NORTHLAND NES WITH TANIA BROWN

An interesting hand came up at the Kerikeri Dolphin Pairs on the 9th of March that highlighted the need for partnerships to have pre-agreements as to how to bid successfully over a Multi-2Diamond-small opening bid:

 

Board 22 East deals EW Vulnerable

 

                             Spade-small -

                             Heart-small A9843

                             Diamond-small K2

                              Club-small K97654

Spade-small AJ42                                            Spade-small KQT953

Heart-small T2                                                 Heart-small J76

Diamond-small QJ9875                                         Diamond-small T3

Club-small Q                                                   Club-small T3

                             Spade-small 876

                             Heart-small KQ5

                             Diamond-small A64

                              Club-small AJ82

 

The bidding reported at the table went:

N      E      S      W

         2Diamond-small   -      2Heart-small

3Club-small    -       -      3Heart-small

-        3Spade-small   -      4Spade-small

-         -       -

 

Where;   2Diamond-small is a weak 6 card major or 20-22 HCP not balanced

               2Heart-small is a relay

               3Heart-small is pass or correct

 

Result: 2 light vulnerable 200 to NS

 

It is evident from the above bidding sequence that South was unsure what was the strength of North's 3Club-small bid in this bidding sequence. Possibly as the 2Heart-small relay was not passable they may have assumed West had greater high card strength than they actually had.

Better pairs often achieve better results simply due to having better preparation for what their bids mean for different bidding situations they might encounter. This takes more work by both partners to learn these bidding agreements and agreed conventions (which are sometimes complicated) to be successful.

So while difficult to get to 7Club-small or 7Heart-small after the multi-2Diamond-small opening I thought it may be worthwhile for more experience pairs who have prepared defenced to share exemplars if they wish to as to how they would have bid to get a better result for NS on this board. 

I'll start:

Our bidding should go something like this:

N       E        S        W

          2Diamond-small    -         2Heart-small

2N       -       3Spade-small      -

4Club-small      -       4Diamond-small     -

5Diamond-small      -       5Heart-small     -

5Spade-small      -       6Club-small     -

-           -        -

 

Where:

2N is a  natural no trump ( 5 loser hand 0 - 26 HCP) that doesn't promise stoppers in Heart-small or Spade-small and invites partner to pass if they have a 4333 shape >=11 losers and 1 stopper in each major (ie Spade-smallQJTx Heart-smallQJx Diamond-smallxxx Club-smallxxx). Otherwise, if partner has >= 10 losers they bid 3Club-small . If they have <= 9 losers they bid one of a number of agreed positive responses: 3Diamond-small 4M or 5+Heart-small, 3Heart-small 5+Spade-small, 3Spade-small balanced unlikely 4M, 3N 4+Club-small4+Diamond-small, 4Club-small 6+Club-small, 4Diamond-small 6+Diamond-small

3Spade-small shows a balanced hand with <= 9 losers unlikely to have a 4 card major

4Club-small is to play.

4Diamond-small is a CROSS key card relay (Colour Rank Opposite Same Same) 

5Diamond-small shows two key cards of the opposite suit/colour.(i,e partner can work out this is the AHeart-small & KClub-small)

5Heart-small is a CROSS relay continuation asking for Ks

5Spade-small shows 1 or 4 Ks

 

An advantage of this approach using losers and not HCP for overcall hand evaluation is that North can bid both strong distributional and balanced hands while also conveying to partner a precise loser range with 1 bid to allow them to better judge the final contract level. As soon as South knows North has a 5 loser hand, provided a fit can be found, they know NS should be exploring a possible small slam. Another advantage is that it can also be used against a multi-2Diamond-small opening that has the strong option where NS are less likely to have the balance of HCP.  

With  7 modified losers in Club-small, and knowledge partner has a 5 loser hand, from the rule of 18 South knows a small slam is possible after North signs off in 4Club-small so they take over the captaincy and check whether they have the key cards necessary to bid a small slam.

After 5Spade-small South has to make a decision to continue relay sequence or sign off in 6Club-small. In this instance, the multi-2Diamond-small opening has done its work removing bidding room and successfully clouding the major position so South signs off in 6Club-small.

Is anyone else able to share how they might have achieved a better result for NS after the Multi-2Diamond-small bid for this hand?

 

  

 

 

Started by SEAN LYNCH on 21 Mar 2019 at 05:13PM

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