richard Harvey
Southampton
U.K.

PROBLEM A: 2 Spades
PROBLEM B: 3 Hearts
PROBLEM C: 2 Spades
PROBLEM D: 5 Spades
PROBLEM E: 3 Clubs
PROBLEM F: 3 Spades
PROBLEM G: Pass
PROBLEM H: 4 Spades

A.  3H.  There are two ways to 3N: a direct bid which (as Ken says) would show strong stops, AQx, AK; and an indirect 3H which (as Jim says) shows the half-stop I hold.  Partner has at most 4 cards in the majors.  With Kxx/Axx in H he can bid 3N, and we’ll be happy.  With 2-c spades (xx xx), he can bid 3S (surely worth venturing as I might have a 6-card suit) and we’ll be happy in 4S.  If he denies both with a 4m bid, we’re playing in 4S, since I already have 3 losers (2H and a S) rather than in 5m.  If partner has a GF hand with no HCP in the majors, and I hold KD, he must have AD, and AK of C.  Sure, 4S might be risky opposite a partner void in S, but it can cope with a 4-2 trump break.  Whereas if partner has (- xxx 46) 5C is only 50/50, needing a running S finesse to work.  3H looks like a bid that leaves a sensible 3N contract open as well as having a back-up 4S.

B.   2N.  N and partner have about 30 HCP between them.  Partner probably has 3 or 4 spades but didn’t overcall 1N, so that limits him to a maximum of 14 HCP?  So, at best a 20/20-ish hand.  If 1N could have been used by a passed hand as an Unusual NT, then there’s no hesitation, but here we’re forced into 3m contract.  Still, -100 is better than 1S making.  How likely is it that NS have 4S?  With 20/21 HCP N might struggle.

C.  X/4C.  Showing the 4c S suit fast looks tempting.  What do we do after partner’s 4D continuation - will he believe 5C shows a 6-card suit?  Bidding 4C then, over 4D, bidding 4S, might portray my hand more accurately.  Even then would partner think I had 6 clubs?  And let’s not forget that 4C takes away the possibility of 3N, which a negative x preserves. 

D.  pass.  Jock’s analysis is eye-opening.  Even with only 3 diamonds, a yarborough partner could give me two S ruffs, for 3 spade tricks, 1 heart (eventually, the way back to my hand after the first S ruff) and 4D tricks.  And if he has 4 or 5 diamonds, I’m making 9 tricks easily, with a 10th coming.  We’re beating 2S, so passing yields a positive score.  3D might be -50 or it could be +110/130.  I wouldn’t have thought of 3D were it not for Jock’s work, so ethically I should pass, but something to remember for another day and I’ll be pulling for 3D to gain the maximum 100.

E.  3D.  4H looks a pragmatic bid.  3H is a little too weak and 4C too strong (and has the disadvantage of probably receiving a 4S answer).  3D leaves options open (including 3N if p has a suitable club holding ATxx or QJT, say), and if p bids 3S that, I can bid 4H. 

F.  2N.  I want to show both suits quickly, because there’s a decent chance W bids 3D and partner passes.  If that happens I can then bid 5N (pick a slam). If W passes and partner chooses H, I’m going to bid 6D.  If partner chooses C, I’ll go into the tank over whether to bid 5H or 5N.  But showing both suits must be the priority.

G.  3D.

H.  JS.  This quiz would be a lot easier for me if it stopped at G.  There’s 26 HCP between W and N, but how are they split?  W hasn’t raised and N hasn’t doubled, so perhaps N has 4c hearts and 12 HCP.  He could be short in diamonds – the K is probably with W anyway – but I have no entry to give him a ruff if he has xx.  Perhaps the best way I can help is to lead the SJ across W.  If partner is short in D he can lead them after winning that trick.

Thoughts from the European Zone:

A.  Pass (but 3 is apparently not quite dead yet).  I’d go into the tank here deciding between one of two calls; should I summon a fever specialist or psychiatrist for my partner?  While the sirens approach, I’d reach for the green card.  Funnily enough twice recently I’ve responded 1 with an awful 4c suit – 8xxx – so I guess this is what happened here and p has AKJxxx.  Even so, this looks like a 20/20 hand (17/23 at best), and nothing I can do (aside from alerting medics) will make the situation better.  My inner Mad Hatter might briefly consider 3N, but with my  holding, East with AKxxx can run the suit.  A still small voice is whispering "3 " - partner has 6133 and all our high cards are working - delusions, dementia or (for once) stunning instinct?  [Ed: we know the answer to that].

B.   2 .  BWS seems to offer two options.  A cue-bid shows “at least game interest” and “2N is forcing”.  Presumably, the latter would show a  stop.  I’m a bit shy of game values but partner (the stronger hand of the two of us) is over the opponent who opened, so why not?  We know shrinking violets just get trampled into the dust in BWS bidding quizzes.

C.  2 .  According to BWS there are two routes to invite: “single raise [of a 1m opener] is game invitational or stronger … and denies a 4-card major” and “a 2N response is natural and invitational”.  How to choose?  My  suit is decent so 3 might play better than 2N?

D.  3N or 4 ?  We need to be in game somewhere.  My hand makes 3 too weak and 4 too zealous.  I’m offering no ruffs – with a 53 M fit and a 4333 hand don’t you experts often prefer 3N to 4M?   

E.  3 (probably).  North could be starting a Walsh-type sequence over a 1 opener holding a GI+ hand with 4M and 4 , possibly even 4441.   I rarely like misleading p about M suit length.  Sure, if I have AKJ maybe, but not AJ3.  So, I don’t really like a 1 rebid here.  It might lead to a Moysian 4 when 3N is better: if say p held 4342 with KTx in H or 4441. 

F.  2 .   If a partnership plays Walsh over a 1 opener, 2-way XYZ is tremendously useful.  The continuations take up an awful lot of brain cells, but it is a wizard scheme.  After 1x-1y-1z: 2 = GI (and forces 2 , unless opener is 17+) and 2 = GF (and asks for more info).  BWS doesn’t seem to mention it, but I would expect the pros on the panel to use it.  In which case 2 is automatic.  If we are not playing 2-way XYZ, why the hell didn’t I respond 2N in the first place?

G.  x or 3 ?  West and partner are passed hands, but figure to have 18 points between them, so each will have 8-10.  3 seems like selling the hand short because partner may well pass.  Another option is x – does that start a Lebensohl sequence? If so, partner with 8-10 will be making an invite bid: either a slow (via 2N-3 ) 3M or a direct 3 (unlikely, perhaps, but ya never know).  The question then is what the devil do I do over 3 ?  A third option comes from BWS: “Against a natural pre-empt a three-level cue bid asks for a stopper for notrump.”  That’s fine – partner may well have Kxx – but I have the same problem if he bids 3 .     

H.  K .  By now my incompetence at opening leads should have become starkly apparent.  What do the 3 and 4 bids mean - 1st and 2nd round control?  West skipped over 3 and East as shown x in  , so as blubayou says, let’s cash our  .  I’ll lead the K (rather than Q or J) so that when it wins, I can make a safe exit (from the point of view of the post-mortem) of the J .   

I'll offer a some thoughts on Bart and Problem D.  Here’s BWS:

Passed-Hand Situations: These methods apply to responding to a major-suit opening by a passed hand:
(a) one notrump is semi-forcing (6-12 points);
(b) two clubs is a strong raise (a hand too strong for a single raise, but unsuited to a higher bid);
(c) three clubs is natural, similar to two diamonds but with long clubs;
(d) a jump-shift other than three clubs is a strong raise with length in the suit bid;
(e) a double jump-shift is a splinter raise.

If N has 4 hearts, there’s no problem whether I respond 2 or 1N, because p simply re-bids 2 .  If N has 6 spades, we’re also happy: N re-bids 2 (even if I’ve taken too many pills, I’m not likely to bid 2N over that … I don’t think). 

