Which Is More, 53 or 44?

Even the second-graders in the audience are saying "well, duh!" But bridge is a complex game...

♠	A Q 2
♥	A Q 5 4
♦	A J 5
♣	8 3 2

Partner deals and opens 1 ♠. Your right-hand opponent passes.. You are playing 2/1, of course. Your call?

ANSWER: 2 ♣. Not 2 ♥.  Bidding 2 ♥ right now would show a five-card suit. You don't have that, so you must bid a minor suit. Not 2 ♦. Bidding 2 ♦ would show longer diamonds than clubs. Yes, your club suit is loathsome. But your bid here is not about clubs: it is about creating a game-forcing auction. With three cards in each minor, give partner as much bidding space as possible. No matter how much enthusiasm partner might show for clubs, you will always insist on spades later. And don't worry about missing a heart fit. If partner has a four-card heart suit, she will bid it at her next opportunity.

You bid 2 ♣. Fortunately for our discussion here, partner bids 2 ♥.

West	North	East	South
	1 ♠	Pass	2 ♣
Pass	2 ♥	Pass	?

Partner shows at least four hearts here. You have an eight-card fit (or better) in both majors! Which do you choose: spades or hearts?

ANSWER: Bid 3 ♥, setting hearts as trump. Yes it is possible that partner has six spades and four hearts, in which case spades would be a better trump suit. But partner could also be five-five in the majors, making hearts a nine-card trump suit versus only eight in spades. With the information you have right now, there are two eight-card trump suits. Choose the 4-4 fit rather than the 5-3 fit.

You will easily find your way to 6 ♥ on this hand. But look what can happen if you play in spades instead of hearts:

	♠ K 9 8 5 4 ♥ K J 9 7 ♦ 10 8 ♣ A K
♠ 7 ♥ 10 3 ♦ Q 7 6 2 ♣ 10 9 7 6 5 4	N W E S	♠ J 10 6 3 ♥ 8 6 2 ♦ K 9 4 3 ♣ Q J
	♠ A Q 2 ♥ A Q 5 4 ♦ A J 5 ♣ 8 3 2

If spades are trump, you must lose a spade trick due to the 4-1 split, and there is an unavoidable diamond loser. 6 ♠ is a hopeless contract here, as is 6NT. But if hearts are trump, you can ruff the fourth round of spades, and use the remaining spade to discard one of  South's minor suit losers, making 6 ♥ easily. (If both major suits were to break evenly, you would make 7 ♥ by discarding South's two diamond losers on the long spades. But 7 ♠ will never ever make, no matter how the suits split, no matter how inept the defense.)

THE PRINCIPLE: When you have a 4-4 fit and a 5-3 fit, choose the 4-4 fit. On average, making the 4-4 suit trump will yield about one trick better than the 5-3 suit. Whatever losers exist in the 4-4 suit, they always exist regardless of whether that suit is trump. If the 5-3 side suit splits evenly, there will be a place to discard two losers from the other hand. If the 5-3 side suit splits poorly, you can usually ruff at least one of the losers.

Note that after an auction 1 ♠ - 2minor - 2 ♥ - 3 ♥, hearts are trump. Period, full stop. There is no reliable way to get back to a spade contract. Any subsequent spade bids are cue bids showing either an ace or a control, per your partnership agreement. Ditto for the auction 1 ♠ - 2 ♥ - 3 ♥; opener will raise hearts with three-card support, knowing that responder has five hearts and we've found an eight-card trump suit. 

This is why responder needs five hearts to bid 2 ♥ over 1 ♠; we can always ensure that we are locating an eight-card fit. 

When we have a choice of eight-card fits, we want to be in the 4-4 fit. At the bridge table, 44 is more!

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

Who Called This Meeting?

Suggested soundtrack: Grateful Dead, "New Speedway Boogie"

	♠ A K 10 9 2 ♥ Q 10 ♦ J 2 ♣ K J 9 4

You	LHO	Partner	RHO
1 ♠	Pass	2 ♥	3 ♦
??

