Passing the buck

Matchpoints, nobody vulnerable, you are East

♠ J 9 5  ♥ 9 8 6 3  ♦ K 9 4 3   ♣ A Q

North	East (you)	South	West
Pass 2 ♠* 5 ♣	Pass 3 ♠ ??	Pass 4 ♥	1 ♠ 4 ♠

*hearts and a minor, at least 5-5

What do you do over  5♣?

ANSWER:  Pass, forcing partner to choose between declaring or doubling.

THE PRINCIPLE: When our side has bid game intending to make (rather than sacrificing), we will not let the opponents win the contract undoubled. Period. Full stop. Otherwise the opponents will rob us blind at every opportunity. Our side must either bid one more time, or double the opponents. If the choice is clear from your hand, act accordingly; if the choice is not clear, then Pass and let partner decide.  Passing the buck, if you want to think of it that way. The same principle applies if our side has not yet bid game, but has established a game-forcing auction: we will not let the opponents win the contract undoubled.

With only three-card spade support, and two probable defensive tricks in clubs, it is tempting to double for penalties. On the other hand, those club tricks will probably be just as useful in dummy, and the diamond king can be useful either way. More importantly, partner is obviously short in hearts and might want to keep bidding if she has a fistful of spades. So with values that are useful on either offense or defense, leave it up to partner by making a forcing pass, forcing her to choose between bidding or doubling.

But wait, it’s not over yet…

♠ J 9 5   ♥ 9 8 6 3  ♦ K 9 4 3   ♣ A Q

North	East (you)	South	West
Pass 2 ♠* 5 ♣ Pass	Pass 3 ♠ Pass ??	Pass 4 ♥ 5 ♥	1 ♠ 4 ♠ Pass

Your call?

ANSWER: Double. You can’t pass, because the opponents don’t get to win the contract undoubled. Partner could have bid or doubled, but she instead made a forcing pass; passing the buck to you. Well, the buck stops here. You don’t have any extra values for a spade contract, so you must perforce double.

The complete hand:

	North
	♠ K 7 ♥ K J 7 5 2 ♦  --   ♣ K J 9 8 5 3
West		East (you)
♠ A Q 10 8 3 2  ♥  -- ♦ A Q 6 5 ♣ 10 6 2		♠ J 9 5 ♥ 9 8 6 3 ♦ K 9 4 3 ♣ A Q
	South
	♠ 6 4 ♥ A Q 10 4 ♦ J 10 8 7 2  ♣ 7 3

Note: I think West has a clear 5♠ bid over 5♥. With North having shown a club-heart two-suiter, West’s pointy-suit values aren’t likely to be useful on defense. East’s pass of 5 ♣ indicated a hand suitable for either offense or defense, so offense it should have been.

a little white lie

Playing matchpoints, nobody vulnerable, you are the dealer.

♠ K Q J 10 x x   ♥ --   ♦ K Q 10 x x   ♣ Q x

S (you)	West	North	East
1 ♠ 3 ♦ 3 ♠	2 ♥ Pass Pass	Pass Pass 4 ♠	Pass 3 ♥ All pass

West leads the ♦7. Take a moment now to look at dummy and plan your play.

North

♠ 9 8 x ♥ x x ♦ A 9 8 x x x  ♣ x x

South (you)

♠ K Q J 10 x x ♥ -- ♦ K Q 10 x x  ♣ Q x

West leads the ♦7, you play low from dummy, East plays the ♦J to your ♦K.

You lead a small spade to West’s ♠A. She switches to the ♣A – East follows with ♣J (!) – and then leads… Oh, stop, wait a minute. What did you play to the ♣A?

ANSWER:  I hope you played the ♣Q smoothly, in tempo without hesitation.

THE PRINCIPLE:  When you are declarer, be alert for opportunities to sow doubt and confusion in the defenders’ minds. Your ♣Q is worthless – it will never take a trick – so why not play it as if it were a singleton? Maybe the defense will switch to hearts instead of continuing a second club, and you’ll ruff and take the rest of the tricks. Maybe West won’t be fooled; nothing ventured, nothing gained. Expert defenders are less likely to be fooled, but you'll at least gain some respect from them as a crafty opponent.

Just like bluffing at the poker table, playing a falsecard at the bridge table demands a straight face and your normal routine tempo. If you spend any extra time thinking about whether to play the ♣Q, the defenders will surely recognize your attempted deceit. 

