Continuing last month’s theme - -
rubber vs duplicate bridge bidding, here’s another
part score challenge. You are South, the opponents
vulnerable:
S) 1094 H) K832 D) 86 C) J1052
Partner opens 1 diamond and RHO
overcalls 1 spade. Of course your hand is too
anemic to do anything but pass - - which of course
you do. The bidding continues another round back
to you. So far the bidding is:
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
1 D DBL PASS
1 S 2 H 2 S ??
East-West have found their spade
fit. You have good support for partner’s hearts but
a measly four high-card points. To bid or not, that
again is the question.
Let’s review the bidding. West is
compelled to respond to partner’s takeout double so
his 1 spade call promises nothing more than four
spades. Now what about your partner’s hand. She
opened a diamond then reversed into hearts in the
face of your pass; you should expect to find her
with five (or six) diamonds, four hearts and a
strong hand of 17+ points. Your partnership has a
heart fit and at least half of the high-card
points. At duplicate you should raise to three
hearts. If you go down one, you will have a better
result than allowing East-West to make two spades.
Alternatively if they can’t make spades, your odds
of making three hearts go up.
In a world team championship (USA1
vs. USA2), one North-South pair continued to three
hearts down one, while at the other table the
opponents bid and made four hearts. (This deal
turned out to be very complex, even for the defense,
which accounts for the wide swing in tricks taken).
The point of course is that at duplicate you cannot
afford to let East-West play two spades; you must at
least bid to three hearts even though you are set a
trick (down one = -50; opponents making two spades =
-110).
