Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - May 30, 2022 - Terminology

 

Question: 

Here’s a question about whether or not to advance the bid when declarer has overcalled an opening bid. Responder has indicated that they do not have support for the declarer’s suit and does not have 4 S. Do we stop at 1 NT or look for something else due to weakness in C?

Vic:

First thing that needs to be addressed here is incorrect/careless use of bridge terminology. In a competitive auction there are 4 participants. Opener is the first player to bid (in this case East). Opener’s partner is Responder (in this case West). The first person to bid for opposing pair (assuming they both do not just Pass) is Overcaller (in this case South). South’s partner is Advancer (in this case North). Any questions about the auction should refer to the 4 players accordingly. 

There is no Declarer until the auction is over. Any one of the four players could prove to be Declarer. In the auction shown Overcaller/South has become Declarer. Declarers partner is Advancer not Responder.

 All of the above terms refer to a specific individual of the 4 players sharing the table. You need to be very cautious not to use these terms carelessly. It will only create confusion.

 Holding Responder's hand (West), I would Pass on my first turn to call to warn Opener that I have less than 6 points (gold star for West).

 Holding Advancer’s hand (North) I would also Pass on my first turn to call to warn Overcaller that I also have less than 6 points. Note: a singleton Queen is NOT worth 2 points.

 The first round of bidding would be: 1C  (1H)   Pass   (Pass).

 Holding the East hand my second call would a Takeout  DBL of 1H. That would be telling Responder: “I know you have less than 6 points, but I have a good hand & can support any of the three suits other than hearts.” Please bid whichever one of those three suits you are proudest of.

 West now has two options for their second call.  #1 -  Bid 1S which Opener should Pass. #2 - given their strong holding in hearts, they can Pass Opener’s Takeout DBL, converting it to a Penalty DBL.

 If I were West, I would choose the 2nd option. I would then lead my Club Jack (partners suit). East should win the club Queen then King then Ace then lead trump. Looks to me like EW deserve 3 club tricks + 2 spade tricks + 2 heart tricks. That would put NS down one (DBLed + Vul), giving EW a score of 200.

 It is not clear to me whether EW can make 1S or not.

 Pretty wild hand. Ain’t bridge a great game?

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - May 30, 2022 - Pass or Bid?

 

Question: 

W opens and E responds with a 4 card D suit and bypassed the C because of having only 9 HCP.  What do you think?

 Glenna:

 My vote is to pass and assume partner will make a reopening double. If partner doesn’t double, you won’t get the extra points, but should beat 2 ♣️ regardless. Talk to partner to make sure you are comfortable with reopening doubles.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - May 23, 2022 - Openers second bid

 For this week we tried something different.  We wanted interaction with the addressees of the Friday and Sunday emails.  We asked them for their opinion of a hand.  We then asked Glenna for her opinion.  The hand that was sent out was:

Unfortunately the hand was missing one card which one bright eyed responder noticed.  The hand should have been:

Nevertheless, the responses were as follows for South's second bid:

Glenna:

.If I were playing with a regular partner, I would bid 3 ♠️ as that shows 18+ points and wants to know more about partner’s hand. 2nd choice would be 3 ♣️ as a new suit at the 3-level show a good 15+. I would NEVER bid 3 ♦️ as that could be as few as 12 points and I have 18!!!! (stiff ♠️ is 3). If we do this, people really need to learn what bids at different levels mean! I would be happy to help with that.

Good luck,

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - May 23, 2022- 6 Card Overcall

 

Question: I think this is one of those cases where W should have passed the initial response or “continued the lie”. What do you think?

Vic:

I agree that once West decided to bid 1S, they needed to follow with 2S on their second chance to call.   

My regular partners & I agree that a jump shift by Responder (in competition or not) is weak. One of us holding the West hand would consequently have bid 2S on their first chance to call. 

Ain’t bridge a great game?

