Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - August 1, 2022 - Blackwood - looking for Kings

 

Question:

E has a 20 HCP and 6H and bidding progresses to the point that E finds that they are missing an A and stops the bidding at 5H. Should declarer have gone on to looking for K’s?

Vic:

Generally speaking, the only reason to look for Kings would be if you have already decided to bid s small slam & are trying to decide whether to go to seven or not. So the answer to your question is a resounding NO. 

 Declarer has made a decision to stop at the five level. Asking for Kings is not called for. 

I have a problem, however, with Declarers decision to stop. There are 6 “most important” cards to slam contracts in a suit. They are the four Aces plus the trump King & Queen. Holding 5 of those 6 cards, you should not pass up a slam bid. 

Declarer is missing one Ace & holds the trump King & Queen in their hand. They failed to bid a small slam that was colder than ice.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - August 1, 2022 - Response to take out double (TOX)

 

Question:

The question here is a response to partners TO double. E/W have bid C and S. S has D and H and doubles. W bids 1 NT. N has 9 HCP and passes. Should responder have bid instead of passing?

Glenna:

  I think this hand was bid correctly. I love that S made a TOX—good bridge. Shows 2 4-card suits and at least 8 points. Not everyone knows that.  Responder cannot bid 1 NT as W already bid it! Think NS defending (if they take all their tricks) is the best place to be.

Hope this helps,

Glenna

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - August 1, 2022 - Response to take out double

 

Question:

E has a big hand and bids a TO dbl (to make sure responder bids) with a response of 1 S by W. Unfortunately, E jumps to 3 NT. 

How should the bidding have progressed? 3 NT went down 2

Mark:

  You always have such great hands! A book, or at least a long chapter, could be written on the subject of what to do when you have a good to great hand and an opponent has just bid your best suit. Most of the time the best answer, even with an opening hand or slightly better, for the best probability of a good result, just pass. If the opener's partner has enough to bid, then your partner is broke and you won't have a making contract. If the opener's partner is the one that's broke, he may be desperate to escape to a different suit but can't afford to bid. If they opened 1 club on a 3 card suit, they could be about to play in a 3-2 fit unless you provide a way out. You'll make more on defense than on offense if they play in what is normally your side's best contract, even when only on the 1 level. OK, having said that, sometimes your hand is just too good to pass. You risk missing a game. With 15 to 18 points scattered among the suits and a decent stopper in their suit, you just overcall 1 NT. That's very descriptive and most of the time your partner can judge where to play, just as if you'd opened 1NT and with a bonus of knowing something about the opponents hands to help guide you in the play. Incidentally, most players play "system on" after a NT overcall, so stayman, transfer bids, etc are still on. 

  What if you have more than 18 and a hand that could otherwise overcall in NT. The standard call is the double that was made in this case, (tentatively for takeout, but clarified later as something else) and then, after a response of 1 of a suit, that could well be done with 0 points, the doubler just bids 1NT! That shows a balanced hand, a stopper in the opener's suit and 19 or m20 points, as in the present case. 2NT in this auction would show 20 to 22. Tend to assume that they will lead the opener's suit and upgrade or downgrade a little from the above scheme if you think the lead will give you potential extra tricks. In this case, the lack of good intermediate cards in the opener's suit suggests a slight downgrade. If the clubs were, for instance 5 with the A, 10, 9 or A, 10, 8... you could upgrade. As it is, you have the bare minimum for a 1NT rebid, not nearly enough to bid 2NT and surely not 3. The advantage in this case is not only to stay on a reasonable level, but to give your partner a chance to show more features of the hand, if there are any. In this case, partner, knowing you have 18 or 19 points, bids 2 hearts, showing 5 spades and 4 hearts. ( West would bid 2 clubs, stayman with 4-4 in the majors)It shows a hand not good enough to invite a game. With a good 6 high card points, partner bids 3 hearts, inviting game in Spade, hearts or NT. This hand isn't quite good enough to do that, so 2 hearts only.  Note how the mutual description changes the re-evaluations of both hands. Always think in terms of where you are relative to what you've said so far. A moment ago east had the minimum hand to bid 1NT after having doubled. East shouldn't accept a 2NT invitation by west, which would promise a 4 card spade suit and a good 5 or average 6 points, denying 4 hearts or 5 spades. However, the hand improves significantly after West bids 2 hearts. Now East has significantly better than minimum values for the bidding so far, and invites (still not good enough to insist on game) by bidding 3 hearts. Back to West. The West hand is pretty maximal for having failed to invite game previously. This is enough to accept the invitation. Notice the careful dance of both partners re- evaluating based on updated information from the other. You reach a very good 4 heart contract that is likely to make on the actual deal.

