By Val Rhead
Bidding transfers
As you can see, your partner, the opening bidder in the West, has a good 17-point hand. He bids One-No-Trump. Yes, I know he doesn’t have a stopper in Diamonds. But that’s OK. Maybe you have a stopper in Diamonds. Or maybe you will discover that you have a fit in one of the other suits and the contract will be played in that suit. In the meantime, opener has accurately limited his hand and you will be able to ascertain the potential of the contract.
You are sitting in the East. You have four high-card points and one length point in Hearts for a total of five points altogether. Normally, this would not be enough to reply. However, you have five Hearts. You are allowed by the rules to make a transfer bid, with any number of points, to any five-card major suit (or six-card minor suit). You bid Two Diamonds, a transfer to Hearts. The opener would announce “Transfer” to tell the opponents that the Two-Diamond bid shows a Heart suit of at least five cards long. Opener must complete the transfer by bidding Two-Hearts because opener has no indication of your strength and you might have a big hand.
West is at the top of his range, 17 points for his One No-trump opening bid and he has good support for Hearts. At this point, he doesn’t know how strong his partner’s hand is. Opener has limited his hand so you are the captain of the team. He has to leave the decision to you. Only you know what your combined assets are. You know opener has a maximum of 17 points. You add your five points (including one length point to seventeen. It isn’t enough for game. You now have to pass the Two-Heart bid by opener and there the safest contract will be played.
You do know that you have only four high-card points, but you know that you and opener have at least a seven-card fit in Hearts. Now that you know you and opener have a fit, you can also count a length point for your fifth Heart and a shortness point for your doubleton Club. This is a total of six points. This would give a maximum total of 23, which sadly isn’t quite enough to bid game. If you had just a little more, for example the King of Spades, you would invite game by bidding Three-Hearts. With ten points, you could go to game. But that is not so this time. You must pass.
On the other hand, if you had five Hearts and no honour cards, just the five-card Heart suit, Ten high, you would have bid the same way. You would have transferred to Hearts by bidding Two-Diamonds. Opener West would now bid Two-Hearts. You, adding your very lean number of points to what your opener partner has shown, would pass.
Why, you may ask, can you make bids that disregard the normally-required point counts after a One No-Trump opening? The reason is that often contracts with low point counts play better in a suit than in No-Trump. For example, if opener West is playing One-No-trump, lacking a stopper in Diamonds which the opponents lead, opener could lose seven tricks before he has a chance to get in and take tricks with his own good cards. If opener is playing with a trump suit, he has a chance to take control with a ruff and minimize the damage. Even if he goes down, he may end up, on many hands, with a better score playing a suit than if he played One-No-Trump.
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.
NEW SOCIAL BRIDGE GAME IN HUNTSVILLE
Games are at the Canada Summit Centre, Thursdays, 7pm. PLEASE NOTE that our NEW VENUE for Bridge DURING THE SUMMER is the Summit Centre “Don Lough Warming Area”. This room is located on the second level of the Summit Centre accessible by taking the right-hand stairs (elevator) after passing through the main entrance. The room does not have a kitchen; hence, please bring your own beverage (we will still provide snacks). Just come – with or without a partner. Please arrive 10 minutes before game time.
For information, please contact Donna or Peter Tikuisis at 647 471 1774 or [email protected].
For now, this game will be played following Chicago Rules (allowing both fast and slow games). You will keep your same partner for the entire evening. Cost is $1.50 per person.
PORT CARLING SCIAL BRIDGE CLUB
Games for the Port Carling Social Bridge Club are Monday evening 7pm at the Port Carling Community Centre, 3 Bailey Street. Please arrive with your partner at least 10 minutes before game time.
For information, contact Andree or Scott 705-764-3827 [email protected]
Results for Monday, July 15, 2019 1. Trent & Carol 3,770 points; 2. Irene Bond & Dorothy Beckman 3,650 points; 3. Louise Kirbyson & Mavis Hall 3,330 points
HUNTSVILLE DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB
Games are Tuesday 7pm Trinity United Church 33 Main Street. Please arrive with your partner at least 10 minutes before game time. For partners and information call Jan Roberts 705 635-2522 or email [email protected]
The following winners are for Tuesday, July 16, 2019 with 18 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Yvonne Cox and Mary Whitehead; 2. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 3. Joanne Garvey and Barb Green; 4. Vern Foell and Rod Dixon; East-West 1. Gerry VanLierop and Ron Groulx; 2. Liz Barnes and Bev Howard; 3. Liz Graham and Dorothy Russell; 4. Donna Tikuisis and Peter Tikuisis
MUSKOKA DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB (Bracebridge)
Games for the Bracebridge Club are Mondays 7pm, Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Taylor Road. Please arrive with your partner 10 minutes before game time.
The following winners are from Monday, Jul 15, 2019 with 21 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Mary Mitchell and Susan Maddocks; 2. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 3. Mary Luke and Donna McIntosh; 4. Gail Lederer and Art Insley; 5. Joanne Garvey and Dorothy Russell; East-West 1. Liz Barnes and Bev Howard; 2. Frank Vagnoni and Gerry Lawrence; 3. Mary Whitehead and Helen Pearson; 4. Andrea Killackey and Judith Arbus; 5. Gwen Jocelyn and Joan Gibson
Looking for more bridge tips? You’ll find them here.
Don’t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free newsletter here.
0 Comments