Hand of the Week

07/10/19

Fairly often someone asks me what the advantages and disadvantages of playing a weak 1NT are. They are often subtle. This week's hands provided a couple of contrasting examples.

Board #9
North dealer
East-West vulnerable

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


South	West	North	East
			P
P	P	1♣	P
P	P

Our bidding and play on hand #9 seemed rather uneventful, but the results were awful. Sitting North, I opened 1♣ after three passes. Everyone passed again.

Things worked well for me, but I was not happy about it. I took nine tricks – the best result possible against best defense. However, I could tell at first glance that this hand should be played in notrump. By chance we got to play in our eight-card fit, but there was no way to make a very profitable use of the trump suit.

Of course, no other North opened this balanced 17-count 1♣. They all bid 1NT and were allowed to play there. Although Deep Finesse says that the defenders should be able to limit the declarers to seven tricks, four found eight tricks, and the other two made nine.

Part of this may be due to the lead. East made the very good lead of the ♣2. I suspect that most of the other Easts led their fourth-best heart, which is not at all effective.

So, one of the disadvantages of playing a weak notrump is that when one of you has a strong notrump opener, and the other is too weak to respond, you might end up playing in one of a minor.

We got some of it back three hands later.

Board #12
West dealer
North-South vulnerable

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


South	West	North	East
	P	1NT	2♦
P	3♦	P	P
P

Would you open West's hand 1♥? 2♥? I doubt that anyone did either. The hand does not meet the rule of 20. The vulnerability is right for preempting, but the hand has so much outside strength and such a wretched suit that 2♥ does not seem right either.

I started the auction with 1NT, which in our methods shows a 12-14 balanced hand with no five-card major. East overcalled 2♦, and South passed.

West has a real problem. His hand has reasonably good diamond support, he has six hearts that he has thus far failed to mention, and he has a maximum passed hand. He could show his hearts, but he knows that they have at least an eight-card diamond fit. This would be a good spot for a cue bid to show support for his partner's diamonds and invitational values. He could then show his hearts in the next round. Unfortunately, at our table North-South had not bid any suits that West could cue!

So, he settled for 3♦, and East passed. At three other tables East-West bid game – either 5♦ or 3NT.

If we had been playing a strong notrump system, I would have opened 1♣. East would still have overcalled 1♦. South would have still passed. West would have had a 2♣ cue bid available to show strength and support. Moreover, East-West would have had enough room to discover that 3NT was a feasible contract.

Ken and I have only been playing the weak notrump for a few months. Many of our successes have come when the hand belonged to the opponents, but we got our 1NT bid in before they had a chance to enter the auction.