[DenisO]

Hi All

I'd like your views on the following bidding situations.

All queries are IMPs (early stages of a long match), both VUL

(1) You are East (dealer) with S7 HKQ754 DQ6 CKT832 - do you open?

(2) You are South (2nd seat) with SA32 HJ96 DKJ83 CAJ9 - RHO opens
1H - what now? (1H may be 4-cd suit)

(3) You are West (3rd seat) with SJ9864 HA3 DT94 C764 - prior bidding
1H -(P) - what do you do? ( 1H may be 4-cd suit)

(4) You are North (4th seat) with SKQT5 HT82 DA752 CQ5 - prior
bidding is (1H) - P - (P) - what now? (1H may be 4-cd suit)

Please treat as four separate queries.

Thanks
Denis

[hrothgar]

Question 1: Impossible to answer without knowing what system you are playing.
With this said and done, you should play a system that allows you to open this hand.

Question 2: Pass. What's the problem?

Question 3: I'd bid 1S

Question 4 I'd probably bid 1S. Wouldn't argue with 1N

[inquiry]

Hand 1. PAss of if I am playing it, 2♥ showing less than opener, 5♥ and a minor

Hand 2. dbl... i have a heart mixed in with my spades.. happens to me a lot

Hand 3. 1♠ clear

Hamd 4. 1NT.. stopper? I don't need no stinking stopper.

You got me bidding funnily.. was that the purpose? I fell for it.

Ben

[Cave_Draco]

(1) Yes. 1♥, I have a 7- loser hand.

(2) Pass. I trust my partner to balance.

(3) 1♠. Is there any other choice?

(4) Double. My partner is trusting me to balance,

[Free]

1) Yes! Although I would NEVER open this at 2-level as weak (55+ or 54+ or whatever), this is a clear 1♥ opener in almost any system there is.

2) I'm used to bid 1NT (artificial for takeout, 3+ cards in all suits, 10-14 HCP) with such hand, but with standard methods I'd advise to pass, cause you have no distribution and no 4 card ♠.

3) 1♠, what else?? I hope you don't want to pass with such hand...

4) Hmmm, either Dbl, 1♠ or 1NT. Depends on weither I'm feeling confident enough. Dbl should show 3+♣s (I only have 2), 1NT should show 11-14 HCP bal with stopper (no stopper). Bidding the ♠ suit is most important, since opener could be strong, and p could make a good decision weither or not to balance further. 1♠ is probably the best.

[luke warm]

DenisO, on Jul 12 2004, 11:05 PM, said:

Hi All

I'd like your views on the following bidding situations.

All queries are IMPs (early stages of a long match), both VUL

(1) You are East (dealer) with S7 HKQ754 DQ6 CKT832 - do you open?

(2) You are South (2nd seat) with SA32 HJ96 DKJ83 CAJ9 - RHO opens
1H - what now? (1H may be 4-cd suit)

(3) You are West (3rd seat) with SJ9864 HA3 DT94 C764 - prior bidding
1H -(P) - what do you do? ( 1H may be 4-cd suit)

(4) You are North (4th seat) with SKQT5 HT82 DA752 CQ5 - prior
bidding is (1H) - P - (P) - what now? (1H may be 4-cd suit)

Please treat as four separate queries.

Thanks
Denis

1) yes (zar, except for the pesky ♦Q)

2) pass

3) 1S

4) 1S and proud of it (ducking)

[whereagles]

My opinions

1. This depends more on your partnership style than your system. I take it you're playing some natural system with reasonably solid openings. If so, i'd probably pass this one, hoping to bid 1 or 2NT later, to show the two-suiter. The reason I pass is psychological: if I bid now and don't get a good result, pard will lose confidence in my bidding and will begin to play defensively. If it were at the end of the match and in need of a swing, I'd open it.

2. Pass. Good defensive values, so no urge to bid right now.

3. 1S. Unless you're playing 1H as 11-15

4. Double. Pard will bid a 4-card spade in preference to a 5-card club. Besides, since pard is short in hearts, it is possible that LHO will bid 2/3H, and pard will only bid 2/3S now with 4 cards... something he might do with only 3 cards if I had balanced 1S instead.

[Chamaco]

1) open if you play weak 2 suiters like this one

2) pass; unless pard had a great distributin we want to defend. If pard is alive he will bid somthing himself otherwise passing keeps us out of trouble.

3) 1S.

4) first instinct was to bid 1NT which has the advantage of showing the right value and shape (1NT balancing does not show a stopper for most players, and 10xx is plenty for a balancing 1NT IMO).
On second thought , anyway, the hand does not seem very notrump oriented without tenaces and not many minor honors.
Close call between double and 1S. Double may lose only when pard has 4333 with 4 clubs, and even then, he may have the right values to bid 1NT himself (probably rightsiding the contract since we have no tenaces): other balanced hands are lkely to bid spades with 3 cards, diamnds with 4 cd suport or clubs with 5 cards.
1S may lose if you raise aggressively 1 of a major overcalls (e.g. based on the law of total tricks). I think I'd double (not without a nervous feeling ).

[Rado]

Hi Denis and All,

1. When std system - PASS or 2♥ 5-5 under opening if available, when light openings agreed then 1♥

2. DBL - we have enough points outside ♥

3. 1♠

4. DBL ( the smallest of the lies)

Best regards
Rado

[luis]

1. Open 1♥
2. Pass
3. 1♠
4. 1NT

Luis

[helene_t]

Hi Dennis, would you please insert suit symbols in your post?

pass-pass-1♠-1NT

Only 2) was easy, in the other cases the alternatives could work just as well.

