District 8 Solvers Forum -- June 2016

    by Jack Spear, Overland Park KS

What is your call as South holding  AKQ   A  J97643   A82 ?

The first problem is a tough choice, bidding 2NT with a singleton heart, bidding 1S with a 3-card suit, or rebidding 3D on a bad suit. 2NT was a big favorite of the panel, and I agree, which makes sense because it does describe the hand strength:

KESSLER: 2NT. At matchpoints I'll take a chance on missing a diamond game or slam when notrump goes down. Nature of the beast.

MILLER: 2NT. Don't see any upside to 3D.

KAPLAN: 2NT. Not perfect; nothing is. Seems to be the least distortion of my hand. My diamonds are so awful, and I cannot see less than 2NT with 18 HCP.

WALKER: 2NT. If partner insists on hearts, this dummy will be fine.

WARD: 2NT. Doesn't seem like I have much other choice.

Planning to use the old “mis-sorted my hand” excuse:

PAULO: 2NT. I have seen the diamond 3 as the heart 3.

Another choice is to rebid 3D. Although the diamonds are of poor quality for this action, this rebid was chosen by Finkenstadt and Bridge Baron:

BARON: 3D. Not 3NT with that ratty diamond suit. 3D shows what I have: a maximum hand with six or more diamonds.

I have to admit I admire this choice:

HINCKLEY: 1S. I bid where I live and do not mind being raised with four trumps. If so, a crossruff could score many tricks.

The main danger of bidding a 3-card suit is that partner may pass or raise with a suitable hand for notrump play. The main advantage is that it may get a 1NT rebid out of partner, getting the play from the right side.

BAKER: 2S. A jump rebid on these hideous diamonds seems to be begging for trouble, as does 2NT with unusual shape and no tenaces to protect.

What is your call as South holding  A8764   Void  AJ73   KQJ6 ? 

The second problem is similar to the first — the theme that rebidding notrump with shortness can be a poor choice. The panel gave a big majority vote to 3C, which is forcing:

WALKER: 3C. Both 2S and 2NT are not forcing in this auction, and 3NT is uncomfortable with the heart void.

HINCKLEY: 3C. 2S is non-forcing and I'm not bidding notrump now with a heart void.

KAPLAN: 3C. Cannot bring myself to bid notrump with a void. Won't rebid these spades; what is left but 3C?

These 3C bidders speculated about how the auction might develop after a notrump rebid, and they pointed out the pitfalls:

MILLER: 3C. Still time for partner to get the extra heart length their chest before I ignore them with 3NT. Way better than an immediate 3NT and partner bidding 4H on a suit that’s long but lacks meat.

RABIDEAU: 3C. This will allow partner to get in another heart bid below (hopefully) 3NT, which will be our next bid.

BAKER:  3C. Over 3D or 3H, I'll bid 3NT, without the implication of heart tolerance that would exist if I bid notrump now.

Bids that are left are 2S, 2NT and 3NT. My choice is 2S, the default bid when no other option fits. If partner passes, the 5-2 fit may be our last plus. When partner has only 10-12 points, it will be difficult to utilize the points he holds in hearts, making game less likely to succeed.

BARON: 2S. My hand got much worse with partner's 2H bid, so I rebid my suit at the cheapest level with my now-weakish hand.

KESSLER: 2S. Going low. Short one spade, but short one club for 3C, and will not bid 2NT with a void in hearts.

WARD: 2NT. Very tough problem. Heart void and bad spades sway me from 3C. I'd like to bid 2S, but partner is never going to believe I have diamonds locked down if I bid 3NT later.

What is your call as South holding  AQ5   32  32   985432 ?

Problem 3 looks like a test to find the best spot to lose the least while playing in a doubled contract. If partner has 4-4 in the majors, 1H doubled will not be a good place to play.

Bidding 1S here is the popular choice (I agree). Passing is the only other option selected by the panel. One panelist bid 1S and indicated he would not run to 2C if doubled. Another panelist bid 1S, then indicated running to 2C if doubled, while a third panelist bid 1S, planning to run to 1NT, then to 2C.

KESSLER: 1S. Probably our best fit. Not running to clubs if it gets doubled.

RABIDEAU: 1S. If doubled, I'll probably jump into the fire with a 2C bid.

HINCKLEY: 1S. No 1D bid means partner likely is 4=4=3=2. Options: (1) 2C doubled; (2) 1S doubled, then 2C doubled; and (3) 1S doubled, then 1NT doubled, then 2C doubled. I choose option (3), hoping spades are 3-3. Option (2) will surely have partner "correcting" to 2S, which I want to avoid.

WARD: 1S. I would have bid this last round.

WALKER: 1S. Partner is likely 4-4 in the majors, since he bypassed diamonds. Unless you know your customers and expect them to save you from playing 1H, I can’t imagine leaving partner in a 4-2 fit when I have a good hand for playing a 4-3. If the opponents do bid on, it will probably be in notrump, and passing 1H won’t help partner find a spade lead.

The passers didn't have much to say:

KNIEST: Pass. My hand is fine for this auction.

PAULO: Pass. Hearts may be as good a strain as spades.

BARON: Pass. Trying to improve the contract to 1S or 2C is fraught with peril.

If I were to choose to pass, I would suggest that if partner is 4-4 in the majors, he should start with 1D, then redouble for rescue, so the actual auction would most likely show three spades and four hearts, or four spades and five hearts. He would not hold four diamonds. If we had that logical agreement, maybe 2C is the best guess.

