Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - November 6, 2023 - Overcall advance

 

Question:  What is South's next bid and why?

Glenna:

I would bid 2 NT with most people, but if I am playing with a partner who is cautious, I would bid 3NT. Hands like this are so hard because you have a wonderful source of tricks, but the results really depends on partner’s overcall values.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - November 6, 2023- 1NT Response

 Question:  What is South's next bid and why?

Mark:

I think this is one case where there is a bid that describes the South hand very well, almost perfectly. 3 Hearts! The original 1 spade rebid was shape- showing and, at that point, still unlimited in strength. North is limited, between 6 and 10 points. North could have 4 or 5 hearts, more likely 4. Why can't North have more than 10? Because South is allowed to pass and most often will, North can go to 3NT with  with a mediocre 15. With anything more than 10, North is expected to make a forcing or at least an invitational bid, which 1NT is not. 

  South has denied 4 hearts by bidding 1 spade. Now he shows 3 good hearts and 16 to 18 points. Does that fit? Like a glove! By deduction, North knows that South is short in clubs, having opened 1 diamond, then shown 4 spades and 3 hearts. North can go to 3NT with excellent clubs and 4 poor hearts, pass with a 6 or 7 point minimum or bid 4 hearts with 8 to 10 points and 5 hearts or 4 good ones.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Rich Nordeng - November 13, 2023 - Overcall

 

Question:  What is South's bid and why?

Rich:

I bid 1 spade. Usually bid 2C (Michaels) with 5 or more in both majors, but here the spades are longer and far better. I strongly prefer spades over hearts and certainly prefer a spade lead if partner is on lead. Second choice is 2 S, preemptive. That would be my choice if partner were already a passed hand. As it is, partner could have a good hand and it may belong to us in game. The secondary 5-card suit gives us more offensive potential than most preempts. If the secondary suit were a minor, I’d be more inclined to preempt so that the opponents have difficulty finding hearts.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - November 6, 2023 - Bid

 

Question:  Both N and S were unsure of correct bidding.

Vic:

The North point count & suit strength in diamonds are definitely appropriate for a "disciplined" Weak 2D opening bid. A red flag for doing so, however, is that North also has a four card major. Should South prove to have a good hand that includes four cards in the same major, opening a Weak 2D makes it highly unlikely they will ever find their golden fit.

 And guess what. South does have a good hand with four spades. Turns out NS deserve to make game in spades, but never find their golden fit. Clearly, North should not have opened.

 In the auction shown above, by the way, I would interpret the 2H bid by Responder (South) as promising a good hand & asking Opener if they have heart support. Lacking heart support, North should rebid their diamond suit (3D) to end the auction. North should not Pass 2H.

 Following is the way I would imagine the hand being bid.

 

N        E        S        W

 P        P        1H       P

 1S      P        3S       P

 4S      P         P        P

 Ain't bridge a great game?

Weekly Hand Analysis - Glenna Shannahan - October 30, 2023 - NT or minor

 

Question:  This hand made 3NT but went down 1 in 5 spades. How does one know to go to 3NT instead of 5 clubs when you have so many clubs?

Glenna:

1st, when N bids 1 ♠️ he only promises a 4-card suit BUT when he bids 2 ♥️, ♠️ just became a 5-card suit-people learn that in a BB1 class. S has 3 ♠️ so will get the pair to 4 ♠️.

 4 ♠️ will not make every tme as the success depends on the lead, but it’s the right contract so even if it doesn’t make, the field will give you protection and the result won’t be a zero.

Weekly Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - October 30, 2023 - Double

 

Question:  The Double by West appears to be a penalty double.  The contract went down 1 so the double was successful. What criteria should you use to double above a 3 level?

Vic:

To make a penalty DBL at any level you need reason to believe that between you & partner you can win enough tricks to defeat the contract. 

West has three "Quick Tricks" (also called "Defensive Tricks") in their own hand. Holding the West hand, I would be reasonably confident of actually winning a trick with at least two of them.

 Spades is trump, so the spade Ace is guaranteed to actually take a trick. If one of the opponents is void in clubs, however, the club AK may not take any tricks. 

 Partner (East) passed on their first chance to call. So they have less than an opening hand. On their second chance to call East doubled. So West has a right to expect that East is close to opening hand strength.

 If partner has an opening hand, you have a right to expect they can take three tricks if you end up defending. Close to opening, it would be reasonable to expect two tricks. 

 Two tricks by West added to two tricks by East adds up to four tricks total which puts declarer down one. A penalty DBL is definitely called for.

 My hand analysis program, however, tells me that NS deserve to make their 4S contract. That means there was a way declarer could have played the hand that EW could not have set them.

 Does that mean a penalty DBL was "wrong"? Not in my opinion. But in bridge, making the right call is no guarantee. The right call will not work ALL the time. But it will work MOST of the time.

Ain't bridge a great game?

Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - October 30,, 2023 - Going down 3

 

Question:  This hand went down 3 in 3NT but made it with 3 clubs.  Do you think the bidding was wrong?

Mark:

I think the bidding is a bit aggressive, but not egregiously so. You have 12 points facing 12 points. South was definitely pushy, accepting a game invitation with a hand that was rock bottom minimum for what S had bid so far. North's 2 NT bid was inviting S to bid if S had more than 12 or 13 points. It was not a forcing bid,, so I would have passed 2NT, even though I'm normally a pushy bidder. When N first sees partner's opening bid and RHO overcalling 1 diamond, it's easy to picture both the A and Q of diamonds in the W, thus making the N hand very tempted to jump to game. Now, when E doubles the 2D cuebid, showing some values in diamonds, N becomes a little less confident and makes a game invitation only. 

  Now for the play: With the lead coming from the East, North can make 3NT, but only with the kind of lucky guessing that cn't be expected without peeking at the opponents' cards. Presumably, E leads diamonds. If the diamond Q is led, declarer has a pretty decent chance. The diamond 5 makes it much more difficult. W wins the Ace and returns the suit. North has to guess to play the king, so the diamonds are blocked while declarer works on establishing 9 tricks. The level of play required to make the contract is top expert PLUS lots of lucky guesses. I don't expect our readers to solve the spade suit at the table, but 4 tricks will be made by most experts. Next, declarer must find a way to make 3 clubs and a heart, or 2 clubs and 2 hearts, or 3 hearts 1 club. It's doable but even in the Blue Ribbon Pairs or the Bermuda Bowl I think most declarers go down. If N mis- guesses everything, even without making an actual mistake, I can understand going down 3, trying desperately to make the contract and taking some necessary risks. 

  In summary, it's a bit of bad luck for being pushy in the bidding. If my partners bring back that result in a team game, I wouldn't criticize them. In due time they will balance such results with lucky guesses.