Gerben's Bridge Blog

Underleading an Ace

2006-09-27T12:36:00.000+02:00

So when do you underlead an Ace in a trump contract? The first rule you learn is: Never!

Here are some things that could go wrong:

* An opponent could win a trick with the King he would otherwise not get.
* Even if partner has the King, this might not gain a trick.
* Partner has the King and it would gain a trick, if only he knew to put it in. He expects declarer to have the Ace and will play accordingly!
* Partner has the Queen, the King is in dummy and declarer plays small and STILL it won't work, for example:


      KT3
A875       Q94
      J62

On the lead of the 5, dummy plays the 3. Now East will correctly put in the 9!

This was just a short list of horrible things waiting to happen to someone who underleads an Ace. But... as always there are exceptions.

Against a slam with a void
(1♥) 2♠ (3♥) 3♠
(4NT*) Pass (5♣ - 1 KC) Pass
(6♥) All Pass

You're on lead with:
♠ AJT743
♥ 432
♦ 8432
♣ -

Now the correct lead is the ♠3! We are likely to make exactly 1 Spade trick (declarer is not void because of Blackwood) so a ruff seems like the only possible way to beat it. We must hope partner has the King and then returns a Club to beat the contract.

Their contract will likely make and declarer has no control in the suit

The opponents bid unopposed:
1♠ - 2♥ (GF)
3♥ (extras) - 4♦ (non-serious cuebid)
4♥ - Pass

Now if you know that they would cuebid a singleton in opener's suit you may consider leading a ♠ or ♣ away from Axx. This is safer than usual since partner will know you have the Ace, but declarer will not. The lead away from ♠A loses some of its attraction if declarer can have a singleton Spade though.

Layer upon layer

2006-09-15T21:37:00.000+02:00

You are playing your local club's mixed pair championship and get the following hand:

♠ AQ98
♥ T6
♦ AKQT6
♣ K6

You open 1♦, partner respondes 1♥ and since it is always good when you are declarer you rebid 2NT which is raised to 3. The lead is the 5 of Clubs and dummy tables:

♠ J76
♥ AQJ32
♦ J7
♣ Q83

You play small from dummy and the lady on your right takes the Ace since she always does. When North shows up with ♥Kxx you can quickly claim 12 tricks for a 50% score. You don't think much about it and go on to the next hand.

A few weeks later you visit the national mixed championship. You pick up:

♠ AQ98
♥ T6
♦ AKQT6
♣ K6

so you open a Diamond, partner bids 1 Heart. You rebid 2NT which is raised to 3. On the lead of ♣5 dummy shows up with:

♠ J76
♥ AQJ32
♦ J7
♣ Q83

You play small and the lady on your right who has some experience thinks about it for a while and ducks. I hate it when they do that - I will not get two ♣ now. I must play on ♥ since ♠ are too dangerous. ♥10 holds the trick. I decide to go all in since it's MP and I am a ♣ trick behind the field. 5 rounds of ♦ follow and another ♥ finesse. Wow, they are 3 - 3! That's my chance. 12 tricks are sure and on the last ♥ I have this ending:

♠J
♥2
♣Q

♠AQ
♥-
♣6

When I play the ♥ South who still has the ♣A must discard a ♠, so she has at most one of those left. If I play the ♠ next if she has the ♠K it will show up: A showup squeeze! As this works I have 13 tricks so taking the risk of the ducked ♥ paid off. This turned out to be worth 80% of the MP.

Finally, the stage switches to the World Championships in Verona - the mixed pairs. Against a lady you don't know you pick up:

♠ AQ98
♥ T6
♦ AKQT6
♣ K6

You open 1♦ and partner responds 1♥. You rebid 2NT which is raised to 3. LHO on the other side of the screen leads the ♣5 and the hand has something familiar about it. Partner has:

♠ J76
♥ AQJ32
♦ J7
♣ Q83

and the lady thinks about it for a while and... takes the Ace?! Well, that's 2 Club tricks for the good guys. After making all the tricks when LHO shows up with Kxx of ♥ you end up with 12 tricks for a 25% score. Funny, you'd think at this level they would know about ducking a trick like this. Then she says: "I had to take the Ace otherwise I would've been squeezed..." Okay, she knew!

Welcome to the World Championship :)

(Note: the Verona bulletin had this hand but against me it happened as I described it - against someone else)

The importance of system - 1

2006-09-02T11:51:00.000+02:00

Hi, I know it has been a long time since I posted something here but I will try to make more frequent posts now.