You were the dealer, vulnerable against not. Partner's 2 ♥ bid was game-forcing with at least five hearts. We are committed to keep the auction alive until we bid game (at least) or double the opponents.

The overcall does create a problem for you. If you bid, your options are:

• 3 ♠ now would show six or more spades. You don't have that.
• 3 ♥ now would show three or more hearts. You don't have that.
• 3 NT now would show a diamond stopper. You don't have that.
• 4 ♣ would show at least four clubs, and absolutely no tolerance for 3 NT. You don't have that. Partner might have a diamond stopper and want to play 3 NT. Your diamond jack might be a partial stopper across from queen-third or king-third in partner's hand.
• Double would be penalty, planning to give the opponents a Souvenir Minus Eight Hundred (or more!) for interfering against our presumptive vulnerable game when you have the rest of their diamonds. Nope, you don't have that either.

Anyway, it's still your call. What to do?

ANSWER: Pass. Partner called this meeting, let her run it. There's no need to be That Person in the meeting, blathering on with no useful information to contribute. We are in a game-forcing auction. RHO's 3 ♦ call ensures that partner has another call coming and the auction will continue. If you've got nothing new to say, there's no need to say anything right now. As a bonus, your Pass will tell partner that you don't have any of the hands described above.

You will be well-positioned to act after partner explains her agenda:

• She might bid 3 ♠ showing three-card support and suggesting some extra values; spades will be trump and you can proceed from there.
• She might bid 3 ♥ showing 6+ hearts; you will raise to 4 ♥ with your doubleton.
• She might bid 3 NT or 4 ♠  to play; you will Pass of course.
• She might bid 4 ♣; you'll show your honor-doubleton heart support and hope you aren't missing a club slam.
• She might bid 4 ♥ to play, showing a stand-alone suit and disavowing any slam interest. You will Pass, of course.
• She might Double, suggesting no clear direction and asking you to Do Something Intelligent. Note that it's unlikely that partner has a useful diamond stack sitting in front of the overcaller. 
• She might bid 4 ♦, suggesting a very strong hand and asking you to Do Something Intelligent but without the option of defending against 3 ♦ doubled.

THE PRINCIPLE: When you don't have anything useful to contribute to the discussion, don't say anything until you must. Partner set the agenda as a game-forcing auction, give her the floor to run the meeting.

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

Smell The Coffee

Suggested soundtrack: Mississippi John Hurt, "Coffee Blues"

	♠ A Q 5 4 ♥ A Q J 3 ♦ Q 6 ♣ J 10 5
	N W E S	♠ K J 7 3 2 ♥ 8 6 2 ♦ A J 8 ♣ 3 2

Partner	North	You	South
2 ♦	Dbl	3 ♦	4 ♣
All pass

Partner led the ♦2. Declarer played the queen from dummy. You played the ace, of course. Now what?

Look again. Do you notice anything unusual?

Partner opened a weak-two in diamonds, usually based on a six-card suit. You play standard leads -- fourth best from length -- yet she led the deuce from a six-card suit. The  ♦2 can't possibly be her fourth-best diamond. Partner made a very strange lead. Wake up and smell the coffee! Partner knows that you know she has six diamonds. She led a card that is definitely not her fourth-best diamond.

ANSWER: Lead a spade. Give partner the spade ruff she is asking for.

THE PRINCIPLE: A very unusual carding play on defense should be regarded as an "alarm clock signal." Partner is trying to wake you up to something non-routine about the hand. Looking for a ruff in a side suit is the most common situation. But the key message is "Wake Up, Partner! Don't make the routine play here." It's up to you to figure out what unusual play partner wants.

	♠ A Q 5 4 ♥ A Q J 3 ♦ Q 6 ♣ J 10 5
♠ — ♥ 10 9 7 4 ♦ K 10 9 4 3 2 ♣ Q 9 7	N W E S	♠ K J 7 3 2 ♥ 8 6 2 ♦ A J 8 ♣ 3 2
	♠ 10 9 8 6 ♥ K 5 ♦ 7 5 ♣ A K 8 6 4

BONUS QUESTION: Which spade do you lead for partner to ruff? 