  The play in a NT contract can be interesting. Paradoxically, NT plays better from the West. North has no reason (Unless he's been peeking) to lead the club king. The normal lead of the club 4 comes around to the singleton Q. This gives West the only possible entry to lead hearts. You still don't make game or equal the score you get in a heart contract. but at least it's a plus and might be an average or better board.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - July 25, 2022 - Considering a slam

 Question: 

S is holding 5 H and 15 HCP, N is holding 5 S and 15 HCP. Sensing a potential slam, S bids Blackwood asking for aces and kings. How should N respond considering the void in D?

Hand did make 6 NT even though N/S was missing 3 Kings.

Glenna:

 I am going to answer this in 2 different sequences as the new way to bid is to go slow with a good hand and fast with a bad hand. Let’s start with what actually happened. N must bid ♣️ and NOT ♠️ on his 2nd bid. He has already shown at least 5 ♠️ and an opening hand so don’t show the same values twice. Bid ♣️  and partner will bid ♣️ and with 4 suits bid, 6 NT is easy. Very few people are brave enough to ever bid 7. I think we have had only 3 or 4 Grand Slams bid in the past 3 or 4 months.

 The modern version is: 1 ♥️, p 1 ♠️ P  2 ♦️P 3 ♣️ and now N knows what to do. Learn to go slowly with good hands and try to show both your suits. With a bad hand, simply rebid the 6-card suit and be finished!

 One of two things I constantly preach and I wish you would write them down and reread them every single day until you know them by heart. Do NOT rebid the same values you have already shown!!!! Show something new or pass. When you hold a 6-4 hand, do not rebid  the 6-card suit (unless your hand is VERY weak and you feel guilty for opening)—show the 4-card suit and if partner bids something you don’t like, THEN rebid the 6-card suit.

I think most of you have my email so write me if this still doesn’t make sense to you because I’d like it to become your common operating procedure. I can write some hands and put them out for you to review.

Good Luck and hope this helps,

Glenna

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Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - July 25, 2022 - A missed slam?

 

Question: 

Here is another hand that was played in a suit but probably could have been played in NT. Also bidding stopped at game instead of progressing to an invitation to slam. Was this a case of a good fit or a missed opportunity? The hand made 6 S.

Vic:

Actually, this was a case of a good fit AND a missed opportunity (not to mention lots of points, including all four Aces & Kings). South bears the responsibility for the missed opportunity. 

North made a jump rebid in spades, promising at least a 6-card suit & a big hand (17+ pts). Over 3S & holding the South hand, my next call would be 4NT (Blackwood). North would show two aces, making it clear to South that the only critical card they are/might be missing is the spade Queen. That knowledge would make bidding a small slam pretty much a no brainer.

 Yes, both 6S & 6NT are reasonable choices. Both bids, however, face the same problem & both are very likely to go down one.

 To take 12 tricks declarer has to drop either the spade Queen or the club Queen. The spade Queen is offside & it is difficult to imagine EW not taking a trick with that card. The club Queen is off side for the way I would expect most people to play the club suit. 

That is, win the club Ace to see if the Queen drops singleton, then lead the club Jack planning to cover the Queen if East should play it OR finesse the Jack if East does not play the Queen.  Oops! Down one. Who said bridge was fair?

 Declarer in the example given was very fortunate to make 6S. My guess is East led their singleton club, finessing their partner & gifting Declarer the additional trick they needed. 

Leading singletons is a very controversial strategy that can often be a very bad choice. That is especially true leading against a slam contract. Ain’t bridge a great game? 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - July 25, 2022 - Weak 2 bid

Question: 

My partner and I have not usually opened a “weak” 2 if declarer is also holding is a 4 card Major. In this example, N has 9 HCP, 6S and 4H and has had a mental lapse and opened 2S.

 When looking closely at this hand it could be said that N has 13 biddable pts based on length in S and shortness in C and D BUT we have also been told that you don’t count distribution pts until you’ve determined a suit.

 So N makes 4S since S has good holdings outside of S but did not bid because responder only had 12 HCP not the required 16 HCP for a response to a weak 2.

Mark:

Normally, I would not recommend opening a weak 2 in a major holding 4 to an honor in the other major. The spades are so nice, and the hand is just shy of the 20 (HCP + 2 longest suits) that would make it a 1 spade opener, that I think there are solid players that would choose to open 2 spades or stretch to open 1 spade. That's a hard hand to pass. 

