![NZB](images/logo-nz-bridge.png)
All News
Daily Bridge in New Zealand
Do you believe them?
Today, we have a recent real bidding problem (actually, all our problems are recent and real!). We have a “taster” question first of all which hardly anticipates the drama that was soon to unfold. So, try this:
East Deals |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
? |
|
|
|
There are or maybe are two schools of thought. Let’s hear from the Panel:
Pam Livingston “1. I know the text books used to say to open these 1 but spades is the boss suit!”
Michael Cornell “1: I always open 1
with 5-5 in the blacks and even if I didn’t I would certainly open 1
with this quality suit. It’s possible that the 1
opener has worked out well.”
Peter Newell “1: I would have opened 1
- 5 good spades and average clubs mean that I would prefer to emphasise spades and take the risk that the club suit may get lost."
And most emphatically:
Michael Ware: “1 - Only dinosaurs open 1
. If the opponents pass through out then 1
can work fine, but on say 90% of bridge hands they don't. Don't let them into auction so easily.”
However, there is still support for a 1 opener on certain hands, but not on this one.
Stephen Blackstock “1: With a black 5-5 I would tend to open 1
for the sake of economy, but that must be tempered by suit quality. To open 1
on
xxxxx say would be silly. Here the spades are so much stronger that opening 1
seems preferable.”
Bruce Anderson “1: Playing Acol with 5/5 in spades and clubs it is standard to open 1
. But with this hand the spade suit is so strong I would have opened 1
; one good reason for doing so is that if the opponents play the hand and partner is on lead he/she is likely to lead a spade.”
Nigel Kearney “1: I don't hate the 1
opening and for a long time I opened 1
with 5-5 in the blacks but I now think 1
tends to work out better unless the spade suit is poor.”
Kris Wooles and Andy Braithwaite complete a united Panel this time for 1. However, when the hand occurred, the West player did open 1
. The North player then produced a STOP CARD as you will see from the sequence below:
West North East South
1 6
Pass Pass
?
Well, maybe you need a 10.5 second pause for this one! Not an everyday sequence. What to do?
Michael Cornell “6: I can only assume the 6
bidder is serious at this vulnerability- I suspect he owns 12 or 13 red cards- and I don’t think my
Q is a trick so I am bidding 6
. This could be very wrong or very right but I think bidding has more upside than downside.”
And well versed in double negatives is:
Michael Ware “6 - No reason not to trust North at these colours.”
Nigel Kearney “6: On the second round I would try 6
probably. It's a bit undisciplined but partner cannot double and it doesn't look like a club lead will be best for the defence. At least the vulnerability is in our favour. It depends who North is and the state of the match, but when a normal opponent does something like this, I tend to believe them.”
Stephen Blackstock “6: Either North is fishing for a save, unlikely since it would be better to allow E/W to find a fit before jumping to a slam North is hoping he will not have to declare, or he has a raft of red cards. If he does not quite have 12 tricks in his own hand, the fall of the
Q and to a lesser degree the
10 will help him along the way. I am going to guess to bid 6
and hope we have a cheap save. At least it isn’t match points or board-a-match, where we would be fixed by other tables being lower.
Swiss Pairs is the game.
Andy Braithwaite "Pass: I pass as I do not want an unusual lead."
Kris Wooles “6: The vulnerable 6
contract may not be rock solid but I’m not taking any chances."
However, some were not so sure about bidding on:
Bruce Anderson “Pass: There is now the serious worry that only a spade lead beats this contract. Nonetheless, I now pass. Obviously, bidding 6 may be a cheap save if we have a fit and 6
is a make, but if we do not have a fit, we will go for a big number, and perhaps all the while 6
is going down.”
Pam Livingston “Pass: I would be much less comfortable with if I had opened 1. Nobody can force me to open 1
.”
Yet, I rather believe my opponent and also the points made by:
Peter Newell”6: a guess of course. When someone bids 6
vul against not, I reckon they think they are a good chance of making, as getting doubled and going down a few would be a disaster.
I'm not enthused that partner is likely to lead a club, and there is nothing about my hand that suggests defensive tricks. North seems likely to have a spade void and 9 or 10 hearts with some diamond cards and maybe A or AQ. I expect a black suit sacrifice will be reasonably cheap against a likely 1430, though we may end up in 7
when we would have been better off in 6
as partner won't be expecting a 5/5 hand with such good spades.”
It's time to reveal all:
East Deals |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
1 ♣ |
6 ♥ |
? |
|
A rock-solid 6 with the 6
x sacrifice costing just -500, down 3. The vulnerability did not work in North’s favour as several of the Panel believed them. How to bid that North hand slower and be dragged into 6
. That’s North’s problem. For West, third in hand, it would seem 1
is everyone’s preferred choice but what would East bid after the sequence 1
-6
? It is a little easier to say when we see all four hands.
And if we really want to day-dream, what would East lead to 7, the grand-slam which can make on the wrong lead? Now, we have crossed into the world of make-believe!
Thanks to Michael Ware for providing the deal.
Richard Solomon
Go Back View All News Items
![Our Sponsors](images/heading-our-sponsors.gif)