Let
the opponents tell the story
Aavo
Heinlo (
It
sometimes happens that you have a hand that
is too weak to enter the auction on the first round, or maybe there are other reasons for an initial pass.
Nevertheless you would like to know if you have a fit with partner. Often the
opponents' bidding will provide useful clues and you can enter the auction later
on.
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Dealer
East |
ª |
A 7 5 4
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Game
All |
© |
8
5 |
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¨ |
K
10 8 7 2 |
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§ |
5
2 |
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N |
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ª |
Q
J 10
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ª |
9
3 |
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© |
A
2 |
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W E |
© |
Q
J 10 3 |
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¨ |
Q
5 |
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¨ |
J
3 |
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§ |
Q
9 8 7 6 4 |
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§ |
A
K J 10 3 |
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S |
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ª |
K
8 6 2 |
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© |
K
9 7 6 4 |
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¨ |
A
9 6 4 |
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§ |
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W |
N |
E |
S |
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1©1 |
NO
1Canape
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1NT |
NO |
2§ |
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2NT2 |
NO |
3§ |
4ª! 2Club fit |
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Inspecting
my cards as South I found good distribution and some good controls but, with
length in East's suit, there was no reason to bid
on the first round. So I passed for two rounds to hear what East-West had to
say. Well, West showed fewer than four spades and East probably only one or two,
so the 4-4 fit for us was established. It seemed that West had some stopper in
spades as he made a game-try of 2NT, but what were they really afraid of? No
doubt their real concern was diamonds so we must have a good fit in that suit as
well. This left our side with only three possible losers, one in each suit
except clubs.
My
jump to game was a real shock to West and he was very quick to double. I ruffed
the opening club lead, crossed to the ace of spades, ruffed another club, cashed
the king of spades and started to cash diamonds. West ruffed the third diamond
in anger and gave an overtrick by leading hearts. There were only a few positive
scores on the North-South side of the score-sheet, mainly for defending against
no-trumps, so +990 was really off the scale.
History
repeated itself eleven years later. My
partner, a guest from
|
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Dealer
North |
ª |
A 9 6 2
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Love All |
© |
A
9 5 3 2 |
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¨ |
J |
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§ |
K
9 7 |
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N |
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ª |
K
Q 8
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ª |
10
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© |
K
J 7 6 |
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W E |
© |
Q
10 8 4 |
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¨ |
A
K 3 |
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¨ |
Q
10 9 6 5 2 |
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§ |
10
8 6 |
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§ |
A
4 |
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S |
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ª |
J
7 5 4 3 |
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© |
- |
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¨ |
8
7 4 |
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§ |
Q
J 5 3 2 |
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W |
N |
E |
S |
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1© |
NO |
NO |
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DBL |
NO |
2¨ |
NO |
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2NT |
NO |
3¨ |
3ª |
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DBL |
NO |
NO |
NO |
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Maybe 5-5
distribution and four high-card points are worth positive action in a natural
system but I didn't like it at Pairs with a void in
partner's suit. What could I have bid after partner rebid Two Hearts? I
preferred to hear the opponents' story.
They
showed good hearts and enough strength to play no-trumps but they refused
to do so. Learning from my previous
experience, I bid only Three Spades. After all, why give the opponents
the opportunity to double you at a high level when they will almost certainly do
so a level lower. As you can guess I finished up with
an overtrick, having taken advantage of the trump position.
My BOLS bridge
tip is: