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East Horsley Bridge Club
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Have a look at the latest 'Tip of the Month' and 'Hand of the Month'

Latest
Hand of the Month - January 22nd

A very competitive auction with multiple results. I have documented what we bid which may not be elegant but got to the right result which was 6 doubled; unfortunately we went 1 down although it is possible to make..

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - September 4th

I have shown a possible sequence to get to 6 using Blackwood which identifies 3 Aces, so how come only one of the 5 pairs bid it?

Hand of the Month - August 7th

I have shown a possible bidding sequence to get to 6 , which only one pair, excluding myself and partner reached. All others bid 4 and all but one  pair made 13 tricks.

Hand of the Month - July 5th

I have shown a possible bidding sequence as we did not play this hand. The 4 is a 'splinter bid' showing shortage in  s and so North should call 4NT. If splinter bid are not used, then South would bid 4  and then North has to decide on 4NT!

If Key Card or Roman Key Card Blackwood is used, the result will be 2 including the K so 6 is the bid.

Only one pair of the 7 bid it but all made 12 tricks. 

Hand of the Month - February 27th

I have shown the bidding that we used and partner was brave in bidding 4NT, Key Card Blackwood, which enabled us to reach 6♠ . Only one other pair bid 6♠ , but they only made 12 tricks so a very rare 'top' for us.

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - November 14th

I have shown a very short way of getting to 6NT or 6, if you are not so brave. All 7 pairs made 13 tricks, but only 3 pairs bid 6NT. One bid 6 , 1 bid 5NT and 2 bid 3NT.

Hand of the Month - October 24th

There is a choice of openings for West; 1♠ (not rule of 20), 2♠ (there are 7 ♠ ) or 3♠ (weak and 7♠ ). I have shown 2♠ as it is too strong for 3♠ and not strong enough for 1♠ . Although not technically correct it gives more flexibility in the bidding and would not be disastrous if East passes.

This bid enables East to give the strong response of 2NT and West should respond 4♠ to denote a good 2♠ and then 4NT enables a 6♠ bid. The position of K♣ ensures 12 tricks at least.

Only one pair bid 6♠ and I can see that it is difficult with a weak opening to reach it.

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - September 12th

I have shown a possible bidding sequence to reach the optimum contract of 6♠ , which 2 of the 6 pairs did.

It is understandable that 4 pairs stopped in 4♠ which could be taken as a limit bid, so maybe 3♠ is better? 

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - August 22nd

There are a couple of options and I have opted for the use of the 4♣  splinter bid to show 1st or 2nd round control and as West has A & Q they know there are no ♣ losers. 

West's bid of 4 shows the Ace and so East can go 4NT and West response shows 4 of the 5 key cards and so East bids 6 .

3of the 7 pirs bid and made 6  and one was even doubled giving them a top.

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - July 11th

A fascinating hand that we didn't have the pleasure of playing, however I have shown what I think is the optimum bidding to get to 7 .

Only one pair achieved this and only one bid 6 , but 3 stopped in 4 !

Two pairs bid 6NT which is correct from the points perspective but is it a risk with singleton 9♠ ?

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - June 13th

I have shown what I think is the optimum way to get to 6♠ which only 2 reached, but one went to 7♠  and all made 13 tricks.

5 pairs, including  myself, stopped at 4♠  and in our case it was because of East's bid of 4♠  which is a limit bid; did others do the same?

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - May 30th

I have shown a possible sequence of bidding to get to the optimum contract of 6 , which only one pair reached. The key bid is the response by East of 2♠ which shows 15/16 points and 5 s. If the response is 2NT then the pair will stop at 3NT , as 2 pairs did, as there are not enough points for 6NT . One pair stopped at 4 (why?) and two reached 5  but stopped short of slam.

Hand of the Month - March 7th

Not many interesting hands this month but this one has a few bidding options. I have shown a possible sequence to get to 6♠ as I believe that an opening bid of 2NT with 19 points will lead to just 3NT.

It still requires North to be bold to bid 4NT , but South's response will lead to 6♠ . Two pairs bid 6♠ , but only one made it and one pair bid 4♠ , but made 12 tricks.

I believe that it is only poor defense that allows 6♠ to make.

