English Bridge

Really EasyBridge

by June Booty

© June Booty

33December 2008 English Bridgewww.ebu.co.uk

soon and as low as possible.

Examples

♠ A 10 7 5 4 3 ♠ K Q 6♥ 9 ♥ J 8 4♦ 9 7 2 ♦ 5 4 3♣ 7 5 3 ♣ A K 4 2

Here West should respond 2♠ topartner’s 1NT opening for the samereasons as on the previous hand. Eastshould pass this bid. Whilst East-Westare likely to make eight tricks in a spadecontract (two club tricks and six spadetricks, because after you have led the ♠K,the ♠Q and then small to the ♠A, theopponents will almost certainly have runout of spades), if you play in no-trumpsthe opponents are likely to cash a largenumber of tricks in hearts and diamonds(probably five tricks in hearts and four indiamonds) causing you to go down beforeyou can gain the lead.

Hand 2 Hand 3♠ 8 4 2 ♠ K 4 2♥ 8 2 ♥ 9 8 7 4 3 2♦ 9 8 6 5 3 2 ♦ K 4♣ 5 4 ♣ K 4

With Hand 2, respond 2♦. The weaker thehand, the more important it is that you takeyour partner out of the 1NT contract, asyou cannot possibly be of any help to himthere with this hand. If you play in 2♦,however, you may well make three tricksand possibly even make the contract for aplus score. Again, your partner should passand leave you to play in 2♦.

With Hand 3, again use a weakness take-out and bid 2♥. Although you have morepoints this time, your hand will play muchbetter if your long, weak heart suit istrumps. Partner must pass your bid.

Summary

• When your partner opens with 1NTand you have a weak, unbalancedhand with 0-10 points, it is betterto bid your five-card (or longer)suit at the two level rather thanletting partner struggle in 1NT.

• When you have opened with 1NTand your partner has used a weak -ness take-out, do not bid again. r

HELLO again to our newest members. Inmy previous article I asked what you shouldbid with the following hand if your partneropens 1NT:

Hand 1♠ J 6 2♥ Q J 9 4 3♦ 9 7 6♣ 8 6

Although this hand is fairly balanced, ifyou pass and leave partner to play in 1NTit is unlikely your hand will make a trickand it is most probable partner will onlymake five of the required seven tricks andgo two down. If, however, you bid 2♥ it isvery likely your hand will be able to maketwo tricks as you have five trumps. Thiswould result in your contract going onlyone down (making seven tricks out of therequired eight).

Whilst we never like to go down, if thisis going to happen it is better to give youropponents as few points as possible.

The theory

The 2♥ bid recommended above is calleda weakness take-out. You should make itwhen you have between 0 and 10 pointsand a hand unsuitable for playing in no-trumps. You can bid any of the four suitsin response to 1NT at the two level toshow this type of hand (although later onin your bridge development we will lookat a better use for the 2♣ bid, known as‘Stayman’). When you respond at the twolevel to your partner’s 1NT opening, youmust have at least five cards in the suit youbid and your partner must pass this bid.

If you have a maximum point count of10 and your partner has a maximumpoint count of 14, together you have amaximum point count of 24 which isusually not enough to make game.Therefore it is wise to stop in a sensibledenomination (a suit or no-trumps) as

The weaknesstake-out

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Aunty Gill’s WORD SEARCHFind the terms listed below. Words can appear horizontally, vertically or diagonally, forwardsor backwards.

bid opened balancedpass tricks trumpscontract weakness take-outresponse west maximumpartner spades unbalancedfive-card denomination

Bridge terms for beginners are explained at www.reallyeasybridge.com

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HAVING looked at 1NT openings and theresponses over the last two issues, we nowturn our minds to opening one of a suit.What would you open with Hand 1?

Length before strength

The correct open ing bid is 1♥. Were youtempted to open with 1♦ because of thoselovely high cards? A guideline to bear inmind is: ‘Length is more important thanstrength’. This means that lots of smallcards can be really useful, especially if theyare trumps. The high diamonds will wintricks no matter what the contract is. Thisis easy to see if they are trumps or if youplay in no-trumps. If you play with anyother suit as trumps, they will also wintricks when your opponents can follow suitor have run out of trumps (after you havedrawn them by leading the trump suit oftenenough for the defenders to have run out).The small hearts are much less likely tomake tricks unless they are trumps.

Examples

Let us look at some examples. What wouldyou open with each of Hands 2, 3, and 4?

