April 05' Questions for Ask The Expert Panel

Question 1 :  Caroline Gilje (Novice)

In second seat All VUL, I held:
 
S QJT
H KJT65
D A85
C AJ
 
RHP passes, I open 1H, LHO overcalls 2D, followed by 2 passes.
 
My partner and I are playing negative doubles.
 
Part 1 – should I have opened 1 NT instead ?
 
Part 2 – Should I reopen with a double ?
 

Panel's Responses :

Roger Lord

Part 1 – My preference is to open one of a major with a broken suit which needs partner's supporting honors in order to run tricks in notrump.   A broken suit may work better as a trump suit.   With a stronger suit, a one notrump opening works well, especially for a partscore contract.

Part 2 – Pass.   If partner is short in diamonds, he is also short in high cards (else he would have taken action as a negative double), whereas partner's holding length in diamonds would be good for defending and dangerous for bidding or doubling.

Nancy Popkin

Part 1 - The problem with opening a notrump with a 5-card major is that it might go all pass when you have a game in that major.  So if I open 1H and over partner's 2H response, I would have made a game try, then I open 1H, not 1NT.   However, on this hand, I would not make a game try (partner needs more than 8 points for 4H to have a good play, so I would open 1NT.

Part 2 - I would not re-open with a double because partner is unlikely to have a penalty double of 2D since I have the diamond ace.  Since partner does not have a penalty double, he doesn't have enough for a negative double either, so let the opponents go down instead of us.
 
Fran Scheifler

Part 1 - Since I play 11-14 NT openings, I don't have this problem :-)

However, playing 15-17, I like the honor combinations in both majors and the strong doubleton and would open with a bid of 1NT.

Part 2 - Having opened 1H (which many would do) I would reopen with a

double at matchpoints where you seldom get a good result defending two of a minor.

Ed Schultz

I would open 1NT if playing 15-17. It's best to limit distribution and strength in one bid. Opening 1H causes rebid problems over any bid by partner. Having opened 1H, I would pass in the reopening position. A disaster waiting to happen is you bid and it is doubtful partner could have a diamond penalty double.
 

Karen Walker

Part 1 - Yes.   This is a frequent dilemma.   Your decision between 1NT and 1 of your major rests on where your points are and how sticky your rebid

problems are likely to be.   Here, you have stoppers in all suits, good

intermediate spot cards and points in your short suits, all of which make

your hand more suitable for notrump than for suit play.

In general, there are also more rebid problems when:

   * You have 16 points rather than 15 or 17.   You may be able to safely

treat a weakish 15-count as 14 (you can pass partner's non-forcing 1NT

response).   With a strong 17 and a 5-card suit, you can "promote" it to 18

and rebid 2NT.

   * You have 5 hearts rather than 5 spades.   This is because of the

possibility partner will respond 1S to 1H, which leaves you with no

accurate way to describe your strength.

    So ... when in doubt, try to choose 1NT if you have a balanced 16 or 17

with 5 hearts.

Part 2 - Your diamond holding makes it highly unlikely that partner has a

trap-pass, so the only reason to reopen is if you think your side has a

making partscore.   That's no sure thing, and at IMPs, there's a good case

for passing and trying for a plus score (or avoiding the big minus score

when partner is broke).

    At matchpoints, though, there are greater rewards for being aggressive

(and sometimes, even a bit foolhardy) in these situations.   I would

probably reopen with a imperfect double and hope to land on my feet and/or

push the opponents a level higher.   I'm not too worried about clubs, as

it's likely partner will have at least a 5-card suit if he bids 3C (he

would have chosen 2H with a doubleton or 2S with a 4-card suit).

En Xie

Part 1 – I think 1H opening is fine and that would be my choice at the table. Some players might open   this hand with 1NT though. Two main facts will affect my decision whether to open 1NT versus a five-card major. 1. The quality of the suit. 2. The potential rebid problems. The heart suit in this hand is so good that we can't ignore it. With little help from partner we can easily have a game, for example : Kxx Qxx Kx xxxx. Hiding our strong suit might also lead us to wrong game contract when partner has game going value, for example: Kxx Qxx xx KQxx. I tend to open the major when the suit is strong,especially in IMP games where getting to the right game contract is the key for victory. With 1H opening, you might have rebidding problems when partner respond with 1S/1NT. How big the problem would be depends on which system you play and what kind of agreements you and your partner have. You probably need additional agreements if you play 1NT response as non-forcing bid. You will have no problem making   a 2D rebid over partner's 1NT if, 1NT is forcing in your system.

