Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - October 31, 2022 - Response

Question: N/S are two-suited and each hand has opening count. Should S have bid 3 (or 4) H instead of the 2 H response?

Glenna:

I am going to try to condense this to the MAJOR parts only:    

1. North has a good 1 ♥️ bid. 
2. E did not have a good ♦️ bid—should bid 2 NT showing a 5-5 (or greater) minor suit hand. The beauty of this hand was not 5 TERRIBLE ♦️, it was a strong 2-suiter!!! 
3. South needs to rethink his bid—a full opening hand that many would consider looking for slam should not have been passed out at the 3-level. South should get the partnership to game.

The first thought that should go through everyone’s head is SUPPORT WITH SUPPORT and to the LEVEL that shows the total points of the 2 hands.

Simple guideline:

 2 weak hands shouldn’t bid much; usually stops in 1NT or 2 level

1 good hand and 1 weak hand; usually gets to 3 level because you have EXPLORED for game

2 good hands GET to Game and sometimes look for slam

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - October 31, 2022 - Preempt?

 

Question: 

S has opened a 1C with a holding of 7H and 13 HCP, W overcalls 1D with opening count and 4 D. N enters the fray with a 1H bid and E supports the D. S jumps the bid to 3H and that is where it is  played and ultimately makes 5H. Using the power of perfect hindsight, what should the bidding have looked like?

Vic:

WHAT THE BIDDING DID LOOK LIKE  (Critique)

Unless NS are playing Precision (or some other partnership agreement that uses an opening bid of 1C to simply promise a strong hand), I disagree with the opening bid by South. In the bidding systems with which I am familiar I would expect South to open their 5+ card major.

I disagree with West overcall of 1D. In the bidding systems with which I am familiar I would expect an overcall to promise a 5+ card suit. West has no good bid over an opening 1C & should simply Pass.

 I disagree with South second call of 3H. Responder (North) has promised at least 4 hearts. I would expect South to jump to 4H (game).

 WHAT THE BIDDING SHOULD LOOK LIKE (Vic Version)

My partners & I play either Standard American or Two Over One which are the two most commonly used systems in North America. I would suggest the following auction.

South:  1H

 West:  DBL (takeout)

North:  4H  (based on the Law of Total Trump)

East:  Pass or 4S  (given the vulnerability 4S would be very aggressive)

South:  Pass (over Pass) or 5H (over 4S)

Comment: Looks at first glance like 4S deserves to go down one & 5H deserves to make.

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - October 31, 2022- Take Out Double

 

Question: 

S has opened 1H with 17 (15+2) pts and 6H. W has “stirred the pot” with a T/O double hoping partner has help in S or D. N has given a limit raise over the dbl. E passes. Should S advance the bid to game? 

The secondary question in this board is whether or not W should have bid the T/O double, or would a spade overcall been a better bid?

Mark:

First, the N-S bidding.

 Failing to get to the excellent 4 H is partly caused by the partners not being on the same page. Most experienced players do not play 3H after a double as showing a limit raise. Anything close to a limit raise would start with a redouble. 3H shows a weak but distributional hand . A hand with about 5 high card points, a side singleton or void and 4 or more hearts. It's intended to make it difficult for the opponents, who may well have game in their best suit and to suggest a possible sacrifice. Some people still play 3 H as a limit raise, but then the opener has to know that. You can't describe two vastly different hands with the same bid, so it's better to use the bid for the more common hand and to have a different approach to the other. Having said that, unless North is known to be an absolutely wild pre-emptive overbidder, I would bid 4 H with the South hand. It's not just the 17 points you mention; after a jump raise, you should re- evaluate and consider the South hand to be 18 or 19 points. Give north the same cards except exchange the spade Ace for the diamond jack. Now you have the typical expert's 3 heart bid. You still have a good chance to make 4 hearts while the opponents might have good chances in 3 or 4 spades, with less room to explore which is better. 

  Now for the E-W bidding: 

The vast majority of experienced players use a 2 heart cuebid (Michaels) to show the West hand. (5 of the other major and 5 or more in a minor suit. At his vulnerability, that's just right on the strength of the hand and the suits. If you are not playing Michaels, it's reasonable to use a takeout double or spade overcall. I recommend most regular partnerships learn Michaels' cuebid. It comes up a lot and helps you get to the right contract more often than partnerships that don't have that tool. 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - October 24, 2022 - Stayman?

 

Question: 

N has 16 HCP and opens 1 NT, responder has 6C and 6 HCP. Declarer has interpreted 2C response as suit preference and provides support. Is this the best place to be our are there greener pastures elsewhere?

Glenna:

South does not have enough points to bid 2 ♣️ even if it’s not stayman—must have a minimum of 8 points to bid over 1 NT. If NS has decided a method to get out of NT to play in a minor, they should use the relay method. A relay is to bid 2 ♠️ over 1NT and N would bid ♣️. South can pass if that is his minor or bid 3 ♦️ if that’s his minor. Responding to NT is to pass with 0-7 (unless they play transfers), invite with 8 or 8 and bid game with 10-15.  That’s very standard NT response!

Hope this helps,

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - October 24, 2022 - Weak Response

Question: 

N has a strong heart opener with 17 HCP and 6 H. Responder has a weak hand that lacks trump support. What would be the suggested bidding pattern to get this hand to game?

Vic:

I agree that South has a weak hand that lacks trump support. So why would either partner want to get to game? Looks to me like good defense would set 4H in the North by at least one trick, turning what could have been a positive score for NS into a negative score.  

I don't believe there is a sound bidding pattern that should get NS to game. So unless NS have a tendency to indulge in what I call Slot Machine bridge, I would expect a part score contract. 

I agree with the opening bid of 1H by North. 

I disagree with the bid of 2C by Responder. I would interpret 2C as promising at least 5 clubs & at least 11 points, neither of which South has. Holding the South hand, my first call would have been 1NT, promising 6-10 points.

 

Holding the North hand, my second call would have been 3H, promising a solid 6+ card heart suit & 17+ points. Lacking heart support & with only 7 HCPs, I believe South should Pass 3H, ending the auction.

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - October 24, 2022 - 2NT

 

Question: North had planned to open 2NT.  How should this hand be bid?

Mark:

I don't see the actual auction, but it's very likely that the dealer (W) opened 1 NT with 15 HCP and some decent interior cards. The only other possibility is opening 1 club. I know it's hard to pass with 20 HCP, but it's the best action. In fact, I predict comfortably that 100% of experts would pass 1NT. If you put this question to someone claiming to be a bridge expert and they do anything but pass 1NT, even mention another acceptable possibility, you can rule them out as an expert. Here's the reasoning: You are likely to beat 1NT 2 or more  tricks for 200 points at this vulnerability, so the only way to improve on that is to bid and make a game. How many points can your partner have? Assuming 15 HCP on your right, it leaves a total of 5 (possibly only 3 or 4) for partner and left hand opponent combined. It's a good plan to assume that partner has about half the missing points, as is the case here. That means game is highly unlikely. You can't double 1NT, because partner is too weak to let it stand, so he will bid and take the opponents out of their predicament and put your side in probable trouble. If you bid 2NT, the general meaning of that is a hand extremely long in both minors and partner will bid his better minor, even if it's a doubleton. Suppose you could, due to a strange (and not recommended) agreement that it is to play and you can take the requisite 8 tricks, giving you 120 points, wouldn't you rather have 200 for the same 8 tricks as righty struggles in 1 NT? 

  On this hand, some Easts will pass 1NT, grateful to land anywhere un- doubled. They might transfer to 2 Hearts, which I still pass and end up with 200 to 300 points on defense. If you passed 1 NT and 2H without a lot of obvious discomfort, they might play the hand in a way that gives you extra tricks. The obvious opening lead of the DQ gives away nothing and puts you on track to take 7 or 8 tricks on defense of 2Hearts.

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - October 17, 2022 - Picking a suit

Question:  This hand went down 1 even though most people made the bid.  West led the 2 of spades.  Based on this hand, how do you decide which suit to attack first, second, etc.?

Vic:

There are three basic methods for playing a bridge hand. Once the opening lead hits the table, the first thing Declarer needs to decide is which method they are going to use.  

More often than not, the method I find most appropriate for a suit contract is the Master Hand Method. That is the method I suggest here. 

South, the hand with the most trump, should be Declarer's choice for the Master Hand. That makes North the Ruffing Hand. The Ruffing Hand functions as a resource to fix Master Hand losers (by ruffing or whatever). 

South has a spade loser for the missing spade Ace. Turns out, however, that the Ruffing Hand has the spade Ace - loser fixed. 

South has a heart loser for the missing heart King. Turns out, however, that the Ruffing Hand has the heart King - loser fixed.

South has a diamond loser, because their diamond singleton is not the Ace plus three club losers for the missing club Ace/King/Queen. The Ruffing Hand does not have any of those four cards. Unless there is another way to fix at least one of those four losers, Declarer deserves to go down one trick.

 South cannot ruff any of those four losers, because the Ruffing Hand is not shorter in either diamonds or clubs. If clubs split 3-3, South could promote their 4th club into a winner, but not until it is too late.

 The only hope for South is to be able to discard one of those four losers on the 4th Ruffing Hand spade. With that goal in mind I can now answer the question asked.

 Declarer should take the first trick in their hand (the short side) with spade King. Given that ruffing is not a strategy, the first suit declarer should attack is hearts. Declarer needs to pull trump which in this case proves possible in two tricks. 

