Loading ...back to the goofy 2D opener
You know how I love my 2 :D: opener. Judi and I bid about 60 of them yesterday, both versions. We’re not allowed to play 2 :D: (weak with both majors) at Matchpoints, so instead we play 2 :D: is a transfer preempt (weak 2 in :H: ) and 2 :H: is weak with both majors.
I’ve long been curious to see how well (or poorly) it works to open with 6-4 majors. It took two hands to convince me it’s a bad idea. First hand I held:
:S: AT9xxx
:H: KT9x
:D: Qx
:C: x
Yummy. It’s in range. Particularly when it came around to me in 3rd seat, equal white, playing IMPS (so I get to open 2 :D: ). Judi, holding:
:S: Qxx
:H: AJx
:D: xx
:C: QJ987
Bid 2 :H: and there we were. Yuck.
But that wasn’t the worst, in my view. I listened carefully when Judi put on her teaching voice and scolded me and while I believed her, I wasn’t convinced. Look what happened on the next one. I had:
:S: K654
:H: AQJT97
:D: 64
:C: 6
Really. If only I were vulnerable, it would be the perfect hand! But at favorable, I wondered if I wasn’t a bit … uh … too good. So there I was again, convinced this was the right hand. 2 :D: .
Partner had:
:S: 97
:H: K52
:D: QJ975
:C: AT8
She took the perfectly reasonable 2 :H: preference. Wow, I thought. Great! She likes my fantastic suit. I know what to do now — 3 :H: . Give her a boost! She can’t even imagine this hand. Man, this worked out so great. Right. When we finally stopped bidding (bid the heart game) and I could see Judi’s hand, I felt a little queasy. 4 :H: might make, but it didn’t look very appealing.
Should I have opened 1 :H: ? I think so — doesn’t it fit the Rule of 20? Over 1 :H: partner can bid 3 :C: showing a 3-trump limit raise and I’ll have to decide. Been staring at this hand for two hours, still can’t decide. Do you bid a game over 3 :C: ? 3 :D: may be a game try; if it is it’s the only one. Would you go with partner’s hand?
February 2nd, 2008 at 10:05 am
I think it is a 1H bid. Over a 3 card limit raise I do not bid a game. While you do have an extra heart, which is basically like having an extra King, it is still a minimum. But for that extra heart you would not have an opening hand.
I know that many people think that missing a vulnerable game at imps, no matter how skinny, is a capital offense.
However enough -100s vs plus +140s really do add up. It can make on many misdefenses or favorable lies of the cards but it is a bad game, against good defense probably about 20%. And if you are playing vs a bad team likely to misdefend then you do not need to try and win the match on hands like this.
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:14 am
Kxxx, AQJ109x, xx, x is a 1H bid in my vernacular at any form of the game at any vulnerability. A fine hand.
Of course, like any bid, doing this may not work out in the grand scheme of things. Nevertheless, it does not alter the evaluation of having the majors and those great heart spots.