Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - September 27, 2021 - Underestimating Hands

 Comment:  I think declarer and responder underestimated their hands.

Vic:

Yes, jumping to 2S on their second call is exactly what Declarer should do. A jump to 2S shows a spade suit that is shorter than their club suit (probably 5-4). If it was longer or the same length as their club suit, they should have bid spades first. It also promises in excess of 17 HCPs.

Given that Declarer did not jump to show the stronger hand, I think Responder did well to bid 4S. With their pretty worthless doubleton in clubs & their lack of any high honors in spades, Responder has no particular reason to encourage exploration for slam. Nor does Declarer have any way to go forward over 4S that will tell them what they need to know to get them to slam.

If Declarer did jump to 2S, there is a decent chance that an experienced pair would find their way to slam. I think it is unlikely that an inexperienced pair would find their way to slam even then.

By the way, South missed a great chance to overcall 2H (weak) on their first chance to bid. If you were South & ended up playing defense with partner on lead, would you like them to lead hearts? Of course you would, So tell them that by bidding 2H. The 2H call also uses up bidding space which will mess with the opponents auction.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - September 27, 2021 - 5-4 and 4-4 Hands

 

Comment:  I think this hand shows under-valuation by both declarer and responder. HCP total 28 but it easily makes 6 S. Should declarer bid a jump-shift to 2S instead of 1S over the 1D bid by responder?

  I am going to give you the bidding as it should have gone and then explain why.

 

             

                

  The main method we have for showing our shape is by bidding our suits in a very standard order. When we have 4-card suits, we bid UP the line.

When we have 5-card suits, we bid down the line

  When we have 5-card suits, we open the higher suit, overcall the higher suit, etc. You hold: ♠️ T9742  ♥️ AKDT9. ♦️ 64  ♣️ 8. You are dealer and must open 1 ♠️ and partner bids whatever, you bid 2 ♥️. He bids 2NT and you must bid 3 ♥️ showing  a 5-5 hand. IF you had a 5-4 hand, you would bid 3NT!!! Please reread this until it makes sense.

   If you are 4-4, partner opens 1 ♣️  and you bid 1 ♥️ and then partner bids 1 ♠️ and you will bid 2 ♠️! You went UP the ladder so you have a  4-4 hand. If partner opens 1 ♣️ and you bid 1 ♠️ and he bids 1 NT, you bid 2 ♥️ showing 5 ♠️ and 4 ♥️.

  Two super important points: 4 ♠️ is NOT a shut out—ii shows 19-21 points. (Only  3 NT is a shut off bid). Partner has what we call “3 dead ♥️" so he cannot bid slam.

  2nd important point: East was showing a ♦️ control and interested in slam. Slams are difficult to bid so don’t be too disappointed in yourself that you didn’t bid the slam.

 If you are still confused by 5-4 and 5-5 hands, let me know and I can make up more hands until it becomes clear!

Have fun at the tables,

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - September 20, 2021 - New Minor Forcing - not this hand!

Question:  

Would this be a good hand for the new minor forcing convention?

[Editor's Note:  New Minor Forcing is a convention used after responder bids 1/ and hears a 1NT rebid by opener. A 2 or 2 bid is artificial, showing at least game-invitational values and usually a 5-card major. So this hand does not meet those requirements.]

Vic:

No it would not. A thoughtful study of how the New Minor Forcing Convention works should lead to the conclusion that NMF is not applicable to the hands in this auction. 

It looks to me as if EW can take 9 tricks (game) in NT, but ONLY if Declarer plays the diamond suit incorrectly (that is, they play for the diamond Queen to drop, rather than finessing). If Declarer plays the diamond suit correctly, it looks to me like they only deserve 8 tricks. So unless I am missing something, a part score NT contract is right where EW belong.   

Holding 11 HCPs plus two Quick Tricks, West could opt to invite game by bidding 2NT instead of 1NT. With 8 losers, however, I would expect East to Pass 2NT. If I was Declarer playing below level of game, I would much rather be in 1NT than 2NT. 

This is a board where poor Declarer play might earn you a top board. Who said bridge was fair?

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - September 20, 2021- Should you rescue your partner from 1NT with less than 6 HCPs?

Question: Is there any rule to rescue your partner from NT when you have less than 6 HCPs?

Glenna:

This is a great hand because it illustrates that nothing you do in bridge works out the way you want or expect 100% of the time. 1st of all, you notice most tables played ♣️ and not NT. The player who didn’t bid ♣️, made a gamble because he saw the possibility that with 3 ♥️ entries, he would have a chance at defeating a NT contract.

  The people who did bid ♣️ with that hand, had too many losers to make a positive contract. Since you’re the only one in NT, you were “fixed” again. Would really like for everyone to get into the habit of counting winners and losers.

  Regardless of length of cards in a suit, losers are ONLY the A, K or Q.  If you hold Axxxxx, you have 2 losers—K and Q.  If you hold Ax, you have only 1 loser. KQx - l loser. Kxx - 2, etc. We count losers in suit contracts and find ways to eliminate them.

  NT contracts you must count your winners and then determine how to make more winners, Again winners are Axxxx, KQx,  QJTx, etc,

  To answer your question about saving partner when you have bad hands, we do have two things to help us. 1st is transfers—we get partner to play the hand with his strength and our length.  The 2nd method does not occur very often but is a wonderful thing to know when it does occur—with almost no points and a SINGLETON ♣️ and 4 cards in the other 3 suits, bid 2 ♣️ and pass whatever partner bids. That little trick is something I teach in my BB1 classes. We want bridge hands to be a challenge and fun—not a hopeless cause. These two uses makes bridge more fun.

