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TWO LEVEL IS TOO LOW

Many bridge deals involve competitive bidding with both partnerships having in region of 20 high card points (hcp) each. While sometimes no player has a long (5+ card) suit, where one partner does, they should not defend the contract at too low a level if possible.

Take this South hand:

 953   AQT762   83    86

Your partner, North, opens the bidding with 1NT, showing a balanced hand with 12-14 hcp. East passes. 14 (the maximum your partner can have) + 6 hcp in your hand is not normally enough to bid to a making game, even if you do hold a six-card major suit.

So, does that mean you should pass 1NT? Certainly not. You cannot expect your partner to have sufficient holds in the other three suits plus suitable heart cards to make 1NT the best contract. You are best to play it with your heart suit as trumps. That would usually apply even if you held five hearts but is definitely so when you have 6. So, you aim to play in 2 either by bidding 2 directly (a weakness take-out of 1NT) or if you have learnt transfers, you bid 2 (showing 5+ hearts) and your partner must bid 2 if they are able:

                        North                        South

                        1NT                            2

                        2                           Pass

Thus, either you or your partner would play and probably make 8 tricks in hearts.

Who invited them to bid?

Unfortunately, West spoilt the party as whichever sequence above you had, they bid 2:

West              North            East                South

                        1NT                Pass                2

2                   Pass             Pass                ?     

Or:

West              North            East                South

                        1NT                Pass                2 (showing hearts)

2                  Pass              Pass                ?

 

It is unlikely that your partner, North, has 4 card heart support for you as they would then probably have bid 3. So, should you let West play the board in 2?

Since you have 6 hearts, it is probably (notice the frequent use of this word as nothing is certain!) correct for you to compete to the 3 level. This is not an easy decision to make as you have three small cards in the opposition’s spade suit, a rather poor holding. However, one important factor is that your partner must have at least two hearts since they opened 1NT with a balanced hand. So, you should not be running into too bad a trump break. With a reasonable 6 card suit, do not let the opposition play at the 2 level when your partner is guaranteed to hold at least 2 cards in your suit.

It would usually be correct to pass 2 if you only had 5 hearts and the above point count. The extra heart made all the difference.

Thus, just as West was not going to let your side play in 2, so you are not going to let them play in 2. “The two level is too low.”

Defending 3.

3 by South became the final contract whether or not you were playing transfers. As our problem on the play of the board, we are going to put you in the East chair and ask you which card you would play at trick 4:

 

Your partner leads A followed by K dropping your queen. This is not ideal defence since it sets up the J in dummy as the highest spade out. However, your partner plays a third spade which you ruff with South contributing another spade. Which card do you play at trick 4?

We will be back on Sunday.

Richard Solomon 

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