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The Power of Aces.

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

You may have heard it before. Aces are often worth more than 4hcp. They control suits. They usually will win a trick in that suit, “always” in no trumps. With that in mind, what would you bid here?

 

 

With club support, you can count 8 top tricks in your own hand while your partner must have the potential for another trick, maybe two, as they will have honours somewhere.

You seem to have a choice of:

• ·       Passing which seems to be a little negative.

• ·       Invite in clubs

• ·       Consider another possible game than 5: i.e. 3NT.

It is often much easier making 9 tricks in no trumps than 11 in a minor suit. If your partner had an honour in hearts, then you would have all suits covered. Also, the fact that neither opponent has bid hearts yet makes it more likely that the opponents cannot take many quick tricks in that suit.

North’s options seem to be:

• ·       Bid 3 showing a stop in that suit or

• ·       Just bid 3NT

If you bid 3, the bidding would likely go as below:

 

South bid 3 to show a hold in that suit. They could not bid 3NT themselves without a hold in spades. North obliged with that and the unbeatable 3NT was reached. East would lead K rather than a spade but the lead did not matter. North had 9 comfortable tricks. While South’s heart hold might have been the king, hopefully with Q, in that case, North could duck the first round of diamonds to try to cut communications to the East hand. That might be harder to make 9 tricks but the risk would be worth taking.

Another possibility is that East might call 2 over North’s 2 bid. Technically, they are not strong enough but they do have a very good suit. As long as South bids 3 (they are just about worth it), the bidding could proceed in a similar way as when East was silent.

        powerful cards producing quick tricks.

With hands like the above North-South hands, playing in 3 would produce an average minus result. They would lose out to those North players who realised the power of aces for quick tricks and how little they would need from their partner for the 9 trick no-trump game.

Richard Solomon

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