Loading ...great to be home
Had a good time playing the Swiss on the last weekend. We qualified for the second day, played several good teams (never George, alas), enjoyed the hands tremendously and caught a 6pm flight out on Sunday. It’s good to be home. The laundry in the basket is about shoulder-high; my desk is overrun by unopened mail, hand records and back-to-school catalogs. A serious to-do list is taking shape in the back of my mind and while I’m not quite ready to commit it to paper I am starting to settle into catch-up mode. It’s going to be a busy couple of days.
Always before I’ve taken August off; this year I’m feeling the pressure. No time to waste. Must learn to think Matchpoints.
One hand from the Swiss:
S x
H Ax
D AKTxxxx
C AQT
Opponents pass throughout. You open 1D and partner bids 1H. Let’s go slow — what do you bid over 1H?
July 29th, 2008 at 9:28 am
2D?
July 29th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
You either overbid or underbid. As a confirmed overbidder, I choose 3C. (I like my stiff spade and Ax of hearts.)
If the majors were reversed, I would instead vote for 3D.
NEVER ever double The Kid!!
July 29th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Peg has this one pegged pretty well.
You have a 7th diamond and some sort of heart fit.
I like 3C best but if partner then bids 3D you have to figure out what next. I suggest you have no option but to bid 3H after that and correct a 4H by partner to 5D.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Right. I chose 3D, for better or worse, and Partner bid 4D (keycard for Diamonds, 1430). I’ll force 4H (1 or 4) on you. Partner bids 4NT — what is it and how do you answer?
July 29th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Many play that in a keycard auction when you show 1 or 4 (or 0 or 3) they must always assume you have the smaller number and that you must go on with the higher number.
In this auction you have 4 but theoretically could have only 1 (x Kx, AQJxxx, KQJx for example.
So 4N is to play (if you have only 1 key) but you have 4 so time to go on by bidding a King. But you have no kings so now the question is whether to bid 6D or to bid 4S showing 2nd round spade control. Since you have previously underbid, I think I would bid 5S.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I do think that it is sign-off if you have the wrong number of keycards. So - I go on. But - I’m not looking for 7. 6D is my call here.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I have now looked the hand over again and I think there almost has to be a grand. Partner has to have Ace of spades, King of hearts. Either Qxx of diamonds or 4 of them. K of clubs likely too.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Oops, or partner could have singleton club and better majors.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:14 am
I thought Partner’s 4NT was asking for specific Kings — I showed 1 or 4 keycards (4H); the next step (4S) asks for the queen, the step after that (4NT) asks for specific kings and does, interestingly enough, confirm that we hold all the keycards.
Is this one of those hands where it’s right to lie about our specific holding to show extras? Do I want to find a way to tell partner “No, sorry, I don’t have any Kings, but I have a 7th diamond and the club Queen.” by showing a King I don’t really own?
I chose to answer truthfully. Over my 5D, Partner bid 6N and played it there. Her hand was AKTx / KQxx / Qx / Jxx.
We discussed this hand for many rounds, as you might imagine. Everybody agreed with you, Bob, I’m supposed to bid 3C instead of 3D. How should the auction go from there?
July 30th, 2008 at 7:45 am
I think the following rules are valuable:
(1) In a minorwood auction, a rebid of 4N by person asking keycards is to play.
(2) In a minorwood auction the next SUIT up (not 4N) asks for Q of trump and you show a side king as well if you have both the Q of trump and a K.
(3) In ALL keycard auctions (except the very very obvious ones like where you open 2N and then show zero or 3), person asking MUST assume you have the lower number and sign off. If you have the higher number you MUST go on.
That gets us to this hand:
On the auction you had, 4N is sign off but since you have 4 keys and not 1 keycard you MUST go on. Partner can only count 12 tricks - 3 spades, 3 hearts, 6 diamonds and one club.
Actually on the auction you had, you might have bid 7D directly over 4D since I don’t think there are any hands partner can bid 4D with that won’t make 7. That is where having the time to sit and construct possible hands for partner comes in.
Now back to your question of the best auction:
1D-1H, 3C-4D, 4H*-7D.
* Partner knows you cannot have only 1 keycard.
You either will have either K of clubs, Q of spades, J of hearts, 7th diamond or in truly worst case scenario Q of clubs and only 6 diamonds and be on a finesse or squeeze.
July 30th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Hold on a second, Bob. Can’t I have some strong hand 3-1-5-4? I don’t know for sure and will ask, but I’m fairly certain over 3C Judi would bid 3S or 3N.
Jump-shifting never occurred to me at the table and I’m having trouble constructing a good auction to 7D from the 1D-1H, 3C-3S beginning. Now 4D by me says I’m coming in Diamonds. Does partner bid 4NT to keycard for Diamonds? 5C? Can she be any more certain that I have 7 diamonds (not 6) on this auction?
July 30th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Great question! She won’t bid 3N since she has too much. I think she will likely bid 3S and then you would bid 4D.
I believe in that scenario 4N is keycard for diamonds (I think) and when you show 1 or 4 she knows it is 4 and can now bid 7 diamonds. She can count 12 tricks and there are many many possibilities for a 13th trick, one of which pretty much has to be there.
You have shown up so far with A of hearts, AK of diamonds, Ace of clubs. With a jump shift you have to have something else - 7th diamond, K of clubs, J of hearts, Q of spades or worst case scenario Q of clubs but that might not be enough for jump shift.
July 30th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Leave it to Judi to analyze the hand, she said it best: “3C sucks. You should’ve opened 2C. You’re forcing to game anyway, so open it 2C and get it off your chest.”
So we’d bid it like this: 2C - 3C (4 controls) and I’d bid 3D (coming in Diamonds); now aren’t we back where we started? She’ll bid 4D (keycard) …