Good morning
This is not from a teaching session but I plan on being pedantic so I thought I would put it here. I will give two hands from yesterday with the bots, one ending well, the other not, both having some interesting features.
hand 1:
Matchpoints, nobody vul, the deal is on your left, it starts with Pass - 1
- Pass. You hold
AJ842
A3
JT86
Q3.
Simple enough so far, you bid 1
. The opponents stay out of this, partner re-bids 1NT. You are playing New Minor Forcing and you bid 2
, partner responds 2
.
The uncontested auction so far:
1
- 1
1 NT - 2
2
This is our first problem, not everyone agrees about what 2
shows. Surely it shows four hearts, but does it deny three spades?
My preference is that it does not deny three spades and the bots play it that way as well.
I bid a passable but invitational 2
. It pretty much shows just this hand. Partner bids a passable 2NT.
1
- 1
1 NT - 2
2
- 2
2NT
The situation is pretty clear. Partner hold two spades (unless he rebid 1NT on a stiff), he holds four hearts, he holds an opening count, he knows I have enough to try for game with my NMF call, he is leaving the final contract up to me.
So?
Well, I passed. The hands don't seem to be fitting all that well. It's true I would have bid the same way if the
Q had been the
J but that doesn't seem like enough to bid 3NT, so I passed.
The good news is that on a heart lead they can hold me to 8 tricks. The bad news is that at most tables 3NT was bid and made. Actually, the opening lead was a spade. the hands were
KQ
9872
Q952
AJ9
AJ842
A3
JT86
Q3.
The software makes me the declarer with the N cards. It's still not clear where 9 tricks are coming from I won the spade, cashed another spade, led the
9. E held the K and, reasonably I think, ducked, the Q won. OK I am now up to 5+1+0+2=8 tricks. So I gave up a
now and still no heart shift. I ended up taking 10 tricks for a 33 % score.
The pedantic point, besides the fact that what could happen double dummy and what does happen are often very different, is that after the NMF bid it is good to know just what the 2
call does and does not say. Some play it as denying three spades, some don't.. Also, it is good to know what the 2
over 2
means. As I like to play it, partner, holding three spades and a minimum hand, is free to pass and we play in 2
.
Now for Hand 2.
Matchpoints, everyone vul, the deal is on your right, he starts with Pass .
Q52
Q53
AK73
KJ2
Do I open 1NT? I elected not to. Yes it is a 15 count but it is flat and there are not tens or even nines to help out. So i bid 1
.
This auction is contested.
Pass - 1
- 1
- X
Pass - 1NT - 2
-2
This is getting exciting. The calls are natural, partners double was negative, and the 2
showed diamonds. Lho's bids showed spades and clubs. Gane seems unlikely, I passed. Plus 130 for 100 %. You might think that this is because at other tables they were in 3NT going down, but no, that's not it. At other tables my hand was opened 1NT, Lho bid a Cappelletti 2
, passed out.
6
AK764
T854
764
Q52
Q53
AK73
KJ2
It turns out that Lho has 5=2=2=4 shape and E holds the
Q so we could also make 9 tricks in hearts for +140 beating +130, but no one is there. It's also true, or I think it is, that 2
could be beaten a trick [correction, I believe declarer can always make 2
] but no one is in 2
X and anyway usually 2
makes.
The pedantic point is that while a 15 count justifies a 1NT opening it does not require a 1NT opening. It's just not that great a hand.
If you want to think of whether it is or is not possible to beat 2
, here are the hands.
6
AK764
T854
764
AKT98 J743
J2 T98
J2 Q96
A985 QT3
Q52
Q53
AK73
KJ2
Usually it was not beaten.