ANSWER: Lead the two, your lowest spade showing suit-preference for the lower suit (diamonds). Partner almost certainly has the king; your jack is an entry to give partner a second spade ruff. Unless you tell partner, she might not know whether to return a diamond or a heart.

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

Major-Suit Shade Card

Which color for the guest bedroom: Pineapple Frappe?  Kale Bisque? Hangover Sunrise? 

When you have a long, strong major suit -- one that will definitely be trump -- there is an equivalent "shade card" for bids to match the strength of your hand. Color preferences are a matter of taste; fortunately, the major-suit shade card is pretty much standard. 

To find the right shade, you must consider high-card strength and playing strength. For an example, let's use this hand from a recent Wydaho online game:
    ♠ AKJT8432 ♥ K ♦ 76 ♣ AQ

POP QUIZ: How many tricks is that spade suit worth?

ANSWER: Eight tricks. If partner has the queen, yay! If partner has three or more spades, yay! And otherwise, the queen might still be singleton or doubleton. Feel free to do the probability calculations, or just go with your gut feel that things will probably work out. Bottom line: You have an 87% chance for eight tricks, and a miniscule chance of only six tricks with this suit.

Okay, we have eight spade tricks. Add one-and-a-half tricks in clubs (partner has the king, or the finesse works, or an opening club lead), and a half-trick in hearts (partner has the ace or queen, or the ace is on our right and isn't played to the first round). That's ten playing tricks. You definitely want to be in game; slam is a distinct possibility!

How many ways can you open with a long strong major? We'll use spades for this discussion, but the same applies to a heart suit. You intend to unequivocally set the trump suit.

Shading from weakest to strongest:

• Open 4 in first, second, or third seat. This shows 6 or 7 tricks (not vulnerable) to 7 or 8 tricks (vulnerable). Most important, this denies an opening hand. Partner will restrain her enthusiasm accordingly.
  Example: ♠ KQJTxxxx ♥ xx ♦ xx ♣ x
• Open 1, then rebid 4. This shows a full opening hand, but denies enough strength for a 2 ♣ opener. Thus a hand in the range of 11-15 HCP and about 7 or 8 playing tricks. Given your shortness in other three suits, it seems quite unlikely that 1 ♠ will be passed out.
  Example: ♠ KQJTxxxx ♥ Kx ♦ Kx ♣ x
• If your partnership plays the Namyats convention, open 4 minor showing 8 to 8.5 tricks in the corresponding major with some potential for slam if partner has useful outside cards.
  Example: ♠ AKJTxxx ♥ Kx ♦ KQ ♣ xx
• Open 4 in fourth seat. This is not a weak preempt. You intend to get a plus score; otherwise you could have passed the hand out, or bid only two or three spades. The bid shows about 8.5 or 9 playing tricks and at most a poor 15 HCP; you can count on partner to have one trick for you somewhere. This bid denies slam interest. Even if partner has a maximum for her Pass, she won't make a move at this point.
  Example: ♠ KQJTxxxx ♥ Ax ♦ Kx ♣ x
• Open 2 ♣, then rebid 4. This shows a bare minimum 2 ♣ opener, at least 14 HCP with long spades and a hand worth about nine tricks. The message here is that partner should not pursue slam without three likely honor tricks. You have completely described your hand; it's up to partner to make any further move. (Regular partnerships should have an agreement on whether 8.5 tricks is enough for a 2 ♣ opening.)
  Example: ♠ AKQTxxxx ♥ KQ ♦ xx ♣ x
• Open 2 ♣, then rebid 3. This sets trump and asks partner to start cuebidding aces (or controls, per agreement) up the line. It shows a hand that is worth ten or more tricks, with at least 14 HCP. The key message is "spades are trump, show me controls." Show me the money, partner! You are the captain in this auction.
  Example: ♠ AKJT8432 ♥ K ♦ xx ♣ AQ

Note what's missing here: There is no "open 2 ♣, then rebid two" option. When you are absolutely sure about the trump suit and don't care about finding a secondary fit, don't let partner blab about her hand to the opponents. Take charge, set the trump suit, and if slam is in the picture get busy finding out about controls in the side suits.

