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SOME “GOOD” HANDS GET BETTER AND BETTER.

You just have to back your judgement sometimes even when you’re dreaming. You do dream about bridge hands, don’t you? I do not mean the nightmare deals which you relive many times when you should otherwise be sleeping. These ones are nice memories..or would be if they happened…

sweet dreams.

It was only a 10 count but it seemed such a good one:

 AT97

 2

 AJT9

 J974

10 high… a couple of bonus points for those 10 9’s and even a club suit which has seen worse holdings. Only the singleton looks a useless card!

Never mind that shortage as you upgrade to a weak no-trump. It starts to look like matters were about to get worse as partner’s first bid was a 2 transfer. Hopefully, she’ll give you a choice between hearts and no-trumps…hopefully not at the slam level!

But wait! Your right-hand opponent has doubled 2. Really! What bid should you make?

The problem is you do not know how weak your partner might be. If they are really weak, they will head for hearts no matter what you do….but if they had some values and did not have a singleton diamond, then they might like to play 2xx. That certainly was not what they were thinking when they bid 2. Life is so full of surprises, even pleasant ones, sometimes!

pleasant surprises!

You can offer 4 certain tricks. Go on. Give it a go. Redouble. It shows a doubleton heart (or worse!) and a willingness if partner is willing, to play the redoubled contract.

Despite holding 6 hearts, partner would be quite willing. They would expect to play a 5-2 diamond fit. The actual 4-2 fit might be a bit disconcerting at first but them tricks would just keep rolling on in….

 

South, who would be seriously wondering whether a double of the transfer was their best action (it was not!), would do best to lead a trump but those side-suit pips were so good (as West realised initially) that the defence at best are unlikely to score more than five tricks. It would certainly be fun trying for 8 tricks.

No Dreams Here

Indeed, this was no dream as the bidding sequence above did indeed happen…at least up to the point of West’s second bid. In reality, West passed the double to show two hearts and East then gave up transferring and jumped to 4 and got a minus score thanks to the foul heart break.

and the moral is?

So, is there a moral? Perhaps one about backing your own judgement and following it through. No, we are not suggesting that you must open the West hand….and certainly not 1NT! Yet, having done so, you may be able to play it to your advantage. That rarely used redouble bid could have come up trumps this time. At least give partner a chance to make you a hero….not in your dreams but in real life!

Richard Solomon

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