Thoughts on reopening the bidding with a balancing double

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Situation: You open the bidding one of a suit in 1st or 2nd seat, left hand opponent makes a suit overcall, partner passes, and right hand opponent passes. Notice that partner did not make a negative double. Do you keep the auction open and, if so, how?

Marty Bergen has guidance for us in this situation.  I will summarize his guidance below, but first look at two hands I recently observed. For each of them would you bid, pass, or make a reopening double?

Hand 1:

 

Hand 2:

What did you decide?

 

Here is Marty’s guidance:

Doubling in this situation is not “automatic” as some players seem to think. The main consideration is your holding in opponent’s suit.

  • Void: It’s rarely the case that you should double. Defending with a trump void is usually not correct. I was surprised to read this guidance. But on reflection “law of total tricks” may work in opponents favor on average, so our side may get a better score on offense than by defending. What do you think?

  • Singleton: Usually the ideal time to double.

  • Doubleton: Good time to double an overcall at a low level.

  • Three cards: Try to avoid making a double.

  • Four or more: Never make a reopening double.

Post mortem on the two hands:

  • Hand 1: South made the reopening double, partner bid two hearts, and South ran to three diamonds resulting in plus 130 for above average board.

  • Hand 2: South chose to rebid three clubs holding 10 cards in the rounded suits. A reopenng double would have resulted in 1100 points for NS. North had the ideal “trap pass”, and the partnership missed the opportunity for a top board.

Category: Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags: , , , ,

Your plan for the defense?

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You are East on defense after the auction shown below. Here is what you see when partner leads the eight of hearts (partnership agreement is to lead low from 3 or more cards when your partner has the suit). Declarer plays the ace from dummy, three by you, and deuce by declarer.

At trick two declarer leads the three of spades from dummy.  Are you counting? What’s your plan for the defense?

Scroll down for my recommended plan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are two key clues to this puzzle:

  1. Partner started with doubleton or singleton heart, meaning opponents hold the top three heart honors (declarer has the queen). If partner has doubleton heart, opponents’ hearts are 3-3. If partner has singleton heart, declarer has four hearts to the queen.
  2. Opponents should hold at least 24 points, meaning partner holds at most 4 points.

 

Rise with the ace of spades at trick two and lead a heart. If partner ruffs, you will set the contract: ace of spades, heart ruff, top two diamonds.

If partner cannot ruff, opponents were always going to get the top three hearts. So, you have lost nothing. You may be able to find a fourth trick in the minor suits since partner has a little smattering of HCP. Make declarer do all the work to bring contract home.

 

Category: Exercises: Defensive Play | Tags: , , ,

Action in 4th Seat?

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 Would you open this hand in 4th seat?

1. What’s the likelihood of a plus score?

Open the bidding in 4th seat when you think it’s likely (>50%) to result in a plus score for your side once the hand is over. Keep in mind that passing would give you a certain (=100%) nonnegative score.

2. Guideline on the determining the likelihood:

The widely accepted guideline for estimating a likely plus score in 4th position is “rule of 15”. The guideline says add your high card points to number of spades you hold. Open the bidding when that total is as least 15, otherwise pass. This hand qualifies as a 4th seat opener. It contains 10 HCP and 6 spades, summing to 16 “Pearson points”. Therefore, likelihood of a plus score is greater than 50% if you open the bidding.

3. Level of opening bid when likelihood is satisfied?

At what level should you open the bidding? This hand would be an easy opening bid of two spades in seats one, two, or three. But it’s emphatically not in 4th seat! Why is that? Because it is standard practice to open at the two-level with a hand that is slightly stronger than the usual weak two maximum. “Slightly stronger” means it qualifies for a minimum one-level opening bid in 1st or 2nd seat. The danger if you open this hand two spades is that partner will infer you hold equivalent of a minimum opening one-level bid. Relying on that inference, partner could easily get you too high when holding limit-raise values. Bottom line: open this hand one spade in 4th seat.

 

Category: Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags: , , , ,

A Counting Puzzle for the Defense

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This is your hand:

You are West defending South’s contract of four spades after the following auction:

Your good opening lead is the queen of clubs, and here is what you see:

As usual, you will must think about where your tricks are coming from. See if you can uncover where partner may have some help. Follow the play until trick 7, and you will have enough information to solve the puzzle.

 

Scroll below for my solution:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clues: Did you notice that partner gave you high-low during 1st two rounds of spades? That indicates interest in obtaining a ruff. Also, did you notice that declarer showed up with second diamond (the 3 of diamonds) at trick 7? How many remaining diamonds does that leave for partner?