Hand of the Month - February 21st

 A very interesting hand to bid and I have left ? at East's next bid. This is crucial as to whether N/S bid a slam as if East passes then I suspect South will pass. However if East bids 5♠  then South has a  decision to make as North has bid 5 over 4♠  so should Soouth go 6 ?

On the day, 2 pairs bid 4/5♠  and, although one were doubled, it only cost 200. 3 pairs bid 5  and all made but 2 pairs bid 6  but only one of them made.

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - January 12th

A hand that defies the rules by being able to reach 6NT without the recommended 33 points! Only one pair bid it but all pairs made at leat 12 tricke. One pair even bid and made 6♠ but goodness knows how they bid that!

The key is to be brave enough to bid 4NT (Key or Roman) as the response of 5 , 2 key cards, can only mean the A & K , so 6NT is better than 6 .

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - December 1st

I have chosen this hand because it is so interesting and I have deliberately not put in the bidding as there are so many options.

The final contracts were: 5♣ (W). 2*5 (N), 5♠ (N), 6 (E) doubled and 6♠ (N) so you get a flavour for the problem. All the contracts by North/South were successful but the East/West ones failed but 5♣,  one down, was a great sacrifice. The same can't be said for the 6 by East which went 3 down doubled and I suspect that resulted from a brave (foolish!) 4 opening by East!

Happy New Year

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - November 8th

This is a classic use of the 4NT 'quantative' bid.

East opens 2♣ , showing 23+ points or 'game going hand'. West has two choices; 2 which is negative or 'waiting', or 3♣ denoting points. Either way East is going to respond 3NT; 22-24 balanced.

West will now bid 4NT, which is 'quantative' asking East is they are maximum; East is so bids 6NT.

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - September 27th

An easy one for this month as you can see from the bidding so why didn't we all do it; we didn't! 

If you use ordinary Blackwood you might stop in 5 as you get a one Ace response. However if you use KC or RKC you get the response including the K  and so go 6 .

Also if you use Jacoby a 2NT response from East would get a 3 response from from West and then East goes 4NT.

Of the 9 pairs, 4 stopped in 4  (as we did), one in 5 and 4 bid 6 ; all made 12 tricks.

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - August 9th

 

I have shown what I think is the optimum bidding sequence to get to 6which includes a 4♣ 'splinter' bid. I can understand if people just jump to 5 after partner's response of 2or even 3.  However there is no need to take up bidding space with 3  as East is going to bid again and describe their hand better.

4 pairs bid 3NT and made 12 tricks, 3 bid 5  and made 13 tricks as did the one pair that bid 6 .

 

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - July 12th

I have shown a possible bid sequence to slam and even if North interferes, E/W should reach 6 . Only 4 pairs in fact bid 6 but one pair bid 7 but I don't believe it was our members!

Luckily at our table E/W only bid to 4  and were the only pair to only make 12 instead of every other pair who made13.

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - June 14th

I have suggested an outrageous way of bidding to 6 as we didn't play this hand.

The 4♠ bid is  a 'splinter' as it is one below the game; assumed to be 5 hopefully by your partner. 5♣  is 'ace showing' as is 5  so the only bid left is 6 !  

Only one pair out of 8 bid 6 and there is probably a cleverer way of getting there. The best score for the opposition was 3♠  which was left in!

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - May 17th

I have shown the bidding using the Jacoby 2NT response to the 1 open by South which shows support for  and a game going hand. South can respond 4 which is a 'splinter' showing a singleton or void in  .

South would go 4NT, either Blackwood or KCB, and get 5♠ enough to go 6 .

Even without Jacoby you should reach 6 which 5 of the 12 did and 7 pairs even made all 13. 

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - April 5th

I have shown the bidding sequence used by my partner and I to get to 6NT via a 'quantative' 4NT bid from North so we end in 6NT. This was the perfect bid which resulted in a top; a very rare occurrence!

There is an alternative bidding sequence using Jacoby. This is where North responds 2NT which is game forcing and showing support for spades. South would respond 3NT showing 15-19 balanced and North would continue with the 4NT 'quantative' bid and end in 6NT.

10 of the 11 pairs made 12 tricks but there was only one other slam bid; 6♠ gaining less points than 6NT.

