District 8 Solvers Forum

      June, 2010

by Tom Dodd, Branchburg NJ
 

This month we're back to the top 25 rockers. I know you all just couldn't wait to find out who makes the cut, so without further ado here's Problem 1, er, number 19 on our list:

1. Matchpoints, North-South Vulnerable

You, South, hold   QJ1043  K6  KQ43  AQ

KESSLER:  1S. I do not understand, am I supposed to bid 1NT just because I'm in the range and have clubs stopped?

Me neither. This problem almost generated a unanimous panel since I think it was 1986, but I was a lot younger then and could still hit the Steve Perry notes without my voice breaking. Ah, youth. Since there isn't much more for me to say about this problem (I toyed with 1NT for all of about 6 seconds), we'll see if the panel has anything else to add.

SPEAR:  1S. Nothing wrong with doubling and then bidding spades, as long as the opponents leave us alone. But after overcalling 1S, I can show strength without over-emphasizing spades. An initial 1NT overcall may lose the spade suit, or get us to 2H in a bad 5-2 fit.

FEILER:  1S. I'm hoping someone will choke out a bid so I can show some stuff next time around.

WALKER:  1S. A 1NT overcall has some appeal, but will bury the spades. If it goes Pass-Pass-Double, I can bid 1NT and show my whole hand.

RABIDEAU:  1S. I suppose a somewhat heavy 1NT could work better, but I'll take a chance that the auction will not die here (does it ever?).
 

You, South, hold  Void  KQ75  QJ8764  AQ3

Plenty of extra strength here, but like most of the panel, I hate misfits, especially ones with voids in partner's long and strong suit. So did a big majority of the panel.

STRITE:  3NT. Times like this, it's great to know pard's 3S bid is limited.

NELSON:  3NT. After a two-over-one bid, 3S doesn't necessarily have lots of strength, just a great suit. I am not real fond of bidding 3NT, but raising with a void? I doubt that would be right either.

MATHIS:  3NT. I don't like going past 3NT. Too many bad things can happen to stop a slam.

BRIDGE BARON:  3NT. A simulation shows an average score of +434.85, despite the spade void.  6NT has a surprisingly high average score of +269.25, but not high enough to encourage a search for it.

That should be enough for most, but what were the relative scores for spade (or even diamond) contracts?

PAOLO:  3NT. Despite my void, game should be better at notrump than at spades or diamonds. On the other hand, I don't envisage any slam.

KNIEST:  3NT. Take the money. (You have a side bet going?- TJD)

SPEAR:  3NT. I'll pass 4S if pard bids it over 3NT. We may miss a slam opposite some spade suits, but I am afraid to invite with an unexpected spade void.

Two panelists were counting on partner for ultra-strong spades and thus had visions of slam:

MATHENY:  4C. We are playing spades, so I might as well cooperate.

RABIDEAU:  4D. Just too strong to bail out now, in spite of the misfit.

I have to admit, it's very close, even with the ugly void, and it may depend somewhat on your partner's style for the jump rebid: Does he promise a suit that's "very good" or "great" (almost solid)?). If the diamonds were a bit stronger or the three queens were transformed into two kings, I would have thought longer than my usual 6 seconds before giving up. Last word:

FEILER:  3NT. My second choice is taking up Canasta.

My grandparents' favorite card game. I could never get used to the rule that red threes were worth big points and black threes were useless.

* Forcing 1NT

You, South, hold  J8764  KQJ  AQ985  Void

As most pointed out here, 2NT is not forcing. But is this really the sort of hand you want to pass with?

Paolo:  Pass. Partner should be 2-3-3-5 with 10 to 11 high-card points. 3D looks to be a better partscore than 2NT, but I can't improve it.

STRITE:  Pass. We're high enough with 3 likely spade losers, but my red suits should do fine in notrump, and pard seems to have some clubs in hand.

On the other side of the coin we have:

BRIDGE BARON:  3NT. Too strong to pass with two five-card suits; the heart stopper tips Bridge Baron away from 3D. Let's hope the opponents don't take the first five club tricks.

Half the panel was content to rebid their secondary 5-bagger:

MATHENY:  3D. It's tempting to bid the fragment, but that is showing three hearts on the way to 3NT, and I'm not accepting the game try.

