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Discovery Bid.

Yesterday, we saw very young Wellington player, Eason Lu, get a little lucky when he passed a Blackwood response by mistake…and the sun shone! Yet, finishing 7^th in the Wellington Provincial Teams last weekend was not all down to good luck for Eason. Indeed, his partner, Brad Johnston, spilled the beans on this one.

You might not think the following was a problem but Eason found an interesting solution. Here is your hand and the bidding so far:

 

Easy if you are playing a convention like the Jacoby 2NT where you have a ready-made response forcing to game and agreeing hearts as trumps. However, Eason was using simple bidding where 2NT was a balanced 10-11 count and therefore that was not appropriate. A player new to the game (Eason has only been playing for about a year) might just jump to 4, since that is not a pre-emptive bid when you first learn to play.

However, Eason recognised that his hand had more potential if his partner was not a minimum opener. So, bid 2 then, natural and forcing. See what partner says. There were two things possibly wrong with that bid. Firstly, say partner bid 2NT or 3NT. He was not sure of their relative strengths. The 2 over 1 response creates some less familiar sequences. Also, a 2 response could create confusion if Eason later wanted to check for aces and kings. Would 4 ask that or would it be a natural bid?

So, Eason found a simple but unnatural 1 over 1 response of 1 even though he only had 2 spades! He would then be very familiar with his partner’s response. Indeed, Brad Johnston did rebid 1NT showing 15-17 and this enabled Eason to use Gerber, 4 for aces, 5 for kings. Brad showed up with one ace and three kings..and that was plenty for Eason to bid 6NT. Brad still had a couple more high card points up his sleeve and they were the very useful Q.

Brad was very impressed with his dummy as these were the four hands:

 

A deal with absolutely no problems in the play, with declarer simply losing to the A to make 12 tricks.

The opposition could have made it harder for East-West if South had been able to open 2 showing spades and a minor or spades and another suit. An immediate 2NT (15-17) from West would solve all of East’s problems but say West chose a 3 overcall. Suddenly, the worth of East’s spades had to be in doubt. East should try 3 just to see what their partner said and when West responded 3NT, East would be more comfortable with their spade holding. Whether East went to slam via a quantitative 4NT, Key Card or by simply bidding slam, the 6-level should be reached.

Brad and Eason: keeping
it simple

No such worries for Eason who found out all he needed to know via a somewhat unconventional but very effective 1 over 1 response.  

 

A Couple of Questions for “Jan’s Day”

1NT shows 15-17 hcp.

a. Would you bid as East? Be honest, answer this before you come to the next question.

b. If you pass, the bidding goes as below. Would you reach for the pass or the double card?

 

Richard Solomon

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