Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - December 27, 2021- Passing on a 16 HCP hand

 

Question: Overcalls require four a suit.  This overcall has clubs which is what was bid.  Can one go to the second suit, hearts, for an overcall?

Vic:

An overcall in a suit promises a 5-card suit, NOT a 4-card suit. That makes a heart overcall inappropriate, despite the strength of the suit. 

A Takeout DBL overcall promises “tolerance” in the unbid suits. A 4-card suit definitely meets the standard for tolerance. Many experienced players these days often have 3-card suits that they are comfortable making a Takeout DBL with.  Hearts & Diamonds in the above example are both suits I would be comfortable making a Takeout DBL with. The singleton spade, however, does not meet the standard for tolerance by any stretch of the imagination. That makes overcalling with DBL also an inappropriate option. 

Holding the above hand, I would simply clench my teeth & Pass. If I ultimately got a second chance to call, my second call would depend on what West and/or North had chosen to do. If West & North both Pass, of course, the auction is over & we will see how close East can come to taking seven tricks in clubs. 

Ain't bridge a great game?

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - December 20, 2021- A non-balancing seat

 

Question: East is the balancing seat.  When does East decide to bid to keep the auction going?

[Editor's Note:  You are said to be “balancing” when you are in the pass out seat after a bid by your left-hand opponent (LHO). 

West           North    East      South 

1♣               Pass       Pass       ?

In this example, South is in the balancing seat.]

Glenna:

E’s hand does NOT qualify for interference. You should have a good 6-card suit or a 5-5 or 5-4 hand with all your points in your long suit. If E’s ♣️ were AKJTxx, he could bid 2 ♣️ , but should pass with this very, very bad hand. That is, unless he wants to go down 500 or 800 against a 1NT contract! In the real world, ♣️ would be doubled!!

Thanks,

Glenna

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - December 20, 2021 - The Unusual 2NT

 

Question: Do you accept a transfer even if you suspect you will not have a golden fit?

Vic:

The quick answer to your question is a resounding YES.  

Trusting your partner AND being a partner they can trust in return is essential to good bridge. So if partner asks you to do something, it is not your place to decide whether it is a good idea or not. Just trust that it IS a good idea & do it. If you should ultimately conclude that partner almost always makes bad decisions, get a new partner. 

Having said that, I see that North in the above auction is a robot. I believe that the auction shown is an example of drastic miscommunication between robot & human. South apparently intends their 2NT bid to show a classic 2NT opening hand. South, however, is NOT Opener. South is Overcaller which changes everything.  

I would interpret the 2NT overcall by South as an “Unusual NT” which is a very popular conventional call that promises 5 - 5 distribution in the two lowest unbid suits (clubs & hearts in this case). I believe that is how the robot interpreted the 2NT overcall as well.  

That means the subsequent 3H bid by robot was NOT a transfer, but simply a suit preference bid telling South the robot liked hearts better than clubs. The miscommunication continued, resulting in a truly disastrous auction. 

The proper way for South to describe their hand to partner in the above auction is a partnership agreement issue. But I do not expect many partners would agree that the proper way to do so is by bidding 2NT.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - December 13, 2021 - Good Preemptive Bidding

 

Question: What should minimum point count be for a weak 2 opening bid ?

Glenna:

  I love the bidding—great preemptive bidding!!!!  When your opponents do that to you, you should say nice bidding and move on. You played the board against the wrong people—good bidders!!!

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - December 13, 2021 - Law of Total Trump

 

Question:  Should W support partner’s overcall of a weak 2 H bid ?

Vic:

The 2S overcall by East promises a 5-card spade suit. The Law of Total Trump dictates that East should subsequently bid 4S. 

Law of Total Trump: Do not be hesitant (even vulnerable) to compete up to the level of your total number of trump. More often than not, it will earn you a good board. 

Ten Trump = Ten Tricks = Four Level

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - December 6, 2021- Don't be timid or maybe a misclick

 

Question: N opens 1 D and S passes. Hand went down 1. Should S bid 1NT in response to the 1 D?

Glenna: 

  South is obligated to bid if he has 6 or more points!!!! Passing with this hand would normally incite the opponents to call the director!  When your partner opens, you are obliged to bid and this is a nice hand so perhaps South misclicked?? 1NT should show 6-10 so this should be 2 NT showing 11 or 12. And, of course, with 13-15 bid 3 NT. With 14 or more, look for slam!

Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - December 6, 2021 - Opener bidding without a 5 card major but landing in major

 Question:   How would you bid this hand?

Vic:

East (dealer):  1C     (13 - 21 pts)     (3+ clubs)     (no 5-card major) 

South:  Pass      

West:  1D     (6+ pts)     (4+ diamonds)     (tends to deny 4+ hearts)     (forcing)    

North:  Pass  

East:  1S     (4 spades)     (denies 4 hearts) 

South:  Pass    

 

West:  3NT     (to play)     (denies a golden fit in spades)     (When you know, you go.)

 

All Pass