The question last week focused on West's action in the first
round of bidding. Now it's East's turn. At the first turn, East, after a
routine pass by N, has a decision between two logical alternatives. An expert
panel is likely to divide about 50-50 between them, namely 1NT and 1 Spade.
Why
1NT?
You have 17 HCP, good honors in all 4 suits and a good possibility of difficulty
describing the hand at the second turn if you open the "obvious" 1
Spade. If you open the hand 1NT, you increase the chance you will become
declarer, and that works in your favor, since you are guaranteed a stopper in
the suits headed by only the king. The negatives about 1 NT is that you are a
little more likely to miss an 8 card spade fit, especially if you buy the hand
at 1NT with partner too weak to do something constructive; also, you are close
to being too strong for 1NT. It's not just 17 points, it's the kind of hand you
might re-evaluate to 18 or even 19. This is the reason I agree with the opening
bid of 1 Spade. However, having decided on 1 Spade, you want to be sure to
follow through in treating this as significantly more than just an opening hand
with 5 spades. So now, when the 2H overcall comes back to you, you have 3
reasonable choices, none of them being 2 Spades. 2 Spades shows a MINIMUM
opening and generally 6 decent spades. That's not your actual hand!
The 3
better choices are Double, 2NT and 3 Diamonds, the first 2 being much better in
my opinion.
The reopening Double suggests short hearts, better than a minimum
hand, not necessarily this much better, and a desire to compete further without
a clear idea in what suit. A big benefit of the reopening Double is that it
gives partner a chance to pass for penalties with long hearts and a decent
hand. Remember that if partner Doubled 2 hearts in this auction it
wouldn't show a desire to defend 2 hearts, it would show both minors (Negative
Double). The way to penalize 2 hearts when playing Negative Doubles is to
pass 2 H then pass the reopening D.
That brings us to what might East do at the
2nd turn. The choice is close between 2NT, which really describes the hand
fairly well, showing 18 or 19 points( remember the re-evaluation) and a heart
stopper and a reopening double. The only downside I see to 2NT is that it gives
up on the possibility of defending 2 hearts Doubled if that's what partner was
hoping for. The more you have in hearts, the less likely that is. In this case,
the Double gives W a close decision between several good options: Pass for
penalties is a bit aggressive but could strike gold and I kind of like it. 2 NT
is inviting, not forcing, and promises a good H stopper, which you certainly
have. In this case, partner is likely to put you in 3NT, which can always be
made as the cards, even after the scariest lead by N, the 3 of clubs. You would
have to play exceptionally well at trick 1, meaning you avoid winning it if
given that chance.
As this is a bidding question, I leave the play discussion
up to the most ambitious readers who might want to lay out the hand and play it
trick by trick. You'll be rewarded by learning a great advanced lesson in this
case. Skip this play discussion if you don't feel ready to wade into the deep
end.
Passing to reopening D on some days could risk the
embarrassing result of -470, but more often, as on this hand, will show a nice
profit. Depending on how well S plays, the profit could even exceed the 400 or
more you make at 3NT. If E bid 2NT at the 2nd turn, W should go to 3NT. The
play is much less challenging when 3NT is played by E.
In summary, either of East's 2 top choices after
opening 1 Spade will lead to a nice plus and an excellent match point (or IMP)
result as long as you didn't give in to the "safe" rebid of 2 Spades.
Opening 1 NT, which I think undervalues the hand, could end the bidding when
game is likely despite the big misfit in spades. The kind of re- evaluation of
points I'm suggesting is pretty advanced for this discussion, so don't despair
if it seems a bit esoteric.