Recently a pair of not so experienced players in my club started to play a Strong Club system and what happened was frightening: total chaos. So how important is system really?

Let's start with the club level. Here system is completely irrelevant. Players make so many other mistakes that are not system related, not just in the play but also bidding judgement. It doesn't matter what system you play, just get those other things right first.

Let's look at an example. Partner opens 1 Heart (natural of some sort), RHO doubles and you have:

♠ QJxxxx
♥ KQJx
♦ x
♣ Jx

Does it matter if you are playing "really cool Precision", "Magic Diamond" or "Stone Age Acol"? No! The player here redoubled since he had 10+ HCP (or perhaps added some distribution points?). UNTIL you get these kinds of bids right you have no business investing much time in a brand new system. The correct answer here is not to Redouble for strength but to make a forcing raise of Hearts like 2NT Truscott, or if system allows showing some other feature at the same time like 2♠ Fit Showing Jump.

Never mind the bidding problem, but if you Redouble here no system can save you. It is true that some systems will be more fun to play than others, and some will give you good results because they apply pressure on your opponents, but what use are those good results if you are throwing out points on the other side at an even greater speed?

NT ranges 2 - the weak NTs

2006-01-30T11:35:00.000+01:00

I know some people would be interested to know more about opening weak NTs. I think it is a winner if you treat it properly. That's a big if!

You need to be well-prepared for the part score battles that will take place. In a strong NT system, the weak NT hand type opens and then sits back to see if something good happens. The strong NT hand opens 1NT and does the same.

Not so in a weak NT system! The weak NT hand opens 1NT and when someone doubles something, the auction begins and opener is asked to participate. The strong NT hand opens 1 of a suit and is responsible for showing extra values.

The weak NT will give you some unavoidable bad scores. But also some good scores which you will avoid if you do not fulfill the big if above.

Let's look at some different ranges.

12 - 14
This is the standard weak NT. It can be played in all positions and vulnerabilities if you like. However you need to be aware that 3rd seat may be dangerous, and unfavourable vulnerability also.

If you want to play a variable NT range I suggest however you use:

11 - 13

This is my preferred variable NT range in non-dangerous situations. In situations where you think this is dangerous you can revert to 14 - 16 NT. In situations where you rate the situation as safe you can also play 10 - 13 for frequency reasons.

12 - 15
This is usually connected to Precision and I think this is a bad idea if your 1♣ opening is 16+. If it's 15+ then it's fine. The point is when playing Precision you want the balanced hand of the same point count as your unbalanced minimum 1♣ opening to open something else. If you play 16+ I think the way to go is to put some balanced hands into 1♦ and either play 14 - 16 NT or variable with 10 - 13.

10 - 12
Sorry but this one is not good in my opinion unless playing Precision, and even then probably 11 - 13 or 10 - 13 is better. Lowering your weak NT range this far is nice as frequency is concerned, but you first tell your opponents that you do NOT have this range when you don't open it, and also the balanced ranges that have to be covered in standard bidding is so large that you get into rebid problems there.

Responding to a weak NT
You can use your favorite Stayman and Transfers here. It'll be all right. However lately I've been thinking about other methods. Keri is nice but quite complicated. 2-way Stayman does not sound correct: 2♣ asks if I have a 4-card major, and 2♦ asks if I have a 4-card major. Great!

Another way is to use 2♦ as a shape relay and 2♣ for the rest. This is nice for (rare) slam auctions but forces you to open 1NT only on certain pre-determined shapes.

So what's my take on this? On my bridge systems site there is a 2-way Stayman variation where 2♦ does NOT ask for a 4-card major. Instead it asks for a 2-card major, of which partner should have at most one.

Here is the link: Weak NT response system. It is not as detailed as some other systems but easier to learn than Keri and more flexible than the 2♦ relay. More on this later.

NT ranges 1 - the strong NTs

2006-01-24T16:01:00.000+01:00

I'm sure you all have seen plenty of NT ranges when playing bridge. In some countries you need to announce the range as there is no real standard. However, 15 - 17 is treated as standard for a strong NT, so let's look at some alternatives.

16 - 18
I know this used to be popular and is still in many learning books. Don't play this. Don't teach your students this. Pity those who do. Why? Here's why:

If responder has 10 HCP exactly and the auction starts 1x - 1y - 1NT, he will pass since opposite most hands 2NT will be in danger or too high. However opposite most 15 counts the field is going to be in 3NT. And it will often make. The problem is that nowadays everyone opens 12 HCP and 4432. Nothing wrong with that, but the 1NT rebid of 12 - 15 is too wide to make good judgement.

