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“Bread and Butter” Bidding.

2 Level Overcalls revisited.

It really is important to get the basic bidding right. Then, you can concentrate on the harder bidding decisions. There should have been no hard decisions to make on today’s hand, at least not initially… but it did not seem to work out that way.

 

We talked about overcalls a day or two back. As a follow-up, how would you treat this South hand? It’s Pairs and no-one is vulnerable.

Would you even think of bidding even though you have a 13 count? The rules of bridge allow you to pass initially and enter the bidding later if it seems right to do so. You do not have to make an early commitment to bid or to pass.

Two flawed bids

After the 1 opener, the only two possible bids on the above hand are flawed. Your partner will expect you either to have more hearts or a stronger hand if you double. While you have two suits and tolerance for a third, you are lacking in the suit your partner will expect you to hold.

How would you feel if you overcall 2 on the above hand and hear that passed round to the opener who makes a reopening double. Is West just waiting to penalise you for your grossly inadequate 5-card suit overcall? Should you offer a choice of minor suits first? These are questions you cannot properly answer. The true answer is that you should not overcall with your 13 -count (with Q unlikely to be carrying full or any weight) even not vulnerable. -500 does not stack up very well when the opponents just have a part-score or even in Pairs when they have a not-vulnerable game.

Pass. The bidding is not over and soon you may be able to enter the bidding legitimately:

West              North            East                South

                                                1                Pass

2                   Pass                Pass                ?

Now you can make a bid which shows both minor suits in one bid, 2NT. You know your partner has some value because the opponents have stopped so low. Bidding 2NT now is much safer than overcalling 2 a round earlier. Leave the rest of the bidding to your partner and the opponents.

West              North            East                South

                                              1                   Pass

2                   Pass              Pass                2NT

Pass                3                3                  All Pass

Job done. Here’s hoping they cannot make 3. They cannot:

 

You are going to score +50 because you are going to start with clubs and switch to diamonds after three rounds of the suit..or even an earlier diamond switch if 8 confuses South. You can make 9 tricks in diamonds but no more. Doubling 3 is not appropriate. You have pushed the opponents higher than they wanted to go and have gone plus without risk. Job well done.

Oh, so you think West might pass 1? North will not. They will double and now the difficulty is to stop low enough. With both minors, South may choose to find partner’s better minor by forcing with 2 or just jump to 3. Certainly, North could be stronger. However, West might help North-South out by doubling 2. North has no great desire to bid and if South now contents themselves with 3, all will be well whether or not East bids 3. South has to realise their partner may just be balancing not necessarily having an opening hand for their double. Harder bidding for South to stop in part-score, though as stated that Q is not worth 2 hcp on this deal.

Thus, the bidding could get harder for South though the risks of a bad result will have lessened if they do not overcall 2 first time round.

This time, it was North who had the diamond honours South should have had. A conservative pass of 3 by North would save the day whether or not West bid 2 in the following auction.

West              North            East                South

                                             1                  2 (no great bid!)

Pass (2)       2(x)          Pass                3

Pass                3             All Pass

though if West had bid 2, then North could be forgiven for competing to a non-making 4. Only 4 out of the 8 North-South pairs got the plus score they could/should achieve with other contracts ranging from the too-conservative 2 by East making to an over-aggressive 5 by South not making!  

It seems in both cases, North-South just did not get the basics right.

Defending for Friday

 

 

    A lively auction sees you defending 4. Your partner starts with A on which you play a very discouraging T at trick 1. Trick 2 goes 6, 3 your ace and 7 from declarer…. and trick 3?

Richard Solomon

 

 

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