Ask the Expert

Such fun. We sent out a poll on what people would open in this hand and 10 responded 1 heart, 8 responded 1 diamond, and 1 responded 2 clubs. Here is what Leonard Cohn has to say.

Another Distributional Hand

Hand 9
Declarer: East

East passes. What should South open?

Larry Cohn Says
6-5 Come Alive

His Example (very similar):

The order and quality of the suits is relevant. Opener must consider his rebid problem. With clubs and spades, it is usually okay to open 1, because it is convenient to get the spades in next. But, when the major is hearts, you risk losing the heart suit (because a heart rebid will often be a reverse). 

A 1 opening feels best. If you open 1, you risk losing the heart suit. This hand, with only 11 HCP and a spade misfit is nowhere near worth a reverse after 1-Pass-1.  I’d like to get the hearts in with a 1 opening and bid clubs next (several times if possible).

NOTE: Leonard’s example only had 11 high card points, whereas this hand had 15 high card points. As such, the reverse may be valid in this case. Also, Mark was the one who bid 2C. He was worried his partner might pass his opening bid and he would lose the chance to find game or at least the right fit.

Here’s are all hands and what did happen at my table. 

• East passes
• South bids 1 H
• West bids 4C
• North & East pass
• South bids 4D
• West passes and North bids 4H

West led the singleton 7D and we make 5. If West leads the spades, they hold us to 5. But I believe it can make 7 with the diamond lead. Both hearts drop on the Ace and King. Then South can discard the loosing spades on diamonds and cross ruff the rest. Aren’t distributional hands fun!

Slams

Hand 6
North: East
Makes 6H by East or West (no one found)

Wayne Perrin:

It is at best a 50% slam.  You need Ace of D onside and if trumps break 3-0 you will probably not make 6 even with Ace of D onside

We were N/S but I doubt we would bid 6 on this hand.

Pat Spratt:

It is an easy one if you play Flannery.

• 2D, (4S,5 or 6H), 11-16
• 4C is Roman Key Card ask for Hearts
• 4NT shows 2 with the Q
• 6 Hearts, played by the right (West) side

Wayne Perrin (we were EW):

The bidding went 1S-3D-3H-5D to south. He bid 5H. I would have only bid 5H with his hand also. He has no space to explore AND his K of D is under the 3D bidder. Without interference you might be able to get to 6, but it is very unlikely. 

Pat Spratt (as easy 6H contract, difficult to find 7):

South having 20 HCPs can open 2C. The bidding will proceed differently if there is D interference by West

• 2C, 2D, PASS=a positive bid
• 2H, pass, 3H,pass
• 4C, pass 4D, pass
• 4H, pass, 4S, pass
• 5S
• Now up to North to bid 6 or 7H

If there is a 1H opening by South, the bidding will proceed much as above. Again, it is North’s choice to bid 6 or 7

• 1H, likely D interference, then a D Qbid by North to show the support and strength in Hearts
• 4C, 4D, 4H, 4S, 5S
• 6 or 7H

Minor Slams

Hand 1
North: Dealer

Wayne Perrin:

• North: 1C
• South: 3NT ( balanced 13-15  NO 4 card Maj and not 5+ D) So Opener knows I have AT LEAST 3 card club support
• North: 4C ( agreeing clubs as trump)
• South: 4D que bid showing Ace of Diamonds
• North: 4H que bid showing Ace of Hearts
• South: 4S que bid showing Ace of Spades
• North: 4NT Blackwood 
• South: 5D (3 key cards so Partner knows I have K of clubs)
• North: 5NT  – asking for specific kings –
• South: 6C  I don’t have any more kings to show

Hand 2

How would you respond with the following hand if your partner opens 1D?

 

BridgeWisdom:

Many players always respond with a major at the one level if they can.  So, with the above hand, they would respond 1S and the partnership gets to 3NT.  This happens because South does not know about the club fit because South never introduced the clubs.

However, experts would prefer to keep the minor in play and to more fully describe their hand.  So, they would respond with the minor first.  Notice, if South shows the clubs first, this allows North to raise them.  Now South can give herself extra points for her singleton heart and can get to 6C.

Note: They never say how they get to 6C after the 3C bid. Suggestions?

Crazy Distributional Hand

South in Dealer
NS are vulnerable

Would you recommend South open 3S?

Wayne Perrin:

Strong Hands vs Partner’s Weak Hand

Aha, I remembered to take a picture of the hands this week (Boards 16 and 27)!!!

Board 16

Dealer: West
Vulnerable: N/S

West and North pass. East has 21 points. What should he open and what should his partner respond? (Click on picture to see larger view.)