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - March 15th

An easy one this month although not everybody bid the obvious 6NT and I can say that because we weren't there that evening.

I have shown one possible example of bidding if North is reluctant to open 2NT with a singleton  . However if North does open 2NT then surely South would bid 6NT.

Having said all that only 5 pairs bid 6NT and two of them only made 12 tricks. All the pairs that bid 3NT, 4  or 6 all made 13 tricks. There was one exception of a bid of 4♠  which only made 10 tricks!

Hand of the Month - February 8th

The majority of pairs, 7 out of 12, bid to 6  and I have shown a possible bidding sequence. Whichever Blackwood convention you use, the response will be 5 meaning 2 of the key cards and you would naturally go to 6 .

Unfortunately it is not makeable whatever the lead and play and it is unusual for so many pairs to bid a slam that has to go down! However 6 makes but why would you bid slam in a minor with those hearts.

For once it paid to be prudent and so 4  is a good bid.

Hand of the Month - January 4th

I have shown a possible bidding sequence to reach  6 and it must have been a nice surprise to East when West opened 2NT. The key bid is for West to transfer to  so that the strong hand is not on the table. West knows that they have at least 30 points so can bid 4NT and gets the response of 4 key cards which must be 4 Aces, hence 6 .Luckily we only defended and our opponents weren't one of the 2 pairs that bid 6 ; 8 pairs bid 4 but made 12.

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - December 14th

As it is the last HOM for 2020, I thought I would include this and I have put a possible bidding sequence to get to slam. However my partner and I have reviewed it and even looking at both hands we still couldn't find a good way of reaching slam; luckily we did not have to as we were defenders.

Many pairs did find slam as 5 bid 6♠, 1 bid 6NT and one pair bid and made 7♣ . 4 pairs failed to bid slam one pair who bid slam only managed 11 tricks, whereas 9 pairs out of 11 made 13 tricks.

It just demonstrates that no matter how long you play this game you still don't always get it right!!

Happy New Year. 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - November 9th

There are many ways to bid to slam and I have shown the quickest route which assumes that your partner has 'reversed' showing 16+ points. You have 18 points so why not bid 6NT!

12 tricks are a given (two pairs only got 10, including one who bid 7NT) but one pair bid 7NT and made all 13, difficult given that neither hearts nor clubs break.

Rob W Anderson 

Hand of the Month - 19th October

I have shown the perfect bidding, starting with 2♣  and using 4 as a 'Splinter' showing first or second round control in . Then South should bid 4♠ as a 'Cue' bid showing A♠ and then North can bid 4NT.

Either  Roman or Key Card Blackwood would enable you to be sure that you had all Aces and the King , thus you should bid 7  but nobody did!

2 pairs bid 4♠; 3 bid 4 ; 3 bid 6 ; 1 bid 3NT and 1 pair even stopped in 3 ! 

The only contract not to make 13 was 3NT.

Luckily we defended this so did not have to make the key bids.

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - 28th September

An interesting hand to bid and most pairs reached 5♣ , making 12 tricks, but no pair bid 6♣ . I have shown one example of bidding, however I would have opened 2♣ as  'game going' hand, but I don't think that this would have affected the end result.

However, If the opening is 1♣ , I am surprised that more E/W were not a bit more 'pushy' as they were non-vulnerable and could have forced N/S to 6♣ !

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - March 2nd

There seems to be an easy way to bid to 6♣  but only one pair did. Those who stopped in 3NT made 13, 11 or even 9 (against us luckily) but one reached 6NT and made 13; a top.

Hand of the Month - February 3rd

I didn't play this hand but the bidding shown should be the one used and whether the 4NT is RKC or not the answer of 5  shows 2 and so 6♠  should be bid.

However only 5 pairs out of 16 bid it and all made 13 tricks. Those who bid 4♠  made between 11 and 13 but the best result was 13 tricks in 6NT.

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - January20th

A difficult hand to bid and play as can be seen by the results and the 'best bid' diagram where 6 is theoretically the only makeable slam.

Only 2 pairs bid 6 and they only achieved 10 tricks but 2 bid 6♠ , one of which made 12 tricks which gave them a top. 

We didn't play this hand so I have shown a possible bidding sequence that we would have achieved i.e. 6 , but I am still having problems working out how to make it so I will leave that up to you to ponder! 