What happens if N has 3 or fewer hearts and only 5 spades?  After a 1N response N with 12/13 HCP will surely pass, as the most I can have is 11 HCP.  The options given for this problem mean N must have 14 (or good 13) HCP.  For N with 15+ HCP, it probably doesn’t matter how I respond.  The problem seems to boil down to “what is best when N has 13/14 HCP”?

1 – 1N – 2 heralds Bart’s arrival.  I’m going to be squirming between 3 (hoping that N is 5332) and 2N (in case N is 5xx4).  Because of the uncertainty over clubs, I’d probably choose 3 .  At least we’re not vulnerable. 

Is the situation better over 1 – 2 ?  With a 5332 hand opposite a passed partner, N can pass.  So, that’s an improvement.  If N is 5xx4, he’s the one squirming (that’s an improvement too) but he’s not squirming much.  With 3 diamonds he can pass (and perhaps also with 2 good diamonds), otherwise 2N will prevail.  I then know that NT is a better choice than diamonds and can pass.  That all seems clearer and safer.

My instinct is to keep Bart socially distanced and respond 2 .   

A couple of undecideds. 

B.  I’m convinced Jock is correct theoretically, but securing 800 in penalties requires accurate defence.  I’m not sure I could pull that off, so in the debate between 600 or 800, I will opt for the former.  Philosophically, are we choosing bids in the BWS quiz which we would make at the table or the bids we believe top pros will make?

F.  I’m still wary about a 2D bid.  Pre-empting here just seems to offer opponents the chance for a telephone number.  I suppose I ought not to leave 1Cxx in, so 1D will do.  Partner will know from the bidding that I have nowt.


SOLUTIONS FOR:
Dick Harvey
Southampton
U.K.

PROBLEM A: 1 Notrump
PROBLEM B: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM C: Pass
PROBLEM D: (b4)
PROBLEM E: 4 Spades
PROBLEM F: 1 Diamond
PROBLEM G: 2 Hearts
PROBLEM H: Spade Jack

I've come late to this discussion so this is out of thread-order - apologies.  My partner and I are intermediates, so shouldn't be taken too seriously, but we treat 4N as variable in [1N - 2 /2 - 2M - 4N] and [2N - 3 /3 - 3M - 4N] auctions.  Because we also use Texas transfers, opener knows that in these auctions responder has got only 5 cards in his major. 

   If opener has 3/4c support for the major, he responds to 4N as if it were RKC for the major.
   If opener has only 2c support for the major he treats the 4N as quantitative. 

The situation has come up only a handful of times - always when responder is 5M(332)* - and has worked well.  Of course, that's no sort of sample.

Ken, here’s an article on picture bids v fast arrival https://bridgewinners.com/article/view/21-auctions-fast-arrival-vs-picture-bidding/.  The example centres on a 1S – 2C – 2H auction but where responder has S support.  Instead of 4S being fast arrival, the jump picture bid scheme is:

   4S = good trump support, good clubs, no outside control
   3S = good trump support, good clubs, one or more outside controls
   2S = good trump support and unreliable clubs

For our problem (1S – 2C – 2H and responder with H support) there are only two levels available.  There seem to be two options here:

(a) A jump picture bid might still apply – exactly as you say and showing the hand you cite (4H = good trump control, good clubs and nowt else) - with 3H covering all other hands. 

(b) Fast arrival might be used instead of a picture jump.  With this option a hand like xx KJxx xx AKQJx would be too good for a fast arrival 4H. 

Judging from what Blubayou found in the BWS description, jump picture bids are used when there are three levels available i.e. two game-forcing bids (2S and 3S in the first auction above) but when there is only one game-forcing bid available (3H in our problem), perhaps BWS adopts fast arrival. 

Thoughts (increasingly lengthy ones)

A.  3C.

B.  3N.  We have a double fit and N could have a strong hand and/or 55xx.  Apart from being a slam try, this gives N a chance to cue 4C.  I can’t as N is declarer.  If 4C comes, we’ve gone from mild to very interested. 

