Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - August 30, 2021 -A reverse

Question: Opener has a strong, 19 hcp, hand. Should they jump shift or go to game (4S) ?

Vic:

A very difficult hand to bid to be sure. Hang on.

The classic way for Opener to show a balanced hand with 18-19 points would be to bid 2NT on their second call. In this case that would be a jump bid. But a second call of 2NT by opener shows 18-19 points (balanced) whether it is a jump bid or not. So usually, 2NT would be a no brainer. In this specific situation, however, 2NT poses a potential problem (more on this later). 

Since Responder's first bid of 1S guarantees only 4 spades (and only 6 points), there is a good chance NS does NOT have a golden fit (8 cards) in spades. They may also have barely enough points for game. A jump to 4S by Opener would fall into the realm of reckless bidding. In bridge aggressive is good - reckless is not.

What Opener needs to know to make 4S a sound bid is whether Responder has more than 4 spades or not. Opener needs to come up with a forcing bid, that might allow them to find that out. 

I suggest Opener’s second call should be 2H. That would be a “Reverse” which promises a stronger than standard opening hand (17 HCPs minimum) & at least a 4-card heart suit. It also implies that Opener’s first suit (diamonds) is longer than their hearts, but I see that as a forgivable lie in this case.  

Even though they have the minimum 6 points they promised, Responder should treat the Reverse as forcing. I suggest a good second call by Responder would be 3H. And now Opener has the opportunity they were hoping for. Opener should next bid 3S which says: “I did not raise your spades the first time partner, because I do not have 4 of them. But I do have 3 of them & a strong hand. I know you do not have 6 spades or you would have rebid them. But Is it possible you have 5? If so, take us to game in spades.”. Bingo. 

The potential problem with the “no-brainer” 2NT call you ask. Openers pitiful club suit I answer. If Responder really has only 6 points they are probably all in spades. If Opener makes a second call of 2NT, they may very well find themselves in a NT contract without a club stopper. Turns out that with any opening lead other than clubs Opener deserves 10 tricks in NT. With a club opening lead, however, they deserve only 8 tricks in NT. 

If you don’t have a clue what a “Reverse” is, you need to put your bridge hat on & find out ASAP. They are a very important part of modern day bidding. 

Ain’t bridge a great game?

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - August 30, 2021- When the "Fix" is on

Question: Should W up the bid to 4 H in response to partner’s overcall? S has opened  weak, N has indicated strength and W would assume some strength based on the overcall by E

Glenna:

 This is a great hand for discussion because it comes up often. I have to start by saying that S does NOT have a weak 2-bid. Weak 2’s are 6 cards and 5-10 pts, weak 3’s are 7-card with 8- to a bad 12 count. 8-card suits and all or most values in the 8-card suit can be opened at the 4-level. Reading this S has a very clear cut pass. Not enough points and a very poor suit. Bad bids are referred to as a “fix” because opponents can never get things right when bids like that are made.

But now for the interesting part of the hand: EW can survive this when E bids a free 3 ♥️, W MUST bid 4. He has 9 points and 4-card support!!!! Think the problem is that people aren’t sure what partner has for their overcall. When we overcall at the 1-level, we could have as few as 7 pts, but that’s rare as we usually have a decent suit—AJTxx, AQTxx pr even KQJxx all qualify for a l-level overcall. BUT, overcalled must have more points when they’re overcalling at the 3-level and more yet if they overcall 4. East knows his partner must have at least 5 ♥️ and lots of points or maybe a few less points if they have a 6 or 7-card suit. When partner overcalls, RAISE WITH SUPPORT.

Please bid in auctions like this and raise partner anytime you have 6 or more points. Make limit raises with 11 or 12 pts or bid NT with the opponent’s suit. If you’re not bidding in these situations, opponents are taking advantage of you.

See You At The Tables,

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - August 23, 2021 - Should you give up on a minor suit?

