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Hands of the Week - Archive
 
 
  Board 20 Thursday 6th Nov

Bravery or foolhardiness?

Three passes, vulnerable, 9 points and 4 spades - what to do? Bid 1 spade or pass?

1 pair (OK, I admit it) bid 1 spade which was then contested by East/West in hearts and eventually we won out in 3 spades which made.

Three east/west played in hearts although it is not known if they entered the auction with East bidding 1 heart or after a South courageously bid 1 spade.

The hand was passed out at 7 of the eleven tables which is definitely the percentage play but hey, you only live once devil

Board No 20 Both Vul Dealer West
Pairs Contract Scores Points
N/S E/W Bid By Ld Tks N/S E/W N/S E/W
10
21
 3♠ S ♣3 = 140   20  
6
13
 Passed Out 12 8
11
12
 Passed Out 12 8
3
18
 Passed Out 12 8
7
15
 Passed Out 12 8
9
19
 Passed Out 12 8
8
17
 Passed Out 12 8
1
14
 Passed Out 12 8
5
22
 3♥ E ♠J =   140 4 16
2
16
 3♥ E ♠A +1   170 1 19
4
20
 2♥ E ♦10 +2   170 1 19
  Board 17 Thursday 6th Nov 2014

Don't we love hands like this?

Go on, be brave!

At 5 tables, the North/South pair played in 4 hearts making 10,12 and 13 tricks.

At 2 tables, the North/South  pair played in 5 diamonds making 11 and 12 tricks

At 1 table, the North/South pair bid 6 hearts and went off one when the spades were led.

But 2 East/West pairs stuck to their guns and bid up to 4 spades with only 14 HCP between them. When South led his partners suit, diamonds, East said Thank You and ruffed his way home to a top!

Whilst not condoning such bidding bravery, I can only admire the courage shown in the face of determined bidding on the part of North/South and congratulate them on their fine result.
  Board 16, Thursday 16th January 2014

This hand illustrates two bidding points. How would you bid it - sitting South?

North/South are playing a weak notrump and so North opens 1NT.

 

South has a very weak hand - only 4 points - so he should close his eyes and bid his best suit which is Clubs, 2C

West can pass as East/West are vulnerable and partner can bid again - also he doesn't now have a safe bid - his spades are not biddable, a double would be for take out 2NT is not very attractive either. 

North has a difficult decision - does he look for a better suit or let South play in 2C - in any case it doesn't look very hopefully - at least we are not vulnerable!

As the cards lie, North/South can only make 4 or 5 tricks.

At two tables, 1NT was bid by North and not doubled by East - letting North/South off the hook as South and West pass.

At six tables, when East doubled, South passed, leading to a big scores for East/West as they made 8 or 9 tricks for -2 or -3 doubled

So the moral of the tale is, if your partner opens 1NT and is doubled, do NOT leave him in it if you have a weak hand - bid something, anything sad

A corollary is that if you hold 16 points and a balanced hand as East does, don't be afraid to double North's 1NT opening. The weak NT can be a formidable bid sometimes, but when you hold a hand like this over a weak NT don't hesitate to extract maximum penalties.

 

 

 
  Board 5, Thursday 23rd January 2014

Here's a nice hand - how did you go about bidding this hand, sitting in the North seat. You have 8 tricks with clubs as trumps, but a 2C bid is not available as it is reserved for a hand with 23+ points, so you open 1C and your partner replies 1S - how do you continue? 

Only two bids should spring to mind - 3NT or 4NT!

2C - the hand is too strong for a simple rebid of clubs

3C - A stronger bid, showing a 6+ card suit and 16-18 points but not forcing - your partner could pass and you certainly want to be in game

3NT - almost anything will do in partner's hand to ensure 3NT - you have at least 8 tricks in your hand (6 clubs, 2 diamonds)

4NT - Aces, Partner?  

The more adventourous player will bid 4NT looking for Aces - partner has 2 aces and bids 5H after which a bid of 6C can be made confidently.

The more cautious player will bid 3NT - and partner will pass and you will gather in 10 or 12 tricks depending on the lead. Give your partner an embarrased smile and quickly move on to the next hand.

On the night, 6C was bid & made twice, 3C was bid & made +3 twice, 3NT bid 9 times and 1NT once

 

 
  Board 19, Thursday 9th January 2014

This hand posed bidding problems to a lot of pairs - so let's try and see how it might have been bid. I have left all four hands in view to make it easier!

Bidding
W N E S
 
Pass
2
Pass		  
1
Pass
Pass		  
Dble
3NT		 Pass
Pass
Pass

After 2 passes, North opens 1 Diamond - the standard bid with a 4-4-4-1 hand and a singleton black suit is to bid the middle suit of the three remaining ie with a single club, open 1 Heart and with a single spade, open 1 diamond.

East has 16 points but poor spades which rules out a 1NT overcall. His best option is to double and see what partner has, if anything.

After South passes, West must bid in reponse to partner's double - with up to 8 points, show your best suit, with 9-12 points jump bid so West bids 2 Spades.

North passes and East should bid 3NT - after all East/West have 25-28 points, cover in all the suits, balanced distribution. A bid of 2NT could be passed by West and indeed was on 2 occasions.

The table below shows the different contracts reached - congratulations to Rita & Minella who were the only pair to bid and make the optimum contract 3NT+2

Contract 1♦ 2♦ 5♦ 2♠ 3♠ 2NT 3NT
Declarer E E E W W E E
Times 1 2 1 2 1 2 3

 

 
  Scoring in Team Competitions
We all know how to score individual hands - well, most of them, anyway.
So 1NT bid & made is 90 points, 4 Spades bid & made +1 non vulnerable is 450 and 3 diamonds bid and down 2, vulnerable, not doubled is -200
 
For more exotic results such as a slam bid & made or 2 doubled overtricks or 1 down redoubled and vulnerable, we might need to look up a score table - or indeed, let the Bridgemates do the work!
 
In a normal pairs competition, for each board played the N/S and E/W pairs are ranked according to their score, from highest to lowest and are then awarded Match Points from a Top to a Bottom (zero) where the Top score is 2 x Number of times board played - 2. First place gets a Top, 2nd a Top-2, 3rd a Top-4 and so on. The scores from all the boards are totalled and converted to a % to get a ranking.
 
But what about scoring in a team competition - for a lot of club players, this is enveloped in a mist of magic. Well, I will try to pierce the mist and explain the mechanics of scoring in International Match Points (IMPs) and Victory Points (VPs)
 
In a team of 4 competition, each team consists of 4 players - a N/S pair and an E/W pair. When team 1 plays team 2, the N/S pair of team 1 plays the  E/W pair of team 2 and the N/S pair of team 2 plays the E/W pair of team 1. They will play the same boards - often they will play 3 or 4 boards. When the play is over, the teams compare their scores on each board and calculate the score.
 
For example last night Team 7 (Joan & Gerard, Alexandra & Myra) played Team 2 (Maeve & Brigid, Cynthia & Sheila) playing boards 13, 14 and 15. Let's see how they did.
 
7 v 2 Joan & Gerard v Cynthia & Sheila   Maeve & Brigid v Alexandra & Myra Team 7 (Joan,..) Team 2 (Maeve,..)
Board Contract Decl Result Points NS7 Points EW2   Contract Decl Result Points NS2 Points EW7 Net Points IMPs Net Points IMPs
13 4S W = -620 620   4S W = -620 620 0 0 0 0
14 4S N -2 -100 100   3S N -1 -50 50 -50 -2 50 2
15 3S S = 140 -140   2S S -2 -200 200 340 8 -340 -8
                      Total IMPs   6   -6
                      Victory Points   17   13
 
Board 13
Both EWs bid and made 4S Vulnerable for a score of +620 to EW and -620 to NS. Joan & Gerard's score of -620 is added with Alexandra & Myra's score of +620 to give a net score of 0 to team 7. The net score for each board is converted to International Match Points (IMPs) using table 1 below. A net score of 0 is converted to 0 IMPs
Similarly Maeve & Brigid's score of -620 is added with Cynthia & Sheila's score of +620 to give a net score of 0 to team 2 which is converted to 0 IMPs
 
Board 14
Joan & Gerard bid 4S and only made 8 tricks, going down 2 for a score of -100 to NS7 and +100 to EW2. At the other table Maeve & Brigid stopped in 3S and also only made 8 tricks for 1 down. So +50 to EW7 and -50 to NS2. 
This is a net score of -100+50=-50 for Joan's team and a net score of -50+100=+50 for Maeve's team. When converted to IMPs, this gave -2 to Joan's team and +2 to Maeve's team.
 