Next declarer should attack spades. Win a second spade trick in hand with spade queen. Lead spade seven & if West plays low (they should), finesse north spade Nine. Now win spade Ace, discarding south diamond King.  

There are now only three losers remaining in the Master Hand, making 4H.

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - October 17, 2022 - When to go to NT

 

Question: What do you do when your partner insists on a suit and you only have one of that suit with a good hand? 

Glenna:

 We have all experienced bidding sequences just like this one. The simplest thing I can recommend is to recognize a non-fitting hand and pass as soon as possible! 

    Think like this:  You opened the bidding with 14 points and a 6-card ♦️ suit. Partner bid 1 ♥️ showing 4 or more ♥️ and at least 6 points. You are forced to bid again and rebid your 6-card suit. Now you have shown partner your hand—opening with 13-to-15 point and a 6-card suit—you have told partner everything you need to say. 

  Partner now bids 2 ♥️ showing 5-9 points and a 6-card suit (some players cheat and rebid a 5-card suit. They have told you exactly what they have. Even IF they had 9 or 10 points, it’s not enough for game so pass. Be thankful you have at least 1 honor card to help. You cannot bid again unless partner jumps or bids a new suit and then you MIGHT have enough for game.

Hope this helps as it’s a more common problem than you might think!

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - October 17, 2022 - How to attack

 

Question: This hand went down one even though almost everyone made 4 spades.  The lead from west was the 4 of hearts.  How do you determine which suit to attack and in what order based on these hands?

Mark:

Looking at just the north and south hands, it's hard to say whether you'd rather be in 4 hearts or 4 spades. I tend to prefer 4- 4 fits rather than 5-3, if they can be found without distorting the auction. In this case it's very close. After N raises 1 spade to 2, South can make a game try by bidding 3 hearts. North would bid 4 hearts, accepting the game try and suggesting the possibility of switching the choice of trumps from spades to hearts. South could be happy with that.

  Now for the play in 4 spades. The heart lead puts a lot of pressure on declarer. At other tables the lead could have been in clubs or diamonds. A Club lead makes it a little easier than a Heart and a diamond lead makes it very easy. I can understand worrying about a singleton Heart and starting trumps immediately. If West wins the Spade Q and shoots back a Spade, you can no longer ruff the 2 diamonds you need to trump in dummy. You can no longer make the contract after a very normal  and reasonable start. To make 4 spades on this hand if the opponents do everything right, you need to win the opening lead in hand and lead a club to establish entries back and forth. Of course, if it turns out West can ruff Hearts, you go down quickly. On this hand it doesn't matter. What does matter is that neither the D King nor the C Ace are on side, so taking 2 diamond ruffs in dummy is the lucky winning line, since both majors split 3-2 and East holds the doubleton high honor. I'm betting most declarers who made 4S didn't play it perfectly, but probably got help from the defenders. Ironically, in an all- expert field, more than half the declarers would go down at 4 Spades and some unlucky souls could go down 2 if they try the Diamond finesse, which is a reasonable play, but not successful on the actual deal.

 

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - October 10, 2022 - Response to take out double

 Question:  South is looking at a take out double with a marginal hand.  Rather than bid with the marginal hand should South pass and force West to make a bid hoping North would again bid so that South could determine a better final bid?

Vic:

South would like to be able to tell partner they have 6-10 points & a balanced hand. The perfect way to do that is to bid 1NT over East Takeout Dbl. So that is what I suggest South should do.  

A 2D bid by South promises a 5-card suit & more than single digit points. A Pass by South implies they have less than 6 points. Both of those bids misdescribe the South hand. 

I disagree with North opening bid of 1S which implies they have at least a 5-card spade suit (they do not). I would open the North hand 1C, hoping that South responds in either hearts or spades. 

Over a North opening bid of 1C, East will probably overcall 1D. South can now bid 1H (promising a 4-card heart suit & 6-10 points) & NS will have found their golden fit in hearts.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - October 10, 2022 - Systems On?

Question:  In this hand with interference by South, should one always play “systems on” so that Stayman and transfers are always available?

Glenna:

I think everyone should play systems on after interference. If an opponent overcalls 2 ♣️ either natural or showing a particular suit(s), I like my partner to double and it’s still Stayman!!! Very useful and hope you will start using it,

  Transfers are a little more tricky: If I want to transfer to ♥️ by bidding ♦️, and my opponent overcalls 2 ♦️, I would like to double and partner knows to transfer to ♥️.  And, if they bid 2 ♥️ and I wanted to transfer to ♠️, I want to double. It’s more difficult if I wanted to Relay to ♣️ or ♦️ by bidding 2 ♠️, and they bid 2 ♠️, I can no longer show my minor by bidding ♠️!!

  People should discuss these agreements if they want to try them. Be sure to discuss it and understand and agree to it!!!! It will give you very good results.