By Val Rhead
It’s too bad that at Bridge we don’t get the chance to bid and play the same hands over again. We’d do so much better. There are lots of guidelines to help bid accurately in Bridge games and usually it goes quite smoothly. But some hands defy the guidelines and a great deal of judgement is required to make the correct bid. Recently, I played a magnificent hand which made a laydown Seven No Trump. The only problem was that we didn’t bid it, and it was mostly my fault. Have you ever had something similar happen to you?
I had a good 19 point hand with a six-card Heart suit plus three Spades, two Clubs, and two Diamonds. The minor suits each contained a stopper. I opened One Heart. My partner, with another good hand, correctly replied One Spade which is a forcing and unlimited bid guaranteeing at least six points but no upper limit. I knew that we had at least 25 points between us which would give us a good chance for game. I did not know yet the value of my partner’s hand and I didn’t want my partner to pass before we reached game. Now, this was a large social game in which we changed partners every four hands. So, we weren’t familiar with each other’s bidding styles. If I’d been playing with a regular partner, I would have proceeded slowly in order to explore her hand.
As Opener, my only truly forcing bid was a strong jump shift to another suit. But as we already had bid Hearts and Spades, I was going to have to lie by jumping in a two-card minor suit to show the strength of my hand. It’s always better in Bridge, if you have to lie, that you lie in a minor. But horrors! What if partner, unfamiliar with my bidding, passed my two-card minor suit strong jump shift bid?
What if I supported her Spades? I did have three of them, Jack, ten, nine, but she could have had just four. A rebid of Two Spades would have been much too weak. A jump to Three Spades, is still too weak for my hand and is not forcing. We possibly would be playing in a seven-card fit. She could PASS missing game if her hand was minimum.
What if I jumped to three of my Heart suit? It was good but not solid, and I didn’t know whether she had any Hearts at all! That wouldn’t be forcing either. Again she could PASS. And if I jumped to Four Hearts or Four Spades on a gamble, she would probably take my jump as a cut off (stop bidding), spoiling her hopes, with her good hand, of going further.
Finally, after her One Spade response, I could have made a jump bid to Two No Trump to show 18-19 points. This bid rarely could be passed, and only if partner had a very weak six-point hand of Jacks and Queens. And my hand certainly was not No Trump distribution.
I wimped out after her One Spade response and bid Three No Trump which wasn’t the best choice of the lot. The best choice would have been the jump to Two No Trump which would show her my points. Forget the distribution. A No Trump bid allows two, two-card suits, as long as at least one of them has a stopper. This would have given her the chance, if she understood my bidding message, to show all the goodies in her super hand and we would have bid the slam. She filled all the holes in my Heart suit, and had a solid Spade suit. I ran the two six-card majors and took the 13th trick with the Ace of Diamonds. But we only bid game!
So what could you do as responder when you have a good, potential slam-going hand and your opening partner jumps to a Three No Trump game? It’s not a cut-off. You realize that your bid of One Spade has guaranteed only a minimum of six points to your partner. Knowing this, Opener was strong enough to take the contract to game. Opener must have a good hand. As you also have a good hand, you could continue bidding, perhaps by asking for aces, and see where it takes you. In this case, it would have taken you to slam, either a small slam or a grand slam. In either case, it would have been a much better score.
Bridge is such a humbling game. You always keep learning.
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 at the Huntsville Club are Tuesday 7:15 start, Trinity United Church 33 Main Street. Please arrive 15 minutes before game time. For partners and information call Jan Roberts 705 635-2522 or email [email protected]
REMINDER: The game is cancelled December 26. The game resumes with the Winter Season afternoon schedule of 1pm on Tuesday, Jan 2. Please arrive 15 minutes early.
The following winners are for Tuesday, Dec 12 with 12 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 2. Beryl Clayson and Paul Clayson; 3. Vern Foell and Rod Dixon; East-West 1. Liz Barnes and David Bryce; 2. Mary Simonett and Kel Andresen; 3. Fay MacDonald and Yvonne Cox
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]
REMINDER: The game is cancelled Dec 25 and Jan 1 and resumes Jan 8.
The following winners are from Monday, Dec 11 with 15 pairs playing a Howell movement. 1. Fay MacDonald and Yvonne Cox; 2. Kel Andresen and Jim Smith; 3. Els Vandenberg and Isabel Hellberg; 4. Barb Forth and Vern Foell; 5. Kathy Kent and David Kent; 6. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 7. Frank Vagnoni and Gerry Lawrence
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