Board 15
Joan & Gerard bid and made 3S for a score of +140 to NS7 and -140 to EW2. At the other table, Maeve & Brigid bid 2S but Alexandra & Myra put the contract down 2 for a score of -200 to NS2 and +200 to EW7.
This gave Joan's team a net score of +140 +200 = +340 and Maeve's team a net score of -140 -200 = -340. When converted to IMPs, this gave +8 to Joan's team and -8 to Maeve's team
 
The IMP scores from the three boards are totalled which gave Joan's team 0-2+8=+6 and Maeve's team 0+2-8=-6. These are then converted into Victory Points (VPs) using the 2nd table below to give 17 points to Joan's team and 13 points to Maeve's team.
 
Easy, No?
 
In a club competition, each team will play a number of other teams and will score each match in the same manner. The VPs from all of the matches are totaled to give the number of VPs scored by the team. The teams are then ranked according to their VPs from highest to lowest to determine the rankings.
 
I hope that clarifies the scoring procedure - somewhat, at least. Have a closer look at the results from Thursday to see this in action.
 
Table 1     Table 2
IMP Conversion     VP scale (up to 5 boards/match)
Net Score IMPs     IMPs VPs
From To     From To Winning Losing
0 10 0     0 1 15 15
20 40 1     2 4 16 14
50 80 2     5 6 17 13
90 120 3     7 8 18 12
130 160 4     9 10 19 11
170 210 5     11 12 20 10
220 260 6     13 14 21 9
270 310 7     15 16 22 8
320 360 8     17 19 23 7
370 420 9     20 22 24 6
430 490 10     23 25 25 5
500 590 11     26 29 25 4
600 740 12     30 33 25 3
750 890 13     34 37 25 2
900 1090 14     38 41 25 1
1100 1290 15     42+   25 0
1300 1490 16            
1500 1740 17            
1750 1990 18            
2000 2240 19            
2250 2490 20            
2500 2990 21            
3000 3490 22            
3500 3990 23            
4000+   24            
 
 
  Board 15 Thursday 10th Oct (Losing Trick Count - 2)
After 2 passes, partner opens 1 Heart (4+ cards), East passes.

You have 3 hearts and 5 HCP - how do you bid?
To help answer the question, you can use the Losing Trick Count method.

Count each suit with 3 or more cards as 3 losers and deduct 1 loser for each Ace, King or Queen in the suit
With 2 card suits, count 2 losers and deduct 1 loser for each Ace or King.
With a 1 card count 1 loser unless it is the Ace.
With a void there are no losers.

Add the losers in each suit to get a total loser count.
With 9-10 losers raise to 2 level
With 8 losers raise to 3 level
With 7 losers raise to the 4 level

So you have 3 losers in spades, 3-1=2 losers in hearts, 3 losers in diamonds and 3 losers in clubs adding to a total of 11 losers.
This does not justify a 2 Heart bid, so pass.

As the cards lie, 4 hearts is makeable and, indeed, most N/S made 10 heart tricks. Three 3 intrepid pairs bid game but the others can find consolation in the fact that they made the "correct" bid!
  Board 4 Thursday 10th Oct (Losing trick count - 1)
Your partner opens 1S (showing 4+ Spades), East overcalls 2D and you hold 3 spades and 7 HCP.

You have some support for partner's Spades but how do you bid?
To help answer the question, you can use the Losing Trick Count method.

Count each suit with 3 or more cards as 3 losers and deduct 1 loser for each Ace, King or Queen in the suit
With 2 card suits, count 2 losers and deduct 1 loser for each Ace or King.
With a 1 card count 1 loser unless it is the Ace.
With a void there are no losers.

Add the losers in each suit to get a total loser count.
With 9-10 losers raise to 2 level
With 8 losers raise to 3 level
With 7 losers raise to the 4 level

So you have 3 losers in spades, 3-1=2 losers in hearts, 3 losers in diamonds and 2-1=1 loser in clubs adding to a total of 9 losers.
This justifies a 2 Spade bid and partner will jump to 4 spades.

On the night, half the N/S pairs bid and made the game in spades, so perhaps this would be a useful addition to your bidding arsenal.
  A revoke or not a revoke?
The TD was called to this hand to deliberate on a revoke.
East was declarer and played jack of diamonds from dummy, North followed suit and East played a diamond, whereupon South discarded the 9 of clubs although he held King of diamonds in his hand.

East touched a card in dummy intending to play it when South intervened, "Sorry, I revoked - I do have a diamond"

What is the correct ruling?


A revoke is not established until one of the offending sides plays to the next trick.
Although in the event East had indicated the card to play next from dummy, neither North nor South had played to the trick before the revoke was discovered. Because the revoke was discovered before it was established, the offender (South) substitutes a correct card - in this case, South plays the King of diamonds and thus wins the trick.

The revoke card, the 9 of clubs, becomes a major penalty card and must be played at the first opportunity. So South, having won the trick must now play the 9 of clubs.

To avoid a revoke becoming established it would be good practise to inquire about a possible revoke. This is covered by Law 61 which provides that
1. Declarer may ask a defender
2. Dummy may ask declarer but not a defender
3. Defenders may ask declarer and one another
  Board 4 - Thursday 26th September 2013
Some players do not like the weak No Trump opening because it can get you into a lot of trouble. This hands shows that a strong No Trump is not immune to this failing either!

Playing 1NT (15-17) West opens and South doubles whereupon his partner passes and leads 7 diamonds. West may make 5 tricks but no more.








Note that if East takes out to 2 Clubs, then South will overcall 2 Spades and if North/South are adventurous, they may get to play in 4 Spades, which is makeable.

Note that, if East/West are playing the weak NT, then West opens 1S followed by pass, pass, double and this fares just as badly as 1NT!
  Board 1 - Thursday 26th September 2013
Do you, don't you?

Pass, Pass, 1S - you have 8 HCP, 7 spades and very few defensive values - what do you bid?


An aggressive bid of 4S is called for!

If you pass  or overcall 1S, the bidding will continue 2C, Pass, 3H, Pass, 4H. If you now bid 4S, South will overcall 5H

However, smart defense is required to put 5H down by taking 2 club tricks, and then playing a spade to the Ace in dummy. This ensure that East will make a heart trick as South lacks entries to dummy to finesse Jack of hearts a 2nd time.




 
  Board 14 - Thursday 13th September 2013
An unusual hand from all viewpoints!

East passes, South bids 1C and West overcalls 1S leaving North with a difficult decision. Certainly a bid of 4S would not be out of the question.
A double might entice East to bid 2D whereupon South can rebid 3C followed by pass from West and then 4S from North.

If West overcalls 1H, then North can bid 4S directly as with only 3 points, he is not much interested in his partner's hand unless it's 3 Aces!

Following this South should pass.

In any case, 9 out 15 N/S pairs arrived safely in 4 Spades

A popular lead by East was a low diamond and so E/W should put the contract down 1 as West plays the Ace, Ace of Spades to knock out the King  in dummy and return a diamond for East to make 2 diamond tricks.

This is easy in hindsight, but somehow most West's missed this and the 9 N/S pairs  in 4 spades all made game!
  Board 15 - Thursday 5th September 2013
What do bid in response to partner's opening bid of 1NT (12-14)?

If East had intervened with 2C, what would you bid?
If you use transfers over 1NT, then this is relatively easy to bid.

With 11-12 points and a 5 card suit you have an intermediate hand, so you bid 2H asking your partner to bid 2S to which you rebid 2NT - if you had fewer than 10 points you would have passed his 2S and with 6 or more spades you would have bid 3S.

Partner now bids 4S - he has 4 card support. 

Without transfers, you can use Stayman to look for a fit in the majors so 2C followed by 2H to which you reply 3S showing a 5 card spade suit and inviting a game bid. Again North should bid 4 Spades.

In either case, if East intervenes with 2C, then all conventional bids are forgotten and you bids become natural - so over 2C bid 3S and North can again bid 4S.

On the night only 5 N/S pairs bid game in 4S - one pair, who shall remain anonymous, didn't bid at all! 
  Board 7 - Thursday 5th September 2013
What do you bid after North opens 1NT (12-14)?
The choices are pass, 2H, 3H and 4H.

How could you pass with this hand?
 
2H isn't wrong - you have 5 heart tricks and hopefully 2 diamonds tricks on your own so even if partner has a bad hand, you shouldn't have difficulty in making 8 tricks.

3H is better - after all, if partner has the Ace of spades, Ace of clubs or King of diamonds you will have a fighting chance of making game.

4H is very aggressive but not unduly so - if the remaining points are split evenly, then he has 40 - 13 - 13 = 14 / 2 = 7 points and the strong hand is sitting on your right

On balance, I think I would have bid 3H and hope to find partner with something.

On the night, 9 pairs out of 13 bid 2H, 2 pairs played in 3H and one pair played in 4H which was almost a top - one unfortunate N/S pair sacrificed in 5C which would have been a good sacrifice if the other E/W had bid the makeable slam! 

