All News

Not today!

That’s a word one of our panellists, Michael Ware, uses a lot. One day, he will be proven right but today, like every other prediction he has made in such a situation, is not to be the one.

We are talking about competitive bidding and Michael is a braver man than I am to use that word in such an area. I bet you cannot wait to see the problem:

 

I would not have

I would not have said the Panel would be united as it is no surprise to me the way Michael voted but I am surprised he had so many supporters. Not me, though! 

Michael Ware “Double: unanimous surely. I'm not just saying that, but how could you possibly bid anything else? The upside from partner passing far outweighs the downside.”

Pam Livingston “Double: Partner might be lurking and want to penalise 2.  If she bids 3, I will correct to 3 and cross my fingers.  If partner isn't lurking, then 2 is available and we are a level lower than if I had bid 3.  Pass might be right though. 

Stephen Blackstock “Double: Much easier with minors this way around as I can pull 3 to 3. West may be salivating at the prospect of 2x, but the more mundane value of double is that it allows us to stay at 2 when that is a sensible contract. 3 is too unilateral and risks getting too high, especially as I lack both values and suit quality.

 

Of course, double may not work out, as with no attractive options West may choose to try for the magic +200 and find my defence is limited. Perhaps also we have no safe haven. Perhaps double lets N/S out of a poor 2 into a sound 3 contract otherwise unreachable because 3 from North would have been forcing. However, despite these hazards, selling out with a meek pass is not, on balance, winning bridge in these situations.”

 

Had our second suit been clubs, then double would be worse were partner to bid diamonds. Yet, we have A and a miserable hand without any fit. Our partner showed no desire to bid 2 willingly. Certainly, Double is better than 3 which could force the auction to 3. I really wonder, though, what heart suit our partner is expected to have when we hold the ace and South found a 2-level vulnerable overcall.

 

Despite this, the doublers keep on coming:

Andy Braithwaite “Double: and convert likely 3 bid from partner to 3 (equal conversion principle which does not show extra strength).”

Kris Wooles “Double: A normal action in my partnerships. Most times with this type of auction, we are looking at a trap pass by West.”

Bruce Anderson “Double: pretty much automatic as partner may well have a penalty pass. There is the risk partner does not have that hand and bids 3. Then I bid 3 and hope that partner has at least a partial fit for my second suit. Partner should be aware that my double is virtually automatic, and so I may not be all that strong.”

“Not all that strong” seems a huge understatement to me. You can just convince me it is a 1-level opener, just! I do not accept that we have an “automatic reopener” when we have Ax in the opponent’s suit. It’s time to hear about the action I thought would be near automatic:

Nigel Kearney “Pass: I used to reopen a lot but people overcall on bad suits and often their partner has nowhere to go. I find it works better to just leave them there, especially at all vul at matchpoints when one side or the other might concede 200. It's safer if partner is prepared for this and does not pass for penalties when holding sufficient values for game and just a moderate holding such as K10xx in their suit. On this hand, we have the further problem that we don't have the values for 3 and can't support clubs if we double.”

Michael Cornell “Pass: I think partner is marked with some points but he has chosen not to bid, so one of the possibilities is that he has hearts.

However, with my holding Ax  I don’t think it likely he will have enough to pass and I will be turning a plus into a minus.”

 

Peter Newell “Pass: Given that partner has passed, we can assume that it is unlikely to fit spades at all, and either has a weak hand or has hearts.  While we have a second 5 card suit, there is no guarantee that partner fits that suit and even if he has 3 card support, it may not play that well.

 If we were to bid, options are doubling in case partner has a penalty double, but my hand is not great defensively and we could get into a fair amount of trouble if partner with say 2425 shape bid 3.

 The other option is 3 which again looks like a gamble that partner has a diamond fit. With a minimum I’m happy to pass. At times reopening helps the opponents to bid game, or find a better fit e.g. clubs, or we get into trouble, or I double and they make it – and I think there is more chance of that that us either getting a penalty or pushing them up or being successful in diamonds.”

I am a great fan of the reopening double, when you are strong or when you are weak but have a singleton in their trump suit. I agree with Peter and the other passers. I have in recent days passed out a number of 1-level contracts, defended accurately and got a good Pairs score. In this case, we could not beat 2 but there was no good action for our side if we prolonged the auction with either a double or 3.

 

 

 

2 is no straightforward contract for South but on the lead of J, it becomes easier, certainly if South is brave enough to take the club finesse. South is certainly stronger than one might expect for their overcall but 2 seems a much better action than doubling and then bidding hearts.

One unexpected benefit is when the opponents compete and there should be 200 to be had from even 2 let alone any three- level contract. Conceding 110 was a plain average on the actual board but those who competed over it would have loved an average result.

Our Panel, in doubling, were aware of the risks though no-one referred to the fact that we were vulnerable too, therefore much riskier when we are wrong…and there was evidence in our own hand that this was not the time to re-open. For me, the deciding factor was that even if our partner was waiting our double, we will still collect +200 or more…and there is no guarantee we are missing a making game.

Keep looking and one day we will all agree, Michael. Not today, though.

Never put an 8-card suit down as dummy.

Well, someone had to. A couple of questions here.

Firstly, what would you have bid as North had your partner opened a Gambling 3NT? You are playing Pairs.

Secondly, you reach 6 as South and West leads two top clubs. Plan the play.

Richard Solomon

Go Back View All News Items