What should I Bid? - Best enquiry for October 2012

The best submission for October was from Nathan Van Jole.

Hand: Dealer West, Nil Vulnerable, Matchpoints.

AJ863  A5  92  Q764

K10  9864  5  AK10853

Bidding:	West	North	East	South
	Pass	1	2	3
	3	Pass	Pass	Dbl
	Pass	4	4	All pass

Comments:    

Who is to blame for getting +50 on this hand instead of +400?

Andy's Reply:

Hey,

I think both are to blame, but North gets much more blame than South, probably 80-20. It seems very pessimistic for North to pass 3 when holding four card support for partner. Maybe North was trying to be accurate and wanted to see if the partnership belongs in 3NT but I think more often than not this is wishful thinking. It is entirely possible that East might make another bid and as a result, North will not be able to get that chance to show the power of their support for clubs. Having xx and Qxxx, it's probably unlikely that South will have a diamond card for 3NT to be the right spot (maybe that's meaningless, but sometimes when 3NT makes then 5 would most likely make as well for the same +400 due to a single diamond stopper, or sometimes it's worse when there is only one diamond stopper and the clubs don't immediately run!). If you have an agreement, then ideally you'd still want to be able to play in 4NT after a raise to 4. Also, it's also possible to play in 4 in a 5-2 fit when it's right.

Even though the auction is game-forcing (well, I think 3 should set up a game-force (GF) - maybe you might like to have an agreement that it is game-force unless it is followed up by a 4 rebid) I still prefer to bid clubs immediately as North because I feel I would be quite behind in the tempo of the auction if I pass.

On the actual auction when North passed and South comes back in with a double, then North's 4 bid is fine (assuming the auction is still GF). If it isn't, then South is showing extra values so North really ought to show some excitement with either 4 (choice of games, between 4/5) or just a plain simple 5. Either South will have a more balanced hand and extra high cards with only five clubs, or South may have a "weaker" hand (such as this with only 10 highs) with six clubs.

North now had a third bite at the cherry when East competed with 4. If North isn't going to bid, then North should at least double. Give partner AK-sixth club and that's likely good for 3 defenive tricks, and there's potential for a 4th or 5th trick if partner has either major suit king or Q or QJ etc - after all, partner did bid 3 then come back in with a double (on the assumption that the auction is not GF).

As for South, I'm trying to think what I'd do over the 2 overcall. I'd really hate to lose out on my heart fit but yes I think I do prefer 3 over a negative double. Overbid a little in order to gain accuracy to find the right game. (From this point onwards I'm going to assume that any bids made by N/S did not set up a game forcing auction) Over 3-pass-pass, I know (or definitely prefer) that partner won't have 6+ or 4+ else they would bid 3M (I do not want to get screwed over from finding my major fits if, say, East bids 4 so rather than trying to differentiate strength by "bidding now vs. passing-then-bidding", I want to show my suits). Partner also won't have 4 card club support else they would bid 4 (unless it was a truly bad hand), so the most likely shapes that are left is a weak NT really - 5(332) or possibly 5242 or 5341. Double of 3 is not perfect as partner might pass with a weak NT, but it's not like any other bids are immensely better so I don't mind the double.

Now, when partner bids 4 over the double their shape is probably something along the lines of 5(32)3 or a bad 5224. Had partner bid 3M instead, I'm not really sure what that would mean...maybe 3 just shows five good spades such as AKJTx and 3 is a probe with half a stopper in diamonds (?). Sounds a bit wild, but my preference is that partner cannot have 4 from this bidding.

After East bids 4 this gives me a little more information. It increases (well, not by much...) the chance that North won't have a wasted diamond card so if I try to give partner some opening hand points it seems like 4 has a real good shot of making. With a known 9 card club fit, all I need is probably AQ and Q so 4 is what I would bid. Like I mentioned for North, to pass 4 with South's hand is also quite pessimistic because of the KT and the known club fit, so 4 rates to have good chances. (And of course, based on the viewpoint of South's hand, my partner will never hold the hand that is actually held by North because of the different actions that would have been chosen).

Hope that made some sense,
Andy

What to Bid | Home