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Daily Bridge in New Zealand

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others. It’s Friyay 2.png   day!

Come in: the water is warm, very warm!

Your partner opens a Weak 2 in spades (2S). You have 14 high card points but only 1 little spade. You are in the “maybe zone”. “Maybe” you can make game if your partner has a good weak 2. Does that mean you should see whether they have a maximum? Maybe, but probably not.

Yet, wait, as before you get the chance to enquire about your partner’s hand, you notice that your right-hand opponent has called. When then should you do?

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East Deals
Both Vul

   

7

A K 8 2

Q J 10 8 6

A 6 4

 

N

W

 

E

S

   

 

West

North

East

South

 

 

2 ♠

3 

?

 

 

 

Just to be clear, you are in the West seat, not the South seat. So, what should you bid?

There is a good guiding principle. When your partner opens with a Weak 2 or any pre-emptive bid at the 3 or 4 levels, that any double of an opponent’s call is for penalties. So, we should be able to make a penalty double here.

In a recent tournament, South played in 3Diamond-small at 5 tables but only once was the contract doubled. Before we see all four hands, I must comment that 3Diamond-small is not the best bid on the South hand, as this deal demonstrates:

East Deals
Both Vul

Q 9 6 3

J 7 6 3

7

K J 9 5

7

A K 8 2

Q J 10 8 6

A 6 4

 

N

W

 

E

S

 

A K 10 8 5 2

9

3 2

10 8 3 2

 

J 4

Q 10 5 4

A K 9 5 4

Q 7

 

West

North

East

South

 

 

2 ♠

3 

?

 

 

 

West can lead their spade against 3Diamond-small x. East wins and should play their own singleton. West cashes Heart-smallAK and gives East a ruff. East can then cash Spade-smallK. They may then try a third spade. A shell-shocked South does best to discard their remaining heart as West ruffs. So far, the defence has taken 6 tricks and West still has  2 trump tricks and Club-smallA to come: 5 down doubled: -1400. Had West started with Heart-smallAK, East can score 2 ruffs: -1700! Yes, certainly 3Diamond-small was the wrong bid today!

Twice the defence got the contract 6 down but neither could record that big score because at neither table was this contract doubled. Shame.

There is also a lesson here for the South players. They can justifiably claim bad luck but 3Diamond-small was not the best bid they could make. It is harder when a player has 6 diamonds and 4 hearts though even then double may be a better bid. With only 5 diamonds, it most certainly is.

Indeed, there is a good case for South not bidding at all. Yet, they do have a reasonable hand in two suits and were North to choose clubs (not today), South could bid 3Diamond-small. 3Diamond-small initially puts too much emphasis on one rather moderate suit. Double or Pass are better alternatives on the South hand. 

North did not expect their partner to hold 4 hearts when they did not double: hence their pass. 3Heart-smallis no great contract either but should not go more than 2 down, -500 if doubled. So, where West did double 3Diamond-small, North passed.

Sometimes, a player did not double an opponent “because I thought they would run to a better contract.” In certain situations, that might be true but there was no evidence that North-South had anywhere better to go here…and 3Heart-smallx is not much different a score as 3Diamond-small undoubled!  

Remember also one saying that “if one does not every so often double a contract that makes, then one is not doubling enough.” To those West players who did not double 3Diamond-small, that saying certainly applies.

“D” is for

“diamonds” if South bid them first

“double” if they did…and

“disaster” for North-South and 
1700.jpg  

“double-digit” penalty. Hopefully, there is no minus before that number on your score-sheet.

 

Richard Solomon

 

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