 

Question: When do you give up on a minor, clubs, and go to No trump?

Vic:

In general, you give up on a minor & go to NT as fast as you can. That would be as fast as you can determine you have a stopper in the other three suits. 

On this particular hand, given that South bid both spades & hearts & West does not have a stopper in either of those two suits, West should NEVER go to No Trump.  

Playing in a NT contract, EW deserve to lose the first nine tricks (5 spades + 4 hearts). Contracts rarely do much worse than that. 

Comment: A gold star to North for bidding 3H when they did. North has only 5 HCPs, but their side is not vulnerable & has a double fit (spades & hearts). North also warned partner their hand was weak when they Passed on their first chance to call.   

Looks to me like 3H deserves to make. A great competitive auction bid either way.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Victor Johnson - August 16, 2021- Responder 2nd bid - clubs or spades?

 

Question: We underbid this hand, it made 5 C. Responder indicated less than 10 hcp and 4 D, should declarer bid 3 C instead of 2 or were the extra tricks just a matter of good fit?

Vic:

A jump to 3C on their second call would promise at least a 16 point hand. So no, declarer should not have bid 3C. They should not have bid 2C either.  

What Declarer should bid on their second call is 1S. it is more important for West to look for a 4-4 spade fit than to tell East about their 6-card club suit.  

There are 3 suits in bridge (spades - hearts - no trump). Clubs are for the golf course. Diamonds are for your finger. It is surprising how long it takes new bridge players to focus on that reality. 

Bidding spades bid at the one level would not be a reverse. It would promise only a standard opening hand. 

Turns out Responder does have 4 spades & EW should be in a spade contract rather than a club contract. 

Given their respective point counts, I don’t imagine many EW bidding to game, especially in clubs which requires taking 11 tricks. It is a reasonably lucky combination of distribution & honor card location that makes it possible for EW to make game. Having 3 clubs, including both the King & Jack, in the south hand is especially fortunate for an EW Declarer & unfortunate for the defenders.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - August 9, 2021- Takeout Double at the 2 level

Question: South doubled the opening bid of 2H, would a bid of 2NT been a better overcall?

Glenna: 

  I think with those 4 beautiful ♠️ that a takeout double was perfect. With 3 ♠️ and 2 ♥️ stoppers, I would overcall a NT. But to not give partner a chance to show ♠️ support if he has it, would almost be a crime.  

  In bidding we are always looking for the safe contract—we LOVE the Majors and show then whenever possible, we LIKE NT and IF we can’t find a major suit fit, we bid NT! If those two things don’t happen, we bid the poor little minors.

  I have a class coming up called competitive bidding and the major part of the class is how to know when to double and when to overcall. I hope some of our Monday morning people will take advantage of the class—it will be of tremendous help!

Thank you for giving me a chance to explain the difference,

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - August 9, 2021- To pre-empt or not pre-empt

Question: How do you respond to a pre-empt opening when you have a strong hand?

Should responder gone straight to 4 S ? 

Vic:

No, Responder should not bid 4S.

 

Bid of a new suit by Responder over a pre-empt by Opener shows a strong hand & is normally played as forcing. Opener should NOT Pass. With three card support Opener should raise Responder's suit. Otherwise, Opener should rebid their suit. Following that guideline Opener in this example would bid 4C.

What happens next is up for grabs. Responder has a HUGE hand. Probably the most practical call they could make would be 5C which I assume would end the auction. The hand makes game in clubs. It also deserves to make a small slam in either clubs or no trump.

 The real problem with the bidding in this case is the opening pre-empt. Opener has 12 points & only 6 losers. They are too strong to open with a pre-empt. See what happened when they did? I rest my case.

A better idea would be to open 1C. As soon as Opener does that, Responder should be thinking slam. Maybe they will subsequently get there. At any rate they should at the very minimum get to game in either clubs or no trump.

Ain't bridge a great game?