14 - 16
I like this myself. This range is 50% more common than the range that "looks the same but isn't", 15 - 17. Also the 1NT rebid is now very narrow: A good 11 to 13. With 11 HCP you just pass it out in 1NT where the field is in 2NT. Or if you had 11+ opposite 11, you are in 1NT instead of a pass out.

Another advantage is that opponents have a game on a higher percentage of hands, so they might be either afraid or wrong to use their non-constructive strong NT defence like DONT, on the other hand it does not pay off yet to hit this for penalty as it is so rare.

This range also goes well with Precision. It is good to know your 1♣ opening bid does not include 16 HCP balanced hands.

With so many pluses, what are the disadvantages? Well, you have to account for more big balanced hands in other ways. Making a 2NT opener lighter also has its dangers. In the end, I still think 14 - 16 is the way to go now as strong NTs go.

Your sohl or mine?

2005-12-12T15:38:00.000+01:00

2NT has never been a popular contract, and rightly so. In many situations it does not pay to play 2NT as natural. Not because a hand that would want to bid it is not possible, but because there are better uses. Some examples are:

1NT (2♥) 2NT
(2♥) Double (Pass) 2NT
1♣ 1♠ 2♥ 2NT
etc.

Conventions that end in "Sohl" use the transfer principle and use the extra 2NT step in these sequences as a transfer to 3♣ with several hand types. Let's take the first sequence as example. Partner opens 1NT and RHO overcalls 2♥.

Lebensohl

2NT is a transfer to 3♣ with either a weak 1-suited hand below opponent's suit (a minor) or some strong variations. With two bids, 3NT and 3♥, and by going through 2NT or not, you can distinguish about wanting to play 3NT with or without stopper in ♥, and with or without 4-card ♠. For suits above opponent's (♠) you have possible ways to show them.

Rubensohl

In this version by Ira Rubin all bids are transfers. The weak hands all bid the bid below the suit and then pass when partner completes the transfer. To ask only for a stopper for 3NT without 4-card major, transfer to 3NT with 3♠. Although the number of possible bids to show a suit is the same as Lebensohl, the number of sequences is larger because of more transfer bids. You can show a second suit, or show a suit and then ask for a stopper, for example.

Rumpelsohl

I've actually tried a third variation: Rumpelsohl. Here 2NT shows either a strong hand with ♣ or a weak hand with a suit below that of the opponents. The other bids are as in Rubensohl. These bids have the advantage that all bids except 2NT show a good hand.

Good things: You can also invite in suits lower than opponents except ♣ (opener will decline the transfer with a useful hand), and since you show a good hand, opener can get into to the auction when opponents raise. A big winner is this sequence: 1NT (2♠) 3♦.

Bad things: You lose the sequences where you show Clubs and were planning to bid a suit below opener's after partner accepts. However partner is not barred from showing a big ♣ fit in the same way as after a Lebensohl 2NT. 1NT (2♥) 2NT (p) 3♦ = I can stand 4♣ if that is your suit!

Which should you play?

Although the number of sequences in Rumpelsohl (best imho) or Rubensohl is much richer and should be preferred in a regular partnership, the transfer nature of the bids make them more vulnerable for misunderstandings if you and your partner are not clear on which sequences to play the convention. This is why for casual partnerships I suggest you play Lebensohl.

4- and 5-card majors

2005-12-01T15:10:00.000+01:00

This post is a try to give an overview of natural systems with 4- and 5-card majors. Where are the advantages and disadvantages. First let me define a string of minimum opening length. This is the minimum number of cards required for the opening bids 1♠, 1♥, 1♦ and 1♣. For example Standard American would have the code "5533". As a check, these numbers should always add up to 16.

Let's start on one end of the spectrum.

English Acol - 4444
All opening bids on the 1-level promise a minimum of 4 cards. With 4M + 4m usually open the major. There is some freedom here. This system has the advantages that 1M can preempt the opponents and that 1m are well defined, however the disadvantages are that 1m are less frequent and 1M have more bidding problems, esp. after interference.

Dutch Acol - 4444
In Dutch Acol you bid 4-card suits bottom up. This may seem silly and frankly, I think it is. The biggest problem is 1♠, which is either 4♠333 or 5 cards. You want to know which variation is the actual one, especially in competition! Although the string of opening length did not change this is in fact the biggest step between systems! All the others just revolve around one or two distributions.

