What should I Bid? - Best enquiry for March 2006 

The best submission for March came from Paul Collins.

Hand: At all vulnerable, North deals, at West you hold:

	K972  A9874  -  Q1084

Bidding:	West	North	East	South
		1	P	P
	Dbl	P	2NT	P
	?

Comment: While double seems the best action in the pass out seat, partner's 2NT shows an opening hand plus a stopper in diamonds. 3NT appears unlikely but a heart contract could easily make ten tricks. Should West bid and if so what do 3 or 3 mean? Would a bid of 3 rather than 2NT by East show an opening hand? On the actual hand 2NT failed losing 5 diamonds and 2 aces but made at the other table when East bid 3NT (not 2NT) and North (a top Australian player) switched at trick two. 4 is cold and if you overcall 1 partner will bid 4 very quickly.

And Peter's Response:

Hi Paul,

An interesting situation, and one not visited often in the literature nor, I expect, agreed upon by any other than the most practised of partnerships. Firstly, double seems to be a reasonable initiating action for West. Standard practice for the 2NT bid from East here is for it to be a hand a little below the values for an immediate 1NT overcall and neither suitable for an initial takeout double nor for a penalty pass after the double. That sounds to me like a quality 12 through to a poor 15 HCP with a stopper, though not great length in opener's suit. Something like 

	Kxx  Qx  KJx  Axxxx

wouldn't surprise.

I wouldn't expect there to be a four card major present unless its quality was completely overshadowed by the strength in the opponents' suit. I would expect there to be seven to nine cards in the minors, fairly evenly balanced between those suits. A definite scattering of values. That brings us back to West's second action. The bid of a new suit here would be natural and game forcing. I would expect it to be five cards in length and suggestive of the presence of another suit.

Failure to balance in suit or jump in suit excludes weak suit oriented hands and intermediate strength six card suits. A bid of the opponent's suit would be artificial and game forcing giving partner the opportunity to bid a suit so far unmentioned.

Bringing us back to wishing we'd balanced with 1 because right now we're well and truly stuck. In practice I think I would pass and take my chances.

Given that the reopener does not have an opening bid, it is necessary to weigh up what partner's and opener's likely hand types are for the auction to have proceeded as it has.

In situations such as this, ask the question of yourself "If I double and partner passes for penalty will I feel comfortable or uncomfortable?" Generally, if I am void in trumps I feel uncomfortable, whereas if I have a trump or two, I feel much more relaxed. The reason is twofold. Firstly, I may need to lead trumps through declarer and, secondly, neither declarer nor dummy are likely to turn up with that odd extra trump which so often means the difference between garroting them and falling on our own swords.

Conclusively, I think West should have started with 1. No suits get lost, we won't have an anguished defence and, as a bonus, I don't get stuck over 2NT, worried over 3NT or horrified over 1NT. Occasionally we lose a big penalty when partner had them well and truly in the noose. C'est la vie!

Regards
Peter Fordham

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