Blu, you may have described Todd’s motivation, perhaps even Ken’s, but not mine. I only addressed the one problem because Todd brought it up, and so I looked at that one problem. Up until earlier today, when I went through the all of the problems, I had not looked at, much less considered any of the other problems. I waited until after my class to begin in earnest.
My initial thoughts:
Problem A: 1NT – With no known fit, I don’t want to treat this as a game force. There my choices are limited to invitational sequences. If my hearts were KQTxxx, then I would make the immediate 3
bid; it places the emphasis squarely on the heart suit. Since my suit is actually K9xxxx, I will start with a forcing NT to send a warning to partner to tread lightly, my hand has some flaw. In addition, I get to learn a bit more about partner’s hand in the process, before I make my rebid.
Problem B: Pass – A cheesy 11 in 3rd seat with only 13 casino points – NO THANK YOU. I pass with no second choice.
Problem C: 4
– Without the note, I would bid 3
without much thought. With the note, do I lie, taking a chance that partner does not have a 3NT conversion? Do I pass, leaving the auction wide open for the opponents to enter cheaply? Or do I jump to 4
and lie about my club length? At this vulnerability, I feel like the least lie is to bid 4
, plus it difficult for the opponents to find the right strain and level.
Problem D: 3
– My first inclination was to bid 4
and just jam the auction, then I got an evil thought. This might be a good hand to mess with the auction some. With East showing no long suit, and West a powerful hand, I think they are headed for a suit contract. On the off chance, the suit is not clubs, I bid 3
as a lead director so I can ruff, then when if I get doubled, I will go to 3
, to help set the defense if they end up in NT, and then when doubled again, then I finally run to 4
. If we defend, then partner will have to work out what all my bidding was about, but the final contract should help.
Problem E: 1NT – I do not like any of my options. Rebidding a ratty Q8xxxx is not appealing, and neither is bidding 1NT with a stiff club. 1NT becomes more appealing after reading the note; the chance that the club suit is real increases significantly when the spade rebid denies a 4-3-3-3 type hand. At least 1NT limits my hand and gives partner a chance to show delayed heart support if warranted.
Problem F: 4
– 3
feels wimpy, 3NT feels right (but there may be an entry to RHO, which may make the hand go horribly wrong, while 4
feels like a slight overbid. Partner created this bid with a direct seat double, so if they don’t have their bid, then so be it. I will give myself an additional point for having the fifth spade in a suit that partner hopefully also has four. By regarding my hand this way, 4
no longer feels so much like an overbid.
Problem G: Pass – I really want to double to show both round suits. Unfortunately, that is an inadmissible bid. I don’t have a stopper for NT, I don’t have a third spade to raise, and I don’t have enough points to bid freely at the two level (not frightened of
532, but do not want to over promise when I bid at this level), so that leaves an unsatisfactory pass, and the hope for a reopening bid from lefty.
Problem H:
T – Dummy’s second suit. There is an unbid suit, clubs, but my holding does not look good to lead. Nonetheless, if I were at the table in a desperate situation, I’d be very tempted to try the
Q as a maybe I can strike gold attempt.