Swiss Acol - 5443
This is like Dutch Acol but 4M333 hands are opened 1♣. You have the advantage of 1♠ showing 5 cards but not for 1♥, which may have 4 cards if it also has 4 cards in ♠. This makes it harder to find fits in ♥ as partners have no certainty.

SEF, SAYC, 2/1 - 5533
This is like Swiss Acol only the 4♠4♥32 hands are opened with the 3-card minor. Now 1♥ promises 5 cards, making life easier for responder. This means that 1♦ is only 3 cards if 4♠4♥3♦2♣. This gives the same problems as 1♠ in Dutch Acol and 1♥ in Swiss Acol, we keep moving the problem down. Here it is again:

1♦ (2♥) ?

You have 4♦ 2♥ and want to find a bid. Your length in ♦ increases the chance that partner is short, and if he is you know that he has 4♥. So either we have a 4 - 4 fit and they probably have a fit somewhere too, OR we have only 7 cards in ♦ and the same is true for their ♥. Your guess!

Italian 2/1 - 5542
This is like SEF but hands with 4♠4♥3♦2♣ are opened with 1♣. I prefer this method by far over any of the above. Note that we have moved our problem down another step now. However, it is best faced in 1♣, the most shaded of the opening bids even before this problem. Also by opening 1♣ we are least in the way of partner when we have hands that could play in at least 2 or 3 strains.

Let me notice some trends from one side to the other:

From English Acol to 2/1, the minimum strength of auctions like 1♥ - 2♦ increases. This is no doubt caused by the opening structure. The lack of definition for the 2/1s in English Acol is a big problem, but without them you have to respond 1NT to 1M too often. With them, slam bidding becomes much harder than in 2/1. Not my cup of tea (and tea is without milk!)

The opening bid of 1♦ makes a transformation from well-defined for Acol to vague and then back to well-defined. This is the main flaw of the systems in the middle, I think.

1♣ gets to include more and more hands from up to down. I think every step (except the first which is not helpful at all) is an improvement in this case as it helps define the other opening bids more than that it hurts 1♣.

ParadoX bids - Transfer's big brother

2005-11-08T13:57:00.000+01:00

If you like transfers you will just love ParadoX bids. This term had been around unconciously for a long time but was introduced by Chris Ryall. After partner has made a bid that is either this or that, usually a transfer, these bids apply.

Let's see from a simple example what this means: the super-accept after 1NT + transfer.

1NT p 2♦* p 2♥ **
* NF with ♥ or forcing with ♥
** Pass if you have the NF variation.

Compare with:

1NT p 2♦* p 3♥ **
* NF with ♥ or forcing with ♥
** Want to play 3♥ if you have the NF variation.

Opener responds with the lowest bid that allows for either situation. In this case the worst situation is always the NF ♥ one, but with some bids there are several "worst" situations possible, for example:

2♦* p 2♥** / 2♠***
* Weak Two in ♥ or Weak Two in ♠
** Pass if you have ♥, might have game interest for ♠
** Pass if you have ♠, can play at least 3♥ if you have ♥

This way you are saving space and bidding rounds or transmit extra information. A clever example:
1NT (2♥) 2NT* p 3♦**
* Lebensohl: weak 1-suiter in a minor or some strong variations
** Can stand 4♣ if you have a weak 1-suiter in ♣!

try Chris Ryall's Paradox advances

Life is a transfer, please superaccept me!

2005-11-07T16:29:00.000+01:00

Someone on the Bridge Base forums has this in their signature: "Life is a transfer, please superaccept me!" I think this is a cool statement but it also shows how important transfers are. Transfers are bidding space doublers. Let's see how that works.

Let's say you were not playing transfers after 1NT. Then if you have ♥ you bid 2♥. This is either forcing or not. If not, you cannot have a strong hand. If it is, you cannot have a weak hand. Suppose you bid 2♦ showing ♥. Partner will bid 2♥ and you can stop there with a weak hand. With the strong hand you bid again. You have combined two bids into one at the expense of one step (as 2♦ is one step lower than 2♥).

Many other situations allow this:

Opponents double your 1-level opening bid. You give up 1♦ after 1♣ or 1NT after 1♥/♠ as a natural bid and shift all other bids down 1. Now you can include both forcing and nonforcing hands into this auction.

Partner overcalls. These are called Rubens transfers. In principle an auction like (1♣) 1♠ (pass) 2♦ is a transfer to ♥, allowing you to bid both NF and forcing hands with ♥.

Partner opens 1♥. This one is called Kaplan inversion. Basically, you combine "forcing 1NT" and "1♠ response with exactly 4 cards" into one bid. For that the hands with 5 or more Spades are moved up one step.