Solution: Play low at trick 7, partner will ruff dummy’s honor. Declarer will not be able to establish diamond winners in dummy. Defense will come to four tricks: one club, two diamonds, and one ruff.

BTW, have you seen this hand before from another perspective?

Category: Exercises: Defensive Play | Tags: , , ,

Fun Freak Hand

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I saw this on BBO. Put yourself in 4th seat (both sides vulnerable). Your right hand opponent opens with a weak two spades in 3rd seat. What is your thinking holding this nice hand?


Some Considerations:

  • How many tricks can your side take and what is the likely outcome?
  • What do you think is your best tactic in anticpation of a competitive auction?

 

What’s your call? See below for my recommendation and postmortem on the hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You count a probable 11 tricks in hearts and clubs. All partner has to have is one ace. The only ace that might not be helpful is the ace of spades. I recommend bidding 3 spades, a michaels cuebid describing a big hand containing hearts and an unknown minor.

That’s the good bid made by the player I observed on BBO. Unfortunately, it was partner who held the unlikely ace of spades. Misfortune was compounded when opening lead wasn’t a spade. Instead it was the ace of diamonds, and opponents quickly took the other two aces for down one. Sadly it was the only table at which a spade was not led. A future post will discuss the opening lead.

 

Category: Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags: , , , , ,

Fundamentals of Declarer Play

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As South you opened 1NT in 3rd seat. 1NT gets passed out. Your mission is to plan the best chance for overtricks at matchpoints. Follow the play to the 1st two tricks and decide on your plan.

Trick 1: West leads the ace of clubs (A from AK), East plays the jack, and you play low.

Trick 2: West shifts to the three of diamonds, East play the nine, and you win with the ace.

 

Reminder: You need to employ two NT fundamentals:

What do you plan to do at trick three? Put differently, what suit is best to establish a winner now? Decide on your plan (be specific), and scroll down to see my recommendation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I recommend you lead the nine of clubs at trick three. That has the effect of establishing two club winners while creating two club entries to dummy (the eight and queen will become winners in the dummy).

What if West refuses to win the king, leaving you with only one sure entry to dummy? In that case lead the AK of diamonds at tricks 4 and 5. Then lead the ace and jack of hearts at tricks 6 and 7. Now your entry to dummy is set up when you next lead a club.

BTW, the defense might cause you a problem at trick 7. Do you see what that might be?

 

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: , ,

What’s your call?

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You are in 2nd seat (none vulnerable). Right hand opponent opens one diamond. What is your call with this nice hand?

Decide what you would do and see below for my recommendation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You could pass, double, overcall one heart, overcall 2 clubs. Pass seems a bit too timid. Double implies a tolerance for spades as well as hearts. Overcalling one hearts usually promises a five-card suit. Overcalling two clubs promises at least five of them.

Category: Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags: ,

How is your Defensive Communication?

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Put yourself in the East seat on this hand. You open one heart. LHO overcalls one spade. Partner raises you to two hearts. RHO advances with three spades, and you bid four heats. LHO competes to four spades, ending the auction.

Partner leads the ace of hearts, and you are disappointed to see dummy come down with the king. You follow with the heart deuce, informing partner of your preference for a club shift. Partner cooperates, leading the eight of clubs. Declarer calls for the 10 from dummy. What card to you play and why?

Hint: What is partner telling you with that eight of clubs?

  • Is partner is leading the top card from a doubleton? If so, what is declarer’s holding in clubs?
  • Or is partner leading low from three or more cards to an honor? If so, what is declarer’s holding in clubs?

Now you know what to do, right? Yes, right! (It always helps to put cards on the table if you are not seeing the possibilies.)

 

 

 

 

Category: Exercises: Defensive Play | Tags: , , ,

What’s your plan?

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You are South in a contract of four spades. Opening lead is the queen of clubs. How should you plan to play the hand given the bidding shown below?

Play of the hand: Start by counting losers: no spade losers, no heart losers (if you are careful to use dummy to ruff hearts at the right time), two diamond losers, and one club loser. It looks like you should bring this contract home. How do you give yourself the best chance to succeed?

  • There is a good chance (92%) that missing diamonds will behave (splitting no worse than 4-2).
  • Also, there is a good chance (95%) that spades will split no worse than 3-1.
  • That means your chance for favorable splits of both suits is better than 80%.

