All News

Daily Bridge in New Zealand

Who’s Afraid of the Strong No Trump….?

 Well, are you? Some players are hesitant to overcall while others pretend that it does not exist. Certainly, when you have something worth saying, you should not be put off bidding. What about this hand? How would you handle it?

Bridge in NZ.pngnz map.jpg

     
East Deals
Both Vul
 
N
W   E
S
   
 
A Q 10 9 4 3
6
A Q 9 7 3 2

 

East opens 1NT, 15-17. You have more cards in your two longest suits than high-card points. It is Pairs. What to do as South?

There are many defensive systems from which to choose when an opponent starts with 1NT. We start off with one Panellist who is straight to the point…and the point is a major suit game:

Pam Livingston “4Heart-small: It’s practical.  I don't have any methods to describe this hand to partner.”

Others start lower:

Michael Cornell “2Heart-small: which is simply a good overcall. I have nothing else in my system, X=penalties, 2NT =minors.

There are 25 pointed cards outside my hand. I think I would be very unlucky not to get another bid. Even in the unlikely event this happens, I must have a fair chance of going plus which should be some match-points.

Obviously, I will bid clubs if I get the chance including a jump to 4Club-small if the bidding comes back to me at 2Spade-small: otherwise 5Club-small.”

 

Yet, there is another way:

Andy Braithwaite “2NT: which should be any 2 suited hand strong. Then over the response, probably 3Club-small, bid 3Heart-small to show that suit. If partner does not bid 4Heart-small, then complete the picture with 4Club-small. This bid is highly invitational but partner with Spade-smallxxxxx, Heart-smallx, Diamond-smallxxxxx,Club-smallxx is allowed to pass!”

Kris Wooles “2NT: strong 2- suiter while acknowledging the suits themselves have some holes. If partner bids one of my suits directly, I would bid game, if 3Diamond-small I would bid 3Heart-small, if 3Spade-small I would bid 4Club-small. Certainly the alternative of bidding 2/3/4 Heart-small directly misrepresents the hand significantly. With as little as Kxx opposite in one of my suits, we could make slam.” (or Jxx and an ace?)

Bruce Anderson “2NT: shows a highly distributional two suited hand- 6/5 or better. Partner bids 3Club-small with a weak(ish) hand; the overcalling hand then starts bidding naturally until the best fit is found. With a better hand, partner bids naturally but should not pre-empt the bidding as there could well be a singleton or void opposite their suit.

On the hand given, if West was to bid spades, North will know that partner has at least one of the minor suits and so could compete holding both minors.

 

This use of an unusual 2NT bid over a 1NT opening is a useful convention for showing very distributional hands. I suggested its use to one of my regular partners after playing a part score with a slam cold in a pairs event a few years ago.”

In theory, your partner will treat your bid as showing the minors but when you change the suit, especially to a major, it becomes obvious this is not the case. You use 2NT when you do just do not want your partner to pass a suit bid because you are too strong.

However, our next Panellist is happy with 2Heart-small:

Peter Newell “2Heart-small: Heart-small+minor. Clearly I have way more shape than the normal 4/5 or 5/5 shape, and a fair bit of high card strength as well.  What I like about 2Heart-small is it gets a fair bit of info about the suits at a low level.  Sometimes with a huge overcall, one can be worried about passing, but given I have a 6/6, West and/or North must have a lot of black cards and there will be further bidding. 

If West is going to pass, I expect partner will bid 2Spade-small, possibly 3Diamond-small.  Over 2Spade-small, I would like to bid hearts again as that is the most likely game and to emphasise that I have good and long hearts (by inference I must have minor length otherwise I would have just treated the hand as a 1 suiter). Bidding 3Heart-small must show a fair hand too, though yes clearly an underbid.  Although I have a great hand, it will not play well unless partner fits and has a useful card in my suits rather than spades or diamonds.  Bidding 2NT over 1NT I play as any big game forcing 2-suiter, but at Pairs I would rather develop the hand more slowly and not fully commit to game.”

Offering another alternative:

Stephen Blackstock “2Club-small: hearts and another. I follow with 3Heart-small. 2Heart-small is clearly too little and I think 4Heart-small is too much though understandable because partner will not be able to judge which cards are working.”

I can relate to a bid where partner has to bid…and if he had a fistful of clubs and elected to pass 2Club-small, then the opposition would surely have a suit to bid and “rescue us”! However, back to the simple overcall for:

Nigel Kearney “2Heart-small: Of course, 2Heart-small will seldom have this much playing strength but double will achieve nothing useful and just make it harder to get my hand across.  The 2Heart-small bid is unlikely to end the auction and I will bid 4Club-small next time, or maybe 5Club-small if necessary. 

The best defence against 1NT would be a topic for another article. “Hamilton” (2Club-small any single-suiter, 2Diamond-small both majors) is very popular in NZ but it's really not very good and few experts use it. I prefer a variation of Astro (2Club-small=heart plus other, 2Diamond-small=spades plus other) but would need at least three paragraphs to explain why.”

Well, 2Heart-small might have been fine at the table had it shown hearts and a minor. North might have tried 3Club-small (Pass or Correct) and South would have “corrected” to 5Club-small. Otherwise, 2Heart-small may well have ended the bidding. These were the 4 hands:

 
East Deals
Both Vul
10 7 6 4 3
5
A Q 9 8
J 8 5
K J 5 2
8 7 6
10 7 4 3
10 6
 
N
W   E
S
 
A Q 9 8
K J 2
K J 5 2
K 4
 
A Q 10 9 4 3
6
A Q 9 7 3 2
West North East South
    1 NT ?

 

Slam available in clubs, though a little fortuitously. However, with the strong no-trump hand in the finesse position, there are likely to be a lot of tricks as long as there is an entry to the North hand.

 

no fear 2.png

no need to be afraid!

 

On the night, bidding to either suit game (3NT makes as well but no South would contemplate that contract) was worth most of the match-points, Pam Livingston reaching a good Pairs game in just one bid. It is true that without that entry to North, the two hands would play a trick or two less well.

Certainly, no time to be wary of that strong no-trump!

 

    Any thoughts?

South Deals
None Vul
   
9 7 5 3
A 4
K 10 9 7 4
9 3
 
N
W   E
S
   
West North East South
      1 
Pass 1  Pass 1 NT
Pass 2  Pass 2 
Pass 3  Pass 4 
Pass 4 NT Pass 5 
Pass 6  Pass Pass
?      

 

You might have been asleep during the auction…hopefully not, as you will be taking part in the defence!

So, 1NT was 15-17 and 2Diamond-small artificial and game-forcing. 2Heart-smallshowed 3-card support and 3Heart-small set trumps, looking for slam. A club cue-bid and North was using key-card. South showed 2 without Heart-smallQ.

Any thoughts?

Richard Solomon

Go Back View All News Items

Our Sponsors
  • Tauranga City Council
  • TECT.jpg