Glenna:
Yes, N should bid with his 9 points because he doesn’t know his partner has a
weak suit. He does know they have a 10-card fit so they should be “safe”. EW
was correct to go to 4 ♠️. You cannot be afraid
to bid with that beautiful hand. Don’t let people who make preempts take your
board away from you.
Glenna
Vic:
Opening NT bids promise a point count within a narrow range (ideally not more than 3 points) & balanced distribution (no void - no singleton - not more than one doubleton). They absolutely DO NOT promise a stopper in every suit. In fact, it is possible Opener might lack a stopper in more than one suit.
So yes, the proper opening bid for North is 1NT.
Remember:
The initial focus of bidding is simply to describe your hand to partner (points
& distribution). An opening bid of 1NT does NOT tell partner that you
want to play the hand in NT. Maybe the two of you WILL ultimately decide you do
want to play the hand in NT. Or maybe not. It depends on what partner has in
their hand.
Question:
You are East and you need a second bid. You do not have 6 hearts.
Do you bid hearts anyway?
Vic:
COMMENT: Your first goal in any auction is to describe your hand to partner. By opening 1H in 1st seat East has told partner they have at least 5 hearts & 13 - 21 points. So far so good. Rebidding hearts would promise at least 6 of them. That would be a lie. And lying about length happens to be a very bad lie that can get you in lots of trouble. So NO, you do NOT bid hearts anyway.
QUESTION: Why lie about your hand if you have a good choice that continues to tell the truth? Is the East hand balanced or two-suited? Big Hint: It is two-suited. Assuming EW are playing Two Over One & East is not worried about being passed out short of game, a good second call by East would be 3C. A second call of 3C describes a two-suited hand with clubs either equal in length or shorter than hearts (more often than not 5-5 or 5-4). However, if in the bidding scheme EW are using (Standard American maybe) 3C would NOT be forcing, it is absolutely NOT a good choice.
ALTERNATIVE CHOICE: Another good choice for East would be a second call of 3NT which they have a right to believe will end the auction. A second call of 3NT implies a balanced hand which given that East holds two doubletons is a lie. But East has a high honor in both doubletons, so this is not an especially onerous lie. A hand with two doubletons each of which has a high honor (A or K) is often referred to as semi-balanced. Given that the 2D call by West should promise at least 11 points & East holds 17 HCPs, the partnership has plenty of points to be in game.
I
certainly hope the complete auction in the above hand got EW to a final
contract of 3NT. Given the location of the missing honors, it looks as if it
could actually make 6NT.
Michaels and Unusual 2NT do not require an alert. But, if an opponent asks for
the meaning, the reply must NOT be the name Michaels or Unusual 2NT. The answer
should be it shows 5-5 in the Majors for Michaels and shows the lower of 2
suits if it is the Unusual 2NT.
As to whether or not North should use it is up to the individual partnership.
It’s played to show any strength by some and others say it’s bad or great, but
not good.
As
always answer what agreement you have and make sure it’s clear to the opponents.
Thanks
for the good question,
Glenna
Sorry
to say it was not a good double. A take-out double (TOX) promises 13+ and at LEAST 3 card support
for the 3 unbid suits. Sometimes you just have to pass because you don’t have
the right hand. E will probably balance with 1 ♠️ with his 5 ♠️ and now W can bid game.
Nothing damages a partnership more than to have someone bid when they
don’t have a bid. What would W do if E jumped to 5 ♣️.
One odd thing about TOX is that you count shortness in the opponent’s suit to
get to 13. So say S opens 1 ♣️, now W can make his TOX.
Hope
this helps,
Glenna
Vic:
Comment: The 4H call by West is definitely a "drop dead” bid which East was correct to Pass.
Answer to Question: If West has prematurely made the decision they should be in slam, then West should just go ahead & bid 6H. That would be a rash, reckless, reasonably poor decision.
It would, however, be proper for West to think that slam is quite probable. In order to be sure, however, they need to gather more information by making forcing bids that East must respond to.
The best forcing bid West could make would be 2S (a “cue bid” of South spade suit). A common partnership agreement would be that a 2S cue bid promises heart support (at least 3) & at least a Limit Raise point count.
Knowing they have a golden fit, I would now expect East to reevaluate their hand. Counting 3 points for their singleton spade gives them a 15 point hand (12 HCPs + 3 shortness points). Note: If they count shortness points for the spade singleton, they cannot also count HCP because it is the Queen.
Subsequent to reevaluation, I would expect East to aggressively bid 4H (in bridge aggressive - but NOT reckless - is good).
I would expect West to follow with 4NT (Blackwood). If the partners are playing Standard Blackwood, West will learn they have all 4 Aces. If the partners are playing Roman Key Card Blackwood, West will learn they have all 5 Key Cards. Holding the trump Queen & Jack in their hand, I would expect West to end the auction at 6H.
Note: An alternative forcing bid West could make on their first call would be 2D (that is assuming the partners have made the very good agreement that a new suit at the two level is forcing). This would promise 5 diamonds (they have only 4) & would not show heart support. How the auction would proceed from there is hard to guess.
Note:
Looks to me like 6H will be down one vs good defense. The defense deserves two
club tricks. If all the NS pairs that defend this auction get the tricks they
deserve, the EW pairs who underbid their hand & fail to get to slam get the
high boards. Who said bridge was fair? But ain’t it a great game?
A void in the partner’s 1st bid suit is never a good thing and may become
valuable as the bidding progresses, but it always leaves room for doubt that
most or a lot of partner’s points are in your void suit. Therefore, you don’t
stretch to bid game and certainly not slam.
The bidding got off on the wrong foot when North opened 1 ♣️ as everyone should always open the higher ranking suit.
After opening 1 ♣️, NO ONE would believe N also
held 5 ♠️
When
you hold two 5-card suits, open the higher ranking. When overcalling, bid the
higher ranking. When responding, bid the higher ranking suit. I am glad you
sent this hand as it’s a super important part of good bidding!
BUT, if North opens 1 ♠️, South can splinter with 4 ♣️ and if they don’t use splinters, they simply bid 2 ♥️. Splinters are telling bids—partner, I have an opening hand, 4 trump for you and a singleton whatever (suit you bid). Then the opening bidder can describe his hand and often find slams!!
That is 1000% forcing and now when N bids
3 ♣️, S knows they have a fit and good side suits so should
look for slam. If opponents lead a ♦️, you only make 6, but if they
lead anything else, you would make 7. Think you will agree that gives you much
better results.
Wow! What a hand. I suspect that West has the dubious distinction of being the only player at the table not experiencing at least a mild adrenalin surge.
As soon as South (Overcaller) bids 1S, North (Advancer) should know strain (spades) & level (at least game). North should subsequently not consider any first call that is not either a jump to Game or Forcing.
Are 3S, 2H, 2D all forcing bids in the NS partnership agreement? My guess would be that NONE are forcing, even if NS are experienced players. Be that the case, NONE of them are appropriate first calls by North.
A
first bid of 2C (a “cue” bid of opponent’s suit) by North would be forcing
& in most partnership agreements would be interpreted as a Limit Raise or
better in spades. A first bid of 4NT (Blackwood) by North would also be
forcing. And a first bid of 4S (Game) by North would probably end the auction.
Probably, Declarer (South) will get a club lead from West. I believe that declarer subsequently deserves to make 6S, but the highly unlikely diamond split makes successful play of the hand very tricky. It quite reasonable to imagine that many South will take 11 tricks only.
Ain’t
bridge a great game?
