Hi Derek, My partner opened 1C and after the 1S overcall really wanted to respond 2D but my teacher told us you need ten points to respond at the 2 level so felt i had to pass. We missed 5C   Do you think i should have bid? 

Hi Katie, You have raised an excellent point and thankyou for bringing it up . Playing a weak NT you should always respond at the two level with nine or even an excellent 8 points. I do it it myself and teach my pupils to do the same. It is one of flaws of the SBU simple system. Never mind it was not your fault and you will know what to do next time.  Cheers Derek

The latest installment of 'ask Derek' is slightly different from normal because on this ocasion it was me who was asked why I took an action. Sitting east in the displayed hand from the home international series, I received this queery via Facebook from a correspondent of The French bridge magazine 'Le Bridgeur'.

Hello Derek, I write a monthly article for the French magazine "Le Bridgeur", which is titled "Blog-trotter". We interview bridge players from all over the world without predujice to their thoughts and reasons. We would like to talk to you about the Camrose Trophy first weekend and have identified board 22 from the match against Northern Ireland as of special interest. Please could you explain why you chose to pass your partners take out double of 2H?  Was their opening style and vulnerability a factor? Have a nice week... Best regards, Marion Cannone.

Hi Marion, Thankyou for contacting me with regard to the above hand. The 2H opener was Lucas and showed hearts and a minor. Once partner has doubled, my first concern given that we were vulnerable was if we had a game contract. Because of the weak nature of the hand and poor spade suit this did not seem likely, infact the whole hand felt like a misfit. It looked like there was little chance of 2H making and along with a significant penalty being  available if the opponenents had stepped out of line (a strong possibility ) pass looked a profitable action.  Cheers Derek :)

Post mortem: Although we defeated 2H by one trick board 22 was a 'disaster for Scotland' when at the other table the Scottish N/S doubled 4S but allowed the contract to make when north pulled a wrong card. So instead of gaining 12 imps Scotland lost 12...painful:(

 Hi Derek, I held the East hand and when north opened 1D I got a little overwhelmed with the strength of my hand and only overcalled 1NT. This was a bit of a disaster when Barbara passed and we missed our game in the majors. What should I have done?

Hi Norma,  Yes your hand was a little strong for a 1NT overcall which shows 15-18 points. The best way to tell partner you have a strong hand is to double first and then bid something later. On this hand it would have worked a treat because Barbara would have responded 1H and now you can raise to 4H ( I must say Barbara should have bid 2C Stayman after your 1NT overcall anyway) Never mind you had an excellent result recently winning a pair of the highly sought after No Fears mugs...well done you both. Cheers Derek

It was the 25th Aniversary of my Brother and his partner being together so they organised a massive party in Brighton. We all arrived a day early which meant my Mum was able to visit the Brighton and Hove bridge club for a bit of cash Bridge! The stakes were £1 per 100 aggregate points 'Chicago scoring' (dont play this at home!). At this type of Bridge you are allowed no conventions apart from Stayman and Blackwood and can win or lose a lot of money! But things went well especially when she picked up the North hand (a monster!). Later i was asked how i would have bid the hand.

Hi Mum, What an an amazing hand. In my view you have two options here, either open 6S or 7S. 6S is almost certain to make and will pay £14.30 or you could gamble 7S for £22.10. There are no odds here at cash bridge..just take your £14.30 and if you make an overtrick thats fine. To go for the extra £8:00 and risk £14:00 would be silly.  Derek

Pleasingly she opened 6S which was a spread and at the end of the afternoon walked out £36:00 better off. Wisely the money was used to pay the bar bill that evening!

Hi Derek, Holli and I came across this hand in the Friday evening tourney at The Carlton.We missed the good slam after I rebid the west hand 1NT.How should we have bid the cards?

Hi Stephen, Your hand is not quite right for a 1NT rebid. It has the wrong shape and far too much playing strength. The normal rebid would be a jump to 3C showing 16+ with a good six card suit, but even this feels like a bit of an underbid. There are a range of hands that are not strong enough for 2C (9 playing tricks) but too strong for a 1 opener and then a jump to 3 rebid and this hand falls into that category. So a good method to have in your partnership is the jump rebid to 3NT by opener shows hands with 8 playing tricks and good points. This would get you to at least a small slam and possibly the grand slam (See answer for an explanation of the above auction). Cheers Derek

Hi Derek, I held the south cards and after my partner overcalled and some strong bidding by East I felt holding only six points I was not strong enough to support Kath's spades. With 4S only one down and 4H making should I have taken some kind of action?

Hi Jacob, Firstly well done getting 5 A Grades. Yes your hand is weak in points but you do have four card support, a reasonable five card side suit and significantly a singleton. Partner has overcalled vulnerable so should be OK. Put all these together and you are well worth a bid, in fact I think a raise to 4S is your best option because this puts the opponents under the most pressure. As it turns out 4S will make about %30 of the time and is only going down when 4H is making, factor in that you may push them up to 5H which can be defeated on a club lead and it is definitely the winning action.                    Cheers Derek

Hi Derek,  I played this hand with Sally and we reached 4S after I opened a weak two in spades. The contract was defeated by one trick could we have done better?

Hi Maureen, Thanks For the question. I like your partners 4S bid, despite not being that strong.However the trumps are very good and any time your hand contains a singleton you would expect 4S to make. But what makes 4S a real winner is that your opponents are good for 4H so even being set by one trick is a lot better than conceding 620! Cheers Derek

Hi Derek,  I played this hand against Kath and Jacob. I overcalled 1NT and then competed with 2NT after which Jacob doubled. This was a disaster because the contract was defeated by 4 tricks for minus 1100. Where did I go wrong?

Hi Irene, Firstly well done to you and Jim for winning your heat of the Hugh Kelsey Cup. With regards to the bidding I don't mind your 1NT overcall (15-18) despite only having 14 points. But Jims 2D bid is a weak take out and when Kath rebids her seven card suit you really only have two options either pass or 3D. Holding good trumps and points its unlikely 2S will make, so I prefer a pass. But even so Jim should have removed 2NT to 3C with the very distributional two suited hand.

To be fair you have to admire Jacobs excellent defence on this hand. He lead a spade and then ducked two rounds of diamonds, cutting you off from dummy before switching to a heart.

Cheers Derek