If you open 1 spade, you are likely, not sure, to end in game. partner has 12HCP, but a misfit. With extremely favorable breaks in all suits, you have a slight chance to make 4 spades if the defenders slip up.

 As long as the opening lead is a diamond and they keep leading diamonds at every chance, you are lucky to make 3 spades. Notice that clubs set up after 1 ruff, but you have no way to reach those good clubs for heart discards.

If defenders never initiate leading hearts, which they cannot be forced to do until they have the setting trick, declarer always loses 3 hearts and the king of spades. Defenders must have made a mistake and led hearts when they could have led diamonds safely. In this case, the 2 spade opening works better than 1 spade, if the defense doesn't slip up. Take a bow for passing the south hand with less than 16 support points for 2 spades. 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - July 18, 2022 - When 1NT response is wrong

Question: 

E is in 4^th seat and opens 1C on 11 HCP and 6C. W responds 1 NT on 11 HCP. Bid then progresses to 4H which went down 3. 

What would have been a better progression for the bidding?

Glenna:

E does have an opening hand of 13 points—2 length points in ♣️ and 2 ♠️ bring E to 15 (an opening hand in Rule of 15). West is the one who got it all wrong: 

1 NT denies a 4-card Major and shows only 6-10 points and W has a 4-card ♥️ suit and 11 points! W must bid 1 ♥️!!!! E has options; can rebid 2 ♣️, 2 ♥️ because of ruffing power or even 1 NT depending on E’s style. W would make 1 more bid to show 11 or 12 pts. and would pass whatever E bids. My very strong suggestion is that W learns that 6-10 shows a weak hand, 11 or 12 shows an invitation and must get to a game somewhere when he has 13 or more points. 

 When E opens 1 ♣️, W bids up the ladder: 4 ♦️ and 4 ♥️, he bids 1 ♦️ and with 4 ♥️ and 4 ♠️, he bids 1 ♥️. We ALWAYS look for a major over NT!!!!!!

Hope this clears the air for better bidding,

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - July 18, 2022 - A lonely 1NT overcall

Question:  What do you do when you look at the dummy and suspect you will not make the bid and be down substantially?

Mark:

Let's talk about the bidding. Lots of players will overcall 1NT and West will almost always double. This is absolutely a penalty double. You are unlikely to be alone in this contract. If you don't show your discomfort or make comments that might help the opponents find the most painful defense, you might get lucky and go down less badly than others in 1NT doubled. We will get to the best play in a moment. North knows that the double is likely to be very successful and that it will be left in. a zero is a zero, so it might be worth taking a chance to escape. If I were north, I would redouble! Most good players play that as "S.O.S." It asks partner (the NT bidder) to start bidding 4 card suits "up the line." In this case you identify a 4- 4 fit immediately. You may or may not get doubled and you are likely to score better than playing NT anyway. If they start by cashing 2 diamonds, you probably make 2 clubs as dummy's 3rd spade gets thrown on the good DQ. 

Back to the play of 1NT doubled. Your best hope is that someone  has a doubleton club K. You don't care if it's east or west. Just play A and a small one, by which I mean the 10!  That establishes 3 clubs tricks. If you got that blocking 10 out of your hand, you probably played it better than 90% of opponents. It means that having lost the K and scooped up the jack next, you have an entry to that sad dummy as you take club #4,to take the spade finesse. On a good day, they may start by taking 2 diamonds and giving you the Q. You now give them the club K. Since they can't see your hand, they might play spades next. It's not that unusual. Now you are only down one and, on a good day, might have an average or better board. If they find all their heart tricks instead, it gives you an incentive to discuss that SOS redouble.  Not all redoubles are SOS, so you have to read up and discuss it thoroughly. Good luck. Mark

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - July 18, 2022 -Questionable Preemptive Bidding

Question: 

N opens 1 H on 17 HCP and 6 H, E is holding 7 S and 15 HCP and overcalls 3 S which indicates length in S but is interpreted by N as less than opening point count. 

Based on shortness in S, N bids 4 H and then doubles E bid of 4 S. Contract was down 1 doubled.

 Would it have been better for E to overcall the 1 H opener with a bid of 1 S to indicate point count or make the 3 S bid indicating length?

Vic:

In bridge aggressive is good. Reckless, however, is not good. Quite often there is a fine line between the two that is challenging to stay on the right side of. 

There are also good lies & bad lies. Arguably, the two worst lies you can make are to overvalue your hand or undervalue your hand to partner. 

