By Val Rhead
WEAK-TWO BIDS – USEFUL TOOLS FOR BOTH OFFENSE AND DEFENSE
The well-known Bridge writer, Marty Bergen wrote the popular book, Points Schmoints. What the title implies is that, although high-card points are important, distribution in the form of long suits and short suits are also a vital feature of a Bridge hand.
The game of Bridge has changed significantly over the past decades. At one time, an opening Two-Bid in any suit signified a strong hand. No more! I recently received a phone call from a cousin on Salt Spring Island. She was helping an elderly, ailing friend make a move into a retirement home. The woman had a large library of Bridge books. My cousin wanted to ship these books across the country to me. I explained as gently as I could that the game has evolved in recent years and most of these books would be out of date. One of the many changes made in the game of Bridge is the use of opening Two-Bids (except Two Clubs) as weak bids.
Nowadays, opening Weak-Two bids show hands with less than opening points, but with a good six-card suit. They are potent tools in the bidding arsenal. There are three Weak-Two bids available: Two Diamonds, Two Hearts, and Two Spades. The Two Club bid now is reserved to describe powerful opening bids with at least 22 points. The function of Weak-Two bids is to describe accurately the strength and shape of opener’s hand to the opener’s partner. They also serve to interfere with the opponents efforts to describe their own hands accurately.
If the responder has three-card or more support for opener’s Two Spade bid, and any numbers of points, she may take the bid to the next level – to Three Spades or even to Four Spades. To explain why this will work, read about “The Law of Total Tricks,” or just “The Law”, promoted by such Bridge writers as Larry Cohen and Marty Bergen. This is called extending the pre-empt. “The Law” says that you can successfully bid to the level of trump your side possesses. If your side has ten trump, you can confidently bid to Four Spades without game-going points. You are making it more and more difficult for your opponents to bid accurately. There is no guarantee that you will make your contract, but in most cases, you will get a better score than letting the opponents play their contract.
The partner of the player opening with a Weak-Two bid, unless she has a good trump fit, requires about sixteen points to take the contract to game. After-all, the opener is weak! The responder is the captain of the partnership in this situation. She knows the total assets of the partnership. Therefore she knows whether they have enough to go for game or a slam, or whether they are better off remaining in a part-score. Knowing that the opener has six cards in his suit, it is often wise for the responder to support that suit and pass even if she has only one or two cards in it. That will give the partnership a seven or eight-card fit. Sometimes however, the responder has her own good suit where she prefers to play. Perhaps the responder’s suit is a major while the opener’s suit is a minor—a significant advantage from a scoring perspective especially in Duplicate Bridge. The partnership should have an agreement about whether the introduction of a new suit by responder forces the opener to bid again or to pass. Normally the Weak-Two opener bids only once.
The bid of Two No-Trump by the responder has a special meaning. It asks the opener if his hand has a feature. She wants to know whether the opener has an Ace or protected King outside of the trump suit. Responder perhaps is wondering if a Three-No-Trump contract or a Four-Heart contract would be makeable. It can be frustrating if the opener finds it difficult to establish and use dummy’s suit because there are not enough entries to the hand. If opener does not have a feature, he just re-bids his suit at the three level. If opener has a feature, he bids that suit. The responder can consider this information and decide whether or not the game contract is worth pursuing or is too risky.
So the next time you open your hand and it contains a good six-card suit, bid it normally if you have opening points. If, however, your hand has fewer than opening points, remember “Points Schmoints,” and consider a Weak-Two bid.
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 Active Living Centre on Thursdays at 7 p.m. in the multi-purpose room on the 2nd floor (elevator) (back entrance of Summit Centre)
Just come – with or without a partner. 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. Parking is outside the North Entrance opposite Heritage Village Railway Station.
PORT CARLING SOCIAL BRIDGE CLUB
Games for the Port Carling Social Bridge Club are Monday afternoon 1pm 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]
Winners Monday afternoon 1 – 4, October 22, 2018
First 4720 Hans & Jeanette Heeneman
Second 3720 Dorothy Beckman & Irene Bond
Third 3610 Jim & Kathy Haller
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.
The following winners are for Tuesday, Oct 23 with 15 pairs playing a Howell movement. 1. Vern Foell and Rod Dixon; 2. Jim Smith and Ralph Mitchell; 3. Liz Barnes and Bev Howard; 4. Art Insley and Don Evans; 5. Fay MacDonald and Yvonne Cox; 6. Liz Graham and Dorothy Russell; 7. Libby Duncan and Gordon Duncan; 8. 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]
This was a charity game in aid of the Alzheimer Society of Bracebridge.
The following winners are from Monday, Oct 22 with 17 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Fay MacDonald and Yvonne Cox; 2. Kel Andresen and Jim Smith; 3. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 4. Mary Luke and Donna McIntosh; 5. Val Rhead and Joanne Garvey; East-West 1. Liz Barnes and David Bryce; 2. Kathy Kent and David Kent; 3. Barb Forth and Vern Foell; 4. Art Insley and Don Evans; 5. Frank Vagnoni and Gerry Lawrence
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