21 The Canine Table

I referred to this last week. What is it? Well, it’s when you use inverted logic. What’s that, then? It’s when……Oh an example would save time:

Every dog has four legs, right? Er, yes. That table has four legs. Therefore that table is a dog. Hey, hang on…

It’s inverted logic because “If A then B” does not mean you can say “If B then A”.

My earlier example was the lady whose hand was 4-4-4-1 (club singleton) and the bidding went (partner) 1C  - 1NT – 2C,  the NT lady defending herself thus “I had to show my point-count, partner.”  Here the inverted logic was that “A response of 1NT shows 6 to 9 points” is not the same as “6 to 9 points means you bid 1NT”.

Want other examples?   

“I’ve got 20 points!  I have to open 2NT, don’t I?”

“A 5-card suit – I must overcall.  I don’t like it when the opponents open.”

“A 6-card diamond suit – Weak two, here I come. Never mind the four spades.”

“A 7-card suit – that’s a pre-emptive three. What if we’re vulnerable? You have to do it, yes?”

“She’s opened 2C, she must have 23+. I know she’s going to rebid No Trumps, I have second sight.”  [N.B. The rebid might be a suit. A powerful suit with an unbalanced hand and ten playing tricks merits a 2C opening. Because of the power of a long suit there could be as little as 18 points.]

You’ve never slipped up in any of those ways, have you? If you can’t see what’s wrong with them, it’s relying on only one feature of the hand. You have to tick ALL the boxes required.