WALKER:  3D. Not forcing. Even if partner has diamond honors, I don't like our chances in 3NT. A possible 5-3 heart fit won't play well, either, if dummy has to ruff club leads.

Some Solvers commented that they believed the hand worth a game try in response to the game try, but there's really no way to do that. As Matheny points out, 3H is a "picture bid" that shows three hearts and acceptance of partner's game try; it's not passable. Willing to risk it was:

FEILER:  3H. Partner could easily have four hearts on this auction, maybe even five. On the other hand, it'll be tough to reach 3D from here.

Since it is, after all, IMP scoring, perhaps we can risk North's wrath when he ends up in 3NT with no way to make 9 tricks?
 

You, South, hold  AJ7  KQ106  Q9753  4

How to respond to a game try after a 3-card major raise? The panel was split between what I consider an outright refusal of the try (3S), a sort-of acceptance (3H), straight-up acceptance (3NT), and one other (3D). The panel's views say everything that needs to be said.

KESSLER:  3H. Why should I make the wrong decision when partner can? I think this lets partner know my outside strength.

STRITE:  3S. I'd need another trump to get excited about my club stiff.

MATHENY:  3S. My "soft" red suit values are not what partner needs opposite a likely black two-suiter. 3H might get us to a good 3NT contract.

FEILER:  3H. Ok partner, you should have a good idea of my hand; do something intelligent.

NELSON:  3H. I am simply bidding my values and am trying to deny the fourth spade at the same time. If partner is concerned with hearts, time to reveal.

PAOLO:  3H. This may be a tantalizing rebid but, after having raised spades with only three cards, I'm not sure that a club singleton be good news for partner.

WALKER:  3H. Not enough to accept a game try, and 3NT may not be right anyway. 3H confirms I had a 3-card raise, shows where my outside values are (more helpful than a 3D rebid) and pinpoints the club shortness. If partner bids 3S, I'll pass.

KNIEST:  3NT. If this is the right contract, it has to be bid now. Partner still can bid 4S.

Is North barred from bidding 3NT over 3H? I would have thought 3H offers the most options, so long as North does not get too excited by a dead-minimum (3 controls, 40% of the strength in a possible short suit, only three spades) acceptance of his game try.

You, South, hold  AJ98654  Void  5  108643

Problems like this one typically generate a lot of ink along with a variety of bids, sane or otherwise. The panel split into two main camps: (1) Bid what you think you can make now and worry about the next round if it comes (4S, 5C) and (2) Softpedal (3S, 4C), hoping to get better information for the next round. Then there was this camp:

Nelson:  4H. Here comes the cuebidder. This shows a club fit or long spades; let partner decide. If partner has honor doubleton in spades he will show it NOW.

In a perfect world, North will hold something like  Kx  xxx  Axx  AJxxx , you'll reach the correct slam (clubs) and East-West will decide not to save. In the real world, however, North usually holds some sort of random garbage like  xx  Qxx  KJxx  AQxx  and the only chance at game is 4S.  Ouch! I like the softpedal approach myself. So far, the auction is crawling along, and I'm happy not to be pressured into a decision here.

SPEAR:  4C. I don't understand why the bidding is going so slowly, but I am very pleased to be able to bid clubs now before bidding 4S over the expected 4H. I am hoping pard will be pleased with my bidding sequence on this 5 high-card points.

KESSLER:  3S. Maybe they will double my next bid. If the bidding ends, I'll pay off.

MATHENY:  3S. I don't think this will end the auction. Both 4S and some number of clubs are premature. Perhaps partner can help.

KNIEST:  3S. I can be "pushed" to 4S. I'm ready for my partner's query of whether I would have raised clubs if I had 6 of them.

RABIDEAU:  3S. plenty of time to get to clubs (I hope).

The blasters cite a couple of reasons for not softpedaling:

FEILER:  5C. Sounds like pard has some diamonds, which means he has even more clubs. If they bid 5H, I'll let myself get bumped to 5S.

WALKER:  4S. Maybe I should have bid 4S at my first turn? If the opponents were all that excited about their heart fit, they would have shown it by now, so I don't think anyone is going to bid again if I bid only 3S.

PAOLO:  4S. A typical layout is  North:  xx  Qxxx  KJx  AKxx, and East:  K10  AJTxxx  Axxx  x. North, East and South can win 10 tricks in their own suits.

