Vic:
Well, 3C in this case is not just a "simple" (lowest available level) cue bid. It is a "jump" cue bid. I am curious if the "jump" was intentional. If so, I am curious if North had any idea what a jump cue bid means.
Bridge expert,
Larry Cohen, defines a jump cue bid as a "Mixed Raise"
which promises 4-card trump support and more than a preemptive raise, but less
than a limit raise. Actually, that is an aggressive, but
certainly reasonable, description of the North hand.
Mark:
This isn't technically a case of "fast arrival." Fast arrival is normally a bid where slower, forcing bids are actually stronger than the jump to game.
In this case, the jump to game is very strong, as it should be. South knows that North may have scraped up a bid on a very minimum hand, maybe sub- minimum as on the actual hand. Even opposite such a meager North hand, game is highly probable and should be bid.
Most West players would lead a heart to set up 3 tricks for the defense as soon as either partner gets in. Game can't be made in this case without first giving up the diamond ace. Luckily for South, the E-W hearts are 4-4 and the defenders can take only 4 total tricks and 3 NT makes. If W finds a lead of the 8 of diamonds, which looks like "top of nothing" and E finds a shift to hearts, (which is not automatic. Clubs look like a more attractive switch) Still, the double dummy "analysis" will say that 2NT is the limit while nearly everyone will make at least 9 tricks. Those who fail to bid game will get a poor board.
One reason nearly everyone will be in game is that many, probably most, South players will open a strong 2 clubs looking at 22 HCP, a nice 5 card suit and a 10 of spades "bonus" card. I would have opened 2 clubs, so I don't have to hold my breath praying that my partner doesn't pass me in 1 club, as many players would do with 4HCP. They will surely pass a 2NT opening, which is why this hand is too good for opening 2NT. There are some experts that would open 1 club and then, the minute partner responds with practically anything, jump to game.
Fast Arrival is a pretty advanced concept, generally outside the scope of these discussions. Fast Arrival tends to deny interest in slam and is mostly intended to give away as little information as possible to the defenders, as well as avoiding lead- directing and sacrifice bids. In this case, South's bidding shows a hand just shy of a 2 club opening and North is encouraged to keep bidding with more than 9 points or slightly less and extra suit quality.
In this case, North is likely to be worried that they should have passed the 1 club opening, but that would have led to a probable very bad result. Passing 1 club could have resulted in playing a in a 3-1 trump suit where the defenders have 9 trumps between them. (Not the case on his hand, but you have to consider it possible looking only at the North hand. That's why I agree with North taking a bid with a sub- minimum hand. I would definitely bid 1 diamond, not 1 spade with the North hand. The only way 1 spade works is if South has 4 spades and raises. Most of the time South will have something other than 4 spades and far less than 22 points and the auction will get too high.
If I were North, I bid 1 diamond. If partner next bids 1 heart (more
probable than 1 spade) you pass, happy that you are at a low level and in a
better place than 1 club. Better yet, if South does have 4 spades and bids 1
spade, you pass that, alerting partner that you have a very weak hand. You can
later raise spades if the opponents come in, but partner has been warned and
you are unlikely to get too high.
One more thing about the play of this hand. When South
plays 3NT and gets a heart lead, there is a real concern that W may have more
than 4 hearts and knowing that the hand would then be down after an attempt to
dislodge the ace of diamonds. Cashing the top spades in hope that you can
establish the 4th one in dummy is against the odds. Now you go down even though
the hearts are 4-4. Even if the spades break, you still need to finesse clubs
successfully to come to 9 tricks. The combined probability of success with this
line is much less than finding hearts 4-4.
Vic:
South should not even
dream of continuing to game in spades.
North (correctly) passed twice, then made a questionable decision to raise to 3S, apparently to tell south they had two spades (pitiful as they are) for a golden fit. That certainly does not sound like encouraging Responder support to me.
North promised a 6-card spade suit with their 2S rebid. But they do not have six spades. That means NS does not have a golden fit, do they?
Lies are part of bridge. But there are good lies & bad lies. And this lie is a bad one. South should Pass 2D which it turns out deserves to go down two (plus 100 for NS).
South does not deserve to take even seven tricks in spades. The fact that NS is vulnerable means EW will earn 100 points for every setting trick. Unless of course EW doubles for penalty in which case the award for a set goes 200 - 500 - 800.
Rule of Bridge: Freely rebidding a suit promises six. Even new players should take care to not violate this rule.
Ain't bridge a great game?
Glenna:
When you have a void in partner's suit, I suggest
that you usually pass. South does have a great hand but no hearts so that will
not play very well and definitely no slam. You might be lucky enough to make 4,
but that is pushing it!
Vic:
NO! I hope to kiss a rhino
they should not have.
Glenna:
We can open 3 points lighter in 3rd seat than any other seat. W SHOULD OPEN 1 CLUB!!!! 12 points is considered an opener in today's world and should definitely be opened in 2nd or 3rd seat.
The Rule of 15, Pearson Points or Casino Count (all
the same thing) is for 4th Seat ONLY. It is NOT valid in any other
seat.
Question: Was North's use of a Redouble correct?
Mark:
This is an unusual, but very good auction by all
players. After the double, N obviously has 4 options:
a. Raise hearts to 3 or 4,
b. pass
c. Redouble.
d. bid a new suit as a game try requesting help in that suit.
Only highly seasoned regular
partnerships would assign a precise meaning to the redouble that both partners
would understand to have a precise meaning. If I encounter that redouble from
my partner lacking prior discussion of this exact auction, I'd say it shows a
little extra beyond a minimum 1 heart response. Maybe it's a 5th heart, maybe a
couple of extra points, give or take 9HCP. That's pretty much a good
description. There's a bit of overlap between 3 hearts and redouble by north.
Some players would bid 3 hearts as a kind of preemptive bid, showing a 5th
heart and not a real game invitation and would redouble to show a real game try
without a specific help suit. My personal preference is the latter approach,
so, after discussing it with my partner (in advance, of course) I would bid 3
hearts rather than redouble with the north hand. There is no commonly agreed
standard for this auction. Redouble or 3 hearts is correct, depending on how
you think partner will take it. I wouldn't pass and I wouldn't make a new suit
game try. If N bids 3 hearts instead of RDBL, you probably buy the hand at 3
hearts. A good question is whether that's good or bad. If E leads a spade
against 3 hearts, the contract almost certainly fails by 2 tricks (vulnerable)
for the dreaded 200. A diamond lead or anything but a spade probably generates
only 100 compared to the 130 that you make at 4 diamonds. For this hand, the
redouble is more successful, so who's to say it's not correct?
