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What should I Bid? - Best enquiry for April 2004

The winner for the month of April was Fraser Rew.

Comments:

Playing two over one game force, five card majors and 15-17 1NT opening, I have been told that bidding NT here has a less rigidly defined point count here than it would in an uncontested auction.

What do you think, and, if you disagree with this, what would you have bid?

And Peter’s Response:

Hi Fraser,

An interesting question! One way to look at it, is this:
What are the alternatives?

2NT - No, a gross overbid.
2H - Possible, but this bid ought to show 6 hearts here.
2D - Again, possible, but lacks a fourth diamond and is a mild underbid. 1NT - a mild underbid. Anything else - not even close.

So there you have it. In a classical sense all bids are in some way flawed. So, one or other of the bids must be stretched in some manner. I would suggest that on some hands with the same shape but a slightly different location of the same high cards, 2H is the best compromise, on others 2D, and on others again, 1NT.

On this particular hand, I prefer 1NT and would not be too critical of 2H. In essence what I am saying is that bidding is often about selecting the least stretch. 1NT fits the bill here. Note that, with a point or two more, a similar discussion arises around whether to bid 2NT, 3D or 3H, this time the stretch being downwards rather than upwards.

This sort of hand and this sort of problem is what leads some experts to advocate opening 1NT, despite holding the 5-card major.

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