THE PRINCIPLE: With a one-suited hand, the playing strength of the hand -- how many tricks can you expect -- is at least as important as the number of high-card points. A 2 ♣ opener may contain as little as 14 HCP if it is within one trick of game against normal splits. Using this shade card for single-major hands, partner will have a good idea of the strength of your hand and can proceed appropriately. It's a partnership game!

BONUS MINUTE:
The ACBL Convention Charts allow a very strong artificial 2♣ opening that contains:

i. at least 20 HCP; or 

ii. at least 14 HCP and is within one trick of game assuming suits break evenly among the other hands; or

iii. at least 5 Control Points and is within one trick of game assuming suits break evenly among the other hands. 

-- Ray 

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

After Partner's Weak Two

Partner's opening typically shows a six-card suit, probably two of the top three honors, 5-10 HCP, limited defensive values, and usually no four-card major on the side. Now what?

Ground Rule #1: Partner has, on average, king-queen-sixth and an outside queen. The most you can hope for is ace-king-queen-sixth, or king-queen-sixth and an outside ace; any hand stronger than that is an opening one-level bid nowadays.

Ground Rule #2: The weak-two opener will not bid again unless forced. This applies to any preemptive opening; exceptions are rare. Responder is the captain, and is in complete control of the rest of the auction.

With that background, here is a recommended structure for responding to a weak-two opening.

• Support With Support! A raise is not invitational; a raise is simply continuing the preempt. With three-card support and no game interest, raise to three. With four-card support or more, raise to four (maybe just three at unfavorable vulnerability). Don't wait to see if the opponents will let you play at the two-level. There is no minimum point requirement for a raise. If you have no points at all, then the opponents can surely make game if not slam; take away their bidding space to make their lives more difficult. Consider raising even with honor-doubleton, particularly at favorable vulnerability and with poor defensive values.
  
• If the player to your right makes a takeout double, all the more important to show support if you have it. If you have a fit, the opponents will never let you play your two-level contract doubled.
  
• If you absolutely want to be in game across from as little as, say, king-queen-ten-sixth and out, just bid game. Note that this is indistinguishable from a weak jump to game with four-card support; make the opponents proceed at their own risk. Remember, opener is not going to bid again unless forced.
  
• A new suit by an unpassed hand is forcing for one round. It suggests no fit, and at least a six-card suit of your own. Opener will raise your suit with honor-doubleton or more. Otherwise, opener can show a lower-ranking second suit (four or more cards) or just rebid the opening suit. Responder is in charge and will place the contract. This allows for responder to "rescue" a hopeless no-fit situation by bidding a new suit (forcing), and then rebidding it to play; this should be a good seven-card suit for a rescue. Note that a new suit by a passed hand is nonforcing.
  
• If you want more information about partner's hand: Bid 2NT asking for a "feature", an outside ace or king. Opener shows an outside ace or king by bidding that suit (Alert!), or bidding 3NT with AKQTxx ("six solid tricks", Alert!). Otherwise, opener simply rebids her suit. A singleton or void is not a feature; responder might be looking for a outside entry in order to play in notrump, or a fitting honor in a suit of her own. The 2NT feature-ask does not indicate a fit for opener's suit. Responder will place the contract, not necessarily in opener's suit!
• Many pairs prefer that opener not show a feature with a minimum hand; make sure you and partner are on the same page.
• Some pairs prefer to use 2NT as the Ogust convention, asking about opener's overall strength and suit quality. Make sure you and partner are on the same page.
  
• If you have a strong notrump opener or equivalent, you probably belong in game. Consider that if you had opened 1NT, partner will bid game holding an "average" weak two hand. Use the 2NT feature-ask if you think you need more information.
  
• With no fit and no six-card suit of your own, be very cautious. Misfit hands belong in suit contracts; don't bid 3NT with no fit unless you can play all thirteen tricks from your own hand. With a very strong hand -- say, 20 HCP or more -- it's fine to put partner in game on a 6-1 fit.
  

