A very competitive auction produced a large swing of results for N/S from +1400 to -300. N/S had a choice of ♣ or ♥ or even NT. However everyone seemed to get excited as all the bids were higher than the theoretical maximum shown in the table with the results, which is a very unusual occurrence. 

A possible bidding sequence is shown against the hand but other than stopping at the 3 level there appears to be no good result.

Rob W. Anderson

I have not played much during July so I have gone back to July 11th as this was an evening where people were commenting on the distributional hands that were difficult to bid to the correct level.

It has been difficult to pick one hand from the evening but I have chosen Hand 6 as I believe it demonstrates competitive bidding and judgment as to when to stop!

I have shown a possible bidding sequence, starting with 3♥ , but some pairs may open with 2♥ . Whatever is opened, West would respond with, at least, 4♥. North would then have a decision to make and as they are NV and have no defense to 4♥ , then 5♦ looks a good option against a vulnerable game. West is pretty certain to go 5♥ as his hand is stronger than the originally bid 4♥ . Now comes decision time again for N/S; South has heard his partner overcall 5♦ and he has 4 diamonds and the A♠ so 6♦ looks a good bid. West is on the spot and has a decision to Double or bid 6♥ ! 

As can been seen from the travellers, 6♦ only goes one off and even doubled is a good result as 5♥ makes.

Rob W Anderson

The above shows a likely bidding sequence which results in the 6NT contract. The key bid is the 2NT response as this shows 17 - 18 points, despite the lack of a control in ♦ .

Once opener bids 2NT, then responder should bid 4NT which is 'quantative' asking if opener is maximum, then bid 6NT.

Two pairs bid to 7, one in ♥ , the other in NT, both of which failed even though 13 was made by 3 pairs, and this saved my parnership from getting a 'bottom'.

Rob W Anderson

The bidding example shows one way of reaching 6♠ , but only 3 pairs bid it and one failed, but 2 other pairs made 12. There are very few losers but South's hand who would call 4NT has only one Ace. However, the 6♠  in the 2 cases that made 12, attracted the natural lead of A♦  which should secure the contract.

Most contracts that received a ♥ lead did not make 12, but the contract can still be secured by cross ruffing as declarer has the 'boss' trumps.

Rob W. Anderson

I didn't play this board so I have suggested the bidding that produced one of the better results. However reviewing the traveller shows the variability in the bidding and hence the scores.

It is apparent that in some auctions, either South thought their 3 points worthy of a bid or North re-bid their hand without support.

In summary the results were:

North/South's bidding varied from 2NT to 3♣  resulting in a range of 5 tricks for 2NT to between 7 to 10 tricks for ♣ and therefore positive scores from 50 to 100. .

East/West's bidding varied from 1♠  to 4♥ resulting in 7 tricks for 1♠  to between 7 to 9 tricks for ♥ and therefore positive scores from 50 to 150.

Rob W. Anderson

All pairs, apart from one, achieved 12 or 13 tricks but only one pair bid 6♠ . One pair bid 5♠ but presumably stopped after Blackwood once they found an Ace missing. Should the other pairs have been bolder and the crucial bid would appear to be once West has repeated their ♠ as they are at a minimum. At this point East's hand looks very powerful but ♥ and ♣ are vulnerable, paricularly with no opposition bidding. East only really has two choices; 4♠ or Blackwood. Whichever Blackwood option is played, there is a missing Ace, but RKC would show the Q♠ and would make the 6♠ less risky.

Well done pair 2!

Rob W. Anderson

Not a particularly spectacular hand to start 2016, but one where most pairs made 12 tricks, but not many bid it. The bidding above is the most likely route and either ordinary Blackwood or Roman Key Card both get you to 6♥ . One pair bid and made 6NT, whereas those who stopped in 3NT made 11 tricks!

Hopefully better note-taking and memory will produce a more exciting hand for February; stay with me.

Rob W Anderson

A very difficult hand to bid even when you can see all 4 hands!

The scoring was mainly for North/South and went from 150 to 1100.The best score of 1100 probably resulted from the sample bidding above, but a couple of North/South found 3NT perhaps by the following bidding:

Pass: Pass: Pass: 1♠: Pass: 1NT: Pass: 3NT   

OR   

2♥: Pass: Pass: Double: Pass: 3♣: Pass: 3NT

Rob W. Anderson

On this hand most pairs bid to 4♥ , probably via the sequence shown, but made 12 tricks. So can slam be safely bid as one pair did?

There are a few options for bidding slam:

1♥ : Pass : 4♥ : Pass : 4NT and then using your prefered convention you find 2 aces (and the Q♥  if using RKCB) and bid to 6♥ .

Or for the more advanced:

1♥  : Pass : 2NT (Jacoby showing 4 card support for ♥ and game going hand) : Pass : 4♦ (Splinter showing singleton or void in ♦ ): Pass : 4♥ : Pass : 4NT, then as above.

Rob W. Anderson