As the cards lay, 12 tricks is makeable in hearts or diamonds, and all the E/W made 10 or 11 tricks without a problem.
  Board 9 - Thursday 22nd August
You open 2NT with 22 points and a balanced hand, North responds 3H and you happily bid 3NT.

West leads the 2 of Clubs, dummy covers with the 3, East plays the 8 and you win with the Jack. You can see 9 tricks - 1 club, 3 diamonds, 2 spades and 3 hearts, at least, once the Ace is forced out.

You play the Queen of hearts, hoping to force out the Ace but West plays the 2 and East the 7.

How do you continue?



In order to make 3 Heart tricks you need an entry to dummy once the Ace is forced out. The only entry outside of hearts is the King of spades. So lead the Jack of Hearts and if West has the Ace and takes it, all is well. You now have 1 club, 3 diamonds, 2 spades and 3 hearts and possibly 5, if they break 3-3.
If West plays low, overtake the jack with the King. If East takes with the Ace and returns a club, then the 9 of clubs becomes a club stopper and entry to the heart winners. If East doesn't take the Ace, continue by finessing the 10 of spades hearts. If it wins, play King of spades and another finesse making 1 club, 3 diamonds, 2 hearts and 4 spades for +1 - if it loses, you will still have 9 tricks 1 club, 3 diamonds, 2 hearts and 3 spades and possibly a 2nd club.
  Board 13 - Thursday 15th Aug 2013
You open 1C after 3 passes and your partner bids 2 diamonds over North's 2 spades.

What do you bid now?


Possible bids are 3NT, 3C, 3D, 4C or 4D

A 3NT reply is wrong because while it shows the point count correctly, it promises a balanced hand which you do not have.

A 3C bid does not reflect the strength of the hand and you do not hold enough clubs to justify a 4C bid.

3D undervalues the hand, so a jump to 4D is the standard rebid.

Partner will convert to 5D and will easily make 7D

On the night, only 3 pairs bid and made 5D.
  Board 2 - Thursday 15th Aug
How is your defensive bidding against pre-emptive bids?

In this hand East opens 3H, your partner doubles and West bids 4H.

What do you bid?

Partner's double of the 3H shows 15+ points, a shortage in hearts and support for the other three suits.

First, let's try to count the points 
East has 8-11 points, partner has 15+, you have 11 so West can only have 3 - 6 points, so N/S have 26+ points and should be able to make at least a game contract.

South's double shows a shortage in Hearts and support for the other 3 suits. West must have 2 hearts for his bid, so partner can only have 1 at most. You have a spade loser but South must have at least one of the major aces to make up his 15+ points, so that's only 1 loser in the majors at worst.

Partner surely has King and Queen of clubs for his point count to reach 15, so no club losers in sight.

Partner has support for your diamonds - so 3 diamonds and maybe an honour so E/W can only have 4 diamonds at best - has partner the Queen?

A bid of 6 Diamonds is justified, although less agressive bidders will settle for 5 Diamonds.

On the night, the disruptive qualities of the 3H preempt came to the fore as only one pair bid and made 6 diamonds!

Some West might pass the double, which makes it slightly more difficult to bid 6 diamonds and if you bid 5 diamonds, East will probably overcall 5 Hearts and South should then bid 6 with his good diamond support. 
  Board 6 - August 1st 2013
Here's an uncommon problem - East is dealer and passes, South opens 1NT (12-14 points) and you hold 20 points with E/W vulnerable. 

How do you think the bidding should continue?


I'll give that this is a tricky hand to bid and not one that you meet every evening.

Looking at the results from the travellers, it would appear that the bidding on the night followed a similar line at most tables.

Pass, 1NT by South (12-14 points), Double by West (showing 16+ points), 2S by North (takeout to longest suit, with a weak hand), pass by East

After that, in most cases, West continued with three diamonds and half of the N/S pairs pushed on to 3 or 4 spades, which were doubled by West at three tables.

However, after consulting with my bidding expert, the correct bidding sequence should be as follows

Pass,  1NT, 2NT, Pass, 5 Clubs by East, all pass!

The 2NT bid over an opening bid of 1 of a suit or 1NT shows a powerhouse hand of 20+ points and East even with only 4 points and vulnerable can justify a bid to 5 clubs on the shape of his hand. 

Add this to your bidding arsenal and you will be prepared the next time you sit in West's position but be ready for a long wait - it doesn't come up very often even with computer dealt hands!
  Board 6 - July 4th 2013
You open 1 Spade in fourth position, holding 5 spades and 17 points.

Your partner replies 1NT showing 6-8 or 6-9 points.

What should you bid now?
 
This is a difficult call and will depend on the personality of the team as much as standard bidding.

A jump to 3 Spades would normally show a 6 card suit and invite partner to bid game with maximum points (8-9) - this is slightly over-bidding the hand. South should then pass, holding 7 points although an aggressive South might bid 4 Spades by adding a point for the 5 card club suit! 

A bid of 2 Spades shows a 5 card Spade suit but it only promises 11-15 points - this is slightly under-bidding your hand.

Which side did of the personality divide do you fall on?

On the night, 3 pairs bid and made 4 Spades, 4 pairs played in 3 spades and 1 pair played in 2 Spades - so this time the aggressive pair won out!
  Board 4 - Thursday 9th May 2013
Only 1 pair bid and made the slam on this hand.

N/S intervened with their heart suit and stopped E/W from going on.

How should the bidding continue?

1C: 11-19 points
1H: simple overcall, 5+ hearts 8+ points (counting singleton spade and doubleton club)
2D: 10+ points, 4+ diamonds
2H: 4+ hearts, 8 points at most (14+10 in E/W min, 8 in N)
3C: 5+ clubs, 11-15 points
3H: Yikes, I have 6 hearts but vulnerable!
3S: showing 4 spades and 5 diamonds, shortage in hearts
4H: Why not disturb the E/W bidding some more?
Now what?

4S: showing 4 card support for your spades
Pass:
5C: I've got some clubs too, partner
Pass:
6C: If N/S must have 10 hearts between them for their bids, I've 2 so partner has only 1 heart and he must have top honours in diamonds and spades to make up 10+ points.

4H doubled goes off 3 for 500 to E/W so a good sacrifice if N/S get away with it.
  Board 1 - Thursday 9th May 2013
A lesson in defensive pre-empts

1S: 11-19 points, 4+ spades
4H: 7+ Hearts, few defensive values
4S: 4+ support for spades, 12+ points
Pass
Pass
Now what?


Looks like 4 spades is a lay down contract - 420 points to E/W

5 hearts will go off 3 and possibly 4 tricks - 150-200 points if not doubled, 500-700 if doubled

N/S will probably double, so pass.
  Board 5 bis - March 7th 2012
Hand 5 again, this time from E/W's viewpoint - in particular, from West's hand.

Your partner opened 3 diamonds but the N/S pair have found a fit in Hearts and have bid to a vulnerable game. What do you do?


Should you bid 5 Diamonds or not?

First of all, let's try to count the points
You have 11 and partner has 6-10, South has 13+ so North will have 6 - 10

Now, let's try to count the cards.
Hearts - N/S have probably a 6-3, 6-4, 5-3 or 5-4 fit so East has 0,1 or 2.
Diamonds - you have at least 9 between you. 
Spades/Clubs - your KJ and AQ are nicely placed over South, who has the majority of points

Finally, count your tricks
Partner should have 6 for his opening bid and you can add 2, possibly 3 or even four. So 5 diamonds will go off 3 at worst. N/S will make 620 points from their vulnerable game and 3 off is only 150 and, even if they double, that's still only 500

Thus bid 5 diamonds.
  Board 5 - March 7th, 2013
This was an interesting hand from both N/S and E/W point of view.

First of all, N/S - how do you bid after East opens with 3 diamonds? 


Standard defence to pre-emptive opening bids

1) Overcall with a 6-card suit or a very good 5-card suit plus values for an opening bid

Thus South, with 13 points and a goodish Heart suit, could bid 3 Hearts. If he does, then North can convert to game in 4 Hearts. If South passes, then North may overcall with 3 spades but South will be probably pass this - after all, if he didn't bid 3 hearts, he is unlikely to bid aggressively now.

2) With an opening bid and support for the other suits, make a takeout double. 

In this case, South lacks support for spades, so this is not a feasible option on this hand.

3) If you would have overcalled 1NT over an opening of one, then bid 3NT. 

Again this does not apply in this deal.
  Board 14 - President's Prize
This situation arose in the second round of the President's Prize. The antagonists shall remain nameless but it brings into the question the laws concerning a lead out of turn.

South is declarer in 4 spades but East leads the Jack of Clubs out of turn. The TD is called - what are the options available to the N/S pair?

Lead out of turn - this is covered by Laws 50 D, 53 and 54 as we all know!