Rob W  Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - December 2nd

I have shown the bidding that our partnership would have done and getting to 6NT is quite simple; however only 4 pairs did and one of them only made 11 tricks.

An overcall of 1♠ , or even 2♠, by South could cause E/W to consider NT a problem but the lead will come from South and so East's K♠ will make a trick and 12 tricks are now possible.

Rob W Anderson

 

 

Hand of the Month - November 11th

Given the number of points in the North/South hands then all should reach 6NT; but how?

I have shown a bidding sequence using the Gerber 4♣ asking for Aces, but this is little used. If it is not used, as we didn't, there is a danger of stopping in 3NT as we did!

If Gerber is not used then after the 3 bid, South would have to take a leap of faith and bid 6NT or would 5NT from South tempt North with the A to bid 6NT?

There were 5 bids of  6NT that all made plus 1; one of 5NT that just made; 1 bid of 4♠ that made plus 1; 5 bids of 3NT that all made plus 4; one of 7♠ that went one off, but the best was a bid of 7NT that made.

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - October 28th

I have shown the most sensible bidding, but even if the opening is 2NT, the final contract should be 6NT.

However, out of 14 pairs, only 3 bid 6NT and I suspect the jump to 3NT caused  9 pairs to stop, despite the 33 point count.

Unfortunately we were were on the receiving end of a 6NT bid.

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - September 30th

Probably the biggest hand that anyone has ever been dealt, so how to deal with it. From the travellers it seems there are many ways and I believe that the one shown is the most effective to find the missing A and therefore bid 6NT.

6 , 6NT and 3NT (7 pairs) all make 13 tricks whereas 7♠ (!) and 6♠ (3 pairs) only makes 11 tricks.

Hand of the Month - August 5th

I have shown a possible sequence to get to 6♠ , which 4 pairs achieved. However only 2 pairs made 6♠ , with one pair going off by 1 trick and myself going off by 2 tricks and I still don't know how!

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - July 29th

I have shown a possible bidding sequence to 6  which only one pair achieved. The key bid is East's response to West's rebid of 2 as the obvious bid is to jump to 5 which most did. However if East chooses a 'splinter' bid of either 4  or 4♠ then West can use RKCB to identify they are missing one of the 5 key cards and bids 6 .

The 6 pairs who bid 5 , making 12 tricks, were beaten by 3 pairs who bid 3NT.

 

Hand of the Month - June 3rd

An interesting hand but for the wrong reasons!

If you bid according to the hand layout shown, then  6NT should be reached. If South responds 2 as a 'waiting' bid, then North will go 2NT to indicate a balanced 23/24 points and then South can risk 6NT although they could be 1 point short. If South responds a positive 3 , then North will bid 4NT and if using RKCB, North will discover the K and go onto 6 NT (or 6 ?).

Nobody bid this high and if you look at the travelers you can see why as most Easts lead A♣ , which they don't have according to the hand! 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - May 20th

A hand that produced a wide variety of bids from E/W 3 to 6  or 2♠ to 4♠, all generally making 12 tricks. In 3 cases N/S bid 4 or 5♣ or even 4 which produced 9 tricks and a very good result for them.

One pair reached 6 and I have shown a possible way if South forces the issue with 4♣ , then West will surely go to 5 and East with 2 Aces will go to 6 .

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - April 29th

A hand that shows the advantage of the Weak Two opening. South would open 2 and with such a powerful hand North could go 4NT. Whether it is normal Blackwood or RKCB the response from South shows one Ace so North can go 6 .  If not using Weak Twos then North would open 1♣ and East could enter the bidding with 1♠ and even if South bids 2 , then North will probably stop at 4 .

Given that we use Weak Twos why didn't we bid 6 ; a mistake by North!

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - March 18th

A fascinating hand to bid and there were a number of options from 4 to 6♠  and 5 to 6♣ . The ♣ bids giving the best result for E/W even with the vulnerability and in some cases doubled.

I have identified a possible bidding sequence that would give the best result for N/S, although this was not the one that our partnership achieved! 

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - February 25th
Hand of the Month - January 7th

Most pairs reached slam on this deal, with a choice between NT or  . From the bidding it is obvious that there is an 8 card fit in   but NT is a better score. The only complication comes if using RKCB as  the response is based on ♣ as that is the last suit bid. However the response of 2 As still enables a bid of 6NT.

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - December 17th

Less than half of the pairs reached 6♠ but there appears to be two ways that the bidding would take you there. I have shown one example using the Splinter bid of 4♣ which then allows South to bid 4NT, either standard Blackwood or Roman Key Card, shows all Aces but RKC would show the K♠; either way South will go 6♠ .

An alternate bidding sequence would be for North to go straight to 4NT and again either Blackwood system would ensure that the response would get North to go to 6♠ .

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - November 11th

Only 4 pairs reached 6♠  but there are a couple of key bids that should enable it to be reached.

North's rebid of 3♠  is the first key bid to indicate a strong hand and forcing. South's bid of 4  is a cue bid showing first round control in . From that point North's 4NT (either normal or RKC) shows 2 aces so North bids 6♠ .

It still needs careful play to get 12 tricks, particularly if East leads their singleton ♠ as this reduces the ruffing potential.

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - October 29th

I have shown the biddng with North using the 'quantative' bid of 4NT after the 2NT open by South. This tells South to bid 6NT if they are maximum i.e. 22 points or Pass if not. In this case it achieves the optimum bid of 6NT. This is a superior contract than the 6 that would be reached by the natural bidding using Blackwood.

7 out of 14 bid to 6NT.

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - September 24th

This is an interesting deal as nearly all pairs only reached 4♠ despite the fact that 6♠ is made. This seems to be a good case for the 'Splinter' bid as shown in the documented bidding.

East will open 1♠  and South would bid 2♣  or, to cause more disruption, 3♣ . The 3♣  bid might cause West to stop at 4♠ whereas using a 'Splinter' bid of 4 showing game values and first or second round control in  is more descriptive. East should then bid 4NT and gets the response of 1 Ace and as he doesn't know if West has A♠ he stops at 6♠ . 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month -August 13th

I have put the bidding sequence that happened at our table, but there were obviously a lot of other options. It really depends on what West decides to open; Pass or 1 based on 'the rule of 20'. In the cases that West passed, then North opens 1♠ and the auction ends there. If West opens 1 then whatever North does, Double or 2NT, East should bid 3 and then West raises to 4 . This happened in 2 cases and rightfully North doubles and it goes one of two off. However some were in 2 which means North did not bid 2NT and the auction ends.

In one case North/South ended up in 5 , so North must have doubled, South bid diamonds and North got excited. 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - July 30th

An interesting hand as there was a split of bidding between N/S bidding to 4 (3x) and E/W bidding to 4♠ (3x). We didn't play this hand so I have shown the bidding as how I believe we would have done it. I am sure that there were lots of other combinations and the results were as variable as the bidding with  making between 10 and 12 tricks and  ♠ making 9 or 10 tricks

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - June 11th

The bidding sequence will depend on what West does when South obviously opens 2♣ ; 23+ points or game going hand. West would probably opened 3 so does he go for an overcall with weak or go 4 as a spoiler and pre-empt? North has a dilemma as although he has 7 points there is not really a 'trick and a half', so would normally bid 2 . As West will have bid something, then North is best to pass and await South's next bid. South then has a choice of 3NT which North will pass or double and wait for North's response. North would surely bid 4 in response to the double so how does South go for slam? 

I think this can only happen if North has given a positive response of   at some point in the auction; either West doesn't bid or bids at a level that North can mention  ; we didn't go for slam!

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - May 14th

Only two normal duplicate sessions this month so nothing very exciting to report but this hand proved tricky to bid to slam. Only 2 bid slam and one obviously enquired as they bid 5 . I think that if RKCB is used you have a better chance of finding slam as you find that partner either has the mising 2 Aces or an Ace and the K  so reasonable to bid on to slam.

 

Hand of the Month - April 30th

It is not often that 7NT is bid, so I have tried to identify how you would actually bid to 7NT. I have noted the obvious bidding which gets to 6NT but how do you go the next step. South knows that they have at least 27 points between them but how do you identify if North is 15 or 16? If North is maximum then there cannot be a King missing so 7NT is the bid.

