"Hands from 9/1/2011" Today was replete, again, with very interesting hands. Some were plain old bidding conundrums, and others were just a matter of pure guts! Listen, here's the rule of thumb: if the numbers add up to game, then you bid game. When the dummy comes down, you will find the right line of play to make the contract. The same goes for slam - when the numbers say you should be there, and you've checked for controls, then don't pussy-foot around, just bid the slam! When dummy comes down you will figure out how it makes.

That being said, when dummy comes down and you see where your problem areas are, you need to see what assets you might have to take care of those problems. And if there are no long suits on which to pitch, then you look for a side suit to break evenly, or for a finesse that will bring the contract home. Today there was one particular slam (among at least 4 that I recall from today) that depended on one of two finesses. Both finesses were set up to make, actually, because both missing kings were where you needed them to be! But only one of you tried to finesse. The others of you played out your trump, played your winners and I guess you hoped that someone would discard the card that was higher than your little card at the end. This is a last resort kind of play, and this hand was not the situation where you use that play. The opponents were not squeezed today in that hand, and it was easy for them to hold on to the right card at the end.

So TRUST THE NUMBERS. If you have 26 points (25!), be in game. If you have 33 points, be in a small slam. And when dummy is faced and the only way the contract will make is if the King of Hearts is on your right, then you PLAY THE HAND as if you knew the King of Hearts were sitting on your right! :)

If the King of Hearts is not onside, you'll go down. To quote Gail Houston, "we're not playing for kidneys, here - it's a game!" (Thanks, Gail, for that poignant insight.)

"NS Bidding fun from 6/30/2011" There were many interesting hands today! Two of them stood out as difficult to bid among many of you, so I thought we'd highlight those:

(In another room, the West player will pre-empt this hand 2S... It didn't happen here once, I don't think. West players, you need to be a little bolder here -- this is absolutely a 2S opener every day, vulnerable or not! If you're not trying to interfere with a hand like this, you should read more about it!) So then for this auction with West making an opening Pass call, how about this: South opens 2C, partner bids 2D, then South rebids 2NT? At that point, North knows there are 23 or 24 HCP in South's balanced hand, and North raises to 3NT. -- OR -- after the 2NT rebid, North transfers to hearts by bidding 3D, and once South accepts the transfer then North rebids 3NT to offer a choice of games (in either 3NT or 4H if there is a fit). -- OR -- after the 2C - 2D opener, perhaps South rebids his 5-card suit (3D), at which point North would show the 3H shape, and then South would rebid 3NT. What's that saying: All Roads Lead to Rome? :)

I think many people misconstrue the meaning of the 2C opener. It is strong, it is forcing, and it is distributional. (At least, it's distributional until and unless followed by a NT rebid.) This South hand has 19 HCP, a void, and the king's ransom in diamonds. Open this hand 2C! Once you do that, you will be in slam 100% of the time, because your 2C opener shows a huge hand, and your partner has 15 HCP! It's magic -- so it would then proceed: 2C - 3C (showing 8+ HCP and slam interest) - 3D - 4NT (blackwood) - 5S showing 3 Aces. Now if North asks for Kings and finds only one, she might be inclined to settle for 6NT. We all know this hand was cold for a Grand, and there's no way to claim all the tricks the hand actually has! It's all in how to bid there. TIP: READ UP ON A BLACKWOOD VARIATION CALLED "EXCLUSION BLACKWOOD"

"When I pre-empt, must I bid again?" This is partnership agreement territory, and in fact it's such an important issue that there's a place for it on the convention card. When you open a weak-two something, and your partner takes a bid in another suit, you need to know if this is a forcing bid or a non-forcing bid (by partnership agreement). There are arguments to be made for either side, but I do favor the "make it forcing for one round" case. If you open 2D, let's say, and partner has a 5-card spade suit and a better than opener, he'd like to know if you have just three pieces in spades. If so, he's going to make a play for a 4S contract to make, instead of your 2D. So if you agree the a new bid by partner over your pre-empt is forcing for one round, you can give perhaps yourself a shot at finding a fit in a better suit. When you open 2D, and partner responds with 2S, if you have 3 pieces in spades in your hand, you should rebid 3S showing the fit. Partner will take it from there.

"Pre-empting with 6 clubs" You know that 2C is a strong bid usually showing a distributional hand holding 22+ points. So if you have a weak hand and 6 pieces in clubs, what do you open? You have to open this hand 3C -- even though a pre-empt at the 3-level usually shows 7 pieces in your suit. Partner needs to be cautious here, because you could only have 6 clubs! Since you're pushing the partnership up to the 3-level right away, you should make certain that your club suit is decent. Don't pre-empt a 6-card club suit at the 3-level unless you have decent clubs! (And by decent, I mean absolutely 2 out of the top 3 in your suit.)