STRITE:  4S. I'll choose spades at matchpoints, but what to do when 5H comes back around?

So why jump at all then? I like 3S only because it is matchpoints and I avoid minor-suit games at all costs. The only bad thing that can happen with a softpedal is that there is a small chance it goes All Pass and we play a partscore. Besides the fact that no one has yet shown an inclination to pressure anyone here, jumping is just plain reckless, since you have no idea how well the hands fit together.

So far, all you know of North's hand is that it is limited in strength. He could easily have a singleton spade and soft values with wasted heart honors, so maybe we should be more concerned about a double of 4S than a 5H bid. If that happens, this panelist has a clear plan:

MATHIS:  4S. If I get doubled, I am rewinding it.

Before flying off on hands like these, ask yourself two questions: (1) How comfortable will I be if East doubles 4S and it goes Pass-Pass- back to me? Now you're endplayed into running to the "known" minor suit fit (but is it really?) and (2)  What will I do if it goes 5H-Pass-Pass- back to me? Bid 5S in the dark? Pass and hope? So why create the situation where you apply pressure, not to your opponents, but to you and your partner? I wonder if Tony and Ozzy could put this last into verse? Dio is laughing I am sure.

You, South, hold  8643  KQ10986  3  Q9

Our final problem is a close cousin to #5. The presence of support for North's opening suit and a good long suit of your own again the panel split into three camps. Let's hear from each:

BRIDGE BARON:  3D. Shows a limit raise (or better) in spades, which is a high priority for Bridge Baron. With such nice distribution, this hand qualifies.

STRITE:  3H. I'm kicking pard under the table as a reminder we agreed to play fit-showing jumps last month.

My fellow staff members just wanted to get this month over with:

FEILER:  4S. If they bid 5D, I'll let myself get bumped again to 5H. I hate bidding on the 5-level and this is two hands in a row.

WALKER:  4S. Get it over with. I'm not stopping below 4S, and bidding 2H will just give the opponents room to figure out where their fits are.

Though this problem differs from the previous one because West has yet to weigh in (and may jack the auction to the 5-level), I still don't understand the logic of the big jump here. If West does call 5D over 4S and North passes, you have essentially turned your call into a complete guess -- in effect preempting your side rather than the opponents. Especially at equal vulnerability, if you DO have a big double fit in the majors, you can usually outbid East-West, who are less likely to be taking high-level saves. Ah well, at least you don't have to go sulking back to your teammates if your score is less than adequate.

KESSLER:  2H. This hand is easily worth 2H, however you count the points. Partner needs to know where you are at if the auction gets competitive.

NELSON:  2H. Think I best bid out my hand even though I have minimum values. That fourth spade gives me the right to bid 'em both -- first the hearts,  then the spades for my best friend.

PAOLO:  2H. I don't preempt in spades because my hand, weak as it is, has some potential. Slam in either major is possible, though not likely.

KNIEST:  2H. I'm not selling out below game, but letting pard in on where I live rather than showing a limit raise in spades or blasting a spade game.

One panelist either misread the problem or really fell in love with his heart suit: 

SPEAR:  4H. I had some spades in with my clubs during the bidding, but perhaps no one will notice. Other than that, this seems like a fairly straightforward heart preempt, with playing strength on offense and not much defense.

If nothing else, you've given partner the opportunity to use the old line: "Would you have raised me if you had five?"

That's about all for this go-around. Any thoughts (kind, please!) on the problems, scoring or the selection of bands can be sent to me at fieldtrialer@yahoo.com . Any criticisms, rantings or such, send those, too! Next issue, take it away Kent! I'll see you all in December with bands 13-8 on our countdown. Bet ya just can't wait, can ya? :)

   Panel & Solver Scores        August 2010 problems

Thanks to all who sent in answers and comments to this set. Tied with 560 and leading all Solvers were Ray Sigler of Trenton IL, Bob Fashingbauer of Belvidere IL and Bill Walsh of Champaign IL. They're all invited to join the August panel.

The six new problems for August are below. Please post your bids and comments on the web form by July 31.

Note that after you click "Send bids", the next page will give you a message confirming that your bids were posted OK (scroll down to the bottom). If there are errors (usually a missing bid or a comment that is too long), they'll be marked in red. 

August moderator:   Kent Feiler  -- kent@kentfeiler.com