Remember, opener will not bid again unless forced. Responder is the captain, and is in complete control of the rest of the auction. 

EXPERTS MINUTE:
If you have an exceptional hand and just want to go slamming, "Preempt Key Card" is a useful convention. It is standard practice among expert players. After an opening preempt, an immediate 4♣ bid by responder (Alert!) asks about key cards. Opener's responses are steps showing 0-1-1-2-2 as follows: 

      4♦ - no keycards
      4♥ - 1 keycard without trump queen
      4♠ - 1 keycard with trump queen
      4NT - 2 without trump queen
      5♣ - 2 with trump queen

All responses must be Alerted immediately in online play, or after the auction has ended in face-to-face play. Responder will then place the contract, not necessarily in opener's suit! 

Opener will never have three or more keycards; that would be an opening one-bid. Using Preempt Key Card the partnership can find out about keycards without ever going past five of the trump suit, and often staying at the four level with dismal hands.

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

HSP: Partner Needs To Know

"When I'm your partner, the secret to this game is to Help Stupid Partner." -- Steve B.

Ignore the missing side suit cards, they are irrelevant today...

	♠ 4 3 2 ♥ 3 2 ♦ K Q J 10 9 ♣ 4 3 2
	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ 8 5 2 ♣ —

HAND #1: South opened 2 NT, North raised to 3 NT. Declarer won the opening heart lead, then led the ♦ 7 from her hand. Partner played the ♦ 3, and declarer played the ♦ K from dummy. Your play?

	♠ 4 3 2 ♥ 3 2 ♦ K Q J 10 9 ♣ 4 3 2
♠ — ♥ — ♦ 8 2 ♣ —	N W E S

HAND #2: South opened 2 NT, North raised to 3 NT. You led a heart and declarer won in hand. At trick two, declarer led the ♦ 7. Your play?

THE PRINCIPLE: When dummy has a long suit with only one loser and no other entries, the defender without a high honor is in a mandatory count situation. Partner, holding the stopper -- the ♦ A here -- doesn't want to play it right away; that would set up the suit while declarer still has another card in the suit to reach dummy. But if partner waits too long, she might not score the card at all; declarer might get all the tricks she needed from the suit. Even if you and your partner don't normally give count signals, this is a textbook situation where partner needs to know your count in the suit.

Standard count signals are:
  - low then higher shows an odd number of cards in the suit
  - high then low shows an even number of cards in the suit

	♠ 4 3 2 ♥ 3 2 ♦ K Q J 10 9 ♣ 4 3 2
♠ — ♥ — ♦ A 6 3 ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ 8 5 2 ♣ —
	♠ — ♥ — ♦ 7 4 ♣ —

ANSWER #1: East plays the ♦ 2, showing an odd number of diamonds. West will then know to win her ♦ A on the second round of diamonds because declarer only held two, and can no longer reach dummy.

	♠ 4 3 2 ♥ 3 2 ♦ K Q J 10 9 ♣ 4 3 2
♠ — ♥ — ♦ 8 2 ♣ —	N W E S	♠ — ♥ — ♦ A 6 3 ♣ —
	♠ — ♥ — ♦ 7 5 4 ♣ —

ANSWER #2: West plays the ♦ 8, showing an even number of diamonds. East will then know to hold up her ♦ A until the third round of diamonds.

THE PRINCIPLE (again!): When dummy has a long suit with only one loser and no other entries, the defender without a high honor must give a count signal to the first trick in that suit.

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

Fifteen Seconds for Sleuthing

From a Wydaho online game earlier this year...

East Deals None Vul	♠ K J 8 6 ♥ K 9 5 3 2 ♦ 7 4 ♣ 9 8
♠ Q 5 3 2 ♥ A Q J 8 7 ♦ K 3 ♣ Q J	N W E S

WEST	North	East	South
		Pass	Pass
1 ♥	Pass	2 ♦	3 ♣
All pass

You opened 1 ♥ in third seat. Partner's 2 ♦ bid was natural and nonforcing (as a passed hand). 