Doubling a slam

When is it right to double a slam? Only when it’s going down!

I'm not being facetious. It pays to be very conservative about doubling the opponents when they’ve bid a slam under their own power (e.g., without being pushed in a competitive auction). In general, only double a slam when you’re certain to defeat it with tricks in your own hand. 

BUT... there is one situation where doubling a slam has a very specific meaning…

♠  x x x    ♥ A J x x x   ♦ Q J 10 x x  ♣ --

South	West	North	East (you)
1 ♣ 2 ♠ 3 ♠ 7 ♠	Pass Pass Pass Pass	1 ♥ 2 NT 4 ♦ Pass	Pass Pass Pass ?

Yes, your left-hand opponent just jumped to 7♠. Yes, really. What do you do?

ANSWER: Double, requesting that partner make an unusual lead – a club in this case – so that you can ruff.

THE PRINCIPLE: This is called a Lightner double, named after Theodore Lightner who devised this way back in the 1930s. If the opponents freely bid a slam, a double by the third hand – the defender that is not on opening lead – requests an unusual lead in order to defeat the contract. The player on lead is expected to figure out which suit that would be.

Your partner’s hand

♠  x x   ♥  x x x x  ♦ x x x   ♣ 9 8 x x
From the auction, partner knows that declarer has a fistful of black cards -- at least a 6-5 in clubs and spades. North bid 2NT, promising at least 2 clubs. With partner's four clubs, at least 12 of the clubs are accounted for, so it appears to partner that you are likely void in clubs. Partner leads a club, and badda-bing badda-boom, down one.

Figuring out which suit to lead. The Lightner Double calls for an unusual lead, and there is a rough outline for figuring out which suit that might be:

1. If the defense has bid a suit, don't lead it. Leading our suit would not be unusual.
2. Don't lead trump.
3. If dummy or declarer has bid a side suit, that would be a likely choice.

But most importantly, the player on opening lead must think through the auction and her hand in order to reason out which suit partner wants led.

Note that against a six-level contract, only make a Lightner double when you have another sure trick in addition to the ruff.

The dog that didn't bark. If you are on lead against a slam, and partner did not double... Partner did not ask for an unusual lead, so by implication she's not looking for a ruff; you should make a normal lead, whatever that happens to be given the cards you hold.

The complete hand:

	North
	♠ Q x x ♥ K Q x x ♦ A x x  ♣ 10 x x
West		East (you)
♠ x x  ♥ x x x x ♦ x x x  ♣ 9 8 x x		♠ x x x ♥ A J 9 8 x ♦ Q J 10 x x  ♣ --
	South
	♠ A K J x x ♥ --  ♦ K x  ♣ A K Q J x x

Without the Lightner double, West might not find a club lead. 7♠ makes against any other lead. 

Tempo and ethics

We've all done it.

We've all seen it done.

At your turn in the auction, you look at your cards, count your points, mumble to yourself, look at the ceiling for guidance divine or otherwise, look at your cards again, drum your fingers, sigh and mumble some more, grit your teeth, and after maybe 15-20 seconds of this... Pass.

Tournament players call this "taking a huddle" or "going into the tank". Some hands do present hard problems. Bridge is not an exact science, and there are many hands where experts will disagree on what to do.

But here is the issue:

• "PASS" is a legal call
• "Partner-I-have-a-close-decision-whether-to-bid-something-or-PASS" is not a legal call. 

You didn't say so in words, but your behavior clearly indicated that there is some other possible call for your hand. We -- your partner, your opponents -- don't know exactly what you have, but we know you have some values and your hand is not a clear-cut decision to pass.

Your friendly lunchtime bridge game might accept some table talk, and that's fine when you all agree on it. But there's no place for table talk at the duplicate table; in the laws of duplicate bridge, that constitutes "unauthorized information". No matter how saintly partner might be, she can't help but be inadvertently influenced by the knowledge that you have "more than a plain Pass".

It's not that you are deliberately trying to cheat, but you have inadvertently given partner some extraneous information about your hand, and that's not fair to the opponents. In tournament play, or in a strict duplicate club, an undue hesitation will almost certainly result in a call for the Director. The Director's ruling might place some restrictions on partner's subsequent actions, because of the potential impact of unauthorized information.

WHAT TO DO? Yes, some hands present hard problems. But here are some suggestions for playing an ethical game as much as possible:

• When in doubt, bid. When you realize that you've taken a long time, bid something rather than passing. You might still reveal some unauthorized information, but the violation is usually not quite so egregious. (By the way, "when in doubt, bid" is generally good bridge strategy.)
• Strive for a consistent "Goldilocks" tempo -- not too fast, not too slow. An unusually fast call can be just as revealing as an unusually slow one. Try to develop the habit of a consistent, deliberate tempo even when your choice is clear-cut; three to five seconds seems about right to me.
• If you touch it, take it. Don't let your fingers do the walking in the bidding box. Keep the choices inside your head, make up your mind, and only then reach for the appropriate card from the box.

The implications of bidding tempo are the reason for the STOP card. But that's a separate article, I promise to cover it in the future. Until then, here is some fine print from the ACBL Laws of Duplicate Bridge.

16. B. Extraneous Information from Partner 
1. Any extraneous information from partner that might suggest a call or play is unauthorized. This includes remarks, questions, replies to questions, unexpected alerts or failures to alert, unmistakable hesitation, unwonted speed, special emphasis, tone, gesture, movement or mannerism.
(a) A player may not choose a call or play that is demonstrably suggested over another by unauthorized information if the other call or play is a logical alternative.

-- Ray 
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)

(updated June 2018 to incorporate 2017 changes in the wording of Law 16)

an unusual bid

The opponents (E-W) are vulnerable, you (South) are the dealer.

♠ K Q 3  ♥ Q 10 9 6 3  ♦ 8 7 6 5 3  ♣ -- 

You	West	North	East
Pass Pass Pass	Pass 1 ♠ 5 ♣	Pass Pass All Pass	1 ♣ 2 ♣

Bleah, that wasn't any fun. The opponents are cold for 5 ♣, though you didn't know that ahead of time. Let's try again.

♠ K Q 3  ♥ Q 10 9 6 3  ♦ 8 7 6 5 3   ♣ -- 

You	West	North	East
Pass 2 NT	Pass	Pass	1 ♣

A jump overcall to 2NT is "unusual", and conventionally shows at least 5-5 distribution in the agreed suits. This is a standard call, no Alert is required. As originally conceived back in the dark ages of bridge, the Unusual 2NT always showed the minor suits. In modern usage, a few partnerships still use it for the minors but most experts use it to show the lower two unbid suits (here, diamonds and hearts).

I strongly recommend the "lower two unbid" treatment because it comes into play more often. You and partner should discuss this beforehand, reach an agreement, and mark your convention card accordingly. In the absence of an agreement between you and your partner, the unusual notrump shows the old-fashioned minor suits.

If your side is vulnerable, the Unusual 2NT suggests at least an opening hand. Not vulnerable, particularly against vulnerable opponents, 2NT is more often used as a preempt with a much weaker hand. Not vulnerable against vulnerable, you might even risk an unusual 2NT with a 6-4 or 5-4 shape (but be prepared for the occasional disaster!)

After you've shown your distributional hand, partner can evaluate her hand and bid accordingly. Unless you have significant extra values, don't bid again (e.g., don't tell the same story twice).

But what if you really have a natural 2NT hand, with 22-24 points? Buy a lottery ticket, because today is your lucky day! (Oh, and double for takeout then bid whatever seems right.)

The full deal:

South dealer

E-W Vulnerable

	North
	♠ 9 8 2 ♥ K J 5 4 ♦ A 10 9 4   ♣ 10 8
West		East
♠ A J 10 5 4 ♥ 7 2 ♦ K ♣ K 6 4 3 2		♠ 7 6 ♥ A 8 ♦ Q J 2 ♣ A Q J 9 7 5
	South (you)
	♠ K Q 3 ♥ Q 10 9 6 3 ♦  8 7 6 5 3 ♣ --

You	West	North	East
Pass 2 NT	Pass	Pass	1 ♣

Your 2NT call takes up a lot of bidding space and puts pressure on West. Does West dare introduce spades at the three level? Should West raise opener's clubs, knowing there might only be three of them? Partner knows we have a double fit (hearts and diamonds), all her high cards are working, and she shouldn't let the opponents buy the contract short of the six level.

My five minutes are up, but if you have more time... There is a standard expert defense against the Unusual 2NT. It's called "Unusual Versus Unusual".

Reading partner's mind...

Both sides vulnerable at matchpoints, you are West.

