Using Bidding Space to Save Bidding Space
By Mike Lawrence

SUGGESTIONS

#1
QJ8763
43
873
32

Bid two spades if you feel conservative and three otherwise. Passing with this hand leaves opener room to develop his hand. He can show the kind of hand he has and his partner will have time to show what he has too. Do not let your opponents bid their big hands by themselves.

#2
873
K3
KQJ83
873

I would bid two diamonds with this. You might bid three if you felt brave. Even the two diamond bid can hurt their bidding. Say that your LHO passes and your partner bids three diamonds. Opener can't rebid at the two level any more. The lost bidding space can hurt them.

#3
A
K1086543
3
Q1076

Bid four hearts. It is true that you can go down a ton, but they may not know that doubling you is the best they can do. They will worry that they have a slam and may give up the penalty in favor of looking for a slam. If they do, their bidding may not be perfect since you have taken away three of their precious rounds of bidding.

Here is a hand as seen by opener.

SOUTH
AKJ942
Q
AKQ4
AJ

First, the uncontested auction.

West Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass

North 2D 3C 4D 5C Pass

East Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass

South 2C 2S 3D 4NT 6D

Your partner has two small spades with five diamonds to the jack. Six diamonds is cold.

Now, the contested auction.

SOUTH
AKJ942
Q
AKQ4
AJ

West 2H Pass

North Pass 4S

East 3H Pass

South 2C 3S ?

Without knowing about partner's length in diamond, you more or less have to pass four spades. You will make it, but it is not the same as when you can explore during the bidding and find the diamond fit. Here is the complete hand.