[Kaitlyn S]

Hi - these problems should be very easy for experienced players but a beginner needs to think about the right things in an auction. If you are a beginner and get them wrong, don't feel too bad as long as you understand the rationale for the answers. I'll provide the answers later but I'll put a hint as a spoiler. Try to solve the problem without the spoiler. Also, let me know if you would be interested in seeing more of these from time to time.

Assume you are playing Standard American (a natural system with 15-17 1NT openings), IMPS, and nobody is vulnerable. When you open a major suit, you show at least five cards.

Some background: The purpose of the bidding is to find out how high to bid and to determine a trump suit (or notrump.) Usually at some point in the auction, one player will make a bid that pinpoints his strength down to a narrow range, and make it clear what trump should be. Generally, when you bid an old suit (one previously bid by you or your partner) you show a specific narrow point range, and put partner in charge of deciding the final contract.

If your partner has made a bid that narrows down his strength and has shown a fit, you can usually determine the final contract by adding your points to what partner has shown.

I am assuming that you know NO artificial conventions.

1.

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Do you agree with your 1S response? What should you bid now?

Spoiler

Do you know what the final contract should be? Is it easier to take 10 tricks than 11?

2.

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Do you agree with your 1S response? What should you bid now?

Spoiler

Bids of suits shown previously generally aren't forcing. Your partner has about 16-18 points. Can you make a game?

3.

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Do you agree with your 1S response? What should you bid now?

Spoiler

When you bid 1S, you might have had six points. Partner, who could have bid 2S or 3S, decided to bid a game. Do you think his bid is a sign-off? What would motivate partner to bid game?

[Zelandakh]

On #1 your spoiler appears to have a typo. Surely the decision is between 10 and 12 rather than 11? The real question is whether we can find out if Opener has something like ♠Axxx ♥Axxx ♦Qxx ♣Ax or ♠Axxx ♥Axx ♦Qxxx ♣Ax without risking going down (assuming we are not upgrading these to 1NT in N/B ).

[Kaitlyn S]

Zelandakh, on 2016-November-02, 09:10, said:

On #1 your spoiler appears to have a typo. Surely the decision is between 10 and 12 rather than 11? The real question is whether we can find out if Opener has something like ♠Axxx ♥Axxx ♦Qxx ♣Ax or ♠Axxx ♥Axx ♦Qxxx ♣Ax without risking going down (assuming we are not upgrading these to 1NT in N/B ).

No, I meant 11. This is a problem set for beginners, and I don't think I could find slam in any of my partnerships opposite the three ace and ♦Q hands you mention. Playing natural methods, can you?

Think back to when you didn't know a lot about the game. Might you not have had an issue with 10 tricks vs 11?

[neilkaz]

Kaitlyn, Thx for problem 3, you have no idea how many PD's online and unfortunately OTB have passed my 4M in this type of sequence when slam is cold and they fail to realize how much I am showing to jump to game.

[Zelandakh]

Kaitlyn S, on 2016-November-02, 10:40, said:

No, I meant 11. This is a problem set for beginners, and I don't think I could find slam in any of my partnerships opposite the three ace and ♦Q hands you mention. Playing natural methods, can you?

Think back to when you didn't know a lot about the game. Might you not have had an issue with 10 tricks vs 11?

As I mentioned, finding the slam opposite those hands is not so much the problem as doing so without risking going down. It is also relevant whether our style for 2♠ is Anglo-American or Franco-Prussian.

As for learning the game, well I taught myself from books and the first two books I had were Culbertson's white book and a beginner's Acol book. Both taught me to avoid 5m for the most part so I doubt that would be much of an issue. I find it difficult to believe that beginner's are being taught something different these days, since if anything the emphasis now is even more away from minor suit contracts than it was back then.

[Kaitlyn S]

Zelandakh, on 2016-November-02, 11:29, said:

As I mentioned, finding the slam opposite those hands is not so much the problem as doing so without risking going down. It is also relevant whether our style for 2♠ is Anglo-American or Franco-Prussian.

As for learning the game, well I taught myself from books and the first two books I had were Culbertson's white book and a beginner's Acol book. Both taught me to avoid 5m for the most part so I doubt that would be much of an issue. I find it difficult to believe that beginner's are being taught something different these days, since if anything the emphasis now is even more away from minor suit contracts than it was back then.

From "Bidding Problems for Beginners 1":

Kaitlyn S, on 2016-October-17, 11:44, said:

I'm starting a new set of threads for beginners and any others who may have learned the rules by "just playing".

So there is a reasonable chance that my target audience (for the Beginner problem sets, but not the I/N sets) has never read a bridge book or been to a bridge class.

I could see a way slam could be bid on these cards, but it is an unlikely scenario (one more jack opens 1NT and good spots might open 1NT anyway) and the odds of going down at the five level exceed the chance of getting to a making slam IMO. TBH I never even considered slam until you mentioned it. My favorite partner often tells me that if I want to look for the perfect dummy, she'll provide me with a mirror.

It might be pointed out that whatever methods find three aces and the queen of diamonds after a start of 1D-1S-2S, it is highly unlikely that a beginner would play them.

[Kaitlyn S]

Answers: (Material for players past beginners is in blue.)

1.

---

Do you agree with your 1S response? What should you bid now?
Hint: Do you know what the final contract should be? Is it easier to take 10 tricks than 11?

You should agree with the 1S response; finding a major suit fit is our highest priority, and since 1S is forcing, there is no reason to jump. (A jump to 2S would show a much different hand. If you never jump shift as responder, you aren't missing much. Your forcing 1S response gives lots of room for partner to describe his hand that he wouldn't have over 2S.)

