NORTHLAND NES WITH TANIA BROWN

An interesting hand came up at the Kerikeri Dolphin Pairs on the 9th of March that highlighted the need for partnerships to have pre-agreements as to how to bid successfully over a Multi-2 opening bid:

 

Board 22 East deals EW Vulnerable

 

                              -

                              A9843

                              K2

                               K97654

 AJ42                                             KQT953

 T2                                                  J76

 QJ9875                                          T3

 Q                                                    T3

                              876

                              KQ5

                              A64

                               AJ82

 

The bidding reported at the table went:

N      E      S      W

         2   -      2

3    -       -      3

-        3   -      4

-         -       -

 

Where;   2 is a weak 6 card major or 20-22 HCP not balanced

               2 is a relay

               3 is pass or correct

 

Result: 2 light vulnerable 200 to NS

 

It is evident from the above bidding sequence that South was unsure what was the strength of North's 3 bid in this bidding sequence. Possibly as the 2 relay was not passable they may have assumed West had greater high card strength than they actually had.

Better pairs often achieve better results simply due to having better preparation for what their bids mean for different bidding situations they might encounter. This takes more work by both partners to learn these bidding agreements and agreed conventions (which are sometimes complicated) to be successful.

So while difficult to get to 7 or 7 after the multi-2 opening I thought it may be worthwhile for more experience pairs who have prepared defenced to share exemplars if they wish to as to how they would have bid to get a better result for NS on this board. 

I'll start:

Our bidding should go something like this:

N       E        S        W

          2    -         2

2N       -       3      -

4      -       4     -

5      -       5     -

5      -       6     -

-           -        -

 

Where:

2N is a  natural no trump ( 5 loser hand 0 - 26 HCP) that doesn't promise stoppers in  or  and invites partner to pass if they have a 4333 shape >=11 losers and 1 stopper in each major (ie QJTx QJx xxx xxx). Otherwise, if partner has >= 10 losers they bid 3 . If they have <= 9 losers they bid one of a number of agreed positive responses: 3 4M or 5+, 3 5+, 3 balanced unlikely 4M, 3N 4+4+, 4 6+, 4 6+. 

3 shows a balanced hand with <= 9 losers unlikely to have a 4 card major

4 is to play.

4 is a CROSS key card relay (Colour Rank Opposite Same Same) 

5 shows two key cards of the opposite suit/colour.(i,e partner can work out this is the A & K)

5 is a CROSS relay continuation asking for Ks

5 shows 1 or 4 Ks

 

An advantage of this approach using losers and not HCP for overcall hand evaluation is that North can bid both strong distributional and balanced hands while also conveying to partner a precise loser range with 1 bid to allow them to better judge the final contract level. As soon as South knows North has a 5 loser hand, provided a fit can be found, they know NS should be exploring a possible small slam. Another advantage is that it can also be used against a multi-2 opening that has the strong option where NS are less likely to have the balance of HCP.  

With  7 modified losers in , and knowledge partner has a 5 loser hand, from the rule of 18 South knows a small slam is possible after North signs off in 4 so they take over the captaincy and check whether they have the key cards necessary to bid a small slam.

After 5 South has to make a decision to continue relay sequence or sign off in 6. In this instance, the multi-2 opening has done its work removing bidding room and successfully clouding the major position so South signs off in 6.

Is anyone else able to share how they might have achieved a better result for NS after the Multi-2 bid for this hand?

 

  

 

 

Started by SEAN LYNCH on 21 Mar 2019 at 05:13PM