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“One, Two…that will do!”

Sometimes players get lucky when they make the wrong bid. Today, though, is a chilling reminder that wrong bids often produce disastrous results. So, you have been warned!

 

The bidding is all natural. What should West’s next bid be?

It would seem that when this board was played, several West players did not heed a warning. They kept bidding! They did not like passing out 2…and who would blame them! Just one diamond. Surely there had to be a better place to play? So, they tried 2NT with holds in each of the other three suits. It would seem some East players then tried bidding their long diamond suit again…and their partners just were not listening! Several West players bid 3NT and were left to play there.

The West players were correct about one thing. There was a better contract than 2 for East- West. That was to play 1! Unfortunately, the rules of the game prevented West from making that bid! As you will soon see, the best thing they could have done after East bid 2 was to pass, as much as they hated to do so.

 

The West declarers in 3NT did not enjoy the experience even though they got off to a good start when North led 10. Their Q won the trick and West tried their diamond, the trick taken by South’s A. Back came a second club from South. West won (ducking one round would not have helped) and tried Q but both defenders ducked that. That gave West 3 tricks after which the only trick they managed was A! That was down 5 in 3NT, - 500 and a painful lesson for West.

Had East been left to play 2, the defence can take AK, 2 trump tricks (as long as the first round is led from the West hand) and 1 spade, with East’s other spade being discarded on A. It is just possible that South could score an extra diamond. At worst, that is down 1 but 2 is likely  to make. That is quite a variance from playing in no-trumps.

Although North-South can make a variety of part-score contracts, had West passed 2, North would have passed as well. It is true that East could have had more high card points because their bidding suggested 6-9 hcp. However, West’s own minimum point count and singleton diamond suggested that no trumps would be difficult to play, as this deal proved.

“One-two: that will do” is a common bridge saying. When responder bids their own suit for the second time at the 2-level, let them play there. They should have at least a 6-card suit and a weak hand. There is unlikely to be a better place to play.

A great idea!

 

Richard Solomon

 

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