An opening bid (or jump overcall bid) at the three level promises partner two things (not just one). It promises length (exactly 7 cards). But it also promises a weak (less than opening) hand. By overcalling 3S, East has delivered a very bad lie about strength. 

The proper first call for East would be 1S. They can show points & a 6+ card suit by rebidding spades at their next chance to call. 

The bids of 4H by North & 4S by east both cross the line from aggressive to reckless (that is assuming they are not being made as a deliberate sacrifice). A gold star to North for their penalty DBL. East deserves to go down. 

If North were allowed to play in 4H & opted to play the diamond suit by leading the Ace, the diamond King would drop. That would allow them to make their 4H contract. 

The odds of a 4-1 diamond split, however, are only 28% & the chances that the singleton would be the King is only a small fraction of that. So if North was actually imagining making 4H, that would stand as a classic example of "slot machine" bidding.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - July 11, 2022 - Rule of 16

 

Question: Sitting South after partner's preempt, what do you do when have a response hand but only one trump in the preemptive suit?

Mark:

Responding to a weak 2 in a major is pretty straightforward when the opponents stay out of the way. I recommend the Rule of 16. Here's how it works: Add all your high card points to the number of cards in partner's suit, hearts in this case. You need 16 total to consider inviting a game; 17 or 18 you definitely invite. With 19 to 21, just bid game or make a forcing bid so you don't miss game. If you have a borderline hand for game or slam (16 or 21-22 respectively), it helps to have a convention to ask partner for more description. Ogust, is one convention I like. It's easy to Google conventions. The most common response to a weak2 is 2NT asking partner to show a "feature" i.e an A or K in a side suit. Some people consider a singleton or void a feature. I don't like that. Partner will be very happy with the value of a king, thinking the opener has just revealed an A.  The main thing is that both play the same way. 

  A critical thing to discuss with your partner (hard to do with a robot, but you'll find it on the robot's convention card) whether a new suit is forcing or not. Some people will bid 2 spades with 5 or more, preferably 6 just to escape with a weak hand. Some people do it looking for game or slam. Forcing is considered standard.  The actual hand should pass 2 hearts. I wouldn't be tempted whether the opponents compete or not. 

  Incidentally, I'd never consider opening that hand 2 hearts. Much too much outside the suit and not enough in the suit. You could be struggling to make 2H while having a good play for game or even slam in one of the other suits. Bad robot! As you can see, no game is good. 4 hearts certainly won't make. With a lot of luck and good guessing you could make 4 spades, but I wouldn't want to be in it.

  Hope this helps.  Mark 

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - July 11, 2022 - Strong 2C Bid

 

Question: 

W has 23 HCP and opens 2C, E responds with a bid of 3C instead of the typical 2D which W takes to 3 NT. 

How to interpret the 3C response and where to go from there? 3 NT contract was down 4.

Vic:

Had EW talked about these bids ahead of time? Did EW have a pre-discussed partnership agreement that West opening call was the commonly used “Strong 2C” convention that promises 22+ points, but says nothing about clubs? Not everyone plays an opening 2C bid that way you know. Many, in fact, do not.

In the absence of a pre-discussed agreement East may have taken the opening bid to promise a strong hand with clubs (hence the raise to 3C).

 If EW had agreed in advance to use the “Strong 2C” convention, then they should also have discussed Responder’s potential bids & the meaning of each.

If EW had not discussed any of these bids ahead of time, there is absolutely no way for either partner to read the others mind & be sure of what a bid means. They can only guess. And it seems obvious to me that in this case one or both partners guessed wrong.

 Sad waste of a great hand. Too bad.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - July 11, 2022 - 2NT or 2C?

Question:  

N has a strong hand (21 HCP) and overlooking a big weak spot in H opens 2 NT. In hindsight should N have opened 1D and done a jump-shift to S ?

Glenna:

2NT is 20-21. This hand has 22 HCP and should be opened 2 ♣️. Partner will respond 2 ♦️ (a waiting bid to hear more about opener’s hand) and N should bid 2NT. A 2 ♣️ opener is forcing on partner to get to 2NT, 3 of a Major or 4 of a minor. That’s because 2 ♣️ shows a hand that is 1 or 2 tricks short of game in their own hand.

  Back to opener’s hand: 2 ♣️ followed by 2NT showed 22-24 and a rebid of 3NT shows 25-27. That gives responder enough information to make a good decision. Don’t forget you also play Stayman and Jacoby Transfers over 2 ♣️ followed by 2 or 3 NT.

Hope this helps,

Glenna