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Q762 Secrets of Good Bidding #1
By Mike Lawrence
In this format, you will see the West hand only. Above the hand is the
auction. In this column, you will see there is a question and
answer section. In this section, I discuss your bids where necessary but
more importantly, there are questions for you regarding East's bidding.
One of the hardest things to learn is to judge what partner is doing. Sometimes your partner opens 1NT and you can say that he has 15-17 balanced points. Sometimes, though, your partner makes a bid or comes up with a sequence of bids requiring that you interpret what he is doing and what he wants.
The questions I ask about your partner's bidding are intended to help you with this aspect of bidding. In my opinion, being on the same wavelength as partner is what bidding is all about.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
EAST'S 1H BID
Q1 Describe East's hand. (Assume you are using five card majors.)
A1 East has five or more hearts and eleven to twenty-one high card points. As you can see, East's hand is something of a mystery at this moment.
EAST'S 2H BID
Q1How many hearts does East have?
Q2 How many points does East have?
A1 East has at least six hearts. If you open a major suit and rebid it after a one level response, you must have six or more cards. This is a 100% rule. DO NOT rebid a five card major when partner makes a one level response. Rebidding a five card diamond suit is rare but possible. The only suit you have to watch out for is clubs. I can imagine rebidding 2C with a five card suit but it will still be a last resort.
A2 East's 2H rebid limits his points. He has from eleven to sixteen high card points. With more, he would rebid 3H.
WEST'S 2S BID
Q1 How clear is it for West to bid 2S?
Q2 How many spades will East expect West to have?
A1 It is quite clear. For a number of reasons.
1. West has a reasonable hope that spades will be better than hearts. East is allowed to have two or three spades over there.
2. West has a pretty good hand. West won't be unhappy if East raises spades or bids notrump. West knows that 2H won't be a terrible contract and he would pass it except for the fact that there is still hope for something better.
NOTE that if West had
J108752
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Q762
he would just pass two hearts. True, East might have enough spades to make spades a better contract, but West has such a poor hand that he doesn't want to give East another chance to bid. Going one step further, if West had this hand instead:
J109763
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Q83
Q874
West would bid 2S. In this case, he isn't anxious to hear East bid again, but since spades surely rate to be better than hearts, West rebids them one more time.
A2 West is showing six spades. Why would West rebid a five card suit when opener is known to have six or more hearts? Good bidding requires you recognize how many cards partner has in a given suit. Look for my second set of Topics on Bridge. This is one of the themes.
EAST'S 3H BID
Q1 How many hearts does East have?
Q2 How many spades does East have?
Q3 How strong is East?
A1 East has six super hearts or, more likely, a good seven card suit.
A2 East has an average of 2/3 of a spade.
A3 East doesn't have too strong a hand since he rebid only 2H, but he must have a good trick-taking hand. East hates spades, but that in itself is no reason to run to 3H. Bidding and rebidding hearts was quite descriptive.
Bidding them a third time shows they have special merit.
Remember. If 3H is a bad contract, someone may double. The opponents are
listening to the bidding too. If they detect you are in trouble, they
will whack you. If East has
WEST'S 4H BID
Q1 Should West keep on bidding here?
A1 Yes. West's cards have gone up in value given East's auction. The queen of hearts is invaluable opposite the kind of suit East is supposed to have. Also, since East is short or void in spades, he will have length in clubs and/or diamonds. The J10 of diamonds may fill in some holes for East. The ace of clubs is a wonderful card. Aces are so much better than other high cards.
You will note that 4H is cold if East has the last example hand above if East is able to ruff a diamond in dummy OR if the diamond finesse is onside. The final contract is just about as good as it rates to be on this auction.
One last pointer. If West had this hand instead: KQ9865, 6, Q6, Q873, he would pass 3H. West knows East is short in spades so the KQ of spades aren't going to be helpful. This hand could be worth only four points in support of hearts. The actual West hand in this discussion is worth closer to nine or ten points in support of hearts and its decision to go on to 4H reflects the big difference.