Author Topic: "Pass" is a Legal Bid  (Read 4595 times)

OliverC

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"Pass" is a Legal Bid
« on: August 10, 2017, 08:51:55 AM »
Just becuase you have been dealt a fairly strong hand doesn't automatically mean that the hand belongs to you and partner. Too often I see the red mist descend. Take this hand, on which you are North.

NS Game, Dealer South

North
!S AJ85
!H KQJ109
!D 98
!C AQ

Bidding
South     West     North     East
No          1 !C        1 !H        2 !C
No          2 !H        2 !S        No
No          3 !C         ??

What do you do at this point? I think it's fairly clear to Pass. You've already shown a very strong hand with 4-card Spades and longer Hearts. Partner passed initially, showed no interest over 1 !H, and critically passed over 2 !S, showing a preference for Spades but absolutely no interest in going further, despite knowing that you have a very good hand (in fact you've advertised a better hand than you actually have, because your reverse opposite a silent partner should be 19-20+).

My Partner (I was the luckless South) was in full flow, however, and refused to go quietly.

Bidding
South     West     North     East
No          1 !C        1 !H        2 !C
No          2 !H        2 !S        No
No          3 !C         X           3 !H
No          4 !C         X

The thing is, What does North think EW are bidding on? It should be absolutely clear at this point that Partner has nothing to speak of. North has exactly 3 defensive tricks, no more. You might get a Heart, but the cue-bid in Hearts by West doesn't make this sound promising.

I was sat in the South seat, holding

South
!S 10932
!H 65
!D K76432
!C J

It was obvious Partner didn't have much, if anything, in Diamonds, or they would probably have doubled for takeout earlier. Similarly, the 2 !H bid had be worried, because I was already envisaging West with a !H shortage and Partner cannot have much in Clubs given that they have at least 9 cards in the Majors. I couldn't let 4 !CX stand (4 !C romps home with ease, losing just 2 !C and a Spade), so I bid 4 !S, which was doubled by West. Totally incompetent defence  by both defenders allowed this to escape for only -1 (it should be at least -3), but it was still a minor disaster when even 4 !C making was a poor score for NS, because too many NS Pairs were being allowed to play in 1 !H, or the EW Pairs were pushing on to 5 !C, which has no chance. The full hand:

                  North
                  !S AJ85
                  !H KQJ109
                  !D 98
                  !C AQ
West                          East
!S KQ76                       !S 4
!H 7                             !H A8432
!D AQJ                         !D 105
!C K8754                      !C 109632
                  South
                  !S 10932
                  !H 65
                  !D K76432
                  !C J

I think North has shot his bolt with the 2 !S bid and should clearly pass over 3 !C. Actually it's interesting to speculate what would have happened if North had passed over 2 !H, because the 3 !H bid by East overNorth's double of 3 !C, suggests East might possibly have misunderstood West's 2 !H bid and they might even have passed 2 !H out :). East is hardly strong enough for a cue-bid of Hearts with their 4-count, and a pass of the double of 3 !C seems self-evident otherwise.

The bottom line here, is that once you've bid your hand, you've bid your hand. It's perfectly permissible to pass. Pass is a perfectly good bid. In some places (not here) it conveys more accurate information to partner than making an actual bid does.
Oliver (OliverC)
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