See You At The Tables,

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - September 13, 2021 - Second suit first

 

Question:  Did North/South stop too soon in their bidding?

Glenna:

I see a continuous thread of bidding by our players that I would like to help improve. That thread is that most players do not show their hand pattern correctly to their partners. Here is a guideline that I hope to get across to all players. When you are 5-5, 5-4, 6-5, 6-4, you should bid your 2nd suit BEFORE you rebid your 1st suit. The reason for that is ALL NEW SUITS BY RESPONDER are FORCING!!!!!  Opener MUST bid again so responder can always rebid his 1st suit if he has 6 of them.

  The hand for this week shows how this guideline works.

               W                          N                           E                            S

                                             1 ♦️ `    P                            1 ♠️

               P                            1 NT      2 ♣️     2 ♥️

               P                            3 ♥️     P                            4 ♥️

 

You are in a wonderful contract making 5 or 6 depending on whether or not you play the ♥️ J and let it ride. Otherwise you lose a ♥️ and a ♠️. Knock out the ♠️ A and you can pitch your ♦️ losers!

  An advanced concept for you to remember is that 4-4 fits are the most desired because you can set up a longer side suit for pitches. Hope this helps and I would be happy to have more hands like this because people have trouble handling them.

See You At The Tables,

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - September 13, 2021- Opening with 2 Clubs

 

Question: Declarer meant to bid 2 NT instead of 2 S in response to the holding bid of 2 D. If this bid would have been made, responder would have passed leaving the bid at 2 NT. In response to the 2 S bid however, responder raised to 4 S based on 4 HCP and holding of 4 S.

Vic:

When partner opens 2C, I read them for 22+ HCPs. My first call holding the South hand would be 2D as shown in the auction. The second call by North of 2S (shown in the auction) promises a 5+ card spade suit. My second call holding the South hand would be 4S once again as shown in the auction. The second call of 4S would be a drop dead bid.  With spade support & a stronger hand that suggests slam might be possible, the second call by Responder should be 3S.  

The 4S bid is certainly aggressive, but I do not believe reckless, given that Responder imagines at least a nine card spade fit. As a general rule, aggressive promotes winning bridge. Timid does not, nor does reckless. 

In reality north does not have 5 spades & I do not believe the 4S contract deserves to make. With a nine card spade fit it is reasonable to expect a 4S contract would be makable. 

The correct second call by North would be 2NT, promising a balanced hand & 22-24 HCPs. My second call holding the South hand in this case would be 3NT, hoping for a fit in either spades or diamonds. A probable opening lead by East defending against 3NT would be the Club Two, giving declarer nine tricks off the top (contract made).

Vic Johnson - Convention Cards - September 13, 2021

 

Convention Cards

1. History of the convention card.  When did they come into use?  Does each partnership need one?
2. Reasons you need a convention card 
3. Example convention card - Click Here
4. Example convention card breakdown by sections

     5.  No Trump Opening Bids

 6. Major Opening

  7.  Minor Opening

  8.  2 Level Calls

 9. Doubles

10. Simple Overcalls

11. No Trump Overcalls

 12. Jump Overcall

13. Opening Preempts

14. Direct Cuebid

 15. Slam Conventions

 16. Defense vs No Trump

17. Over Opponents takeout double

18. A double versus Opening Preempts

19. Leads

20. Defensive Carding

21. Special Carding

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - September 6, 2021 - Passing with 18 HCP?

 

Question: Player is sitting in second seat with a good hand. In this case opponents wind up going down. Is  there a better alternative?

Glenna:

  This a very common problem when we all start competing more often with overcalls and takeout doubles. My advice when  holding a great hand would be: Count your losers and winner and if you can’t count enough tricks, PASS.

  If your 1st thought was NT, count your tricks and start with the idea that the Q ♥️ may or may not be a trick and even if it holds up,  they would get 4 ♥️ tricks, 1 ♠️ and 1 ♣️. You cannot make 2NT.

  Next should you double, partner is a passed hand and both opponents are bidding—W has 6 or less points. Do not make a reopening double.              

Last should we rebid a 5-card minor? usually not especially at the 3-level. If you bid 3 ♦️, you loose 1 ♠️, 2 ♥️, 1 ♦️ and 1 ♣️.

  It’s really difficult to say Pass with 18+ points, but you don’t have a bid. Pass and hope that you have enough to beat the contract and just accept whatever plus score you receive. Competitive bidding makes the game very challenging.

Good luck,

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - September 6, 2021- When should you go to No Trump?

 

Question: When do you switch the bid to NT? What are the considerations for going from a minor to NT?  I remember the Vic Johnson quote: “there are only three suits in bridge: hearts, spades and no trump”.

Vic:

I feel compelled to first point out that two of the three bids in this auction are lies. The 2C bid by West promises at least a 5-card club suit. The 2D bid by East promises at least a 6-card diamond suit.  

The final Pass by West is also unfortunate. My third call holding the West hand (trusting partner to have at least  six diamonds) would have been 3NT. Whether that contract makes or not is a function of how skillfully Declarer & Opponents play their hands. Had I thought partner held only five diamonds my third call would have been 2NT which also may or may not make. 

NEVER PLAY IN A MINOR SUIT IF YOU THINK YOU CAN PLAY IN NO TRUMP. Why newer players find this such a difficult concept to buy into I have no idea. 

Following is the auction I would have expected (NS are passing): 

East:  1D (at least a standard opening hand - denies a 5-card major)  

 West:  2NT (11-12 HCPs - balanced - denies a 4-card major) 

East:  PASS (8 losers - two Quacks - poor spot cards)