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Daily Bridge in New Zealand
nearly that many!
How to handle all those hearts!
A hand like the following has been seen many times before but there seems a wide difference of opinion on how it should be treated. Many who held this hand and their partners did not seem to be on the same wave-length when it occurred in a recent Open Teams event.
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West |
North |
East |
South |
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What would you open? Also, if you open 1, your partner bids 1
. What now?
Before we hear from the Panel, let’s get rid of one option. This hand may contain (most of the time) 8 playing tricks and could be counted as a 4-loser hand, but you should not, would not want to, and are now barred from opening such a hand as a 2 Game Force style hand. It falls far short of the “Rule of 29” requirements for such a bid if you have less than 20 hcp (hcp + length of 2 longest suits must equal at least 29). No argument.
So, to the Panel. Andy has seen all this before:
Andy Braithwaite “1: This is an old chestnut- originally opening 1
and rebidding 4
after 1
showed some spade support. But this seems to be a forgotten agreement now and 4
now shows 8 playing tricks with solid hearts (although it could be argued that 3NT may mean the same thing)
Anyway, 1 seems to be the only logical opener and 4
the logical rebid as the minor holdings look too vulnerable to try 3NT.”
Nigel Kearney “1: If I had a way to show a strong 4
opening, I would do that, otherwise the hand is too good to pre-empt in first seat and is not even close to a 2
opening. On the next round I would bid 4
. We need quite a lot from partner for slam to be good, e.g.,
AKxx
xx
xxx
Axxx.”
Kris Wooles “1 followed by 4
. 4
meaning a self- sufficient suit and a hand not good enough to open with a game force but enhanced sufficiently by the 1
response to be able to bid game.”
Michael Cornell “1 and rebid 4
which in my book is simply about 8-9 tricks, obviously long hearts and too strong to open 4
which is what I would open opposite a passed partner.”
Bruce Anderson “1 and over the 1
response I bid 4
showing a self -sufficient suit and the values to make game more often than not over a one level response. Obviously, there could be problem bidding this way as if partner is very short in hearts with long strong spades and a minor suit ace; then it is likely a slam will be missed, but I can see no other way to get this hand across.
I would not open this hand 4 because as in my view it is too good for that bid; with one of my former partners, I used to play 4
as a strong 4
and 4
as strong 4
opener. I would use that option if it was available, albeit there is again the potential problem of partner having a good hand with long strong spades.”
Initially agreed but not really in unison about what the jump to 4 shows. Way back in time, I learnt that the 4
rebid was a rather minimum hand with 7+ hearts, not normally with much interest above game, rather a gamble. Our Panel seem to have revised that. Should it have spade tolerance? Nice if it has but is that guaranteed?
1 was not our only choice of opener:
Peter Newell “4: At this vulnerability I like to play sound 4
bids, and while this is a good one, it is still within my range. I think 4
describes the playing strength, a good suit (of course not this good..) and will make it harder for the opponents to judge whether to sacrifice or not.
If you choose 1 and your partner bids 1
, the 1
bid has improved my hand further as the
Q looks like a very good card. 4
doesn't really do justice the hand as it is too good for 4
as you would bid 4
with the same hand and 1 less heart. However, I like the alternatives less unless one has some kind of artificial game forcing bid available. Any other bids will give partner a very misleading picture of my hand, so I would rebid 4
as at least it gets across an excellent suit and strong playing strength.”
Certainly, 4 is an opening option when vulnerable but it was interesting the reaction of the partners of this opening bid. The range was from passing out 4
, using Key Card to simply bidding 6
. Who was right?
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West |
North |
East |
South |
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11 pairs reached slam out of 24. Of those 11, only 3 bid it after a 4 opener. 13 auctions started at the 1 level, 11 at the 4-level.
It paid to be, this time!
Thus, a variety of opinions. At this vulnerability, I would not mind starting at the 4-level and if you check on key-cards, you will be in slam per force. North would just have one nervous moment if West found a diamond lead, though few did.
Richard Solomon
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