I assume that some people took a 'punt' (not recommended by Andrew Robson) but if you use Gerber then 4♣  (again not recommended by AR) would start you on the process of finding all As and Ks so 7NT is the result.

As can be seen by the results, only 2 people bid 7NT and one went off; I rest my case!

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - March 5th

I didn't play this hand but from the Travellers I assume that the bidding was quite competitive.

I have shown a possible bidding sequence assuming an opening bid from North of 3♠, although my partner said that she would not have opened!  

Whatever the bidding sequence E/W are bound to get to at least 4  and in one case went onto 7 which was undoubled and gave them a good score.

Nobody bid the ♣  or ♠ small or grand slam, although some made all 13 tricks.

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - February 12th

As can be seen from the Travellers, the most common bid was 4♠ and I have provided a possible way of getting there. However, we were defending 3♠ and  my partner and I could not agree how the bidding should have gone to reach 4♠. My view is that irrespective of North's bidding South has a 'guaranteed' 4♠ or 5♣ in their own hand so I would have been forceful.

Congratulations to the partnership who bid 4 which again is unbeatable.

An interesting point is that it is the first time I have seen the grid depicting maximum possible bids to show less than the number achieved by almost everyone.

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - January 15th

Most pairs reached 5♣ , making 12 tricks, although 2 stopped in 3♣. It is possible that some pairs do not open 2♣ as the hand has not got 23+ points but using the 'game going hand principle' I believe it is worth 2♣ .

The only pair who bid and made 6♣ did not use the bidding sequence shown, but jumped to 6♣ after 3 on the basis that West's responses probably showed an Ace in one of their suits; bold or stupid?

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - November 27th

Only 2 pairs reached 6 and one was doubled and therefore got a top. It is difficult to reach 6 if you start the bidding with 2NT as you are missing an Ace and unless you can find the  void you are going to settle for 5 .

One pair got to 6 by a combination of bravado and misunderstanding!

Their bidding went as follows:

1 : 4 (brave with 5 points but only 7 losers) : 4NT (getting over excited!) : 5♣  (playing RKCB denying any Aces) : 6  (misunderstanding the response and assuming the A !)

Thanks to the  void the missing A  is no problem and slam made!

 

Rob W Anderson 

Hand of the Month - October 30th

I didn't play this hand so I have shown what I think is the best bidding sequence to reach the 6NT that only 4 pairs did. However as I was reviewing this hand I discussed the bidding with my partner and she pointed out a couple of reasons that stopped this sequence being achieved:

  • West overcalls 2  which really would cause a problem as North would probably bid 2♠  and one pair did reach 4♠ which is a very poor score.
  • South responds 1♠ to North's 1 and then North might go 3NT assuming South has a minimum hand; the contract that 9 pairs reached. 

Given this discussion it is probably just as well we didn't play it!

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - September 11th

4 pairs bid to slam of some sought and I have shown one way of getting to 6 using Roman Key Card Blackwood as it allows East to show he has the K . This enables West to bid 6 in confidence, but should East go on to 7  as he also has the Q

Hand of the Month - August 21st

I have shown what I believe to be the obvious bidding sequence as South has little scope but to bid 3 and North would naturally bid 3 NT. South would pass as there are insufficient points for a NT slam. Some Souths went straight to 5 which is an inferior contract, but one pair reached 6  which gets a top.

How did they get there? 

I happen to know that the bidding sequence was as follows:

1 ; 1 (??) ; 1NT; 6 !

Fortune favours the brave in this instance.

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - July 3rd

An interesting hand because there are 33 points between E/W and yet no pair reached 6NT, one bid 6 and only one the superior contract of 6♠.

I have shown a possible way of bidding to 6♠ and I cannot see how more people didn't reach a slam contract. Congratulations to the pair that bid and made 6♠ and I am sure that I would have done if I had played this hand!

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - June 26th

This must be the Hand of the Year if not Ever!

I was not present but I would assume that there was a few choices of opening:

1 or 2♣ would lead to 6NT, but would you go onto 7NT?

2NT (two doubletons?), then West would surely go 4NT (quantative) and East, who is top of the range, would go 6NT and then West would go 7NT.

Only 2 pairs did.

