Hand of the Week

10/29/14

I consider the 2♣ bidding sequence as the weakest part of standard bidding. Some experts avoid it with hands that contain eithser two good suits or a long minor for the simple reason that the bidding gets too high too fast.

Board #3
South dealer
East-West vulnerable

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


South	West	North	East
P	2♣	P	2♦
P	3♦	P	3♥
P	6♥	P	P
P

I was sitting East. I was not happy to hear my partner open 2♣. We do not have a good way for responder to warn that his hand is very weak, and so we ended up in a hopeless slam. My partner was missing only three critical cards. If I held two of them, we were probably in good shape. If I had only one, he hoped for a finesse or an endplay. If he was declarer, and a minor suit was led, he might even get a free finesse on the opening lead. In fact, of course, I had nothing, and we were very lucky to go down only two.

So, what if partner had decided to bid only 1♦ and pray? North and I would have passed, but any respectable South would have rescued him with a balancing 1♠ overcall. Partner could then reverse into 2♥. This bid is absolutely forcing for one round and unlimited.

We play lebensohl over reverses. I would have definitely bid 2NT, which is a relay to 3♣. Partner would be worried that I might pass 3♣. After all, the other three suits had already been bid. He might have decided to refuse the relay, but he does not have a good alternative. I suppose that he could bid 3♠ to force me to bid, but that would prevent me from choosing between diamonds and hearts at the three level. If he did bid 3♣, I would have bid 3♥, and we would end up playing 4♥.

This appears to be a much better way to handle this hand. Does your partnership have a good way to show a weak hand (six points or fewer) after a reverse? Whenever I begin playing with a new partner, I make sure that we agree on which bid after a reverse identifies a weak hand. Some people tell me that it never comes up. I think that their partners do not reverse enough.

But wait! After partner's reverse, any North who believed in the LAW would surely bid 4♠ without the slightest hesitation. We should be able to hold it to eight tricks – five spades and three ruffs. While that result (even if doubled), would have been better than our actual zero, it would still have been below average. One East-West pair actually made 5♥, which must have required some help. No North-South team played four spades, but one was strangely allowed to play (and make) 3♠. It was a party; someone may have hit the sparkling pomegranate a little too hard.