Glenna:
W should overcall 1 NT. We overcall NT with 15-18 points
and stopper(s) in the opening bid suit. We make take out doubles (tox) when we
have shortness in the opening bid suit and at least 3-card support in the other
3 suits. Your partner would raise you to 3NT since he has his 13-15 points
needed for game (and it’s nice that he has the ♣️ K!!!!!) Have a great weekend,
Glenna
By passing on their first call, North has already promised less than opening point count. So all they really need to bid 3H without misleading partner is long hearts & shortness (ideally a singleton or void). As South, I would initially be mildly surprised to discover that North held only five hearts (I would have been expecting at least six).
Thanks to the Pass by East & the Weak Two bid by West, however, North did have good reason to believe that South had a legitimate opening point count. Given that with their long spade suit West probably has shortness (maybe in hearts), there is a decent chance South also has at least 3 hearts. Imagining a golden fit in hearts, North may have given themselves some points for their void in spades. In poker I believe that might be called "betting on the come".
So the 3H was definitely an aggressive bid, but certainly not significantly unwarranted. In bridge aggressive (but not reckless) beats timid. And in this case the 3H bid worked out rather well.
Comment: change North's three
of hearts into a small diamond OR small club & I would anticipate the North
call over 2S to be DBL which I would expect South to interpret as for Takeout.
I want to welcome you to Bridge Base Online (BBO) Monday Morning Bridge. I hope this webpage answers most of your questions.
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There
are 2 approaches on how to handle big, balanced hands like this one. 1st:
people open 2 ♣️ and rebid 2 NT with 22-24,
rebid 3NT with 25-27, and rebid 4NT with 28-30 , etc. Others like to open this
hand with 3NT (25-27points) so that the opponents don’t know a great deal
about the hand and it’s a perfect description of the hand for partner.
Most partnerships play both Staymen and Jacoby Transfers over all the NT
responses. Partner would bid some number of ♥️ as a transfer to ♠️. Partner knows you have an
8-card fit because you must have 2 ♠️ for your bid and would place
the contract in 4 ♠️. Which might or might not
make depending on lead and defense.
But to address the play in 3 NT, I would like to point out 1 thing declarer
should have tried and been down only 1 which might be an average board on a
good day. Most tables would lead a ♥️ so now you have 4 A’s, 2 Ks
and the ♥️ Q. Before you do anything
else, play ♦️ because if they break 3-3,
your 4th ♦️ becomes your 8th trick. When
you’re short on tricks. Always try for something good to happen for you!
Hope
this helps,
Glenna
Assumption: We are talking about slam in hearts.
Answer: Hopefully not, because I do not believe it deserves to make slam in hearts.
Comment: Verses very poor defensive bidding & play, plus against the odds play of the diamond suit by declarer, it appears to me to be possible to take 12 or 13 tricks in hearts. Verses good defensive bidding & play, plus correct play of the diamond suit by declarer, it appears to me to deserve only 10 tricks in hearts.
Imagined Auction: 1D (north is too strong to open 1NT) - 2S (weak) - 3H - Pass - 4H - Pass - Pass - Pass
Play: I would expect West to lead club Ace (win - promises King), then lead spade Five (won by North - West King promoted). I would then expect declarer to pull trump then win high diamond then lead diamond from hand & finesse diamond Jack (won by East). I would then expect East to take their promoted spade King. If you are counting, that is three tricks for defense - declarer deserves the rest, making 4H.
Bad Bridge Rocks: The against the odds play of the diamond suit that would facilitate slam would be to play diamonds from the top, hoping to drop a doubleton Queen. When the Queen does drop, in addition to not giving up a diamond trick it allows declarer to subsequently discard a losing spade from their hand on north diamonds.
Moral: Take heart inexperienced players - sometimes your flawed play will earn you a high board (but not MOST of the time).
Conclusion: Ain't bridge a
great game?
I really like this hand and all the issues it reminds me that there are some basic things we need to share with our newer people to help make bridge more enjoyable.
This hand W opens 1 NT and yes, S should bid 2 ♦️.