 

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - May 8th

A difficult hand to bid to slam despite E/W having 34 points. The travellers show that West did not open 2NT so the natural bid is 1 . The response from East is the crucial bid as any response in  is going to be limiting. A bid of 1  is a 'lie' as there are only 3, but they are good if looking for NT. West is likely to jump to show a strong hand and 2♠ seems the best option. East can now safely bid NT, but how many?

If 3NT, then given West's point count of 19, can now go to 6NT or maybe East goes directly to 6NT.

We were on the receiving end of a 6NT bid, but I cannot remember how they got there!

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - April 10th

Although the point count suggests 6NT there are a few ways of getting there. I would suggest all will open 2♣  (some may open the forcing 2 ) and the response will be 3 from West.

East will rebid 3  as there is no need to jump as the opening has identified a 'game forcing' hand. Now West has a decision; he can repeat his   or he can 'lie' and bid 3♠ , despite having only 3, but includes the A♠ . Either response would solicit a 4NT from East and whether is is normal Blackwood or Roman Key card, the response will indicate 2 As (no King of 'trumps' if it is RKCB).

East will then bid 6NT and  need to be played carefully so that North is squeezed at the end as he has Q  and possibly K depending on how it is played.

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - March 27th

A fascinating hand for N/S to bid and profitable for E/W to defend!

I have shown the bidding at our table which ended up in 4 , but some others bid 3 or 4♠  and one pair bid 3NT.

There is very little that N/S can do to stop losing the first 6 tricks with a singleton in each hand and the corresponding Ace in the other and this is followed by A ; down 4!

3/4♠ fares a little better but somehow one pair made 3NT PLUS 1.

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - February 27th

I have shown one possible way of reaching the best contract of 6NT. However looking at the Travellers, there are obviously many other routes to various contracts!

This hand has caused much discussion in our household as our bidding went as follows (ignoring E/W passes):

2♣; 3♣; 5♣; 6♣:

If the bidding starts at the one level, then it is easy to progress towards the 6NT, but the one thing we have agreed upon is the opening bid of 2♣. Pepole often quote this opening as 23+ points, but it can be less if other criteria e.g 5 quick tricks or 4 losing tricks are satisfied as in this case.

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - January 16th

A very difficult hand to bid for South as both of their majors will have been bid by the opposition, unless West opens 1NT (even with a 5 card major). If South keeps quiet then E/W might reach a game in   or ♠  as happened in a number of cases. Then it is time for South to pounce and double as E/W have nowhere safe to go now. One N/S pair somehow reached 4 which got doubled and produced an E/W top. Even NT should go off if the obvious lead of a ♣ by North is found.

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - December 5th

The bidding at our table is as shown above and given that North is on lead 3NT looks safe. 3 tables reached 3NT by West and all made 12 tricks but bidding slam looks difficult given the intervention.

The other pairs were in 5 or 6♣ so were probably forced by East bidding 4♣ so preventing 3NT. However only two pairs of the 5 who bid it made 5♣ and of the 3 that bid 6♣  none made it!

Rob W Anderson

Hand of the Month - November 21st

A difficult hand to bid to slam as E/W will compete and if you use Blackwood, either Normal or RKC, you stop at 5  as seen above.

However if you can use Cue Bids as below you can reach 6but the one pair that did went down 3!

N    E    S    W

1♣  1♠  2   2♠ 

4  P    5♣   P

5♠  P   6    P

 

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - October 31st

An interesting hand, but due to way the results of the teams have been reported, I only know the final bid at our table.

The 2 by South was weak and North passed when West doubled which enabled East to bid 2♠. Perhaps North should have bid 3 to prevent East mentioning their ♠ .Once the ♠ were bid, West got very excited and ended up in 6♠, promply doubled by North. It looked like a poor double when West tabled dummy showing no  !

However East/West went down 1 for +100 to North/South; phew.

If East does not bid a weak 2 , then the bidding probably stops at 4♠ , which will make, so I assume that our result of +100 was good for our team, but who knows!

Rob W Anderson

 

Hand of the Month - September 12th

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

Hand of the Month - July 11th

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

Hand of the Month - June 6th

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

Hand of the Month - April 25th

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

Hand of the Month - March 21st

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

Hand of the Month - February 8th

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

Hand of the Month - January 25th

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

 

Hand of the Month - December 14th

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

 

Hand of the Month - November

 

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