Sunday, August 6, 2023

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - August 14, 2023 - Game


Question:  Should North have brought the N/S team to game in Spades?

Vic:

NO! I hope to kiss a rhino they should not have.

 Many modern day players are not shy about opening the auction in 3rd seat holding less than a standard opening hand point count (enter East). Still, East must have "something". 

 A common partnership agreement is that the 1S overcall by South could be as weak as 8 HCPS. The 2H bid by West (a passed hand initially) also promises "something". 

 Given that North has 8 HCPs in their own hand, it is reasonable for them to imagine that South has a standard opening hand at best. Why on earth would North want to make more than a simple raise in spades?

 My hand analysis program tells me that NS "deserve" to make 4S. But that is true only if declarer plays the spade suit WRONG. Specifically, declarer must play for the Spade Queen to drop doubleton, rather than finesse. A classic example of a hand where "bad bridge" rules. 

 Ain't bridge a great game?

No comments:

Post a Comment