You have a spade fit, but your partner's 2S bid says partner is minimum (13-15 points.) You have enough for game but not enough for slam. You know where, you know how high. When you know, you go. Bid 4S.

Partner should have four spades but occasionally might have only three. Are you afraid that you might be in a bad spot? Where would you want to play on the following hand where partner eschewed his normal 1NT rebid because he feared his small heart doubleton?

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With a 4-2 break, you'll easily make 4S and will take the same ten tricks in diamonds.


2.

---

Do you agree with your 1S response? What should you bid now?
Hint: Bids of suits shown previously generally aren't forcing. Your partner has about 16-18 points. Can you make a game?

Answer: You should agree with 1S. Our favorite contracts are the major suits when we can find a fit so bidding 1S (showing 6 or more points) is preferable to bidding 1NT to show weakness because a 1NT response denies a 4-card major.

Your partner has shown a medium hand for opener by jumping to the three level. That's about 16-18 points. (Some experts say 17-18.) Even if partner has 18 points, you do not have the required strength for game, so pass. (I usually say that you should have 26 points counting distribution for game; some will say 25, but you don't have that either.)

You might be saying, "If I have to take nine tricks anyway, why not try 3NT?" The problem is that playing in your eight-card fit usually takes a trick or two more than playing the same hand in notrump, so you could easily make 3S and have no play for 3NT. Against 3NT, the opponents will lead a club or a heart (since your side bid diamonds and spades) and will set up that suit and take tricks with small cards. In 3S, this won't happen as you can trump their small cards.

3.

---

Do you agree with your 1S response? What should you bid now?
Hint: When you bid 1S, you might have had six points. Partner, who could have bid 2S or 3S, decided to bid a game. Do you think his bid is a sign-off? What would motivate partner to bid game?

Answer: Your partner heard your 1S bid showing 6 or more points and yet is bidding game when he could have bid only 2S or 3S. Unless partner is insane, partner should have close to 20 points. You have 14 (counting a length point.) That is enough for a slam (we like to have 33 points to bid a slam.) Without any conventions, you should bid 6S.

If you and your partner play Blackwood, you can bid it to make sure you aren't missing two aces. If you are only missing one ace, you will still bid 6S. If you don't know what I'm talking about, and you bid 6S, take full credit.

[Kaitlyn S]

Answers: (Material for players past beginners is in blue.)

1.

---

Do you agree with your 1S response? What should you bid now?
Hint: Do you know what the final contract should be? Is it easier to take 10 tricks than 11?

You should agree with the 1S response; finding a major suit fit is our highest priority, and since 1S is forcing, there is no reason to jump. (A jump to 2S would show a much different hand. If you never jump shift as responder, you aren't missing much. Your forcing 1S response gives lots of room for partner to describe his hand that he wouldn't have over 2S.)

You have a spade fit, but your partner's 2S bid says partner is minimum (13-15 points.) You have enough for game but not enough for slam. You know where, you know how high. When you know, you go. Bid 4S.

Partner should have four spades but occasionally might have only three. Are you afraid that you might be in a bad spot? Where would you want to play on the following hand where partner eschewed his normal 1NT rebid because he feared his small heart doubleton?

---

With a 4-2 break, you'll easily make 4S and will take the same ten tricks in diamonds.


2.

---

Do you agree with your 1S response? What should you bid now?
Hint: Bids of suits shown previously generally aren't forcing. Your partner has about 16-18 points. Can you make a game?

Answer: You should agree with 1S. Our favorite contracts are the major suits when we can find a fit so bidding 1S (showing 6 or more points) is preferable to bidding 1NT to show weakness because a 1NT response denies a 4-card major.

Your partner has shown a medium hand for opener by jumping to the three level. That's about 16-18 points. (Some experts say 17-18.) Even if partner has 18 points, you do not have the required strength for game, so pass. (I usually say that you should have 26 points counting distribution for game; some will say 25, but you don't have that either.)

You might be saying, "If I have to take nine tricks anyway, why not try 3NT?" The problem is that playing in your eight-card fit usually takes a trick or two more than playing the same hand in notrump, so you could easily make 3S and have no play for 3NT. Against 3NT, the opponents will lead a club or a heart (since your side bid diamonds and spades) and will set up that suit and take tricks with small cards. In 3S, this won't happen as you can trump their small cards.

3.

---

Do you agree with your 1S response? What should you bid now?
Hint: When you bid 1S, you might have had six points. Partner, who could have bid 2S or 3S, decided to bid a game. Do you think his bid is a sign-off? What would motivate partner to bid game?

Answer: You should agree with the 1S response for the same reason as hand 1.

Your partner heard your 1S bid showing 6 or more points and yet is bidding game when he could have bid only 2S or 3S. Unless partner is insane, partner should have close to 20 points. You have 14 (counting a length point.) That is enough for a slam (we like to have 33 points to bid a slam.) Without any conventions, you should bid 6S.

If you and your partner play Blackwood, you can bid it to make sure you aren't missing two aces. If you are only missing one ace, you will still bid 6S. If you don't know what I'm talking about, and you bid 6S, take full credit.

[Kaitlyn S]

neilkaz, on 2016-November-02, 11:20, said:

Kaitlyn, Thx for problem 3, you have no idea how many PD's online and unfortunately OTB have passed my 4M in this type of sequence when slam is cold and they fail to realize how much I am showing to jump to game.

That does not surprise me in the least, and in fact I have had similar experiences. Which may be part of the reason for the problem