Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson- January 30, 2023 -Missed Bid

 

Question: 

Here’s an example of a missed opening bid by N/S. E/W took the bid at 2D and made an overtrick. We did not talk to S however we suspect that without a 5 card suit they forgot about opening 1 C.

Vic:

The two most common bidding systems currently taught in North America are the general approach called "Standard American" & the general approach called "Two Over One". I will assume South & partner are playing one of them. Both of these systems require a 5+ card suit to open in a major at the one level.  

South has a solid opening hand point count of 14 HCPs. South also has 2.5 Quick Tricks (better than standard). Surprisingly, South has 8 losers which is actually worse than standard. 

Point count is the main requirement to open, so South should definitely be eager to bid a suit at the one level on their first chance to call. But they do not have a 5+ card major. 

If both Standard American & Two Over One also required 5+ cards to open in a minor, South would be forced to Pass. But neither general approach requires a 5+ card minor. Both general approaches allow a player to open in a minor at the one level holding as few as three cards in that suit. This is referred to as being allowed to open a "Convenient Minor". 

Were it not for the Convenient Minor stipulation, the South hand is a perfect example of a hand that would have to be Passed, despite having opening hand strength.  

I suspect South might have passed because they were unaware you could open a minor as short as three cards in length. Or maybe their Ace or one of their Kings was hiding behind another card? Be that the case, counting their cards a second time after fanning them out (always a good idea) would have alerted them a card was missing. Or maybe they just added wrong? Ever done that? I have. Or maybe they were just reluctant to open a 3-card suit? 

At any rate, I would expect the South hand to be opened with length, not strength, normally determining which minor. General Rule: Holding 4-4 in the minors open diamonds. Holding 3-3 in the minors open clubs. 

If South does open 1C, I would expect West to Pass & North to respond 1S, allowing NS to find their spade fit. I would expect NS to compete to 2S, possibly even 3S, in a contested auction. 

You might be interested that some bidding systems popular in North America back in the mid 1900s allowed players to open majors at the one level holding only a 4-card suit. Some bidding systems currently popular elsewhere in the world also allow 4-card major suit opening bids. 

Ain't bridge a great game?