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The
One No Trump opening
You pick up your cards and count the points: say you have 12+ and can
open. Your first duty
is to ask yourself whether your hand is balanced or unbalanced.
A balanced hand
contains no void, singleton nor more than one doubleton. The three
balanced shapes are 4432, 4333 and 5332. Holding a balanced hand with
between 12 and 14 points, open 1NT
Exercise:
which
of these hands should be opened 1NT?
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| Hand
a) |
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Hand
b) |
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Hand
c) |
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♠
A J 8 2
♥ J
4
♦ A
2
♣ Q 9 7 3 2 |
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♠ A Q 3 2
♥ J
10 5
♦ A
K 6
♣ Q 8 7
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♠
J 9 7 4 2
♥ K
J
♦ A
Q 2
♣ Q 10 8 |
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Answer:
Only (c). (a) is unbalanced - two doubletons, whilst (b) has too many
points.
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| Tips
for Intermediate |
To
open a suit you need just four cards; to repeat a suit, however, you
should try to have six cards. With five cards, you usually have a
preferable alternative to rebidding your suit.
Exercise:
On each of the following three hands you
have five spades. But will you be opening and rebidding
them?
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| Hand
a) |
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Hand
b) |
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Hand
c) |
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♠
K Q 10 7 4
♥ J
8 6 2
♦ A
2
♣ Q 4 |
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♠ A 10 8 4 2
♥ Q
2
♦ K
5 2
♣ Q J 7
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♠
K Q
9 4 2
♥ 3
♦ A
J 5 2
♣ J 6 2 |
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(a) Open 1 ♠
but
rebid 2 ♥, indicating your
five-four shape (see deal).
(b) You will not even bid spades once, instead
opening
1NT, showing a balanced 12-14 (yes - even with a five-card major).
(c) You do have a Rule of 20 opener (points + no.
of cards in two longest suits getting to 20). You will open 1♠, but your
rebid will depend on partner’s response. Over 1NT or 2♣, you will rebid 2♦; over 2♦,
you will raise to 3♦; but
over 2♥,
you will
understandably be loath to rebid 3♦, taking
the bidding to the nine-trick level with no assurance of a fit
or more than half the pack in points. A 2♠ rebid is best, in spite of
the lack of a sixth spade. Repeating a five-card suit,
however, is exceptional.
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| Intermediate
deal of the month |
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North Deals
N-S Vul |
♠ K Q 10 7 4
♥ J
8 6 2
♦ A
2
♣ J 4
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♠ 3 2
♥ A
9 5
♦ J
9 6 5
♣ Q 10 9 6
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♠ A J 9 5
♥ 7
3
♦
10 8 4
♣ K 7 5 3
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♠ 8 6
♥ K
Q 10 4
♦ K
Q 7 3
♣ A 8 2
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What
happened
| West |
North |
East |
South |
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1 ♠1 |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
| Pass |
2 ♠2 |
Pass |
3 N |
| All pass |
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1) Rule of 20 opener: open when high-card points added to length in two longest suits get to 20. 2)
Should rebid 2 ♥ to show 5-4 shape. Opening Lead:
♣10.
3NT
failed on ♣10 lead - to ♣J and ♣K. Declarer won ♣A on the third round,
knocked out ♥A,
but the defence cashed a fourth club and ♠A.
Down one.
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| How
the Deal should be Bid
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| West |
North |
East |
South |
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1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
| Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
| All pass |
Final Contract: 4 ♥ by
North
Opening Lead: ♣3.
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What
should have happened
4♥
makes. After ♣3 lead win ♣A and (optional) play ♦AKQ throwing ♣4.
Then lead to ♠Q. Say East wins ♠A and leads
♥3 to ♥A
then ♥5.
Win ♥Q,
lead to ♠K, trump ♠4, and cross-trump your way to 10 tricks. Game made.
If
you remember just one thing....
I was once asked in an interview to give one useful piece of advice to
intermediate players. This was it: Do not rebid a five-card suit if you
have an alternative.
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| Column
of the Month - for the more Experienced |
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Winner
of my Club’s thrice annual Top Ten Trophy (average of the best 10
duplicate percentages) has a game with your columnist (second place has
two games...). Recently it was the turn of Denis Bennett
– Denis
played a blinder – take this deal.
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East Deals
Both Vul |
♠ J 9 6 3
♥ K
♦ Q
9 5
♣ 10 9 5 4 2
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♠ A Q 10 8 5 4
♥
10 7 6 2
♦ 4
3
♣ Q
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♠ 7 2
♥ A
Q J 9 4
♦ K
J 10 8 2
♣ A
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♠ K
♥ 8
5 3
♦ A
7 6
♣ K J 8 7 6 3
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| West |
North |
East |
South |
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Andrew |
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Denis |
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1 ♥ |
2 ♣ |
| 4 ♥1 |
5 ♣2 |
Pass3 |
Pass |
| Dbl4 |
All pas |
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(1)
Seven Losing Tricks.
(2) My friend Michael
Rosenberg, New Yorker originally from Scotland and one of the finest
players in the world, has simple advice on the subject of
sacrificing at Matchpoint
Pairs. “Don’t”. The reasons: a sacrifice will only be profitable when
both you are cheap against the opposing game and the opposing game is
making; even then , you will not score well unless other pairs holding
the opposing cards are bidding the game. Your tall columnist dubiously
contravened Michael’s sage words in the hope of pushing E-W to 5 ♥. [Not that this
would have achieved anything – E-W can make 6 ♥
with the aid of a
couple of finesses].
(3) Might (probably
should) bid on to 5 ♥
(with
the good
five-loser hand), but the dreaded Five-over-Five is not often winning
bridge. Second choice would
be double, pass being rather supine.
(4) Does well to double,
given the skimpy values for the earlier jump to 4
♥.
The
Play:
West led a
high-for-hate
seven of hearts v 5 ♣
doubled. Denis politely thanked me for my meagre assets (half my points
being the
useless
king of the opposing hearts). He
whispered to himself “nine”,
the number of tricks he needed to render 5 ♣ doubled a good sacrifice
(-500) v the opposing vulnerable game. East
won the ace of hearts and at trick two switched to the seven of spades,
declarer’s king losing to West’s ace. At trick three West found the
best switch to the four of diamonds, but declarer showed excellent
technique to escape for down two. He played low from dummy, beating
East’s eight with
the ace. He
ruffed a heart, ruffed a second
spade (removing East’s other spade), ruffed his last heart
(eliminating the suit), and only then led a trump from dummy.
East
won the bare ace of trumps but was endplayed. A heart would enable
declarer to discard a diamond from hand and ruff in dummy. East’s
actual choice was to cash the king of diamonds – promoting dummy’s
queen. Down two and +500. East was left wishing that the singleton ace
of trumps had left the hand at trick two, rendering the endplay
impossible..
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