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The Best Bid is…..

“Which rule do we follow today?” That might be the thought running through North’s mind after West started with the bidding, 1H. An opening hand…what to do? What would you do?

 

 

Well, our North remembered that one option to get into the bidding is to use that strange bid, double, when one does not have a 5-card or longer suit. So, after some thought, they tried that but the bidding did not seem to go very well for them after that.

West              North            East                South

1                   x                    2                   2

Pass                ?

What to do now? North had very few high cards and even less spades! They decided to pass. So did East thus ending the bidding. These were the four hands:

 

West led the K and when declarer misguessed the position of the K losing 2 tricks in the suit, they ended up beaten by 3 tricks, - 300. Disaster on a board which will only be played in a part-score contract.

Why? Was North unlucky in their partner’s choice of 2? The answer is “no” and goes back to North’s choice of bid. Although there is a second type of hand suitable for a take-out double where the doubler has far more than 12 hcp, and where the following need not apply, a doubler otherwise should have at least 3-cards in each unbid suit and preferably 4 cards in an unbid major: certainly not 2.

Even if South had a 5-card spade suit, 2 would be an uncomfortable contract. After North’s double, South is entitled to bid 2, expecting their partner to hold 4 spades, no matter how few high card points they hold (12 really is the minimum.) The above North hand just does not merit a double…too risky.

Had North held exactly the same hand but with the addition, say of K instead of a small diamond, i.e., 15hcp, they could bid 1NT showing 15-17, maybe 18 with a heart hold.

 

With less than 15 hcp and no 5+card suit, the best bid is..pass! The bidding will go:

 West             North            East                South

1                   x                    2                   All Pass

2 should make if played correctly but it might even be defeated. Either way, North-South will score much better from saying nothing. Silence! No bid, no trouble.

Remember what you need to make a take-out double. Having an opening hand is just sometimes not enough.

Richard Solomon

 

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