"Pre-empting with a side suit" I saw twice today where someone pre-empted 2 something holding 4 pieces in an outside major. This is usually not done -- because it's likely that you and partner may have a fit in that major. If you open 2 diamonds with a 4-card heart suit, and partner would have originally opened and has hearts, you've sentenced your pair to a low board. You should be playing in 2 hearts instead of 2 diamonds! (Some partnerships agree that they won't even pre-empt holding 3 pieces in a major if their bid comes before partner's bid! The thought here is that if you pre-empt 2 diamonds (again, just for example) and partner would have opened one heart, you belong in hearts, not diamonds. That being said, if partner is a passed hand and you wish to pre-empt, there's now no harm in doing it holding that outside suit. :)

"How many points do I need to overcall?" This is something that your partnership needs to discuss. You can toss in a simple OVERCALL at the one level holding ONLY 8 HCP! (Overcalling at the two level should be an opening hand.) You do NEED 5 pieces in your suit to overcall, though, don't cheat on that. But if you have just one shot at giving a lead-directing bid, perhaps, or at letting partner know where your length lies, why not do it? Just be careful responding to these overcalls, partners! When the bidding goes 1H and your partner overcalls 1S, don't get the partnership up too high because you have an opening hand and your partner bid! Proceed with caution at this point, and perhaps cue-bid the opponents' suit to show strength and support for partner's spades. Don't rush to game just because you have 13 points!

"When is it okay to open the hand with fewer than 13 points?" Obviously you know that when you hold a weaker hand and you have length in one suit you can pre-empt. Holding 6 pieces you open a "weak 2" in your suit (having 5-10 high card points); with seven pieces you open a weak 3, and with 8 pieces you can pre-empt at the 4 level. But what if you are otherwise distributional? Or what if the hand is about to be passed out? What are those guidelines? THE RULE OF 20 -- this can be used in ANY seat, and it says that you add up your high card points (HCP), then to that number you add the number of pieces in your two longest suits. If the sum is 20 or more, you can open the hand. So you have 10 HCP, let's say, and two five-card suits. Take 10+5+5=20 -- this is a hand worth opening, because you are distributional. Remember, use this in ANY seat. THE RULE OF 15 (or the Rule of Spades) -- this is used in the fourth seat, and helps you decide whether or not to pass out the hand. Similarly, take your HCP, and to that add the number of pieces you have in spades. If the sum is 15, you can open. This is not to say that you should open a spade -- only do that if you have 5 spades, as usual. It simply means that you can open the hand rather than passing it out, and just be very wary to make limiting baby-step bids :)

"Don't pre-empt a pre-empt." This means that when your RHO opens a weak 2H and you have a weak hand with 6 or 7 spades, don't overcall 2 spades. Your overcall over a pre-empt should be at least an opening hand, and partner will COUNT on you for one. So if you're weak and your RHO opens weak also, you should not speak unless partner asks you to do so. ALSO -- when your partner opens a weak something, and your hand is also weak, you should usually pass rather than try to correct the bid. When partner opens 2H and you only have one heart, your partner likely is short in your suit, as well. Don't get the partnership up too high when you know you both have relatively weak hands. Just pass in the bad fit and hope for the best. FURTHER THOUGHT ON THIS TOPIC: when your partner opens a weak 2 and you have a nice hand, when should you take partner to game? The answer lies around 16-17 HCP unless you are extremely distributional. So even when partner opens 2S and you have 14 points and 4 spades, you should pass! Remember that it takes 25-26 for game, and if you have no outside distribution partner won't make 4.

"Mirror Doubles" (or "Stolen Bids") -- this device must be used only with partnership agreement. It comes into play when your partner opens 1NT and your RHO overcalls. If RHO has overcalled and what they bid is exactly what you wanted to bid, you may double (meaning "RHO took my bid.") So partner opens 1NT, and RHO overcalls 2C. You wanted to bid Stayman but now cannot because RHO took your bid. A double by you says "partner, this is Stayman." If RHO instead overcalls 2D, and you wanted to use the 2D bid to transfer partner into hearts, your double will say the same thing. (He stole my bid - I wanted to bid 2D because I have 5 hearts). Same with your RHO overcalling in 2H or 2S - if they took away your conventional response to partner's 1NT opener, you have the opportunity to use the Mirror Double. NOTE - this is ONLY by partnership agreement, and it takes away the opportunity to double RHO at that point for penalty!