What should I bid? - Best enquiry for May 2012
The best submission for May came from Barbara Travis.
Hand: All vulnerable, dealer North.
You are South holding:
| Bidding:
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West
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North
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East |
South |
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|
1 |
Pass |
?
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Comments: You play 2-way checkback after
opener's 1NT rebid.
On this hand, would you bid 1 and face a major rebid problem if partner rebids 2 ? Or, would you suppress your reasonable 4-card spade suit so
that you have absolutely no problem if partner rebids 1NT (you bid 2 to puppet to 2 ) or if partner rebids 2 (you rebid 2 weak)?
What is the reason for your decision?
(In terms of what happened at the table, I responded 1 and partner rebid 2. Now I was facing a horrible decision... until my RHO doubled
2 - which was penalty. I figured I could NOW bid 2 natural!)
Andy's Reply:
Hey Barbara,
You bring up a classic problem hand and this is what I suggest:
I would always respond 1 unless my hand is pretty weak and my spade suit is 10xxx or
worse. It's true that partner is likely to rebid 2 but sometimes (a) partner might not rebid 2 - e.g. Partner might rebid 2 or 2 or 3 or 2NT or jumpshift or maybe even rebid 1NT with 2524 with
honours in spades and diamonds, (b) LHO will interfere, or (c) partner has
spade support!
With the current hand I think our spades are too good to be sort of
"masterminding" (if you will) with 1NT for otherwise we might miss our 4-4
spade fit which could be a huge disaster (e.g. partner has enough for game and
has a 4-5-2-2 and rebids 3NT or maybe an invitational hand with 4-6 and rebids 3 etc). I just don't think it's worth to cater to such a small
target at the expense of missing our 4-4 spade fit. If you switch the spades to
xxxx then the decision has become a lot closer and I guess I would lean towards
1NT. I will also note that it makes no difference if my minor was clubs instead
of diamonds.
In the event that I am faced with a 2 rebid, I will confidently bid 2. Certainly not a thing of beauty but we can still hope that
partner is 6-4! You can choose to pass 2 instead if you think 2 would sound more encouraging although I prefer 2 since a 5-1 fit may play better than a 4-2 fit - but also if
partner has extras they might bid 2 and I can safely pass that, or bid 2NT in which I will raise
that to 3NT (if I had weaker diamonds I can signoff with 3 over 2NT). If partner bids 3 or 3 I may or may not do worse (clubs might take 9 tricks opposite
partner with 5-5, or partner's hearts are good enough internally to play in a
6-1 fit if partner has 6-4).
If you and your partner are interested in gadgetries, I can recommend something
that might be of a small help: - Over a constructive auction of
1-1-2, play 2=Good preference to 2 (like 8-10), and 2=Either a) 4th suit GF or b) a weak preference to 2 (and if you want, c) weak hand with 6+). This does not solve the problem at hand but at least when
partner rebids 2 you can slow partner down.
Hope that helps!
Andy
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