 

See below for my recommended line:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s probably best to draw two rounds of trumps before starting the diamonds. You need to make sure a trump is left to provide an entry to dummy’s diamonds in case opponents attack hearts. Notice that the only spade honor missing in your combined holding is the ten.

Comment on the bidding: North’s 3D bid is a Bergen raise. It tells partner that North has 4-card support and less than a limit raise in spades. Marty Bergen is famous for recent innovations in bidding, and this is an example. Do you like South’s raise to game?

 

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: , , ,

Declarer Play Puzzle

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The contract should have been six hearts (NS have a nine-card heart fit). Be that as it may, South now has to play 6NT? Opening lead is the jack of clubs, East following with the deuce.

South wins with the queen of clubs and notes that dummy has only one sure entry to the heart suit. What is South’s best chance to make 6NT? Please give me your thoughts in the comments.

 

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: , , , ,

Another on Hand Evaluation

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You hold this hand in 2nd seat:

The bidding has proceded as follows:

You and partner are playing 2/1. So, partner’s 2C response to your opening bid is forcing to game.

Before you decide on your call at 3rd turn:

  • How well do your hands mesh?
  • How many spades does partner hold?

 

Okay what is your call? See below for my recommendation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Partner may well have the ace and king of clubs. That’s not helpful since you have the club suit under control. Moveover, partner may not have much help in the red suits. Also, you know from paartner’s initial response that she has three spades. Your hands don’t mesh well because of misfit in clubs. My recommendation is jump to four spades (fast arrival), indicating lack of interest in slam.

 

 

Category: Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags: , ,

A Counting Puzzle for Declarer

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Here is a declarer play problem. You are South in a contract of six spades on the bidding shown. North leads the ten of clubs and this is what you see:

You assume that West would not lead the club 10 when holding the king, so you play the ace of clubs and draw trumps in 2 rounds. As you do so you observe the following from opponents:

  • At trick 2 West plays the singleton queen of spades, East following low.
  • At trick 3 West discards a low heart and East follows low.
  • At trick 4 you lead a club, East winning the king and West following with the seven.
  • At trick 5 East continues with a low club, West discards another low heart, and you win the trick while discarding a low diamond from hand.

 

Your 12th trick will have to come via a successful finesse. Are you counting the opponents’ hands? Which red suit finesse offers the better likelihood of success? Give it some thought and then scroll down for my decision rationale:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

West showed up with a singleton spade and doubleton club. That means West started with 10 red cards and East with five. After West discards two hearts you know that West now holds 8 red cards and East 5 red cards. Odds are 8 to 5 that West holds the king of hearts. Probability that West holds the heart king is 8/13 (61.5%). It’s the same for West holding the diamond queen. I decide to go with the odds and finesse West for the heart king.

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play | Tags: ,

Hand Evaluation

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Would you open this 10 HCP hand in 1st or 2nd seat?

Here’s how Bergen would value the hand: Club suit is worth 9 HCP plus additions of one point for the 5th club, one point for the 6th club, and two points for the seventh club. That’s 13 “starting points” in the club suit alone.

Why all those extra points for the small cards? Because the prospect for taking seven club tricks is well over 50 percent since you are only missing the jack. You have an easy opening bid of one club.

I recommend you discuss hand evaluation with partner to make sure you are on same wavelength. Maybe this hand has only 10 HCP, but it’s much better than its face value in HCP.

 

Category: Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags: ,

Plan your rebid

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When opening the bidding make sure you plan your reibid. Here is an example:

You are in 1st seat (both sides vulnerable) holding this hand:

You have an easy minimum opening bid of one diamond with your 13 HCP. Now anticipate a response from partner might make your rebid difficult. A one heart response would make it easy for you to raise to two hearts. A response of two clubs would make it easy for you to raise to three clubs. And a one spade response would make it easy for you to rebid one no trump.

Difficulty arises if partner’s response is one no trump. You hate to pass 1NT knowing that opponents have many spades plus a troublesome number of HCP. You hate to rebid diamonds with that crummy 5-card suit. And you are way too weak to reverse to two hearts.

But you have a couple of inferences available to help you decide: First, what is the minimum number of spades held by opponents?. Second, what is the minimum number minor suit cards held by partner?  Decide on your rebid once you answer those questions.

See my decision below:

 

 

 

Inference number 1: opponents hold at least nine spades. Partner has at most three spades and I hold one.

Inference number 2: Partner did respond one heart so has at most three hearts. Ergo partner must hold at least seven cards in the minors.

 

My rebid is two clubs. That’s your best chance for a plus score.Partner did not raise diamonds, so you should have at least a seven card club fit. You will be able to hold off an attack in spades because of your shortness. Partner may take the suit preference for diamonds which would be even better.