By the way, I don't think 1NT opening is a bad choice, especially when you play non-forcing 1NT response. It could be the best choice if you have conventions in which responder has ways to explore 1NT opener's 5-card major.

Part 2 -   It's a tough choice between pass and double.   Assuming it's a MP game, I would reopen with a double. The hand has both offensive and defensive value. LHO's vulnerable overcall should show a good suit and opening hand if she/he is not crazy. So partner likely has a weak hand. 2D might make or go down. 2H might make or go down. I have about 7 losers in my hand and a good heart suit. H10 makes me more comfortable with the suit. Also, I like the holdings in the spade suit. Partner might have 5 spades and we might land in spades if I double.

Milt Zlatic

Part 1 -   Yes. You have 16 points and a balanced hand. Partner may never know that you have that many points if you open 1H.  There are many 9-10 point hands that partner won't move on if he/she thinks that the most you can have is 14 points. If you're worried about doing it with a 5-card major, just think what you would open if you interchanged your diamonds and hearts-1NT. Sure, they'll be times when you'll miss your 5-3 major fit but you'll make up for it by getting to games that you wouldn't get to if you open one of a major. I especially like this hand since I have 3 spades. If partner transfers to spades, I really like my hand.

Part 2 - See! You wouldn't have this problem if you would have opened 1NT because now you could balance with a 2H bid.  But, back to the answer.  You have 16 points and the opponent has made a vulnerable overcall so I'd play them for 14 or so points and a reasonable suit.  That leaves ten points unaccounted for.  How are they split between your partner and the other opponent ? It sounds like neither one of them have a fit with their respective partners. So, I'd split them evenly. That gives our side 21 points, but if partner doesn't have 3 hearts and can't make a negative double, where are we going to play the hand ? Given that, partner probably has 3 diamonds and the cards are sitting wrong for us.  I have a good defensive hand and I even have a possible ruff coming in clubs.  I'd pass and see if they can make it. Two diamonds making is only 90 and if you go down even one trick, you're minus 100. Why go down when the opponents can ? I guess I'm just a born pessimist by not re-opening.

Question 2 : Chuck Ettelson (Flight C)

The situation is this:  I am to make an opening lead against a suit contract.  My best lead is my partner's bid suit, and I hold 9 8 5 3.

I have always thought that 'top of nothing' is one way to lead, indicating no honor in that suit. Others say lead the top card in your partner's bid suit, whatever it is, regardless of how many cards you have in that suit (so that partner knows where that card is, and also knows what your top card in that suit is).  I've recently been advised to lead the low card in an honor-less four card suit of partner's.

Can the panel shed some light on this issue of how to lead your four card (or even a 3 card holding ? -  SR) holding of partner's suit?  (Just as important, starting with a 4 or 3 card holding, what card do you play on the second round of the suit ? – SR.)

Panel's Responses :

Roger Lord

Second highest from three or more cards headed by less than a jack.   Exception:   Lead 10 from 109x(x).   This agreement coincides with fourth-best from jack or better (third-best from three to the jack or better).   Usually, partner can read the second high lead for lack of honor strength in the suit.

On the second round of the suit, the spot card played will show "present count", thus revealing the number of cards held originally.   From 9852, after leading the 8, play the deuce, the loser of three remaining cards (lowest from an odd number).   This deuce will be played when leading, following suit or discarding.   From 985, after leading the 8, play the 9, the top of the remaining doubleton.

Nancy Popkin

Partners need to agree as to their leading techniques, but several of my partners like the lead of second highest against suits and notrump, holding 3 or 4 cards in the suit.  Then we give current count.  In other words, in the holding you gave (9853) I would lead the 8 and follow with the 3, unless it is a suit contract and the dummy only has 2 of that suit.  Then I would follow with the 9 so that partner might be warned not to give declarer a ruff/sluff.

Fran Scheifler

All my partnerships lead second highest from four small, however with the

98 combination, we would lead the 9, especially if we had raised (With four

card support, I would have looked for some excuse to raise). When leading a

suit partner has bid, I like low from three to a single honor. Leading an

honor should show two or more touching honors, a doubleton or a

singleton.   After the initial lead, I give current count.

Ed Schultz

  From three small or four small I would lead low if I haven't raised partner and high if I have raised. It is important for partner to know the count in his suit. If you have raised, he knows you have three or four so you want to lead high without an honor and low with an honor.
 

Karen Walker

It depends on whether or not you've supported partner's suit. If so,

high from a honor-less 3-card holding is the most informative card (or top

or second-highest from a 4-card suit).   On the second round, give current

count -- top of the remaining doubleton if you had a 3-card suit, low from

the remaining 3 cards if you led from a 4-card suit.

