All News

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others. It’s Fri day.

Reverse…but full steam ahead!

You pick up a decent- looking 19 hcp hand with both majors (is there a 19 hcp hand that is not “decent”?) and while you wonder how you will bid your hand, your partner opens at the 1 level, 1. With a 5-card spade suit, you bid 1….and fully expect your partner to make a weak 2 bid…but, no! They bid 2!

Now, maybe at your first course of lessons, the teacher used the word “reverse”. Maybe not as it is quite a hard concept to learn. However, that 2 bid is a reverse (suit bid above opener’s first bid suit at the 2-level) and should show a hand of at least 16 hcp. It promises 4+, but usually 4 hearts. The bid needs to be strongish as it forces your side to a reasonably high level. The responder must reply/cannot pass.

It’s time to add that number of hcp to yours and to decide what to do next:

 

Are you still adding? While you are, just observe that you have found an 8-card fit in hearts.

A reverse should promise at least 16 high card points.

So, your 19 and partner’s 16 hcp makes a minimum  combined 35 hcp and you have found a heart fit. “Slam” should be ringing in your ears, even “grand slam”.

It’s time to check on aces/ key-cards. Here, the reply to 4NT would be the same whichever method you use as you hold both KQ. Partner replies 5 (2 aces/key cards (no Q…you knew that!). So, your side has all the aces and you can check for kings, 5NT. Partner shows the missing 2 of those as well by bidding 6. It’s time to place the contract ….and there is one tricky aspect to that.

 

Playing Pairs, it is tempting to bid 7NT, not 7,  which scores better when both contracts make (1520 against 1510). However, North could not be sure that there were 13 tricks on top. It is possible that some ruffing may be involved and that cannot be done in 7NT.

Another reason to bid a safer-looking 7 contract is that very few grand-slams are bid by most of the competitors, except perhaps in a very strong event. If you bid and make any grand-slam, you are almost guaranteed to score more than 50% on the board, usually considerably more.

Both of the above points were valid here. In 7NT, there are 3 spade, 4 heart, 2 diamond and 3 club tricks, a total of 12. To make 13, you need huge help from the defence and on this board, that is very unlikely.

However, all you have to do to make 7 on say a trump lead (usually a good lead against a grand slam) is to draw trumps, play A, then two top diamonds and KQ, discarding a diamond and a spade from the North hand, cash AKQ and then make your 2 remaining trumps separately at tricks 12 and 13. It's always a bit frightening trying to make all 13 tricks. This time, a declarer should manage it...a nice feeling if you can. 

Had trumps broken 4-1, you would need to ruff a spade in the South hand before you draw all the trumps.

So, grand slam bid and made, and a great score, because both you and your partner recognised the worth of the 2 reverse bid. After that “reverse”, it was full steam ahead..to grand!

Richard Solomon

Go Back View All News Items