Hand of the Week - September 7, 2020 - Victor Johnson - Opponents Interference

 

Problem:  Bryan Naab and I played this hand. West interfered which messed me up and I missed the transfer to hearts.  If you notice West does have 5 Spades and could have said 2S.  But West chose to give a 2C bid.  If West would have bid 2S would North need to go to 3S for a transfer.  If North went to 3S could that be interpreted as a cue bid rather than a transfer?  I guess this is a hand where the opponent seeks to mess up the communications.  West did because I was confused with the 2C bid.

Vic:

I count 6 spades in the West hand not 5. I believe the 2C bid by West is a conventional bid telling partner they have a long suit, but not specifying the suit which in this case was of course spades. It is the kickoff bid for a Convention called Cappelletti which is a popular scheme for interfering over opponents opening 1NT. The 2C bid should have been alerted & explained. Just identifying it by name is NOT an acceptable explanation. East must tell you what it means, not just name it & imply that you are stupid if you do not know the details. 

If North subsequently passes the 2C bid by West, then East is required to bid 2D (also artificial) so that West is sure to have a second chance to bid & identify their suit. West absolutely does not want to be passed out in 2C. If their long suit by some chance happens to be clubs, they will have to rebid it at the three level.

Given that north was kind enough to bid, East is free to pass which they did. 

Had you & partner ever talked about how to respond to interfering bids over an opening 1NT? If not, you have no way of knowing the meaning of the 2D bid by North. It could still be a transfer to hearts. It could also be natural, showing diamonds. Or it could be something else. 

How many points is north promising by bidding in that scenario? Had you ever talked about that? 

The answers to the above questions depend on your partnership agreement. if this is a scenario you have never discussed then you have no agreement. All you can do is guess. 

The 2NT bid by south should promise a stopper in West's long suit. Given that no one yet knows West's long suit, this is a strange bid, although South does in fact have a stopper in each of the four suits. 

North did well to subsequently bid hearts, but their bid should have been 3H not 4H. Their 8 HCPs is enough to invite game, but not enough to go to game. My guess is that 4H went down. 

Holding the proper hand for it, interfering against opening 1NT bids is a powerful defensive bidding tool, especially against inexperienced players. But then I don't have to tell you that any more do I? An important thing to do early in a partnership is to formulate an agreement for dealing with interference. For that, you will need to seek some consul. It is not intuitive. 

Failing to have an agreement leaves you open to having a lot of strong (15-17 point) hands ruined by aggressive opponents