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - May 16, 2022 - Overcall of Stayman

 

Question: N opens 1 NT, S bids Stayman with 4 H and 8 HCP. Is W’s bid appropriate ? Should W count the pts for the void in D or pass?

Glenna:

   I personally would not overcall a NT opener and his partner’s Stayman request with such a bad suit. How does W know that S isn’t sitting there with 4 beautiful ♠️. As it is, N has the 4 beautiful ♠️! In an open game 2 ♠️ would be doubled for penalty because N is much too good. Sure 2 NT makes, but figure out what happens to 2 ♠️ doubled!!

  To compete with a NT opener, I think the overcaller should have a solid 5-card suit or a good 6-card suit. The other time to compete is when the overcaller has 2 good 5-card suits. That allows him to pull trump and have another suit that will provide discards for other losers. You need to remember that the NT opener is OVER the overcaller and  will be able to win most tricks that declarer plays.  

  Often the best thing is to have your 5 nice ♠️ as a surprise for declarer and let them do most of the work!

Hope this helps,

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - May 16, 2022 - Long minor suits

 

Question: South opens 1 NT and responder bids her long club suit which S interprets (I think) as Stayman. If N/S were bidding transfers could N have bid 1 S to indicate 8+ pts and 6 C or is there a better bid ?

Vic:

If NS were playing 4-way transfers, a bid of 2S (not 1S) by Responder over an opening 1NT would typically be a transfer to clubs. Transfers normally make no promise of points - just length. Jacoby transfers to the majors promise at least a five card suit. Many partners agree that transfers to the minor suits should promise at least a six card suit. Common agreement is that Responder can choose to transfer with no points at all (planning to Pass at their next turn), if the spirit moves them to do so.  

Comment #1:  Holding the South hand, I would open 1S (not 1NT). That is an approach I strongly recommend to inexperienced players.  

Comment #2:  In this particular scenario I see no reason at all for North to feel like they need to tell opener about their club suit. North knows they do not have a golden fit in hearts or spades. They know they have enough points for game. North’s first call should be 3NT (end of auction - end of story). 

Comment #3:  It is amazing to me how frantic most less experienced players are to tell 1NT openers about a long minor suit. Waste of time. MY advice? Do NOT use minor suit transfers. Holding a long minor suit, just bid to whatever level of NT tells partner your point count. If your side wins the auction with a NT contract, partner should be delighted to see your long minor suit. Rarely, is it important they should know about it during the auction 

Comment #4:  North should not have passed 2S. They should have rebid their clubs. 

Ain’t bridge a great game?

Weekly Hand Analysis-Vic Johnson - May 9, 2022 - Opening Bid of 1 Diamond instead of 1NT

Question: Here’s a question about opening in 4^th seat. In this case declarer has a good hand but being cautious opens 1 D instead of 1 NT. Responder has supported Diamonds, where should this go from here?

Vic:

In fact, 1D is exactly what South SHOULD open. Being cautious has nothing to do with that decision. A one level opening bid promises as few as 13 to as many as 21 points. That is what South has.  

Opening NT would promise a balanced hand & a hand with two doubletons is NOT balanced. So it would be highly improper to open 1NT to show their point count. Plus, if you happen to be an Audrey Grant disciple, you would evaluate the South hand as 18 points, too strong to open 1NT. 

Responders 2D bid denies a 4-card major. South should consequently give up on a golden fit in either major & be thinking NT (NOT diamonds - No Trump). South is strong enough to next bid 2S (a reverse). Hearing that south has spades & is also stronger than standard (the reverse shows 17+ HCPs) & holding two Aces plus stoppers in both hearts & clubs, I would expect North second call to be 3NT which should end the auction. 

A contract of 3NT in the north puts East on lead. I would expect East to lead hearts. Declarer can subsequently take 9 tricks off the top (2 hearts + 2 spades + 5 diamonds), making their 3NT before even giving up the lead. 

If the defenders should find a club lead, declarer would lose the first four tricks, before taking the same nine winners.