BTW, you may have seen this hand before. Do you know where?

 

 

Category: Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags: , ,

Hilo Bridge Club restarts under new club manager

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Games will be held at Eagles Club in Keaau on Sundays and Wednesdays. Start time for each game it 12:30 pm. Club Manager is Gail Buck. Gail can be reached at 808 339-7069 or by email at gailbuck at yahoo.com.

Classes will resume at a later date.

Category: Bridge News

Bridge Wisdom from Richard Pavlicek

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World class player and author Richard Pavlicek’s website is loaded with good bridge tips and stories for players of all abilities. Check out his excellent site if you have not already done so.

Here is a fun example I ran across a few days ago. South is dealer and opens the bidding one club. How do you think the bidding might go If West overcalls one spade?

North’s 4N is quantitative, inviting South to bid slam with extras. However, with a crummy 14 HCP (flat hand, three queens, four deuces) South declines the invitation.

Opening lead by West was the nine of hearts. You can see that, despite having a combined 31 HCP, declarer could not make 4N. Or so I thought. Maybe I was wrong. Could you make 4N?  It’s a good puzzle, and you can find the answer by exploring Richard’s site.

 

Category: Exercises: Declarer Play, Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags:

Fun Hand from our Restart Yesterday

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Yesterday was the first real face-to-face game Hilo Bridge Club has run since March 2020. It was a joy to see everyone again.

North had fun with a big, freak hand in the red suits on Board 10. NS can easily make five diamonds, but it’s hard to get there when East competes in spades. And the only way for EW to defeat four hearts is if East underleads the ace of spades at trick one and West gives East a diamond ruff (highly unlikely). Here is the hand:

One EW pair was allowed to play three spades doubled, making for plus 730 for a top board.

How would you bid the North hand? Do you open two clubs. Or do you open one diamond, giving yourself room for exploration at the bidding proceeds?

 

 

Category: Bridge News | Tags: ,

Looking Ahead in the Auction

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You are in 2nd seat (vulnerable vs. NV). Right hand opponent opens preemptive three diamonds. You have this gorgeous hand, but bidding is already up to the three level.

It looks like you may have game or possibly slam in hearts. Most of the time that heart suit is going to bring in 8 tricks. How best for you and partner to find the right level in hearts?

You could double, planning to bid hearts later to show your big hand. Or you could bid four hearts immediately. Three hearts looks to be out of the question since you don’t want partner to pass. I chose to double. What would you do?

Decide on your call and I will tell you what happened below.

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It did not go well for me. I failed to consider that left hand opponent might further the preempt. When West bid four diamonds, I suddenly realized that partner was likely to advance with four spades. That’s exactly what happened, and I was stuck trying to figure out what to do at the five level.

I should have bid four hearts at first turn. Preempts put the pressure on us, and I managed to put my partner in a difficult situation.

 

Category: Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags: , ,

Overcall?

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It’s often a good idea to make an overcall at the one level. It usually helps partner get off to a good lead if you end up on defense. You may even find a safe partial contract, game, or sacrifice in a competitive auction. Overcalls interfere with opponents’ communication, particularly if the overcall is one spade. Overcalls don’t necessarily promise an opening hand. They are in the range of a good eight to seventeen points with most of the strength in the overcalled suit.

Here is a hand I do not recommend for an overcall:

overcall1D

Opening bid by right hand oppenent is one club. Do not overcall one diamond with this hand. Your stength is not in the diamond suit, so it would be misleading to partner. Moreover, it does not interfere with the opponents. They will have no problem finding a major suit fit if there is one.

Recommendation: When opponents open one club, do not overcall one diamond unless you have an opening hand. Make sure you discuss this with partner when going over your convention card.

 

Category: Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags:

It’s Your Response?

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My partner opened one spade in first seat (favorable vulnerability). My right hand opponent passed. I wondered how to respond with this hand:

I thought splinter (response of 4 hearts showing shortness) is out because of my singleton king of hearts.

The hand is not good enough for a game forcing raise of spades by responding 2NT (Jacoby). I did not want to encouage partner to investigate slam.

And the hand looks to good for a limit raise of 3 spades. I don’t want partner to pass the invitation.

My solution: respond 4 spades. I want to make sure we get to game opposite partner’s opening. I think Bergen would agree with treating my singleton for its shortness feature rather than its high card points.

How would you respond?

 

 

Category: Exercises: It's Your Call | Tags: , , ,
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