What is your call as South holding  KJ876   109  Void   AKQ1064 ?

Problem 4 gives us a huge supporting hand for partner’s 2S overcall of 2H. Partner needs only the ace of spades and a second-round heart control to make a small slam. If partner has first-round heart control, there should be a grand slam.

As the panel points out, jumping to 5 of our suit is the standard way to ask for control of their suit. It does not ask for good trumps in this auction. A jump to five of their suit (5H) would be Exclusion Blackwood, agreeing spades and showing a heart void.

KESSLER: 5S. This is for a heart control, not a trump ask. If partner has first-round control, he should cuebid, making it easy to bid 7S.

PAULO: 5S. Asking for heart control to bid slam.

MILLER: 5S. There are only two choices: Start with a 3H cuebid, or just ask if partner has a heart control with 5S.

KAPLAN: 5S. I hope this asks about hearts.

So the bid of 5S seems perfect — it demands that partner bid again without two fast losers in the opponent's suit. If he has second-round control of hearts (a singleton or the king), he will bid 6S. If he has a first-round heart control (ace or a void), he must bid 6H to show it. Or if you want a more sophisticated agreement, there's this idea:

HINCKLEY: 5S. Asking for a heart control and risking that partner has the spade ace. Partner will pass (no control), bid 5NT (heart king), bid 6D (both red aces), or bid 6H (heart ace).

The only pessimist was our non-human panelist:

BARON: 4S. Going quietly. Possibly too quietly…

  * Michaels (hearts and a minor)

What is your call as South holding  4   J74   KQ1043   9865 ?

Problem 5 we hold a limited responding hand, when partner uses a Michael’s cuebid of 2S (hearts and a minor) over LHO’s opening 1S bid. RHO raises to 3S, and we must decide what action to take.

4D is the most popular bid (I agree), which may serve as lead-directing if the opponents continue to 4S:

WARD: 4D. Don't really care what this is. I know I want a diamond lead, and this is the sure way to get partner to save with the right hand (hearts and diamonds.)

WALKER: 4D. Get the lead director in, then retreat to 4H if they double. If they bid 4S, 5C should give partner a fair picture of my distribution.

HINCKLEY: 4D. Lead director and to get partner to bid 5D over 4S if that is his minor. I can't afford to bid 4H, then 4NT later over 4S.

KNIEST: 4D. Don't know how the auction will continue, but I'm preparing the defense if we don't buy it. If we're going to play at the 5-level, might as well do it in a minor.

Pass and 4H both collected a couple of Panel votes:

KESSLER: 4H. Over 4S, I’ll bid 4NT for the minors.

PAULO: Pass. My hand is not strong enough to bid now.

BARON: Pass. No 4H with only three-card support. 3NT, asking for partner's minor, would also be acceptable.

Some panelists were so wary of their chances in hearts that they zeroed in on the minor right away:

BAKER: 4NT. Spades outrank both our suits, so we might as well find our better one.

KAPLAN: 4C. Not willing to force this hand to the 5-level (if partner has clubs) and prefer to be in a minor, despite my Jxx of hearts.  So assuming that 4C is pass or correct, this seems to be the appropriate level.

What is your call as South holding  KQ54   KQJ1093   985   Void ? 

The last problem, we have a distributional hand with 100 honors in our 6-card heart suit. Partner redoubles when they double our opening 1H bid. 2H is the #1 choice when RHO passes over the redouble, which describes a 6-card suit in a weak, distributional hand. This got my original vote, and seems like a good description:

WARD: 2H. An apt description of my hand.

MILLER: 2H. Passing allows opponents the opportunity to show their minor cheaply and without an overbid. 2H conveys my hand perfectly to partner and says I have no interest in defending at a low level.

RABIDEAU: 2H. Doesn't deny a decent hand -- just shows significant distributional values.

KAPLAN: 2H. Very, very close. Could be a total disaster for the opponents if I pass. Yet, with so much of my strength in hearts and not much defense against either minor, I feel I should bump up the level and show my good hearts. Could be very wrong, though!

I admire this choice:

WALKER: 3H. Shows minimum high-card strength with long, strong hearts (with extra values, I would always pass the redouble first, then rebid hearts). Not quite enough playing strength for 4H, and I don’t really want to push them into 5C or 5D.

3H may well be the winning bid and prevent us from declaring 2H on our 4H hand. (It’s too late to change my vote.)

Somewhat surprisingly, 4H was the second most popular choice, and it most certainly prevents us from missing a 4H game:

KNIEST: 4H. We got by East; let's give them a problem at the 4-level. They could be cold for 5C. Who knows? I don't want to play less than 4H for us.

PAULO: 4H. The opponents should have a good save, at least; I try to make their auction difficult.

There were a couple of passers:

BARON: Pass. Automatic pass for us on this auction; let the opponents struggle like we did in Deal 3.

Another bid I admire was selected by only one panelist, but deserves a mention:

BAKER: 1S. I don't bid directly over the redouble without a minimal, distributional opener -- and that's what I've got here.

Thanks to all who sent in answers and comments for this low-scoring set. Leading all Solvers with an impressive 580 were Rich Brummer of Effingham IL and Jim Hudson of Elmhurst IL. They're invited to join the August panel.

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I hope you'll give the August problems a try (see below). Please submit your solutions by July 31 on the web form.

    August moderator:  Kimmel Jones    kimmel.jones@gmail.com