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For Less Experienced Players:  Minor Nightmare!

 

Well, it should have been a fun hand. You have 13 cards distributed as evenly as possible among the two minor suits, two decent suits as well, as both were headed by the KQ..and partner had opened the bidding. It was just a case of finding a fit and then bidding to…the appropriate level, whatever that was. “Just” proved to be a tad awkward. Our partner was not co-operating!

 

 

No, I did not make this hand up. It happened, very recently! What to do? Let partner stew in 3NT?

It would seem our partner has 6 hearts with a hold at least in spades. They do not appear to have a very strong hand as 2 was a limit bid, to say 15 high card points at the most, probably less. They may have an ace in one of the minor suits, or they may not!

At some tables, South gave up and hoped their partner could conjure up 9 tricks from somewhere. They could not with this contract going between 2 and 4 down. It does not follow that if one partner has both major suits and the other both minor suits that a no-trump contract will make or be easy to play. It was a nightmare for the declarers.

we just do not communicate well.

Take a look:

 

 

 

Against 3NT, the defence should not make it easy for North, even on an apparently friendly J lead. North’s best chance would be if West ducked the first round of clubs and declarer led an inspired low club from dummy on the second round.

However, even if that happened, while North tried to get to dummy by overtaking diamonds twice, in the meantime, the defence will take three spade tricks and two aces. That’s the best result for North. As you can see above, in reality it was much worse.

The more minor cards that North has the better it will be for South and if North does not have many, then communication between the two hands will range from the very difficult to the absolutely impossible. Thus, South must never pass 3NT. They have to keep ploughing on, bidding the minors until their partner finally gets the message.

A bid of 4 after 3NT would confirm at least 5 diamonds and therefore because South started with clubs, longer clubs, at least 11 cards in the minor suits. North would not be very impressed by that bid though despite the result on the board, this bid could/should not be passed. For all North knew, their partner might have one or both aces on top of their existing holding.

Having said North should bid, what should they choose? 5 may be a 5-2 fit while 5 a 6-1 fit, neither very appealing. 4 was beginning to look a poor choice. As you can see, it does not matter which choice North makes since both minor suits should be defeated by one trick.

In 5, there are two trump tricks for the defence and the A as long as West does not lead A. In 5, there are the same three tricks, though West does have to play A and a second diamond to prevent South from ruffing a club in dummy.

Giving preference with a singleton, especially at the 5 level, may seem like a strange concept, though it would prove a much better option than bidding 4, although South should really continue with 5 over that bid, because of the freakish nature of their hand. At that point, even the most confused North would have to give up.

“It sounds, partner, that you have 13 cards in the minors, the way you kept bidding” North was heard to exclaim as they laid down dummy. “Watch this space” came the amused reply.

A Small Distortion

The bidding to 5 of a minor,either minor, as shown above is fine. However, South might construct a better auction if they pretended their diamonds were longer or at least the same length as their clubs by bidding diamonds first:

 

                        North                        South

 

                        1                               2

 

                        2                              3

 

                        3NT                            4

 

A fit of some kind could be established at the 4 level, rather more comfortably for North. It would then be left to South to hope their partner can produce a minor ace and chance slam, or more sensibly, just raise to 5…and go quietly one down.

So, stopping in 4 of a minor was the right action this time though with such a hand as South, most of the time they would like to be at least in game. No North-South pair did achieve a plus score though those who played 5 of a minor scored much better than those in 3NT or 4.

 

Don’t stop…keep on bidding!

Bring on the 4333 7-counts! No way! I am sure it was fun bidding the above hands and even, unless you were in 3NT or 4H, quite nice to play them too.

On defence

You have to some of the time. It can be challenging. So, here’s a challenge:

 

You lead K and partner shows you an even number as declarer plays Q. A second high club sees South ruff, play J to dummy’s ace (6 from partner..low encourage) and then 3 to 6, declarer’s 10…over to you.

 

Richard Solomon

 

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