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Not our holding, today!

Spot the Stop?

Sometimes, you pick up your bridge hand and see card after card in one suit…7 card, 8 card maybe even more. Then, there are times when it is difficult to see whether you have any 4-card suit, let alone a longer one. Maybe you only have 4 x 3 card suits? That’s what today’s hand looks like:

 

You are playing Teams and 1 could be as short as 2,or 3,or 4. Both sides are vulnerable and had your partner opened 1NT, that would have shown 12-14 hcp. So, it is your bid…and, yes, you do have 13 cards!

Naturally, no-one is terribly happy with their choice. Let’s begin with those who are pretending one of their diamonds is heart- shaped!

Michael Ware “Double: Showing 4 hearts but double feels like the least lie. Don't mind pass, but don't like club raises or no trumps at all.”

No-one suggests even pretending we have a spade hold or indeed raising clubs.

Bruce Anderson “Double: every action is potentially flawed and double could well see a 4/3 fit  which will not play well. Obviously, I am hoping partner has long clubs, or even better, clubs and diamonds with reversing values.       

 I don’t like bidding either 1NT or 2NT as partner could hold, say,  a doubleton Q and never suspect we are off the spade suit. And pass risks partner re-opening with a double with a balanced hand with 4 hearts or in case  I  have a penalty pass, which  I  do not.”

Stephen Blackstock “Double: Not happily, for obvious reasons, but I need to show values at some point as we may want to be in 3NT by South. Pass, as I see it the only real option, risks ending the auction: if South has a weak no trump, we know his main suit is broken so he may reasonably decide to stay out and not risk being exposed to a large penalty. If he were to reopen with 2, that would be OK but as he will bid that over my double, passing now seems to have little to gain. And if East were to raise to 2, I would be well and truly fixed. The flawed double is certainly ugly, but faut de mieux as they say.”

At least with some idea of where the auction might lead..and slightly happier with their choice is:

Peter Newell “Double: to me not a gross distortion. I have 4 cards in their suit and do not have 4 hearts, but I have some values and some club support if 1 was natural.  While the bid looks a bit ugly, other options are worse. Second choice would be pass, but what do I do if partner reopens with a double? 2? Ugh. 
Over double I would expect partner to bid 1NT with a weak no trump even without a spade stopper unless he held 4 hearts. If partner bids 2, I have an easy 2 or 3 bid.”

Not a perfect double though the doublers preferred their choice to this:

Wayne Burrows “Pass: I have no bid to show this hand. For me double is 100% guaranteeing four hearts and 2NT or 3NT are guaranteeing a spade stopper. Twelve points is just a good invite and I am happy to pass with invites and if partner cannot find another bid, then we are unlikely to be missing game. Even if double is more flexible than I prefer, I don't really fancy auctions like 1 (1) Dbl (Pass); 2 (Pass) 2 ... which is about all I can do after partner shows hearts with a minimum opening bid.”

I do feel passing may well mean your side is missing out on a part-score while 1 may even slither home. However, there is another route:

Leon Meier “2: cue, usually a raise but cannot always have a fit. Hope partner has a stopper.”  

Nigel Kearney “2: Good club raise. This is the least distortion of our hand without wrong-siding no-trumps. If partner has two or three clubs, he will almost certainly rebid no trumps. If he has four clubs and no spade stopper, 3 on a 4-3 is probably as good a spot as any.”

2 is traditionally showing club support (even if partner had less than 4) and is forcing to 2NT. KQx may not be the support partner will expect but support it is!

Nigel would declare if partner shows clubs but no stopper. Andy is more ambitious and describes the route actually taken at the table.

Andy Braithwaite “2: Terrible decision! I think 2 is the only bid here and if partner bids 3, I will follow with 3 which asks for a stop primarily although could be a cue for clubs if I bid again over 3NT. So, it does not matter what the club length shows initially.”

Maybe if 2 looked for a spade hold, then 3 may look for a half hold. Whether South thought they had half a hold is questionable though they adopted the Hamman principle that if 3NT is a possibility and you are in the game zone, then just bid it. After all, no-one else had bid spades naturally after West’s 1.

 

It is easy to see how West could take the first 6 tricks against 3NT though starting off with a top spade seems very reasonable, too. A low spade at trick 2 would still have defeated the contract though West did not appreciate that declarer only had 8 tricks in the minor suits.

Fatefully, they cashed their third high spade and a very relieved declarer had 9 top tricks without touching hearts.

Lucky for North-South? Certainly. Realistically, South can score 9 tricks in clubs (if West leads a low spade at trick 1, only 8! However, to find that defence, West must have dropped the 2 on the table by mistake!). Of the several South players who played in clubs, as high 5, only 2 made more than 9 tricks. Therefore, 3NT had little to lose after 3 and gained big time for 3 of the 4 South players in that contract.

As is so often the case when we have an awkward bidding decision, we need to be practical and tell the least lie. 2 as opposed to double might say that especially if you believe double does promise 4 hearts though it is then worthy of another debate whether North should bid on over 3.

Richard Solomon

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