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Daily Bridge in New Zealand

Discovery Bid.

Yesterday, we saw very young Wellington player, Eason Lu, get a little lucky when he passed a Blackwood response by mistake…and the sun shone! Yet, finishing 7th in the Wellington Provincial Teams last weekend was not all down to good luck for Eason. Indeed, his partner, Brad Johnston, spilled the beans on this one.

You might not think the following was a problem but Eason found an interesting solution. Here is your hand and the bidding so far:

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

 

Easy if you are playing a convention like the Jacoby 2NT where you have a ready-made response forcing to game and agreeing hearts as trumps. However, Eason was using simple bidding where 2NT was a balanced 10-11 count and therefore that was not appropriate. A player new to the game (Eason has only been playing for about a year) might just jump to 4Heart-small, since that is not a pre-emptive bid when you first learn to play.

However, Eason recognised that his hand had more potential if his partner was not a minimum opener. So, bid 2Club-small then, natural and forcing. See what partner says. There were two things possibly wrong with that bid. Firstly, say partner bid 2NT or 3NT. He was not sure of their relative strengths. The 2 over 1 response creates some less familiar sequences. Also, a 2Club-small response could create confusion if Eason later wanted to check for aces and kings. Would 4Club-small ask that or would it be a natural bid?

So, Eason found a simple but unnatural 1 over 1 response of 1Spade-small even though he only had 2 spades! He would then be very familiar with his partner’s response. Indeed, Brad Johnston did rebid 1NT showing 15-17 and this enabled Eason to use Gerber, 4Club-small for aces, 5Club-small for kings. Brad showed up with one ace and three kings..and that was plenty for Eason to bid 6NT. Brad still had a couple more high card points up his sleeve and they were the very useful Heart-smallQ.

Brad was very impressed with his dummy as these were the four hands:

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

 

A deal with absolutely no problems in the play, with declarer simply losing to the Spade-smallA to make 12 tricks.

The opposition could have made it harder for East-West if South had been able to open 2Spade-small showing spades and a minor or spades and another suit. An immediate 2NT (15-17) from West would solve all of East’s problems but say West chose a 3Heart-small overcall. Suddenly, the worth of East’s spades had to be in doubt. East should try 3Spade-small just to see what their partner said and when West responded 3NT, East would be more comfortable with their spade holding. Whether East went to slam via a quantitative 4NT, Key Card or by simply bidding slam, the 6-level should be reached.

Eason and Brad 2021.jpg
Brad and Eason: keeping
it simple

No such worries for Eason who found out all he needed to know via a somewhat unconventional but very effective 1 over 1 response.  

 

A Couple of Questions for “Jan’s Day”

1NT shows 15-17 hcp.

a. Would you bid as East? Be honest, answer this before you come to the next question.

b. If you pass, the bidding goes as below. Would you reach for the pass or the double card?

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

 

Richard Solomon

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