Preemptive openings. You bid one step lower to include strong hands in your preempt. See August 13th post for an example on opening 2♣. Another example are Misho & Inquiry's MisIry transfer preempts (check the BBO Inquiry blog for that).

Responding 2♠ to 1NT. Here you can play that 2♠ shows either an invitation to 3NT (transfer to 2NT!) or some other hands. Very useful.

Some conventions are really transfers in disguise, for example:

Lebensohl / Rubensohl

Good Bad 2NT

Puppet Stayman

Conventions make the system?

2005-10-10T15:09:00.000+02:00

A lot of players when building a new partnership work on a list of conventions that they want to play, and think that's it. This is very wrong, let's look at an example from last week's BBO Forum's Bridge Poll Online.

With only opponents vulnerable, LHO opens 1♦, partner overcalls 3♠ and RHO passes and you have:
♠874 ♥AKT9 ♦K3 ♣A843

What do you bid? The answer is not a simple "I pass" or "I bid 4♠. The answer has to be found in the question: What does partner normally have for a 3♠ bid. It is no use raising to 4 if to make 4 you require a hand that partner would've bid 4♠ on himself! Style discussion will bring so much more than any convention you might agree on.

In the actual poll I voted for 4♠, but with my junior partner I would have passed. And it would have been right to pass, as he would have bid 4♠ himself if it were making.

2-suited overcalls

2005-10-05T17:13:00.000+02:00

Almost every experienced pair plays 2-suited overcalls, but there are zillions of variations on how these are played. This is hidden behind convention names like Michael's, Ghestem, Unusual, etc. This article is about how I think they should be played.

Myth 1: 2♦ for the majors after 1 minor. Many pairs play that after 1♣ from RHO, 2♣ is natural and 2♦ shows both majors. Please don't do this. 1♣, even if it promises just 2 cards, is usually natural with 4+cards. If it isn't, it's natural and what will happen is this: Responder will bid another suit and opener rebids NT. NOW you can bid your natural 2♣! Or if the suit is raised you may consider bidding 3♣ now.
Use a direct bid of 2♣ to show the 2-suited hands and keep 2♦ natural. Again, ♦ are an unneccessary victim of conventions.

Myth 2: It is okay to overcall a 2-suiter on any strength. In principle yes, but consider you have a 5-loser hand and the auction goes:

1♥ 2♥ Pass 2♠
Pass

If you have a decent hand you might not know what to do. If you have a hand where you don't know what to do at this point, don't bid the 2-suiter!

My tip is: bid the 2-suiter either on weak hands (preemptive) or on very strong hands, but NOT on the intermediate hands.

On how to play the 2-suiters: There are 2 styles, both with advantages and disadvantages.

1) Non-specific 2-suiters. This is very easy: 2NT shows the two lowest unbid suit, 2 of the opponent's suit shows the highest unbid suit and another (i.e. the other 2 possibilities)

2) Specific 2-suiters: In this style, 3♣ (or 3♦ after 1♦) also shows a 2-suiter, giving you 3 bids for 3 2-suiters. This has advantages in that both suits are directly known, but disadvantage that you are at the 3-level on more hands, and you shouldn't forget this convention!
Basically it works like this:
2NT still shows the two lowest unbid
3♣ shows the two highest unbid (3♦ for the majors after 1♦)
2 in opponent's suit shows the highest and lowest unbid

A third style is one where you play like 1) but the cue bid of a minor shows specifically the majors. I don't like this style as much since then you cannot show ♠ + other minor, and it will be hard to get the great shape across later on.

It is up to you which you like most. For me it is the first style.

Don't play DONT. Just don't!

2005-09-22T12:33:00.000+02:00

There are over 50 known conventions after opponents open 1NT. One of the most widely used and one of the worst is DONT. Just a recap of what it means. After 1NT from opponents:

Dbl shows a 1-suited hand
2♣ shows ♣ and a higher suit
2♦ shows ♦ and a major
2♥ shows both majors
and
2♠ is natural, but weaker than over Double.

The advantages, so say the fans of this convention, is to be able to show all 1- and 2-suiters AND be able to stop in 2♣. The question is: do I want to and at what price?

Let's look for the weak spots of this convention.

1. Double - Opponents will just ignore this and bid whatever they were planning on bidding, and if they do you can either bid your suit on the 2-level or you can't. If you can't, it'll be lost. Partner cannot help as he can after for example a Multi, with fit in two of two possible suits.