[Fluffy]

1) 1♥, not even a problem, make ♦Q the 7 and I might have a doubt.

2) pass as everyone agreed.

3) 1♠, 3NT is surelly a poor contract, but 4♠ shouldn´t

4) 1NT I can´t double with only 2♣ nor can I pass


Oh no!. These means I agreed with luis?. Something has to be wrong on this post, can you delete it Ben?

[kgr]

1. 1H (I play 2H is weak with 5card H and 4+card minor, but for me this hand is strong enough to open 1H)

2. Pass (...maybe DBL)

3. 1S

4. Pass

[DenisO]

Hi All

Thanks for the great responses - 12 when I write.

No doubt most have figured that all four hands relate to a single deal.

To summarise the answers:
Q1 - 1♥(8) ; Pass (4)
Q2 -Pass (10) ;Dbl (2)
Q3 - 1♠ (12)
Q4 - 1♠ (3) ;1NT (4); Dbl (4) ; Pass (1) - did you really mean that KGR?

Just a little background : The Computer Bridge Championships start today in New York ( in conjuction with the Summer NABC) . I was playing a few deals with the UK entry, Blue Chip Bridge (BCB) from last year's Bermuda Bowl/Venice Cup final when this deal Segment 1 - deal 10 sparked my interest.

BCB bid it as : 1H - P - P - P (bidding system Acol ie 4-cd majors a possibility)

So BCB is pretty poor in the balancing position - I'll write to the program authors about the Pass in 4th seat

Also from your responses 1S is a must for Q3 - admittedly BCB nearly made that - it was a VERY close decision for its evaluation methods

Now to to the real world

Opening 1H - looks OK , satisfying Rule of 20 and also has 26 ZAR points - yet Lauria passed in the BB and Hongli passed in the VC - so are Forum members more aggressive than World experts?

When 1H was opened (by Mechstroth in BB and Molson in VC), both Souths doubled for t/o - not as expected from the summary above.

Q3 and Q4 never happened in the real world - but Q4 with that hand is a real poser,
in that you MUST bid but there is no perfect bid - you can criticise them all and any one could be a great bid or a disaster. Just shows what a fascinating game we play - to get so much to study/ learn from just one deal!

Don't forget you can see all the bidding and play for the deal in BBO at Explore Bridge

Just for the record : there was no swing in the BB with both NS making 10 tricks in diamonds but there was a 13 IMp swing to the US ladies in the VC

Once again - Thanks all for responses

Denis

[Flame]

1. 1♥
2. pass although i wonder how much further can you push this, i mean will i pass with 1 more hcp ? 2 more hcp ? i think with 2 more i will surely bid, with 1 more i think i will bid.
3. with 5 card suit and 5 hcp i can bid my 1sp, but i think there is a point for passing here, because there is a good chance that my partner will be on lead and i certenly prefer a heart lead to a spade one, i think i would pass for this resson.
4. i dont understand why everyone wants to bid 1nt , i think its a close call between a double and 1sp, depending on our double style , if it promiss 3 card on each suit i can bid 1sp, if not i will double. I would bid 1nt without a stoper but not when i got good alternatives.

[the hog]

"(1) You are East (dealer) with S7 HKQ754 DQ6 CKT832 - do you open?

(2) You are South (2nd seat) with SA32 HJ96 DKJ83 CAJ9 - RHO opens
1H - what now? (1H may be 4-cd suit)

(3) You are West (3rd seat) with SJ9864 HA3 DT94 C764 - prior bidding
1H -(P) - what do you do? ( 1H may be 4-cd suit)

(4) You are North (4th seat) with SKQT5 HT82 DA752 CQ5 - prior
bidding is (1H) - P - (P) - what now? (1H may be 4-cd suit)"

1) Opening 2H - shows H and a minor
2) Pass wtp?
3) 1S wtp?
4) Close between 1S and 1NT. Go for 1S

[Cascade]

1. I open. This hand falls within the criteria for a 2♥ opening for me - 5-10 hcp five hearts and four or more of a minor. I wouldn't quibble with a 1♥ opening. In fact we define the boundary as a 10 points five-five with all the points in the suit is too strong for 2♥ so change the ♦Q to the ♣Q and we would open 1♥.

2. Pass or double. With only a doubleton heart double would be clearcut. With 13 hcp outside hearts I do not mind a double with this shape.

3. Always 1♠.

4. Double. With good values outside hearts I don't mind a slightly offshape takeout double.

[DenisO]

The_Hog, on Jul 14 2004, 02:24 AM, said:

1) Opening 2H - shows H and a minor
2) Pass wtp?
3) 1S wtp?
4) Close between 1S and 1NT. Go for 1S

Just wondering what "wtp?" means

Denis

[mishovnbg]

Q1: 1♥ - 6.5 L, 1.5QT, good suit, marginal hand. If you play duch 2/muiderberg - 2♥. If you play Wilkosz - 2♦. It is bad idea to pass and bid later at highest level.
Q2: dbl - you still have 3 cards support and hcp compensation.
Q3: 1♠, not interesting question.
Q4: 1♠, good for leading direction too.

Misho

[Free]

DenisO, on Jul 14 2004, 07:49 AM, said:

The_Hog, on Jul 14 2004, 02:24 AM, said:

1) Opening 2H - shows H and a minor
2) Pass wtp?
3) 1S wtp?
4) Close between 1S and 1NT. Go for 1S

Just wondering what "wtp?" means

Denis

"wtp" is probably "what's the problem"