If you haven't supported, I recommend low from three or four small

cards.   It's usually more important for partner to know your count than

your potential honor holding, and since you haven't bid, it's natural for

him to suspect you're short.   Also, since he bid the suit (and ostensibly

has most of the honors) and you were silent (and are ostensibly weak),

partner will often be able to immediately figure out that you can't hold an

honor.   When following to the second trick in the suit, give current count.

For the same reasons, I also recommend leading low from these holdings

in an unsupported suit that partner has not directly bid, but has shown

(with a takeout double or Michaels cuebid, for example).

En Xie

I prefer lead 'top of nothing' if I've raised partner. I would lead 3rd/5th ( or 3rd/low) if I haven't shown my support. We want to give partner some information about the suit when we lead it. From my raise, the length of the suit is known, now 'top of nothing' shows my strength in the suit. By using this method, partner would know both my length and strength in the suit.   Without raising, we have to decide what kind of information we want to give to partner, length or strength. The way you play shows partner your strength. There is nothing wrong with that. Another way I prefer is to show partner your length in the suit. Knowing the count information in the suit, partner might have a chance to figure out the distribution of the whole hand if he is a good counter. Usually It's easier to know or guess well where the honors are in the suit from the bidding, but it's harder to figure out the distribution without help. That's another reason I prefer to give count.

Milt Zlatic

Holding three or four, it is best to lead small if you haven't supported. Partner will be able to judge better what to do if he/she has a count of the suit especially if you have a weak hand and haven't been able to raise.  If I have raised. I would lead the 9 from that holding since you have the 8 to back it up but I'll bow to "Mr. Defense", Roger Lord, and the rest of the panel to provide better insight on this one.

Question 3 :  Dan Schaffer (Flight A)

Vul against not, as dealer you hold
 
S 76
H K107
D KJ542
C K83
 
The bidding goes
P-P-1C-1S
? = what is your call now ??

Panel's Responses :

Roger Lord

Double.   The most flexible call, to show high-card values and at least tolerance for any rebid or the ability to continue the auction.   Those who insist that doubling guarantees four of the unbid major (majors) are missing the fun on hands like this.

Nancy Popkin

As a passed hand, I would bid 2D.  A 2-level bid after passing only guarantees about 10 highs, and it is not forcing.  The other options have drawbacks.  3C promises more than 3 cards in that suit since partner may have opened with only 3. Negative double usually guarantees 4 hearts. The only advantage to the negative double is that partner may be able to rebid 1NT over it. Pass is for wimpy little old ladies or nervous little old men, so I'm bidding my length and my strength.

Fran Scheifler

A bid of two diamonds shows at least a five card suit and at least ten high

card points; that's my call. Several good things could happen; we might

even reach and make 3NT.

Ed Schultz

I would make a negative double, right on strength, short one heart. I would think Dbl, 2D and 2C are possible. Dbl is most flexible, 2D not forcing by a passed hand could lead to a silly result as could 2C. Partner will pass 2D many time when it is just wrong.

Karen Walker

You have two choices, and I think the decision is close.   Since you're a

passed hand, a 2D bid shows exactly what you have -- a 5+-card suit and

around 9-11 points.   The alternative of a negative double, though, is

attractive because it keeps options open for other contracts.   If you

double and partner rebids 1NT or 2C or even 2H, you should be in a good spot.

I would probably choose 2D, though, mainly because I think this will

make it easier for us to compete later.   If you bid 2D and LHO raises

spades (doesn't he always?), partner knows you have a long suit and he can

bid 3D if he has a fit.   If partner passes 2S, you also have the option of

reopening with a double, which brings clubs and notrump back into the picture.

En Xie

2D.   It shows partner my 10 to 11 HCP and 5+D. In MP games, negative double might be an attractive call. You might get lucky and land at 1NT or 2H which might be the best contracts. But I still prefer the 2D bid. Telling partner the right information is more important to me. I believe it's better to bid by agreements and let partner take care of the rest when you are not sure about the outcomes.

Milt Zlatic

I hate these hands!   You're a heart shy for a negative double and your 5-card suit is over partner's suit.  I wouldn't quarrel with a negative double but I'd prefer a bid of 2 diamonds.  If partner should bid hearts over a negative double, you do have ruffing value in spades.  You're a passed hand and partner can pass your bid of 2D. Partner will able to judge better what to do knowing you have 10 points and a 5-card or longer suit.