You led the ♦ K, partner played the encouraging ♦ 9 and declarer played the ♦ 5. You decided to play the ♥ A at trick two, building a fence for partner so she will return a diamond for you to ruff after you lead your remaining diamond at trick three. We're sure that partner does not have three hearts; declarer won't ruff the ace.

What else can we figure out on this hand? 

• Who has the ♦ A? Partner's 2 ♦ bid promised at least a decent five-card suit, and a decent hand considering that she passed as dealer. Your king held the first trick, and partner played the ♦ 9, an encouraging card. Partner must have the ace. 
• How many diamonds does partner have? She needs at least five for her two-level bid. With a six card suit, she might well have opened a weak two diamonds. So assume that partner has five diamonds.
• How strong is partner's hand? Her hand wasn't good enough to open; neither was declarer's. She could have passed, or bid 1 NT instead of introducing a suit at the two-level. You can see 22 high card points between your hand and dummy. It seems as if the remaining 18 HCP must be about even between partner and dummy. So, give partner -- and declarer -- roughly nine high card points.
• How many clubs does declarer have? Declarer wandered into the auction at the three-level with about nine points. If declarer had seven clubs, he might well have opened 3 ♣. Is declarer crazy enough to enter a live auction at the three-level with only a five-card suit and a nine-count? Probably not. So, declarer likely has exactly six clubs. And therefore partner has three clubs.
• Which club honors does declarer have? You have the queen and jack. Would declarer enter the auction at the three level with only nine points and a six-card club suit headed by ace-ten or king-ten? Seems unlikely, so give declarer ace-king-sixth of clubs.
• Who has the ♠ A? If declarer has it, he would have AK-sixth of clubs and the ♠ A. Surely that's an opening bid nowadays. So, give partner the ♠ A.
• How many spades does partner have?  If she had five, surely she would have bid them. With ace-fourth of spades... hard to say, she might have chosen to bid diamonds instead, showing a five-card suit and suggesting more-than-minimum values.  She has five diamonds, three clubs, and at most two hearts, so partner has at least three spades, and possibly four.  That means partner has at least one heart, possibly two. And the same for declarer.
• Who has the queen and jack of diamonds? If partner has both, would she have opened 1 ♦ with AQJxx and the ace of spades? Maybe, maybe not. But that would give declarer AK-sixth of clubs and nothing else for his passed-hand 3 ♣ overcall. If declarer has both diamond honors, would partner have bid 2 ♦ (instead of 1 NT) with ace-empty-fifth of diamonds and the ace of spades? Probably not. So it seems most likely the diamond queen and jack are split.
• Who has the ten of diamonds? Partner signaled with the nine. If she had the ten and the nine, she would have played the ten, signaling from the top of a sequence. Thus her play of the nine denied holding the ten. Declarer has the ten of diamonds.
• How many hearts does declarer have? We know he has at least one, because partner denied having three hearts. Partner has at least one heart, because otherwise she would have five spades and didn't bid them. And would declarer bid 3 ♣ holding two small hearts? That seems a bit unlikely; declarer is somewhat more likely to have the singleton heart.

THE PRINCIPLE: At trick one, all players are entitled to about fifteen seconds -- all players at the same time -- to think through the entire hand. Use that time effectively! And then play the rest of the hand in tempo.

That was a lot to sort out in fifteen seconds, but with practice you can do this. Not every hand will be as clear as this one. And there is definitely some guesswork and assumptions involved. But look how much easier this game is when you can work out all four hands!

	♠ K J 8 6 ♥ K 9 5 3 2 ♦ 7 4 ♣ 9 8
♠ Q 5 3 2 ♥ A Q J 8 7 ♦ K 3 ♣ Q J	N W E S	♠ A x x ? ♥ x ? ♦ A H 9 x x ♣ x x x
	♠ x ?  ♥ x ? ♦ H 10 5 x ♣ A K x x x x

x = a known spot card

H = a known honor card

? = a card that may or may not be present

On the actual hand, declarer did indeed have a singleton heart, and declarer's diamond honor was the queen.
Extra Credit: You can make a reasonable argument that declarer was a favorite to have the ♦ Q. Why?

-- Ray

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