2. 2♣ - Again opponents will just ignore you. Double for Stayman and system on. Nice is that partner can raise your ♣ with a fit. What about if opponents leave you alone, and you do not have a fit in ♣? Suppose responder has 4♠2♥4♦3♣. A very common shape you might say. You have two options. Option 1 is pass and play the (possibly) 4-3 fit in a minor. If it happens to be a 5-3 fit, nice. But possibly partner's second suit corresponds to one of your 4-card suits (♦ and ♠). Wouldn't you want to play there? But if you try 2♦ relay, partner will bid 2♥ and now you are in big trouble. So you cannot find out about partner's side suit and have to accept the 4-3 fit in ♣.

3. 2♦ - This is better but still faces the same problem of not finding the best fit
4. 2♥ - This is a nice bid but still a bit gambling as you cannot find out which major is longer. Not much against this as I like to play this as an opening bid.

Conclusion: Three of the six 2-suiters and three of the four 1-suiters would be better off in a different convention as they are likely to be buried or played in a suboptimal fit! Great convention!

If you like a DONT-like style, I suggest you play Lionel:
Dbl = ♠ and another suit (or very strong hands)
2♣ = ♣ and ♥
2♦ = ♦ and ♥
2major = natural

The 2m-overcalls allow you to choose between two fits directly, and the Dbl? It looks similar to the DONT 2♣ but it isn't! You can play in ♠ at the 2-level if you do not find the required fit in the 2nd suit whereas with ♣ as the anchor-suit, if you bid on you are at the 3-level if the 2nd suit doesn't suit you. You give up on bidding hands with no major suit interest (minor 1- or 2-suiter) on the 2-level, but be realistic: when were you going to play 2m on those hands anyway?

Defending against a Strong Club

2005-09-16T14:25:00.000+02:00

Many people like to bid a lot against a Strong Club opener. This in a way makes a lot of sense because they will be ahead of the field when you leave them alone. In my opinion there are only two types of bid you can/should use against a Strong Club.

1. Natural bids
2. Bids that may include the bid suit or not (for example 2♣ showing either ♣ or ♥+♦)

My favorite convention against all kinds of strong conventional opening bids is Psycho Suction. This is just a wacky name for the example I gave above. If you bid a suit on the 2-level or higher this shows the bid suit or the next two, if you bid NT you have the two combinations that are left: a non-touching 2-suiter (♥♣ or ♠♦). At the 1-level I like to reserve for constructive hands: Double for ♥, 1♦ for ♠, 1 of a major for a 4-card major with a longer minor. With hands that are even stronger, pass first.

What most people forget is that sometimes the strong 1♣ is on your left. Do YOU know what you play after the 1♦ negative or the positive responses? I suggest that after a positive response you play that you assume this was the opening bid. So after 1♣ pass 1NT you bid as after a strong NT opening bid (I hope you weren't playing penalty doubles there!). After the 1♦ negative: Double for the majors, 1 of a major is natural and the rest? Psycho Suction again.

Educational slam hand

2005-09-11T12:44:00.000+02:00

Playing IMPs I recently held:
♠AQ652
♥KQ942
♦J53
♣-

Partner opens 1♦ (promises 4 cards), I respond 1♠, partner raises to 2♠. I splinter to 4♣ which is doubled by my LHO! This makes things a lot easier, as partner now bids 4♦, denying a ♣ control but showing a ♦ control. The auction is easy now. Bid 4NT, RKC. Partner responds 5♥, 2 without the ♠Q. I conclude with 6♠.

Partner tables:
♠T984
♥A3
♦AKQT8
♣J6

As all other suits are solid, how do you play the ♠ suit? Missing King and Jack your first reaction might be: Ah, a double finesse. Indeed, this play has a chance of 74% to succeed. But as chess champion Lasker once said: "When you see a good move, wait---look for a better one!"

What can possibly be better?

Right! Cash the Ace and then lead towards the Queen. You will risk an irrelevant overtrick, but assure the contract against KJ doubleton offside in addition to all the chances of the double finesse. And guess what: KJ offside was the actual distribution! So what did my LHO double 4♣ on? Here it is:

♠KJ
♥T865
♦74
♣KQ983

This was bad for several reasons: First, if it was for the lead, he'll be on lead against ♠ himself. Second, it gave us an easy road to slam because I could find out that partner didn't have much in ♣. Third, even if his partner would have been on lead, leading ♣ is useless as it is my short suit. It is better to play such a double as asking for the lead in a DIFFERENT suit, for example the lowest suit that is not trumps or the splinter suit (and make sure that you are not on lead yourself).

