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Half Right meant Half Wrong!

and “half wrong” meant that that North-South did not get the result they should have got from the deal we feature today. Your question is what do you bid on the North hand below and what is your plan in the bidding: i.e. how high do you want to bid?

 

1NT promises 12-14 hcp.

The “half right” piece was in using Stayman 2 rather than transferring to spades by bidding 2. The advantage of using Stayman was that North could find a heart or a spade fit at the 2-level by using Stayman whereas by transferring, North would not know whether they had a fit in either major.

North has a potentially good hand, perhaps good enough for game if they had a fit in either major but without a fit, they have at best 24hcp and probably not enough high cards to make game a good prospect, especially if South was minimum for their opening.

So, 2 was a better bid because it unearthed a major fit if they had one straightaway. However, North did not take advantage of this information as this was the rest of the bidding and all four hands:

 

North was aware that the partnership had a maximum 24 hcp, not the 25+ recommended for game. So, they passed 2, happy they had found a fit. What they had forgotten was that when you have found a fit, then you can add on extra points for shortages in side-suits, 1 for a 2-card suit, 3 for a 1-card suit and 5 for a suit with a void.

So, North did not have 10hcp in support of hearts. They had 13! Since South has at least 12 to open the bidding, not only should North not have passed 2, they should have jumped all the way to 4, as 12+ 13= 25 points, enough for game.

It is true that where South held any honour in diamonds except the ace that their hcp may not be as useful opposite your singleton and that your partner may struggle to make at least 10 tricks. However, they will often still have a reasonable chance of making their game contract. North should be just a little optimistic and bid to game rather than inviting and certainly should not pass 2.

On this occasion, South had a most suitable hand to be in game. West might lead K. Declarer wins and plays a round of hearts to their king and then a second round to East’s ace. East will return a club to West’s Q and West plays a third round of clubs, with declarer ruffing in hand before drawing East’s last trump.

Now, they can play a spade to the K followed by Q overtaking with A and play three more winning spades. The defence can take A at the end if they had not cashed it earlier. All the defence takes is both red aces, making 11 tricks. While making 10+ tricks depends on the honour cards South holds, it is still worthwhile for North-South to be in game as they have at least 25 points even if they had only 23 hcp.

Remember to add on points for distribution when you have found a fit. A shame as North did well to use Stayman first of all but did not take advantage of getting a 2 response.

Richard Solomon

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