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a fair hand?

SHAPE.

Don’t you love it when you have got it! It kind of helps if partner has the same suit(s ) as you do, too. It is not so much fun when the opposition have great shape. Your aces can be worth nothing: kings and queens even less!  

Today’s two deals feature an interesting similarity. If you are going to have a strong freaky hand, clubs is not the best suit to hold!

Back then to our problem of yesterday:

 

Your opponents are playing Acol. Thus, 2 is what you think it is, well near enough…either 20-21 balanced or any Game Force.

Remember the rules of Bridge prohibit a psyche of a 2 opening. So, East is strong. Over to you?

You might say that the hand above is not that shapely. Apart from its concentration of honours into the heart suit, it would be everyone’s strong no-trump. However, there is something strange a’foot when the only player who has reacted to your vulnerable overcall is your partner. East cannot be passing 3because they have a stack of hearts. Are they, too, balanced?

I have been quite critical in recent times of what some players consider acceptable as a 2 Game Force opener, with hands containing “shape” but not a decent high card point strength. I have, though, no complaints on this occasion. The East hand was powerful but had one drawback, where its power was.

I did not really envisage 10 tricks and passed. Wrong! Especially in Teams, you have to be a little optimistic:

 

The 10 lead made 10 tricks easy, though it would not have been hard, on a non-spade lead to lead the first spade from dummy and on the appearance of the J, play East for the doubleton spade they held. A lucky game but a vulnerable one.

One question left unanswered is whether East would have bid on to 5 at favorable vulnerability. How often is a 2 opener diving?! 5x is tough for the defence. They need a spade trick to beat this contract by two tricks but if they switch to the spade too early, they will lose their second diamond trick. Even +300 is poor compensation for the missed game.

How often, though, have you opened 2 and never bid again?!

Shape: Great Shape

Sometimes, playing in an unfamiliar partnership can be an asset, or so I thought! What does this simple sequence mean?

West              North            East                South

3                   Pass                Pass                5 ?

When the opponents interfere with your auction, a leap to 5 of a major is often played as a request for partner to raise with first or second round control in the opponent’s suit. A good convention. Before that concept was introduced, you could either interpret it as simply an invitation to slam or asking partner to bid slam with one of the top two hearts.

With no agreement in place, I hoped partner would take it as the last of the three options when this was my hand:

 AKJ42

 KJT97532

 –

 –

Well, I had one of the top two hearts myself, but I think you might understand the intention.

Not bad shape but rather hard to find out what you want to know. Partner did not think they had much…but actually had too much!

 

A and four little spades. Alas no diamond control though I did not care this time. Maybe the key hand was the one which never spoke, East! It would have been more helpful if they could tried Gerber(!) or even their suit at the 5 level. I might then have taken the view of forcing partner to choose a slam at the 6 level (does 6 then show both majors with longer hearts and 6 with longer spades? Do not spend too long on discussing that with your partner. Pretty low frequency!)

Alternatively, 6 looks either a cheap dive (remember, once again, about not putting 8 card suits down as dummy!) or even better than a dive!

So, East did well not to bid…or did they? 7x is only -500, less than the score from 5 making 7 (510! Yes, Pairs scoring) but you would not feel quite so good should 7 become the final bid. One pair did reach the grand though nearly half the field were stranded in 5and only 7 out of 28 pairs played 6, twice doubled! 2 aces did not cash!

Long, strong clubs…yet again not a bid. Oh we do not count an Acol 2 as a”bid”, do we?

S    trength  but

H   ardly

A   ny

P  oints

E  very success!

Two defensive situations for you for tomorrow. Your play to trick one…and if relevant to trick 2?

 

You risk an overcall, perhaps for the lead. You hold your breath for a minute when South doubles ("action double") but can relax when North bids again… and you get your wish, 7 lead. Declarer plays low from Dummy.. and you?

 

A bit of support from your partner this time but the same ending. 2NT showed a balanced 10-12 hcp. Partner leads Q…and you?

Enjoy the sunshine and see you tomorrow.

Richard Solomon

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