Opening 1NT with a 5-card major

2005-09-09T20:00:00.000+02:00

This has been an endless discussion point. You will find multiple world champions saying "never open 1NT on a 5-card major" and others saying you should. Here's my view on this.

What are the advantages of opening 1NT on a 5-card major?
* Puts more constraints on strength and distribution than 1M in one bid
* Harder for opponents to find their right contract
* You might miss a 5-3 fit when 3NT is better
* You solve some rebid problems

What is the disadvantage of opening 1NT on a 5-card major?
* If the major fit is missed you might have lost your best contract

Considering the evidence, my view is to open 1NT systematically on 5♥332, and never/rarely on 5♠332. The advantage of 1NT on ♥ is way bigger than for ♠:
* After 1♥ there is the big rebid problem 1♥ - 1♠ - ?. This is solved if you play Kaplan Inversion, though.
* After 1♥ opponents can overcall 1♠, after 1♠ they couldn't overcall 1♥ anyway.

After opening 1NT on 5♥332 I have one method to find out the 5-card major: After Stayman 2♣, the response 2NT shows this hand. This is safe because of the certain 9-card fit if partner is weak.

The Bermuda Bowl - who are the favorites?

2005-09-02T13:55:00.000+02:00

Next month the most important event on the Bridge calendar, the Bermuda Bowl, will be held in Estoril, Portugal. I'll have a look at the contestants.

There will be a total of 21 teams, 8 of which will make it to the Knockout stages. This is my prediction.

Finalists:
* Italy - I think this team will go all the way. Dummy will stay at the table on board 128 this time.
* USA 1 - If anyone is going to stop the Italians, it will be them.

Semifinalists:
* Sweden - A clear best of the rest in Malmö, they are tough to beat when they don't run into time penalties (just kidding mr. Sundelin).
* Netherlands - This is the same team that won the strong open teams in Tenerife. Although they were only 6th in Malmö, after that things have been going so well that only a team the size of the two finalists seem to be able to stop them.

Quarterfinalists:
* USA 2 - A very strong team that can keep up with the very best. I especially wish Fred Gitelman the best of luck.
* England - Their ability to score big against the weaker teams will get them to the QF. Their RR run in Istanbul was very impressive.
* Russia - A very solid team that seems to deliver good results constantly.
* China - A new star on the Bridge map since a few years. I think highly of them and I think they will make it to the KO.

I want to mention some other teams here:

* Poland - They seem to have set their goals on the transnational teams. Except for Jassem and Martens the team does not have much experience on this level. It will be interesting to see how they will do.
* Australia - Since I like to see nonstandard systems in action I'd like to see them get as far as possible, however with so many strong teams participating, it'd be a positive surprise if they did.

Fantunes: why the system works

2005-08-30T16:07:00.000+02:00

Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes are the most recent addition to the Italian Open Team. After winning a World Pairs Championship, the European Teams Championship and the Olympiad no one doubts that they are one of the strongest pairs in the World. As such they now also have a nickname as pair (like Meckwell for Meckstroth & Rodwell): Fantunes

Unlike most other top pairs who play sort of time-tested methods (Natural, prepared, strong, or Polish Club) they use a completely different and before almost unknown method. Let me explain it:

Their 1-level opening bids are all very solid (14+ HCP or compensating distribution) with all balanced hands included in 1♣ (as such it can be bid on as few as two). These bids are all forcing!

1NT is weak: 12-14 HCP and can be bid on anything remotely balanced (Shapes like 5242 or 2245 are all in there).

Their 2-level bids are intermediate: 10 - 13 HCP and show at least a 5-card suit, although 2 of a minor might be bid on a 4441-distribution. Notice that they do NOT play Weak Two bids. This all sounds overly solid, especially for someone younger like me, but in fact if you look at it it's very agressive.

These 2-bids come up a lot and although they are not so well-defined they put pressure on the opponents too, and when all else fails you can always try a light 3NT, and playing the cards as well as they do you will have a tough job beating it.

Then the 1-bids: These are forcing but natural, which might bring them too high if responder is extremely weak but normally it has great advantages over the field:

* Strong NT hands when playing a weak NT are no longer much of a problem as partner is already counting on some values when you open 1♣.
* Responder can be agressive when opponents compete compared to the field.
* GF auctions can be set up by responder with most 10-counts, so you can start finding the best game or slam early.
* Awkward hands that are normally close to opening a strong 2♣ need not fear their opening is passed out. Also, they can be described more accurately than what the rest of the field might manage.

