What should I bid? - Best enquiry for May 2009

The best submission for May came from Maura Rhodes.

 Hand:    Dealer East, NS vulnerable, teams, North holds:

A97  QJ108  5  QJ873

Bidding:	West	North	East	South
			Pass	1
	Pass	?

Comments:    We play two over one, so a bid of 2 shows 13+ HCP. To show an invitational hand with 3, we bid 3. We play 1NT as almost forcing: partner can only pass if he has opened on a 10 or 11 count. I was afraid to respond 1NT as I wanted to be in game, but felt 2 was an overbid. Is there a way out of this dilemma, Sartaj? Partner had

KJ86543
AK
QJT9
void

Sartaj's Reply:

Maura,

With 3 card support for partner's 5 card suit, the way to value a hand is

HCP
Plus
1 for doubleton
3 for a singleton
5 for a void

Note however that the singleton should be a small singleton.
And the doubleton should not be a honor holding like Qx or Kx or Jx.

I will usually also add another point to my hand if I hold the fourth trump in support for partner.

By this sort of count, your hand is worth 10 plus 3 for the small singleton. There is no clear defect in the hand (like xxx of trumps only) which would warrant a downgrade. In fact the ten of hearts and QJ of clubs give the hand some solidity as they are both potential source of tricks.

With my 13 points, I would comfortably recommend 2 followed by 4 on our next bid.

The alternative approach is to bid 1 - 3 for now with the idea of raising partner's 3 signoff to 4 anyways. However, you need to have a partner who will bid in tempo over 3 because the directors will not believe you if partner bids a slow 3 and you raise.

Cheers
Sartaj

What to Bid | Home