C.  2C.  When I have to lie a little, I prefer not to mislead partner about a major or a reverse – since each of those can spark enthusiasm.  On the other hand, we are vulnerable and don’t want to miss a thin game.  So, should I bid 2D and then (whether N bids 3D or 2H), bash out 3N, dreaming about getting a S lead and 7 top tricks in my hand alone?  If we’re struggling and need the IMPs, I’d bid 2D.

D.  2C.  A hand which shows the importance of clear agreements.  What does “2C is forcing to two hearts” mean?  Surely not a H raise, as other bids are available for that.  If it simply means 2C is a forcing bid and natural, I want to bid 2C and then bid NT later to show the S stop.  Grr … 2C looks to be the ‘right’ bid, and I would have had no hesitation in making it if the explanation of 2C had been excluded.  I am too strong for a pre-empt, so the alternative is 1N.  That’s dangerously wimpish (all my 10 HCP are working and JT9 is worth more than 1 HCP in NT), but 2N seems to be an invitational raise in H.  I’ll bid 2C – at least N will not pass that.

E.  1N.  How important is the weak S suit to this hand?  My granny used to say suits like this were only good as trumps, and she would show them (either by 1S or x then S).  But a 5c holding stops the suit (and p rates have 1 of the missing honours).  I’ll show the 16-point balanced hand.  Partner may be a bust, and I could end up playing there, hoping that S are 3-3 and with four fingers crossed for fortune in both the minors to avoid the dreaded -200.  In that case my granny would be doing better.  However, it might be W that is bust, in which case we’ll finish in 4H (making) or 3N (making because N has a S honour!)

F.  x.  I confess a 4N bid in this situation showing two places to play entrances me, having seen it work so many times on vugraph.  But I might have to ignore the siren-calls because I have a third place to play if partner has 5 cards in spades.  N could be 5(Axxxx)242/5224 – a suit too weak to overcall 4S – and, besides, N knows I must have at least 2 places to play.  If I x here, N knows I have not got 4 cards in spades (otherwise I would bid 4S).  If he has 5 cards in spades, he can bid 4S knowing that, if I have only 2 cards in S, we can bang out into a minor fit.  So, I will x and we’ll make 4S in a 53 fit.  The sirens will scream at me if the panel chooses 4N.  Now, a little imp is whispering to me “pass is the right bid here – take ‘em down for a plus score, ‘cos 5D is one off” but that’s the voice of the devil.

G.   (a)  We have game but which one – 4H (if p has 6 cards in hearts), 5D or 3N (if he doesn’t).  We might have slam in H or D.  Our 9 top tricks in NT could disappear as they club us to death.  I can see the attraction of (b4) from that perspective, but would be tongue-tied when opponents, quickly followed by the Director, asked me for an explanation of my 3C bid.  (b5 3D) looks too weak for my hand, as partner with 6 HCP may well pass.  A 2N opening, shows my strength and gives N a chance to use Texas, and N can then pursue a H slam.  N could also convert (b6 3N) to 4H if he has 6 hearts.   The advantage of the former is that if N shows only 4 or 5 cards in hearts (2N – [3D – 3H/3C- 3D] – 3N) I get a chance to make a 4D slam try bid.  I don’t get that option with (b6).  After (b3) N could bid 4H with 6 cards in the suit and 3N with fewer, which again gives me the chance to think about making a slam try with 4D.  However, with (b3) if N has 6 cards in hearts, his route to testing for a H slam is perhaps murky (1D – 1H – 2N – 4N?).  A 2N opening makes H and D slam tries clearer.  If N rejects a 4D slam try with a 4N bid, I will convert that to 5D.  It seems I’ve talked my way into a 6H, 6D or 5D contract … as well as putting any readers to sleep [Ed: that happened 4 hands ago].

H.  QH.  I’m a big fan of Kantar and lead from the top of near-perfect sequences (2 touching honours then a space skipped).  Last year there was one quiz where leading Q from QJ942 was marked down in favour of 4th highest.  But I can’t change a habit ‘cos of a bidding quiz - consistency is the key to partner’s confidence.