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One Point, One Bid, One Unhappy Partner!

Well, that’s what happened but did it have to? North picked up a very very poor hand. They did not want to bid at all with just 1 high card point but they knew they had to because their partner opened 2, a strong bid, and not one that necessarily showed clubs. They bid 2, also artificial and saying they had very little in the way of high card points, normally less than 7. Partner then bid 2 and guess what happened next:

 

 

and not just at one table, either. Several times, North passed 2. Well, that seemed high enough with their very poor hand…and of course, the opposition passed as well.

North forgot two things. The first was that their partner had a very good hand. North could not be sure how strong but they said “strong enough to open 2” which should be strong enough to play game opposite a very weak hand. Secondly, the North hand was not that weak, anyway! Let’s look at all 4 hands:

 

On this day, North’s hand provided extra tricks because South could ruff their losing diamonds in the North hand. Let’s say West started with A and then K. South can ruff and lead A and a second diamond, ruffing in dummy. Now, they can play a heart to the Q and ruff another diamond. East  over-ruffs this with the higher J and should at that point return a trump since if South had more diamonds to ruff (they do), East’s trumps are too small to win a further trick.

South wins the trump in hand and ruffs again in dummy before playing a heart to the ace and drawing the remaining opposition trumps. The bad diamond break meant they will still lose one diamond along with the club and the over-ruff in dummy. That’s 10 tricks, game in spades but South was in part-score. South had only average luck. The heart finesse worked but the diamond break was unkind.

Fast Arrival: bid to game in a hurry!

The key is that a 2 opening is best played as a bid forcing to game, some game. When South bid 2, North knew which game because they held 4 spades. 2 promises at least 5 spades so that even 3 spades would have been enough support for North to raise to game. Since North-South are committed to go to game, the faster North bids it, the weaker is their hand. So, North should have bid 4 which asks their partner to pass, not to go looking for a slam. Perhaps strangely, but 3 from North would have shown a stronger hand. That is a demonstration of the principle of “slow and fast arrival”.

Never pass 2

Imagine, though, that instead of the North hand above, North held just 1 spade but 4 diamonds. Now, neither 2 nor 4 would not be the right contract. North-South should be playing in diamonds, 5, in game. North must not pass 2 but then should bid 2NT, which is called a “double negative” saying they have very few points, maybe none, and no support for spades. South would then bid 3 and the fit would be found. On other days, North-South may be able to make 3NT. 

On this day, North forgot that their partnership should be in game and also under-valued the strength of their own hand. Some may play a 2 opener has just 20+ hcp and is not necessarily forcing to game. That makes it harder for the strong hand to find the best contract. Best play 2 as game-forcing and then South can explore in the comfort that their partner will not pass short of game.

What a shame game was missed. South would so much liked to have recorded +420. 

Richard Solomon

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