South, as declarer, has the following options - note, he may not consult with his partner

He may accept the lead out of turn and
1) lay down his hand and make his partner, North, play the hand as declarer
or
2) partner, North, lays down his hand and the second card of the trick is played from declarer's hand followed by West and dummy

He may refuse the the lead out of turn, in which case the Jack of Clubs is a major penalty card and South has 2 further options
1) he can instruct West to lead the a club or forbid West to lead a club until West loses the lead. In this case the Jack of Clubs ceases to be a penalty card and East can pick it up.

2) South can leave the choice of lead up to West but in this case the Jack of Clubs is a major penalty card, is left on the table and must be played at the first legal opportunity. Until it is played, South continues to have the right to instruct or forbid West to lead club.
  Board 18 - President's Prize Rd 1
You have a nice hand with 15 points and your partner opens 1C, you bid 2H showing 15-16 points and either a single 6+ card suit, a 5+ card suit and support in clubs or a 5+ card suit with a rebid in NT.

Your partner replies 2NT showing a balance hand and 15-16 points. How do you continue from here?

Obviously, you could bid 4 Heart and play in game but this is the cowardly option.

Ask for Aces and Kings (4C,,4NT - 3 Aces, 5C,, 5H - 1 King) and prefer 6NT over 6H as you will score more in 6NT than in 6H and it would seem that you should easily make 12 tricks (6 hearts - partner has 2 hearts and possibly 3, and 3 AKs and South may even have a Jack (3 aces + 1 king = 15 points)
  Board 16 - President's Prize Rd 1
What do you bid now?

East has doubled showing opening points and a shortage in clubs. 
You have 10 points so N/S would seem to have 22+ points, East has 13+ so West can only have 5 or 6 points at most.

Bid 3C. This will make it difficult for E/W to bid again.

If you bid 2C, this is under-bidding your hand and you allow the opponents to bid again at the 2 level. Same for pass.

On the night 3C + 1 was a very good result for N/S.

Some E/W pairs contested the auction and found their spade fit, but your 3C bid makes that very difficult. Over pass, West will bid 2S and E/W will then contest auction to 3 or 4 Spades.
  Board 13 - Jan 31, 2013
Practise your slam bidding - only 3 pairs out of 11 bid and made a slam on this hand. I'm showing both E/W hands to make it easy.

East has a balanced hand with 18 points - he bids 1H intending to bid NT next.

West has 12 points but more impressively, 7 clubs headed by AKQ and a singleton heart.
The easy option is 
Pass (by N), 1H (4 card suit, 12-19 points), pass, 3C (5+ clubs, strong hand 12+ points), pass, 3NT, all pass.

This is not very adventurous by the N/S pair.

Better might be -
Pass, 1H, pass, 3C, pass, 4NT (jump rebid showing 17-18 points), pass, 6C (after all if East has 18 points with a balanced hand then they must all be outside clubs!)
  Board 12 - Jan 31, 2013
If playing a weak notrump, the bidding might go as follows :-
West opens 1NT (12-14 points), pass, 2C (Stayman, invitation to game), pass, 2H (4 card heart suit, possibly 4 spades) , pass, 3C (new suit, forcing for 1 round, denying Heart fit), pass, 3NT, all pass

North leads 10 Heart, how do you play the hand?

Playing in NT, you count the winning tricks -
3 spades (after forcing out A & J), 
3 hearts, 
2 diamonds (after forcing out A)
2 clubs (after forcing out the K)
= 10 tricks
However, you need to establish the diamonds and the clubs before attacking the spades, or better still before the opponents lead spades!
  Board 21 - Jan 24th 2013
Keep going - another 1NT, Double - by South this time.

Again, West has a dilemma - with 7 points but no 5 card suit, it might be dangerous to takeout - the hand was played in 2D and 3H by West but this gave a top to N /S. With 20/20 hindsight - don't take out to a 4 card suit!

North passes - although 2C and 3C were played successfully by N on the night.

If West and North pass, East has to decide whether to jump ship to one of his two 4 card suits, which is not a very appetising option. Doomed one way or the other is probably the most apt thought at this point.

If South gets another bid then, he also has a problem. Whatever he bids, will probably end up as the final contract. 2NT was bid and played by three Souths but didn't fare very well at all and 2H was't any better.

All in all, 1NT, Double makes for a difficult decision all round.
  Board 17 - Jan 24th 2013
The dreaded 1NT (12-14 points), Double - this is the first of 2 such hands this week.

I admit that the 1NT opening on this hand was a bit adventurous, but let's pass over that and look at the rest of the auction after East doubles.

South has 4 points and a five card diamond so he could bid 2D, pass by West and North and so it comes back around to East who will bid 2H passed by all - this was the most popular contract on the night (3 / 11) with another E/W carrying on to 4H. 

If South passes, then West might bid 2S although he is just about entitled to pass. 2S was then passed out and played twice.

If South & West passes, North should take out to 2C as the prospects for 1NT are not good. 1NT was played twice by N - not a good choice as it turns out. We gave a top to E/W by going off 3 - Ouch!

This would be a good advertissement for playing a strong NT (or for not opening 1NT with such a hand - see my first comment) especially as a joint top was achieved by N/S when E/W ended up going off in 3NT.
  Board 11 - Bill Moloney Memorial
Lesson 2: Standard bidding of a strong hand

Your partner opens 2C - showing 23 points.
With only 2 points, your reply is clearly 2D (0-6 points)
He now continues 2NT.
What do you bid?

Answer: 3NT

His first bid shows 23+ points. This is forcing to game except for a rebid of 2NT.

Standard rebids over 2C with a balanced hand are
23-24 HCP rebid 2NT
25-27 HCP rebid 3NT
28-30 HCP rebid 4NT

His second bid thus shows a balanced hand with 23-24 points.

This is the only rebid that you may pass below game.

With 3 or more points or five card suit headed by a Queen, you would bid 3NT.

So the correct bid here is Pass if you follow my first comment.

On the night half the pairs played in 2NT although a 3NT game was there for those foolhardy enough disregard lesson 1.
  Board 10 - Bill Moloney Memorial
Lesson 1: Don't throw caution to the winds

Remember, if your side has only 21 points, the opposition have the rest!

Partner opens 1 Club, you reply 1 Spade and he nows rebids his clubs at the 2 level.

What do you bid now?

Partners rebid of clubs shows a 5+ Club suit with 11-15 points.

You do not have a fit although you have at least the majority of the clubs, he has not supported your spades, you should pass!

The old rules (1, 2, that'll do) are there for a reason and are disregarded at your peril.

Note that E/W should not compete as they do not have a 5 card suit.

On the night, most N/S pairs got carried away or were pushed by E/W and ended up in unmakeable contracts.
  Board 17 - Nov 29th 2012
A very nice hand with a lot of distributional points in the North hand which was bid nicely by one pair.

Can you guess who?



At one table, North bid very decisively to 6C - made, for a top on the night.

The bidding went as follows, with the South hand calmly answering partner's bids

2C (23+ points) - 2D (0-7)
Stop, 4C (gerber - asking for aces) - 4D (None)
5C (asking for kings) - 5H (1 King)
6C duly made after the lead of the 3 hearts.

Most of the other Norths bid a conservative 3NT after partner's negative response but not so at this table.

Well done, Minella and Rose Mary
  Board 9 - Nov 29th 2012
I better pay attention here - the points are evenly split but we need 6 tricks. Hopefully my three Kings will be 3 tricks but where can the rest come from?

I am not going to lead away from my Kings, so I'll lead a diamond - which one?


I'll lead the 7, followed by the 9 and then the 6 so that my partner will know I have 3 - with an even number I would play a high-low.

Well that worked out well - we made the first 3 tricks and I will make my 3 kings for -1 and 50 points.

Ah, but 1NT would have made so well played by N/S.
  Board 9 - Nov 29th 2012
Don't you hate opposition like that? 

Couldn't they just leave you play in one Spade - obviously partner doesn't have much support.

Are they going to get away with it?
Well, in this case, we are not vulnerable, so I am re-bidding my spades - hopefully partner has something!

Good choice on the night as the 1NT is makeable by East, so -1 was a good result.
  Board 9 - Nov 29th 2012
You are vulnerable with 11 points and after 2 passes, South bid 1 spade followed by 2 more passes.

What do you do - do you let N/S away with a part-score although as North passed twice, it is likely that the points are fairly evenly split?
This is the kind of hand that suits the protective 1NT bid.

A normal 1NT overcall shows a balanced hand with 16-18 points but as you passed in the first round, you obviously do not have that sort of hand. A protective 1NT shows 11-14 points.
  Board 10 - Century Cup 2012
What do you bid after partner opens 2C (23+ points)?

You have 7 points and a 6 card suit.

This hand seems to be one of those that invite controversy - you have 7 points and a long diamond suit but are vulnerable.