Wayne Perrin’s Response:

2NT (20-21 balanced) -3D ( Transfer to Hearts)
3H ( as ordered by P ) – 4D ( D suit. Asks opener to choose between H and D)
4H ( It is a MP game, so choose the higher scoring option..And 10 tricks is almost always easier to make than 11)

Board 27

Dealer: South
Vulnerable: None

This is just the opposite of Board 16. South passes and West has a weak hand with only 8 high cards BUT a 7 card heart suit and a void. His partner has 18 high card points. How should the bids go?

Wayne Perrin’s Response:

3H (good 7 card suit. Most experienced players avoid doing this with side Aces or Kings)
4H by the big hand.. 2D losers seem almost certain and possibly a club loser
NO REASON TO GO splashing around trying for a slam

Potential Slams

This week, Monday, Nov. 21, there were two potential slams. However, on Board 17, no one bid it. And on Board 18, only one team bid it. Thanks again to Wayne Perrin for providing his expertise and thoughts.

Wayne Perrin

Both of these slams are biddable….IF you and your P have the right tools in your tool chest. Key Card Blackwood is a handy gadget, BUT if often fails miserably when the agreed upon suit is a minor. And even more so if the agreed upon suit is clubs.

Many times we see 4nt and a response that has too many aces to get stopped in 5 BUT not enough aces to safely play in 6. The answer to this dilemma is a gadget where, in a Game Forcing auction, 4 of the agreed upon minor is RCKB (Roman Key Card Blackwood) for Declarer for that minor. So armed with the proper technology we have the following auctions.

Board 17 (Dealer is South, no one is vulnerable)

Click on the picture to see hand better.

Wayne Perrin’s response:

2C-2D (waiting)
3C (natural) – 3D (natural and Game Forcing)
4D ( RKCB for Declarer ) – 4H ( 1 or 4 Key Cards)
4S ( asking for the Q of Diamonds) – 5S (I have the Q of Diamonds AND the K of S)
6D

Paul Kilger’s response:

On board seventeen once partner opens two clubs I will bid two diamonds (artificial) showing a positive response. Partner should bid three clubs showing his club holding. As responder I will bid my five card diamond holding. Declarer can now bid four diamonds informing his partner we have found a fit. As responder I will show my king of spades. Voila!

Board 18 (East is dealer, N/S is vulnerable)

3 passes to N
1C – 1S
2NT ( 18-19 HCP without 4 S) – 3C (* agreeing clubs and at least Game Forcing )
4C ( RKCB for clubs ) – 4D ( 1 or 4 KC )
4H ( do you have the Q of C) – 5H ( yes and I also have the K of H
6C All pass

Shari

We bid 6NT and made, but were very, very lucky. The opponents were squeezed in the end. How did we end up in 4NT?

My partner (South) opened 2NT (one point light). I bid 2C asking for a major. He bid 2D denying. I didn’t know what to do then, I jumped to 6NT thinking we had a minimum of 31 points between us. 

Wayne Perrin suggested that I bid 4NT, after the 2D response, asking my partner to jump to 6NT if he was at the higher end of his bid. A much better bid than mine and we would have stopped at 4NT which was all we should have made.

Weak 2s

Our first week’s challenge (Monday, Nov. 17) was interesting with lots of weak 2 bids. I asked Wayne Daze how he would have responded to his partner’s opening 2 spades bid (5-11 points, 6 spades).

Wayne has the following hand (note the suits are in the order of spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs).

AK
AQxxx
Kxx
Xxx

Wayne Daze

I would bid 4 spades even if you are non-vulnerable.

[Note: For weak twos, Wayne counts tricks. If non-vulnerable, the declarer needs to be able to count 5 winning tricks, vulnerable, 7 tricks.]

But vulnerable you should have 7 tricks so 4 should be easy. But non-vulnerable, I have 3.5 tricks that should make but may be down 1.

With 3 or 4 spades I would bid 2NT as slam may be there. 

[Note: Wayne plays Ogust. 2NT is artificial asking how strong you are. Response to 2NT: 3C (weak/weak), 3D (5-7points/2 of the top honours), 3H (8-11 points/weak suit), 3S (strong/strong).]

Now, I am excited to share that we had some more experts chime in!!!!

Wayne Perrin

I don’t like to just close my eyes and guess what to do. Where possible, I prefer to enlist my partner’s help to make the final decision. I would bid 2NT which asks my P to rebid 3S with a minimum and bid a high card feature with a maximum. We could easily have 4 or even 4 losers here if P has something like QJTxxx Kxx xx xx
On the flip side if P shows a maximum weak 2 with a D feature, something like this : QJTxxx xx Axx xx, we have an easy game.
It is a P game. You will usually need P’s input to get these hands right

Elizabeth Scott

I agree with Wayne. Excellent point!

Arthur Ham

Then there is the rule of 17. According to Larry Cohen:
“Rule of 17: If your partner opens with a preempt bid, add the number of your own high card points plus the number of card in your partners bid suit that you hold. If the sum is 17 or more, bid game in partner’s suit.