubs. Your problem is you are not quite sure how many hcp your partner has. Without West’s bid, they show about 10-12. Yet, with that interference, North may have chosen to support you with 8 or 9 as they can no longer bid 2Club-small. Although the range of that 2Club-small bid is 6-9, they should not bid at the 3 level voluntarily with less than 8, even just in support.

So, what do you bid? If they have 11 or 12, maybe as low as 9, we could have game on.

So, do we? If so, which game? Maybe 5Club-small although as we have a reasonable holding in the enemy spade suit, there is another possibility…3NT.

Our South just could not even contemplate 3NT with just one diamond, Diamond-small8. They learnt you have to have a stop in every suit. (In a perfect world, that is true!) There is, though, another way involving a little more exploration (more of that next time).

However, our South bid 4Club-small inviting game in clubs, which was a reasonable approach. North muttered something about not having to be declarer as they wrote down their 5Club-small bid on the bidding pad. “Thanks, partner!”

The bidding had thus been:

West              North             East                South

                                                                        1Club-small

2Spade-small                    3Club-small                   Pass             4Club-small

Pass                 5Club-small                   All Pass

(just a little note in passing for those of you who may have learnt an ace ask convention called Gerber. Although the ace ask bid is 4Club-small, it is wise not to use this bid to ask for aces when your side has bid the club suit naturally, or really any time when the previous bid was a suit rather than a no-trump bid. Thus, 4Club-small above does not ask for aces.)

We are not going to show you the North hand until Sunday as we are going to give you the West hand to think about what you would lead to 5Club-small bid as above.

Spade-small AQT985

Heart-small T98

Diamond-small K2

Club-small 63

See you on Easter Sunday with the answer… a lovely Easter Egg…or, perhaps just a “well done” if you find the right answer!

Richard Solomon

 Easter Eggs.jpg

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