Some ACOL bidding references I have interrogated, say that a negative response is required with 0-7 points and others use 0-6, so you should make sure you and your partner agree on this.

If you reply 2D, you will end up in 3NT.

If, in contrast, you bid 3D showing 7+ points and a 5 card suit, you will end up in a slam.

On balance and holding a 6 card suit, a 3D bid would seem the appropiate response regardless of your position on 2D meaning 0-6 or 0-7

It to be noted that all the leading pairs in the competition bid 6NT.
  Board 6 - Century Cup 2012
You open 2C (23+ points) and partner replies negatively 2D.

What do you bid now?


This is an easy one - the standard answers to a negative 2D (0-6 or 0-7 points - see next answers to 2nd hand)

With a balanced hand
23-24 points - bid 2NT, which partner may pass
25-27 points - 3NT
28-30 points - 4NT

On the night, 3NT was the most bid contract and after the very popular lead of 6 diamonds, the contract was made.
  Board 13 - Nov 8th 2012
How do you play the hand in 4S by East after S leads Ace of diamonds?

The bidding was brisk and took into account the distributional points which are of paramount importance in this hand and are often neglected.


You have 5 sure tricks (A,K,Q of spades, A,K of hearts) and 21 points.

South has 12+ points so North can only have 7 points at most and also South must have Ace and/or Queen of clubs for his opening bid so you are probably guaranteed at least 1 club. The rest will have to come from cross ruffing 2 clubs/hearts in East and 2 diamonds in West.

So ruff the Ace of diamond, play A,K of hearts, ruff a heart, ruff a diamond, play another heart and ruff/overruff. Play club to dummy,and finesse J if South plays low. Win next trick in dummy and ruff a club.

Mind you, it's a lot easier if you see all the cards!

On the evening 4S was only bid 4 times and never made - in fact top score for E/W was 2D -3 by South for 300 points to E/W. The vulnerability must have frightened everybody else.
  Board 8 - Nov 8th 2012
What now? 
With 16+ points, a bid is required - game in opener's suit (5C) is not really suitable, so choice is 3D, 3H or 3NT. A new suit is forcing, so 3H is probably favoured bid in view of game in Hearts, although it would be hard to argue against 3NT.

This was most popular bid on the night whilst no one bid the optimal contract of a minor slam.  
  Board 12 - Oct 18th 2012
How does your partnership do with this hand? - it is very straightforward really.

You have 20 HCP, 7 tricks (well, 7 and 1/2 with the QJ clubs) and a void; partner has 4 HCP, no support, nothing really
Played by the book, the proper bidding sequence is 1S (only 7 tricks after all), pass, pass and pass- this is makeable for +90 N/S

It is tempting to bid 2S - but this promises 8 tricks. Partner replies 2NT - negative (0-7 points) and you reply 3S.

This could go off -2 if East leads a heart but this is most unlikely as the more probable lead is a club or a diamond in which case -1 is best outcome.

As it happened on the night, most E/Ws did not defend well (they did not find a heart lead through dummy) and N/S made positive scores in spades and NTs.
  Board 11 - Oct 18th 2012
Your partner opens a pre-emptive 3C - what do you bid, holding 18 HCP?
This hand merits a 4 spade bid - you have 2 heart losers and 1-2 spade losers, non vulnerable.

3 spades is another possibility - the change of suit shows 16+ points and is forcing for 1 round. As the cards lie your partner will bid 4 spades with Qxx in spades.

A 3NT opposite a pre-empt is always fraught with danger as entries could be a problem to opener's hand.

On the night, 5S is makeable and 3NT goes off 1
  Board 19 - Oct 11th 2012
Here's a hand that caught some people out - did you remember the "Rule of Twenty"?
You only have 10 High Card points - so normally you would pass - however

Rule of Twenty
If the total of all your high card points plus the total number of cards in your two longest suits is 20 or more you may open the bidding. If not, pass

So 10 plus 6 spades + 5 diamonds = 21 - so go ahead and bid 1 spade.

As the cards lie, your partner will support you and depending on how aggressively E/W bid their hearts, you should probably end up in 4 spades, which is makeable as your only losers are 1 diamond and 2 clubs.
  Board 13 - Oct 11th 2012
Your partner has opened 1 diamond and repeated them in response to your 1 spade. Now what do you bid?
I would suggest 2 hearts to give him a choice of hearts or spades. It would seem unlikely that he has hearts as he would surely have mentioned them by instead of repeating his diamonds. Perhaps he will prefer to support your spades instead.

Depending on his reply, you will bid game - 3NT if he repeats his diamonds or 4 of a major with support.

As it happens, he rebids his diamonds - he holds 7 of them - he should then pass your 3NT.

On the night, half the tables played in 3NT making 4 and half played in 5 diamonds which goes down.
  Board 13 - Oct 4th 2012
A case of déjŕ vu?

Another poor hand and partner opens 1D - how do you respond?
Again pass is standard response. Admittedly, this hand is played immediately the previous one and so North probably has a bad memory of how his 5 points fared then.

Also, with a more balanced hand, it is an easier decision to pass. If the hands had been played in reverse order, would that have helped to pass on board 12?
  Board 12 - Oct 4th 2012
Your partner opens 1H after 3 passes - what do you respond?
A standard response would be pass (only 5 points and 3 hearts) but I suspect a lot of Norths will bid 1S and when partner now bids 1NT, showing 15-17 points, will pass. This does not fair well when a diamond is led.

In this case, following the rules does pay off.

Admittedly, as the cards lie if North then rebids his poor hand in spades, 2S or even 3S is makeable but the risk is that partner will be encouraged by your spade bid and bid 2 or even 3 NT which fares even worse than 1NT
  Board 17 - Sept 20th 2012
How do you bid this hand?
1C,,1D,,3C shows 16-18 points and 6+ clubs which with your 11 points should be enough for game but which game - 5C or 3NT. 

Your bid of 1D only promised 6+ points so a new bid will show extra points as with only 6-8 points you will pass 3C. 

In 3NT, you could expect to make at least 5 tricks in clubs, and possibly 6, plus your 2 aces. Your partner must have some high card points in hearts and spades amongst his 17 points (after all he can only have at most 7 in clubs) so a bid of 3NT is best.

If he does not want to play in NT, then he can take it out to 5C.

On the night, N played 3NT 3 times and 5C twice, S played 3NT twice and four pairs missed game and played a part-score in 3C.
  Board 14 - Sept 20th 2012
Your partner opens 1C, how do you respond?

It looks like you have the points for at least game (your partner has 12/13+ and you have 15) and maybe more.

You should show your points by a jump bid to 2H showing 5+ hearts and 16+ points (add 1 point for you doubleton spade). Your partner re-bids his clubs at the 3 level showing 5+ clubs and 11-15 points so you can bid game in 4H directly.

A bid of 3H is also possible - showing 6+ hearts and lack of cover for NT or support for clubs

Partner should not pass this - after all, there is a game available somewhere and both of you should be able to count the number of points correctly.

On the night, game was bid only 4 times with N/S playing in 3H 6 times and 2H once.
  Board 11 - Sept 13, 2012
South leads the 6 hearts - how do you play the hand to make 3NT+1?
The heart lead ensures you can count on 10 tricks

Lead Ace, jack of diamonds and seven of diamonds to force out the King.

You make 2 spades, 2 hearts, 2 clubs and 4 diamonds and restricting you losers to one heart, one club and one spade.

But you must force out king of diamonds before playing spades or clubs - if you cross over to dummy with ace of spades, to finesse, then the defence will make another club or spade and you will not make overtrick - which is important in duplicate.

On the night, only one pair made the overtrick and thus gained maximum points.
  Board 8 13th Sept 2012
Bidding quiz for this hand

You replied one spade to partner's opening of one diamond. He then jumps to three diamonds - now what do you bid?
Partner is showing 16+ points and 5 card diamond suit so you have the points for a game contract - the possibilities are 3NT, 4 spades or 5 diamonds.

Bid three spades although a case could be made bidding four directly - if your partners bids 3NT, you will probably pass, and have to trust him to have cover in hearts and clubs.

On the night, the hand was played 10 times - five x 4S, one x 3S, two x 3D, one x 2D, one x 1NT

West, given his holding, should convert your three spades to four spades as he does not have good enough cover in outside suits.
  Board 6 - Sept 6th 2012
You are in 4S and South leads 9 diamonds. How do you play the hand to bring home the contract?

You win on table with ace of diamonds.

You must come back to your hand by ruffing a diamond with jack of spades (to avoid over-ruff) - draw trumps losing 2 spades tricks. Eventually you force out king of hearts and make 10 tricks (5 spades, 2 hearts, 2 diamonds and 1 club) losing 2 spades and king of hearts.

If you play the king of diamonds and discard a club you will lose another spade trick to a ruff by south.

