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