♠ 4  ♥ J 3  ♦ A 10 9 8 6 4 3 2  ♣ 5 2 

South	West (you)	North	East
1 ♠ Pass	3 ♦ Pass	4 ♣ 4 ♠	4 ♦ All pass

You lead the ♦A, and dummy comes down with:

	North
	♠ A K Q 9 ♥ 6 5 ♦ 7   ♣ K 10 9 8 6 3
West (you)
♠ 4  ♥ J 3 ♦ A 10 9 8 6 4 3 2 ♣ 5 2

You lead the ♦A, singleton ♦7 from dummy, partner plays the ♦K, and declarer plays the ♦J. What next? 

ANSWER:  Play the ♥J.  Partner is screaming for a heart switch.

THE PRINCIPLE: With the singleton diamond in dummy, continuing diamonds looks like a waste. When it’s clear that continuing the suit is a poor choice, partner’s card is a suit preference signal. A high card indicates a preference for the higher-ranking of the other two non-trump suits; in this case, a preference for hearts rather than clubs. So, you lead a heart as requested; from jack-small, the jack is the better choice.

The complete hand:

North ♠ A K Q 9 ♥ 6 5 ♦ 7   ♣ K 10 9 8 6 3 West (you) East ♠ 4  ♥ J 3 ♦ A 10 9 8 6 4 3 2 ♣ 5 2 ♠ 8 3 2 ♥ A 10 9 7 4 ♦ K Q ♣ J 7 4 South ♠ J 10 7 6 5 ♥ K Q 8 2 ♦ J 5 ♣ A Q

It’s now or never for partner’s ♥A. If you don’t lead a heart, declarer will win any other return, draw two rounds of trumps, play the ♣A and ♣Q, and cross to dummy with a spade. Then she’ll cash four more club tricks, discarding all of her hearts. Making six spades will be a good matchpoint score for the opponents, but not so good for you.

If you can’t read partner’s mind, read her signal.

BUT WHAT IF PARTNER’S SIGNAL CALLS FOR THE WRONG THING TO DO? Do it anyway. Really. Unless you’re 200% positive that partner is wrong, do it anyway. The benefits to partnership harmony, knowing that you’re both paying attention and trusting each other’s signals, far outweigh any short-term gain of maybe being right this time.

Help Stupid Partner, Episode 2

My friend Steve liked to say, "When I'm your partner, the secret to this game is Help Stupid Partner." Here's a classic situation that came up on Monday evening.

Matchpoints

Vulnerable: N-S

Dealer: West

You are East, holding  ♠ Q 8  ♥ 7 6 4  ♦ K 8 7 5  ♣ A 10 9 4   The auction proceeds

West	North	East (you)	South
Pass Pass All pass	Pass 1 ♠	Pass Pass	1 ♥ 4 ♥

North
♠ A J 7 6 5 ♥ 5 ♦ J 9 6 3 2   ♣ 7 5
	East (you)
	♠ Q 8 ♥ 7 6 4 ♦ K 8 7 5 ♣ A 10 9 4

Partner leads the ♦Q, declarer plays the 2 from dummy. Your play?

ANSWER:  Play the ♦5, showing suit preference for clubs. With the ♦J showing in dummy, partner’s lead is an obvious singleton; she’s hoping for a diamond ruff. Your mission is to tell her that you have a club entry in your hand.

THE PRINCIPLE: When continuing the suit is clearly not an option, your play is a suit preference signal.  A high card shows preference for the higher-ranking suit, a low card indicates the lower-ranking suit. In this case, you want to tell partner about the ♣A  – the lower-ranking of the other two non-trump suits – so play your lowest diamond. 

Note that if the ♦J was not showing in dummy, you wouldn't know that partner led a singleton. In that case, it would be an attitude situation, and you would have played the ♦8: encouraging, suggesting the ♦K or ♦A.

The full deal (hands rotated from their original positions):

	North
	♠ A J 7 6 5 ♥ 5 ♦ J 9 6 3 2   ♣ 7 5
West		East (you)
♠ 10 9 4 2    ♥ J 9 ♦ Q ♣ K J 8 6 3 2		♠ Q 8 ♥ 7 6 4 ♦ K 8 7 5 ♣ A 10 9 4
	South
	♠ K 3 ♥ A K Q 10 8 3 2 ♦ A 10 4  ♣ Q

Alas, your play doesn't matter on this hand; declarer draws trumps and partner never gets a diamond ruff. But it might matter the next time around, so be ready!