Fantoni - Nunes will be in action in the next Bermuda Bowl. If you have a chance to watch them on Vugraph, do so. I have a feeling they Italy will finally win this time.

Diamonds are a Bridge Player's best friend - 2

2005-08-17T12:17:00.000+02:00

Using the opening style from the previous post has some consequences for the rest of the auction. If we open 1♣ we usually don't have 4♦. Responder with 4♦ then does not need to bid them, so hands with 4♦ and 4♥/♠ will respond in the major. Especially when the response is 1♠ this will have helped us shut out the ♥ suit. Some pairs go further and bid the major before ♦ even when the ♦ are longer. This style is called Walsh.

Now to the opening bid of 1♦. As this now shows at least 4 cards in many situations it is good to want to play this suit and tell partner about it.
I use this raise structure:
3♦: Pre-emptive with long ♦, about 3 - 6 HCP
3♣: Constructive raise with fit, about 7 - 9 HCP
2♦: Inverted, invitational or better with ♦
Perhaps you need to adjust these ranges if you have an agressive opening style.

Another thing is that you may have a hand with both minors. The auction 1♦ - something - 2♣ no longer shows longer ♦ than ♣. It could also be 4♦ + 5♣. Be sure to have discussed this with partner so he won't give incorrect preference with 3♣ and 2♦.

Diamonds are a Bridge Player's best friend - 1

2005-08-14T23:03:00.000+02:00

If you ask me what is the most neglected suit in bridge my answer is Diamonds. In standard American / French style opening 1♦ shows at least 3 cards. The idea around this is that 1♦ is a 4-card suit most of the time and that responder will just assume that this is the case, ignoring the hand with 4♠4♥3♦2♣. That's usually not going to make a difference, but sometimes...

Partner opens 1♦ and RHO overcalls 2♥. If you have a distribution like 3244 or so, there are two possibilities:
1. Partner has 4♦. You have a fit. They probably have a fit. We want to compete.
2. Partner has the dreaded 4432 hand. Yes, with 4 Hearts. They don't have a fit. Partner doesn't have real Diamonds, so we don't have a fit. Great. Although the chance of this is low, the problems created by getting it wrong are large.

My tip: Open 4♠4♥3♦2♣ with 1♣. You need to alert your opponents to this possibility when you open 1♣. Now that 1♦ shows more information than 1♣, it has become a good idea to open hands with 4-4 in the minors with 1♦. Heck, even hands with 4♦ and 5♣ that are too weak to bid a reverse can be opened with 1♦. The corollary is that you now have some extra information when partner opens 1♣: Probably he won't have 4 or more ♦!

Protection of the 2 Clubs opening bid

2005-08-13T22:32:00.000+02:00

The great majority of bridge players in the world play some kind of standard system that includes 2♣ as a strong opening bid. This bid takes away a lot of bidding room but this is a necessary evil in a standard system unless you play a system like Fantunes (the system played by Italian stars Fantoni - Nunes) or EHAA. Bad as it is, you are not alone. What often happens is that the opponents suddenly find bids when you open 2♣. They normally have about 3 points and a 6-card suit and are not vulnerable. Great. Partner, who is equally broke might tell you if he is completely broke or just moderately broke by doubling or passing, but then RHO raises his partner. Now the auction is at 3 something and I haven't shown anything.

As a response scheme to this opening bid, when it comes up AND opponents pass, I recommend Chris Ryall's Paradox responses which basically means that you respond 2♥/♠ if you have a really bad hand and 2♦ if you can be of some help to your partner. This however still doesn't cope with the auction being at the 3-level when your opponents happen to have shape but no strength.

The solution: Include a Weak Two in ♦ in your 2♣ opening bid (if this is allowed by system regulations). Since you will have the weak variation most of the time, opponents cannot afford to overcall on junk because they need their bids to describe strong hands, and the odds that you get to describe your big hand have improved by a mile. Also a Weak Two in ♦ is a nice preemptive bid to have in your arsenal anyway.

What about responder? Just follow the ParadoX response scheme at the 2-level and use 2NT as your favorite strong relay after a Weak 2. You might think it is dangerous to bid higher than 2♦ with a hand that doesn't want to go to game opposite an Acol Two in a major, but the odds of getting such a hand is remote. Besides, if you have nothing and your partner has a weak two, they probably can make 7 of something.

Welcome everyone

2005-08-13T22:19:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone, I have finally decided to make a blog too. I will write about my views and bridge experiences here.