By Val Rhead
Recently, I was the opening bidder. I gazed wistfully at my eleven-point hand. I couldn’t find an extra point anywhere that would have justified a twelve-point opening bid. I passed. My left-hand opponent also passed. My partner bid One Club. The right-hand opponent passed. I bid one Spade with my four-card, King-high, Spade suit.
I was a passed hand so I knew my bid was not forcing, but I had high hopes that my partner would bid again. Surely if he had anything better than a minimum twelve-point opener, he would say something. He didn’t. He plunked down the green “Pass” card.
“Perhaps the opponents will stick in a bid,” I hoped desperately. “Anything, just so I can have a chance to show I have something more than a minimum.”
“Pass,” our second opponent said.
“Opponents never leave you at the one level,” I groaned to myself, but apparently, these ones did. I wasn’t allowed to say a thing.
When my partner’s hand came down, I counted 14 points, good solid points, not all quacks (Queens and Jacks) and I think four Spades. I must admit that last point is debatable. I’m not absolutely sure he had four Spades. It could have been three. Fourteen plus eleven points add up to twenty-five, enough to have a good shot at making a game in a major suit or in No Trump.
Now in fairness, my One-Spade bid showed a range of six to twelve points. I could have been at the low end of my range, but my partner never gave me a chance to show the strength of my hand. If I was at the low end of my range, I would have passed his Two-Spade or One-No-Trump rebid. With my eleven points, I would have invited game with a bid to Three-Spades or Two-No-Trump. If indeed he did have four Spades, he would have raised me to Four Spades. If he had only three, he could have raised me to Three No Trump.
I played brilliantly, of course, and made Four Spades. This was a Social Duplicate Game and the hand had been played eleven times. Several players bid Four Spades and made Four Spades. Several players bid Three Spades and made Four Spades. A couple of players bid three No Trump making three. A few made a variety of kind of weird bids, but nobody bid One Spade making Four Spades.
My partner just had to do the arithmetic. Fourteen plus six points would total twenty points. Obviously, that wouldn’t have been enough for game, but Two Spades would likely still be a safe place to play. And it would give me a chance if I had a maximum for my bid to invite game. Just give your partner a chance even if she is a passed hand, and don’t ever stop at the one-level unless your hand is a bare minimum. Your partner may have enough for game. Do the arithmetic. I like the statement made by Jerry Helms, the professional Bridge player who writes in the Bridge Bulletin magazine. “Look for reasons to bid, not excuses to pass.”
If you wish to promote an activity in your bridge group or ask a bridge question, send the information to [email protected] and I will try to include it in this column.
HUNTSVILLE DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB
Games for the Huntsville Club are Tuesday evening 7:00, Trinity United Church 33 Main Street. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early. Contact Jan Roberts 705-635-2522 or [email protected] for information and partnerships.
Due to a computer error, the Huntsville Sep 4th scores are not available. Hopefully we will have them for next week’s column. Repeated, the following winners are for Tuesday, Aug 28 with 19 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Vern Foell and Rod Dixon; 2. Joyce Ruttan and Bill Jensen; 3. Fay MacDonald and Yvonne Cox; 4. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 5. Mary Simonett and Kel Andresen; East-West 1. Art Insley and Don Evans; 2. Donna Jensen and Wayne Ruttan; 3. Linda Planeta and Margaret Sanderson; 4. Mary Whitehead and Helen Pearson; 5. Susan Marshall and Jan Roberts
MUSKOKA DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB (Bracebridge)
Games for the Bracebridge Club are Mondays 7pm, Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Taylor Road. Please arrive 15 minutes before game time. For information or partnerships, call Brian at 705-645-5340 [email protected]
The following winners are from Monday, Sep 3 with 20 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Mary Luke and Donna McIntosh; 2. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 3. Nora Robinson and Billie Anne Robinson; 4. Val Rhead and Joanne Garvey; 5. Betty Rintoul and Hazel Bowes; East-West 1. Liz Barnes and David Bryce; 2. Lynda Mochrie and Wayne Mochrie; 3. Art Insley and Don Evans; 4. Gaye Kastning and Bill Kastning; 5. Catherine McMillan and Betty Franklin
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