If it is any consolation, only one pair bid and made 4S 
  Board 3 Sept 6th, 2012
Board 3 was an unusual hand - would you reach the best contract?

You have 18 Hcp and 10 sure tricks (8 diamonds, ace of spades, ace of clubs) and 3 losers
10 sure tricks - open 2D (8 playing tricks, 6+ diamonds)
Your partner reponds negatively 2NT (0-7 points) so you bid 5D - partner might have 0, but it won't take much for a game in diamonds - ace of hearts or a king.

On the night, the hand was played 10 times
5 pairs got to 5D - this is makeable with 8 diamonds tricks, 1 spade and 2 clubs
one pair tried for 6D
3 pairs played a part-score in diamonds and 
1 pair allowed E/W to sacrifice in 4H

An alternative bidding sequence might be 2C,,2D,,5D as you add in points for the heart void.
  Board 2 - Open - Netherlands v Monaco
This hand was played between the Netherlands, the reigning world champions, and Monaco.

What would you bid?

Open Room 
 North East  South  West 
 Helgemo Drijver  Helness  Brink 
     Pass Pass 
 1D Pass  1H  Pass 
 Pass Dble  Re-dble  1S 
 2D 2S  Pass  Pass 
 Pass      

Helgemo opened a natural 1D and passed Helness’ 1H response, thus offering the Dutch the chance to enter the auction. When nobody competed over 2S, the Dutch had bought the contract which duly made with an overtrick.
Netherlands +140.

Closed Room
 North East  South  West 
 De Wijs Fantoni  Muller  Nunes 
     Pass Pass 
 3D Pass  Pass  Pass 

De Wijs’ tactical approach of a strongish pre-empt in 3rd position paid off rich dividends when it silenced everybody.
Netherlands +110 and 6 precious IMPs to open their account in a match in which every IMP would be hard-fought.
  Board 14 - July 12th 2012
Would you open on this hand?

3 passes, 11 points and 2 4-card majors and vulnerable

It looks like the other three hand have 11 points or fewer as they all passed. Your partner has 7-11 points (7 if E/W have 11 each) so N/S have 18-22 points - enough for a small part score but is it worth the risk of opening?

On the night, 5 North's passed and the deal was passed out. At the other tables, E/W played in  hearts 3 times and N/S played in 1NT and 2 spades.

As the cards lie, the makeable contracts are 1 diamond or 2 spades by N/S and 2 Hearts or,  remarkably, 3NT by E/W!

The passed out hand by North, gave a top score to the E/W pair so this was certainly a hand were bold bidding would have paid off for N/S.

I would have opened 1 spade non-vulnerable but vulnerable? 
  Board 19 - Women - England v France
To continue with the England v France match here is Board 19 from round 1 with the match evenly poised at England 28 France 25.

Closed room
France N/S Vanessa Reess & Daniele Gaviard
England E/W Heather Dhondy & Nevena Senior

 
 West North East South 
 Senior Reess  Dhondy  Gaviard 
      Pass 
 Pass Pass  1C  Pass 
 1H Pass  2NT  Pass 
 3D Dble  3H  Pass 
 4H All Pass   

Dhondy/Senior had an essentially free run to the heart game, Reess making a lead-directing double along the way.

She found herself on lead, however, so kicked off with the king of diamonds to dummy’s ace. Senior led the king of clubs off the dummy and Reess won her ace and switched to a spade. Senior took the ace and cashed two clubs for diamond pitches then played a heart to the queen then ducked a heart to the jack. There was a second heart and the spade king to lose for down two and —200.

Open room
England N/S Sally Brock & Nicola Smith
France  E/W Benedicte Cronier & Sylvie Willard
 West North  East  South 
 Willard Brock  Cronier  Smith 
       Pass
 Pass 2C  2D  Pass 
 2H Pass  2NT  Pass 
 3NT All Pass     

That didn’t look to be a great result for England but the French E/W pair did even worse.

Brock opened 2C in third seat, either strong and artificial or, as here, a weak two in diamonds. Two Diamonds was take-out of diamonds and Cronier followed up with a natural 2NT, too strong for an immediate 2NT overcall, so Willard raised her to game. 

The diamond lead put the defence in control. Cronier won her ace and prayed the suit was six-one. She led a heart to the queen then ducked a heart — no good news there, and no good news in diamonds either as Smith produced a second card to lead through the jack. Brock cashed all the diamonds and the ace of clubs before leading a spade through and there were still the spade king and heart ace to lose for down four; —400 and 5 IMPs to England, 33-25.

The last board was a flat game so the final result was 33-25 IMPs to England, 16-14 VPs

This proved an important result as the race is traditionally between England and France. 
ENGLAND won the European crown beating France with 14 victories over 13. Thus they ended a series of three con­secutive French victories and became European champions for the first time since 2001. 
  Board 26 - 5 Jul 2012
How would you bid this hand?

Partner has opened 1NT (12-14).

You have the points to bid 3NT directly and almost a balanced hand. 

Before committing yourself to 3NT, you should use Stayman to investigate your partner's holding further. After partner responds 2S, you should jump to 4S.

As the cards lie, 3NT turns out to be makeable contract, as long as you duck the initial diamond lead. However a 5-3 split in diamonds would have proved diastrous.

On the night, 7 pairs played in 3NT (4 going off) and 3 played in 4S making +1
  Board 6 - Thurs 28th June 2012
Your partner leads the king of hearts which wins, declarer playing the 6 of hearts.

He nows leads the ace of hearts - which card do you play?
If you play the 5 of hearts, then it turns out that the suit is blocked and declarer will make 5 clubs tricks, 2 diamond tricks and 2 spade tricks for +2.

If you unblock the suit by playing the Queen, then the defence will make 6 heart tricks and one spade trick for 1-.

Examining your hand and the dummy and the bidding, your partner has only 9-11 points. He has already shown 7. He can only have the queen of diamonds, the king of clubs or diamonds or possibly the ace of clubs or diamonds.  It is difficult to see how 1NT could be defeated unless your partner has a long heart suit, so unblocking the suit is a good option.

Of course, it would have been a whole lot easier if he had lead the fourth highest card, the 8 of hearts in this case! As always, the old rules are best

On the night, it was played in 1NT three times making +1 twice and +2 and the lead was ace or king of hearts. 
  Board 18 - Women - England v France
This is board 18 of 20 from round 1 of the Women's Championship. The score was England 28 France 22 with 3 boards to go.

Open room
England N/S Sally Brock & Nicola Smith
France  E/W Benedicte Cronier & Sylvie Willard

Cronier opened with a weak 2S and, when Smith overcalled 3H, Willard competed with 3S. Holding substantial extra values, Smith doubled when that got back to her and, with heart shortage and no guarantee of game, Brock passed it out. 

Smith led the queen of clubs. Brock overtook and switched to her heart. Smith took the ace and returned the queen, Brock ruffing the king, and now a diamond switch collected two defensive tricks there plus the heart jack and a second club for down three; -500 pts

Closed room
France N/S Vanessa Reess & Daniele Gaviard
England E/W Heather Dhondy & Nevena Senior

Dhondy felt that she was too good for a non-vulnerable weak two bid in her style so opened a level higher, 3S. Gaviard doubled and converted Reess's 4D response to 4H. When Reess introduced her second suit, 5C, Gaviard gave preference to diamonds with 5D, ending the auction. 

Dhondy cashed the ace of spades then switched to a heart. Reess won the ace and
made the standard safety play, cashing the trump ace, so made exactly 11 tricks losing only ace of spades and king of diamonds for +600 pts and 3 IMPs to France; 

The score was now England 28 France 25 with 2 boards to play.
  Board 2 - 21 June 2012
How do you respond to partner's double?

Presumably, he has 13+  points, no 6 card suit and no stopper in spades
You have 9 HCP, a stopper in spades and a singelton diamond so you can bid 3H showing 9-12 points.

A 2H bid would be a little bit cautious as you are not vulnerable and you may not reach game if your partner responds 3C or 3H

Your partner will bid 4H - this is easily made as you will only lose 2 spades and a ruff, at most.

On the night, 4H was bid 3 times out of 10 - the other contacts being 2H, 3C and 3H
  Board 14 - June 14th 2012
Nice looking hand - 21pts and 8/9 tricks (5 Hearts, 3 Diamonds and possibly 1 Spade or 6th Heart)

One possible opener is 2H, partner responds a negative 2NT so now what?


You reply 3 Hearts, which will be passed or 4 Hearts which will also be passed.

If you opt to open 2C, partner responds 2D and you show your hearts with 2H, he will probably bid 3D and you bid 3H or 4H which will be passed.

In fact you have a good fit in Diamonds but it is hard to see beyond the 6 Hearts. 

