What should I Bid? - July 2007

No submissions were received for July. This hand was played recently at a local Sydney club.

Hand:  Both pairs vulnerable:

A4  KQ863  AQJ1073  -

Bidding:	West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	5	?

Comments:    At the table 5 was passed out. This was not the winning action. What is your recommendation?

Peter's Reply:

Hi,

This is a tough situation. I would certainly want to bid on the hand so Pass is too conservative for me. The range of reasonable alternatives seems to be Double, 5 and 5NT. To bid hearts seems too much of a distortion and to bid 6 is too unilateral for me.

5 is likely to get enough help from partner to be okay, but is unlikely to get us to any slam.

Double at this level promises a good hand and is neither specifically takeout nor penalty. Partner is expected to bid only if they have a good reason to do so. Double will be right if partner is pretty poor but not deplorable.

5NT drives to slam, showing a pretty big unspecified two suiter. This is an overbid, but has two distinct advantages. It will get us to the right slam if slam is available, and it may well goad our left hand opponent into an ill-advised save. Once in a blue moon it may also have unexpected good results.

I am going to bid 5. While conservative, it has more security in trumps than the alternatives. It also has one safety valve. If left hand opponent doubles enthusiastically, and it would certainly help to be familiar with our left hand opponent here, a removal to 5 might just right the otherwise leaky vessel.

Regards
Peter Fordham

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