The basics we need to develop are the shape and size of
hands that can and should compete over 1NT openings. The 2nd basic thing is
that everyone should have agreements about how to hand their opponents
interference—I would suggest something very simple to start and as your comfort
level rises, you can make changes to your agreements. The 3rd issue we need to
address are the very specific requirements for opening 1, 2 and 3NT. For
instance, to open 1NT we need 15-17 points and a balanced hand: a Balanced hand
does NOT have a void, a singleton or 2 doubletons. This hand should be
opened 1 ♥️ because it is against ACBL
Rules to open NT with a void! They just changed the rules to say we can have a
singleton A, K or Q and I wish they hadn’t done that as some of my good boards
are when people do that!! We do have guidelines at the club for various
things, but when ACBL makes it a law or a rule, we must follow it! We have no
choice.
Thanks
for the super great questions—please keep them coming.
See
you at the Tables (Virtual for now)
Glenna
Wow! Lots to say about this hand. Where to start?
First: Assuming the very common agreement that 1NT opening bids promise 15-17 points, West is too strong to open 1NT. I would open 1C, anticipating a second call of 2NT, assuming partner (Responder) does anything other than Pass. More on this later.
Given that West apparently opened 1NT, one of the two FREE DAILY HANDS on "Bridge Clues" this morning suggests a bidding scheme for a hand almost exactly like this one.
Do you do "Bridge Clues"? If not, I suggest you give it a try. There are 6 free hands you can bid or play for free that rotate daily circa 6:00 PM (2 New Player - 2 Level One - 2 Level Two). A series of questions (followed by the answers) leads you thru each hand. Rarely, are the hands not level appropriate & very well done. Google: "Bridge Clues" Choose: "Get Started"
Bridge Clues Suggestion for Above Hand (assume West improperly opens 1NT - EW are Passing): 1NT (15-17) - 2C (Stayman) - 2S (promises 4 spades - denies 4 hearts) - 4NT (Quantitative Slam Try - asks opener to jump to 6NT holding the maximum 17 points OR Pass holding 15-16) - 6NT
Question: How does Opener know that 4NT is Quantitative rather than Blackwood with spades as the trump suit?
Answer: The partners need to have discussed the matter in advance & agreed that in this specific scenario 4NT is quantitative.
Alternate Possibility: Rather than making a Stayman bid first (looking for a possible heart fit), Responder can simply bid 4NT on their first call. Since no suit has yet been mentioned, that makes it more obvious that 4NT must be Quantitative & not Blackwood.
Suppose West Opens 1C (as first suggested above). Auction with EW Passing): 1C - 1H (forcing - does not deny 4 spades) - 2S (jump shift promises 19+ points & most likely 4 spades - game forcing) - 6NT
Comment: Played in a typical
competitive game format, the different bidding sequences on this one would be a
hoot. Many will probably not make 6NT.
Yes, South could open the bidding with 1NT as ACBL changed the rules several
years ago permitting 1NT opening with a Stiff A, K or Q. I try not to do it,
but if I ever would, it would be this hand. 1 x 4 hands supposedly occur 11% of
the time, BUT they are really difficult to handle. Think a Stiff A is MUCH
safer than a stiff K or Q so I might break my rule and do it. You always have
to be prepared for partner to be unhappy when it doesn’t work out so I hope that
all our partners allow us to make somewhat unusual bids from time to time!! We
are doing it for a good reason and not some silly, unnecessary experiment.
(However, I would not open 1 NT with a Stiff K or Q!!!! You can take it to the
bank.)
Glenna
Absolutely, North should NOT open 1D & jump shift. A jump shift describes a two-suited hand. North does NOT have a two-suited hand. They have a balanced hand. It would be highly misleading to jump shift to a 3-card suit.
Should North open 2NT? It depends.
It depends, first of all, on how North counts their points. Audrey Grant followers would count North as a 22 point hand (21 HCPs plus one length point).
It depends, also, on the partnership agreement for 2NT openers. Probably the most common agreement is 20-21 points.
Audrey Grant followers using the 20-21 point agreement would view this hand as too strong to open 2NT. Their plan would be to open 2C (22+), followed by a second bid of 2NT (22-24 points & balanced).
Audrey Grant followers would
count South as an 11 point hand (10 HCPs plus one length point). Subsequent to
a 2C opening bid by North, followed by a second call of 2NT by North, South can
bid 6NT (22 minimum + 11 = 33 which is the criterion for bidding 6NT).
It does deserve to make 6NT.