4 hearts should go down -2 as you will lose 3 Spades, Ace of clubs and a trump
  Board 24 - 10th May 2012
After a 1H opening, partner jumps shifts to 2S, showing 16+ points and a 6 card spade suit.

With your 8 hearts and good spade support, a slam is now obviously in sight but how many aces has he got? if you use the Gerber convention 4C -> 4S or if you use Blackwood 4NT -> 5H

Ah, only 2, so a grand slam is out of the question so 6 spades it is.

Didn't seem that simple on the night - only 3 pairs out of 12 bid and made the slam.

I say, shame on the rest of us!
  Board 24 - April 24 2012
This hand gave rise to some confusion on the night.

Your partner opens 1NT (12-14 points) and North doubles - you have 3 points and a very poor hand.

How do you bid?
Partner has 12-14 points, North has 15-17, so South has 6-10 points.
If you pass and South and West pass, you are looking at a very poor result - so a take-out to a suit is needed, but which one?

2C will probably lead to 3C - not a very inviting proposition, so call 2H and let partner move to 2S if he prefers. This also make it difficult for N/S to find their excellent fit in diamonds.

The hand was played 18 times with the following results
N/S called 3D 6 times (-1) twice, (=) twice and (+1) twice
E/W played in 2H twice (-2) and 2S twice(-1)
and E/W played in 1NT* 8 times for diastrous results (-2 to -5)
  Safety Play
New feature this week!

You are declarer in South and Dummy in North and must make 5 tricks with this holding in NT. How do you play the hand to avoid losing a trick, no matter how the missing cards are arranged?
The only problem arises when one of the defenders holds Jxxx. 

Play 5 from hand to K.

If both defenders follow suit, then rest of tricks are won by playing to Ace, Queen, Ten and Four
If one defender shows out, then finesse against the Jack accordingly
  Board 5 - April 19th 2012
Partner opens 1C, you bid 1S (a holding bid, waiting to find out more from partner) and he bids 1NT - showing a balanced hand, 15-17 points.

You have 16 points, what do you bid now?
You bid 3S inviting partner to choose a game contract between 3NT or 4S
A bid of 3NT would be considered correct as well.

But what about slam possibilities since you have 31-33 points?
Well, if partner has the missing 3 aces, then he only has a further 3-5 points - that's not very promising. So AKQ of spades, AK of other suits = 9 tricks - where will others come from?

And if he only has 2 Aces, then it is even less attractive.

On the night, the hand was played in NT 10 times making 12 tricks only once.
  Board 20 - April 12th 2012
A powerful hand again - what do you bid now? 

You have at least 10 tricks in spades
A double will do rather than 4S - let's see what partner has

Over an intervening bid of 2C or 3C from West, North overcalls in Hearts - 2H or 3H. He is unlikely to have the Ace of Clubs given West's bidding but if he has the Ace of Hearts then a slam is definitely in sight.

You bid 4NT, asking for Aces, and when he turns up with 1 (5D) you can jump to a slam with 6S.

This time, the slam is not a problem and South made all 13 tricks every time he played. 
  Board 19 - April 12th 2012
Not often you get a positive response (7+ points) from partner after opening 2C.

North first shows his club suit by bidding 3C and then shows his 4 card Spade - South can deduce he probably has 5 Clubs and 4 Spades. His next bid of 5D must indicate points in Diamonds, a shortage in Hearts and a definte interest in a slam.

South could bid 6NT directly or leave the choice between 6H/6NT to North by bidding 5NT

Unfortunately, as the cards lie, 6H and 6NT go off :-(
  Board 15 - 29th March 2012
How did you do bidding this hand ? The bidding shown is the more conventional way to arrive at an unstoppable Grand Slam.

A strong 2D opening is followed by 2H and 2S which encourages East to look for Aces and Kings following which he bids 7NT.

But what if South opens 3S - which is not a bid to be recommended on this hand as he only has 4 points AND is vulnerable but however stranger things have happened ...

West overcalls 3NT! He has 2 club and 6 diamond tricks in hand and can probably establish a spade trick. He has no hearts but for his pre-empt South is probably short in hearts, so the hearts are held between North and East - partner is likely to have at least one stopper in Hearts.

North passes and East thinks "Hmmh, my partner has 9 tricks on his own and I have 4 more - 3 Hearts and Ace of spades - which he can't have been counting on so 9+4=13 = 7NT. If only all the Grand Slams were so easy to bid!"
  Board 11 - 23 March 2012
This hand highlights the bidding of unbalanced hands.

The jump to 3C shows a strong hand (17-19 points). The rebid of 4C highlights the two suited nature of the hand with clubs and diamonds. The bid of 5C confirms the distribution of the hand (6,6,-,-,) and leaves partner with a choice of 5C or 5D.


An alternative sequence could be - 2D,,2S,,3C,,3S,,5C,,5D

South has 6 diamond tricks and at least 2 club tricks but with 16 points is just shy of the point count for a strong 2 opening bid. 
  Board 3 - 29th March 2012
After your partner opens 1H, you jump to game in 3NT because with 14 points opposite an opening bid you have a sufficent point count for game with 26+ points and you do not have a four card major.

When a standard lead of 3H is made by South, dummy is revealed and immediately you can count 9 tricks - 3 clubs, 2 diamonds and 4 hearts. To ensure you make the maximum of overtricks and without jeopardising the contract, how do you play the hand?  
The best chance of making an overtrick is in spades, so you play the Ace of Hearts in dummy and then lead 10 spades, finessing is it is not covered by East. When you are back on lead, lead 8 spades from dummy and finesse again - you still have the three other suits blocked so there is no danger of losing control of the hand.
  Board 2 - 22 March 2012
You open 1H and your partner responds 1S - now what do you bid?
Your partner's bid of 1S shows 6+ points and no support for hearts (3 hearts at most) 
You should jump raise your partner's suit to 3S showing 15-17 points and 4 card spade support.

A re-bid of 2S shows a weak hand 12-14 points and you do not have the points for a direct raise to game. Your partner can raise to game if he has the points (either high cards or distribution). In this case, he would raise to 4S.
  Board 30 - 15th March 2012
E/W are playing a weak NT and the bidding proceeds as follows :
East opens 1C, South passes, West bids 1H, North passes, East jumps to 2NT showing 17-18pts, South passes, and West bids 3NT.

South leads 5S (4th from longest suit) on which dummy plays 6, partner 10 and declarer wins with  King. Declarer nows play King of Hearts which wins and then 6 of Hearts to Queen in Dummy  which partner wins with Ace.

Partner leads 4 of spades, 8 from declarer and you win with 9 spades.

4 tricks played, 2 to declarer and 2 to the defence. What card do you lead now?


Declarer opened 1 Club so he must have at least 4 clubs including honours, so it is probable that he will win 5 clubs tricks along with the 2 heart tricks, he has set up in dummy, to make 9 tricks.

If you lead a club you will be helping to setup the clubs, if he needs help.

If you lead a diamond, he is also bound to have a diamond stopper for his 2NT bid and so will still make his contract.

So the only way to defeat the contract is lead your Ace of spades followed by a diamond, hoping to find partner with Ace, Queen. 

As it happens, he has :-)
  Board 8 - 15th March 2012
You open 2 Hearts with 8 playing tricks - 6 Hearts (losing A and J) and 2 Clubs

North passes, your partner passes and South bids 4 Spades

What do you bid now?
You have three options - pass, double or 5 Hearts

You have very little defensive values against 4 Spades -2 club tricks and maybe 1 heart trick so it seems very likely that your oponents will make 4 Spades for a score of 420 or 450 points if you pass or 590 points if you double!

However, if you bid 5 Hearts, are doubled and go off 2 tricks, then N/S score 300 points. If you go off by 3 tricks, then you N/S make 500 points

On the night, the hand was played 11 times with a variety of results.

The top N/S were 5S* made, 4S* made and 5H* off 3 tricks.
The top E/W were 5H -1 and 4H -2/4H* -1
  Board 26 - 8th March 2012
East passes and your partner opens 3 clubs.  West passes and it is up to you - you have 12 points, a 6 card spade suit and a singeleton club and heart. What do you bid?

If West had overcalled 3 hearts, would that change your bid?

The standard answer would be Pass as you only have 12 HCP and are vulnerable. But add in an extra point for your Heart singleton and a couple more for your length in spades and diamonds and hey presto, you can close your eyes and bid 3 Spades!

If you pass, the most likely outcome is for East to pass and South will play in 3C.

If West bids 3 Hearts, then it seem likely that E/W will have a Heart fit so 3 Spades is certainly the bid in this case, if not 4 spades.

On the night, playing in 3C was one of the worst outcomes for N/S and playing in 4 Spades scored the highest.

E/W could sacrifice in 5 Hearts, going off 2 for -200 (or -500 if doubled) against a game score for N/S of 620 in 4 Spades.
  Board 16 - 8th March 2012
First of two pre-emptive bidding problems this week.

West opens 3 Clubs and North doubles -  you have 12 HCP and two singeletons, what do you bid?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

The double shows a shortage in clubs and a good hand with 16+ points. It would seem N/S will have a fit in Spades - you have singleton Queen and partner has two or three at most. To make it difficult for them to find game in spades, bid 4 diamonds. N/S may still find game in 4 Spades but with difficulty.

At one table, East bid 3 diamonds, doubled by south, taken out to 4 clubs by West and doubled by North and went off 2 for a top to N/S - this illustrates that the point that having per-empted do not rebid. It is up to your partner to choose the best contract.

North could have bid 3NT over 3 clubs, showing 17-20 points, a balanced hand and stoppers in clubs

On the night, 4 spades was best contract for N/S followed by 3NT and E/W best score was 3 clubs doubled and made.
  B oard 21 - President's prize round 2
This hand favoured competitive bidding from N/S

After a 1NT opening, North bids 2C (Stayman) searching for a Heart fit and when South bids 3H he accepts the invitation and bids 4H.

If N/S are playing transfers, then North bids 2D for transfer to Hearts and South can jump to 3H which North should convert into a game call of 4H.The jump to 3H will make it difficult for E/W to sacrifice in Spades.

On the night, game was bid 4 times out of 17 and 3H was the most popular contract.
  Board 7 - President's Prize Round 2
Both sides are vulnerable and South has opened 1NT (12-14 points) - so what do you bid now?

You have 9 points, 6 Hearts but otherwise a weakish looking hand to defend against NT?




One obvious is to look at the vulnerability and pass  - this was bid 7 times on the night and then passed out - resulting in a good score for E/W as South went down -3 on average for a score of 300.

However, braver defenders won the day - West overcalls 2H which allows East to get into game in 3NT and score a top.
  Board 16 - President's prize - round 1
Most pairs played this hand in 4 spades by West - so how should you have bid to reach the small slam in clubs and a top on the board?
Two pairs bid and made 6C - how did they achieve this?
The actual bidding, starting with West, went
1S,,2D,,3C,,3D (showing a solid 6 card suit),,4H (1st round control, forcing),,5C,,6C and 
1S,,2D,,3C,,5C (showing club support, poor spades and 11 or more points),,6C
  Board 2 - President's prize - round 1
This hand caused a lot of bother - very few pairs made their contract.

N/S have 11 points each and are vulnerable. W has 13 and E has 5. 

East passes and South opens 1S, adding points for the singletons. West passes and North bids his 5 card Heart. East passes and South has a choice between 2S and 3D - vulnerability might mitigate in favour of 2S and all pass.

According to computer analysis of the hand, the makeable contracts are 
N/S -  4D, 1H or 2S 
E/W - 1NT or 2C

On the night, only 3 pairs out of 17 bid one of the makeable contracts and only one of those three made the contract 2S by S

Generally, the other pairs overbid the hand. The overall result was varied depending on the quality of play by the declarer and/or the defence. Surprisingly, top score for N/S was 3NT by N +2 and top score E/W was also 3NT by N but -5 this time.
  Board 21 - 16 February 2012
A second bidding quiz this week - it's not often you get a hand with 27 points, so it's important to get the most from it!

A standard enough start - 2C showing 23+ points - and partner disappointedly bids 2D showing 0-6 points.

Now what do you bid?



It is tempting to bid 3NT directly but you do not have 9 tricks in your hand has nothing and you may miss a slam if partner has 5/6 points.
A 2NT bid shows 23/24 points and invites partner to describe his/her hand further if they have 2-6 points by using Stayman/transfers or 3NT.

If any of these options are bid, then you can now go asking a bit more information -

over 3C --- 3H ----- 4H then re-bidding 5H asking for a raise to 6H if 5/6 points

over a 3D transfer then 3H, raised to 4H by North, then re-bidding 5H asking for a raise to 6H if 5/6 points

and finally, over a raise to 3NT, bidding 4NT asking for a raise to 6NT if maximum.

The defence against 6NT
Richard also mentions how to defend against the slam., particularly on the part of West:

What does west lead to 6nt?

1. a spade gives the 12th trick inspades if 9 diamonds is finessed at trick 2 

2. a heart lead will give away the heart position at trick 1 and west will need to be very alert at trick 4 to cover the 6 of hearts with the 9 otherwise declarer has 2 entries to the table to finesse the diamond  - only cover the 9 if the 9 is covered from the table

3. a diamond will allow declared to try for 3 spades, 4 hearts, 2 diamonds and 3 clubs for the 12 tricks

4. a club lead which again will makedeclarer work hard and again west will need to be just as alert to not allow 2entries to the table with the hearts.

But the key factor is the heart suit and west must not allow south to make a second entry to the table.
  Board 11 - 16 February 2012
An easy bidding quiz to start with!

Partner doubles the opening 1S - you have 5 points, 4 hearts, so what is your bid?
You must bid 2H - your only 4 card suit.

In this type of situation, the weaker your hand, the more important it is to bid. 

Your partner will realise that you have been forced to bid and will appraise your bid accordingly. But you must not PASS - unless you have a long string of spades and other values that will ensure the contract goes off by many a trick.
  Board 10 - 16 February 2012
This is board 10 - and it provides a bidding problem for the South hand.

Partner opens 1H after 3 passes and you show your 4 card spades with 1 spade and 6-9 points. Partner then bids his diamonds (2D, 12-16 points) and what do you do now?

The least worst option is 2NT and then pass whatever partner replies. A second choice would be is 2H. The hand is too weak for 3C and with only 4 spades, 2S is not available either.
  Board 15 - 9 Feb 2012
Unassuming cue bid (game invitation) - Do you have this bid in your repertoire?

South, with 5 spades and 12 points, opens 1S
West, with 13 points but no 5 card suit, passes
North, 4 points and 3 small spades, passes
East, 6 hearts, 11 points and not vulnerable, bids 2H
South passes

West bids the opponents suit 2S, the unassuming cue bid which is an invitation to game - showing 10-13 points and support for Hearts (3 minimum)
East confirms by bidding 4H

The alternative bid from West of 3H would only show 8-9 points and 4 card support and would surely be passed by East.
  Board 10 - 9 Feb 2012
Playing in 3H, West will eventually attempt to draw trumps by leading 3H from his hand.

Sitting in the North position, which card do you play - the winning King or losing 4 ?

From his bid, West has 7 or more Hearts, dummy has 3 and you have 2, leaving partner with at most 1.

If West has the Ace of Hearts, he would surely have lead it, trying to drop the missing honour(s) or, better still, he would have crossed to dummy for a finesse - he didn't do this, so he doesn't have the Ace and therefore your partner must have a singleton Ace.

You should play the 4 to avoid a winner on a winner.

If you can count to 13, Bridge is so easy!
  Board 23 Quiz - 2 Feb 2012
Sitting in south, what do you now bid?
The correct answer is Pass!

It is very tempting to say 3NT and in fact this was the final bid in 9 of the 11 hands played last night. It went off by 1 trick 7 times.

Yes, 18 plus 6-8 is 24-26 - enough points for 3NT but partner may only have 4 small diamonds and 5 points.

Count where you are going to make 9 tricks
Your partner has denied having 4 spades or 4hearts  by bidding 2 diamonds so you are going to get a spade lead 95% ofthe time and will almost certainly have 4 spade losers unless your partner has qxx in spades so thenyou  might make 2 spades and then you are hoping spades are 4/4

Now on to the next issue if you partner has aspade honour they will be less likely to have 2 diamond honours so you will bestruggling to set up the diamonds even if they have 5 diamonds, unless they break 2/2.

We all know that just because you have thepoints for a game how many times have we not been able to make game due to not havingsufficent cover in a major in NT - yes some hands are easy to know when this is the case -and here we have an example but not as easy to sit back and see due to the overwhelmingurge to jump to game knowing we have cover in all the suits once partner has told us theyhave 6 points.

What we need to remember is not only whatpartner has got but equally importantly what partner has not got so in the above handwe know partner has got at max 6 cards in the majors.

We know partner has max 8 points so now workout all the combinations your partner can have for his bid and see how many time you will find 9tricks.
  Board 18 - 2 Feb 2012
South has 10 Club tricks, 2 Spades tricks and a losing Heart.

East opens 1 Diamond and so it is more than likely, if South is declarer, that West will lead a diamond.
Thus if his partner has one of the missing aces, he will make 13 tricks.

In this instance, his partner does not hold an ace and so answers 4D to the 4C and the final contract is 6C.

On the night, the board was played 11 times.

6C was doubled, re-doubled twice for top scores to N/S (including by yours truly - sorry Brenda)

Only one E/W made an excellent sacrifice in 6D, going down 1 for a top E/W - well done Catherine & Barbara
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