Hand 2 Hand 3♠ Q 9 ♠ 10 8♥ A 6 5 4 ♥ K 9 6 3 2♦ K Q J 9 ♦ A♣ A 9 3 ♣ A Q 10 9 7

Hand 4♠ K J 9 4♥ Q J 9 8♦ A K 3♣ K 5

33February 2009 English Bridgewww.ebu.co.uk

With Hand 2, you cannot open 1NT (toomany points!) even though the hand isbalanced, so the correct opening bid is 1♥.This is because hearts is the higher-rankingof two equal-length suits (hearts are higherthan diamonds, diamonds are higher thanclubs, etc). Again, it does not matter thatyour diamonds are better than your hearts,it is the length that is more important.Because you have a balanced hand, yourintention is to rebid in no-trumps if yourpartner does not support your heart suit.The correct opening bid for Hand 3 is

also 1♥: again your clubs are strongerthan your hearts but as they are the samelength you should open with the higher-ranking suit. This time, if partner does notsupport your hearts you intend to rebidclubs if partner bids spades or no-trumps,and rebid hearts if partner bids diamonds(rebidding in clubs then would take thepartnership too high with so few points).

Hand 4 shows the one exception to therule of opening the higher-ranking of twoequal-length suits: here again you shouldopen 1♥. When you have exactly fourhearts and exactly four spades and thehand is unsuitable for a 1NT opening(this should always be our first choice ofopening if it is suitable) then you shouldopen with 1♥.The reason for this is that itfacilitates the finding of an eight-cardmajor-suit fit, which should always bewhat you are looking to find if you haveroom to investigate. Partner can supportyou with as few as 6 points if he has fourhearts or, alternatively, can offer spadeswith as few as 6 points if he has four ofthose and fewer than four hearts. Ifpartner takes neither of these courses ofaction, then you will be hoping to play ina no-trump contract.

The shape of your handmust be considered too, or:

the ‘Rule of Twenty’

Generally, when you open the auctionwith one of a suit you are showing a handwith 12 to 19 points and at least four cards

in the bid suit. However, sometimes youcan open the bidding with fewer points asthe shape of the hand can add much to itsplaying strength.For example:

Hand 5 has only10 high-card pointsbut with such ex cel -lent shape and withall of your points inyour long suits, it iscertainly worth a1♥ opening.

To help you to decide whether a hand isworthy of an opening bid, you can use the‘Rule of Twenty’, which works like this:add together the number of your high-card points and the number of cards ineach of your two longest suits, and if thetotal comes to twenty or more then youcan open the bidding.

Hand 5 has 10 points plus 6 hearts plus4 diamonds, bringing us to a total of 20and so we can justify our opening of 1♥(very useful when it comes to the postmortem!).

Summary

• Always open with 1NT if the handis suitable.

• Open with the higher of two equallength suits unless you have exactlyfour hearts and exactly four spades,when you should open with 1♥.

• With a hand with fewer than 12points but good playing strength,use the Rule of Twenty to decidewhether or not to open. r

Openingone of a suit

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Hand 1♠ K J ♥ J 8 7 4 3 2♦ A K Q J ♣ 6

Hand 5♠ 9 7♥ A K 10 9 8 7♦ K 10 9 8 ♣ 5

35April 2009 English Bridgewww.ebu.co.uk

should not be timid but bid straight to thegame you know you can pro bably make,namely 4♥. Bidding the same suit as part -ner is called ‘raising’ and this bid is a ‘tripleraise’, as it goes up three levels of bidding.It is a little harder to know whether to be

in game when you have support for part -ner’s major and 6-12 points, so you shouldtell partner how many points you have andlet him do some thinking. For example:

Hand 3 Hand 4♠ A J 9 5 ♠ Q J 8 2♥ Q 5 4 ♥ A 8 5♦ 8 5 ♦ 5 4♣ J 8 3 2 ♣ A 10 9 5

If partner opens with 1♠, with Hand 3you should raise to 2♠ (known as a ‘singleraise’). This shows four-card or longersup port and 6-9 points. With Hand 4 youshould raise to 3♠ (known as a ‘doubleraise’), which also shows support butshows 10-12 points. These bids are called‘limit bids’ as the point-count range theyshow is very limited. Once you have madea limit bid, your partner should be the onemaking decisions or enquiries.When you have responded 3♠with Hand

4, partner will decide whether he thinks thepartnership has at least 25 points and if hejudges it does, he will bid the game, namely4♠, but if he feels it does not, then he willpass. Hand 3 allows partner more scope.After you have responded 2♠ show ing 6-9points, partner will pass if he feels you donot have 25 points between you (he wouldbelieve this if he had up to 15 points, whichadded to your maximum of 9 would makea combined maximum of 24). Your partnercould bid straight to 4♠ if he had 19 pointsto add to your minimum of 6, which wouldmake a minimum of 25. Partner’s thirdchoice, which he would usually take with16-18 points, is to ‘invite’ you to bid game

by bidding 3♠. This is not a technique forpassing the buck! This bid says: ‘I am notsure whether we have suf ficient points forgame and would like you to bid 4♠ if yourhand is good within the limits of what youhave already des cribed.’ The following twohands demon strate this:

Hand 5 Hand 6♠ K 6 5 3 ♠ K 7 3 2♥ 5 4 ♥ 7 3 2♦ K 9 6 5 ♦ K J 5 3♣ 7 5 3 ♣ Q 5

If partner opens with 1♠, you respond2♠, and partner invites you to bid gameby saying 3♠. With Hand 5 you wouldpass as you are very weak within the 6-9range that you have described. However,with Hand 6 you would bid 4♠ as you arevery strong within that range.When partner opens with one of a minor,

you still use the same point counts whenchoosing to raise his suit. However, this isnot always your first choice of action as youshould often consider making other bids,and this will be covered in future articles.

SummaryWhen partner opens with one of amajor and you have four-card or longersupport, then with:0-5 points, pass.6-9 points, raise to the two level (asingle raise).10-12 points, raise to the three level(a double raise).13 or more points, raise to game atthe four level (a triple raise). r

LAST time we looked at deciding whichsuit to open if you had 12-19 points and ahand unsuitable for opening with 1NT.Now it is time to consider what to respondwhen partner opens with one of a suit.When you are bidding, you are looking

for the best spot in which to play – in otherwords, one that you are likely to achieve andwhere you score the greatest number ofpoints. With this in mind, you should putgreat store by finding an ‘eight-card majorfit’. This means having at least eight cardsin either hearts or spades (the majors)bet ween your hand and partner’s. There -fore, if partner opens 1♥ or 1♠, showing atleast four cards in that suit, and you have atleast four cards in the same suit (this iscalled ‘support’), it is important to tellpartner the good news straight away.What would you respond with the fol -

lowing hands if partner opened with 1♥?

Hand 1 Hand 2♠ 9 5 ♠ K J 10 8♥ K 6 5 4 ♥ K 9 6 2♦ J 6 5 ♦ A K 3♣ 9 7 5 3 ♣ 9 5

You usually expect to make a game in heartsor spades (ten tricks) if you have an eight-card fit and at least 25 points between thetwo hands. With Hand 1 you know yourside can not have 25 points as partner’s bidshows a maximum of 19 and you have only4, ma king a possible combined maxi mumof 23. As this is insufficient for game, youmust pass and not make life any harder forpartner. Remember that when you scoreyou will receive the same number of pointsfor 1♥+1 as you will for 2♥✓, namely+110, but there is a considerable dif ferencebet ween 1♥✓ (+80) and 2♥–1 (–50). With Hand 2 you know partner has at

least 12 points; you have 14, and this makesa combined total of at least 26 points, so you

Responding to anopening bid of 1♥or 1♠

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Again partner has opened with 1♥. OnHand 4 you would like to res pond 2♣ buthave insufficient points for this and soshould respond 1NT. This res ponse is oneof the few times when a no-trump bid doesnot have to be balanced (although this handis balanced). It shows 6-9 points and deniesthe ability to support partner’s open ing suitif it was a major and the ability to bid a newsuit at the one level.

With Hand 5 you would also have to res -pond 1NT even though you are unbalan -ced, as you have sufficient points to respondbut not enough to bid at the two level.

A response of 1NT is called a ‘limit bid’because the point range is very limited.When your partner responds with 1NT theopener may bid again or pass accord ing tohis hand. However, a response in a suit hasan unlimited point range and, because ofthis, the opener must bid again. We willlook at these rebids in future articles.

With Hand 6, in responseto partner’s opening bidof 1♥, you should simplyrespond 1♠ as this showsat least four spades andat least 6 points. Becausethis response has an un -limited point range,

o pen er is not allowed to pass and you willhave an opportunity at your next turn toexplore this hand to its fullest advantagewhen you have a better description ofpartner’s holding. In this situation, youshould not jump in a new suit without fiveor more cards in that suit.

Hand 7 Hand 8♠ K J 4 2 ♠ Q J 9 3♥ K 8 7 3 ♥ Q 9 7♦ 9 8 2 ♦ Q J 9 3♣ 6 4 ♣ 5 2

Hand 9♠ 9 5 3♥ A Q 10 8 6♦ K J 2♣ Q 4

Did I catch you out? With Hand 7, if partneropens with 1♥ you should not respond 1♠

but you should support partner and bid2♥, showing 6-9 points. Remember, onceyou have found an eight-card major fit withpartner, you should let him know imme dia -tely and decide between you how high youwish to bid in that denomination.

However, if your partner opens with 1♦

and you hold Hand 8, it is better to respond1♠ than to raise to 2♦. This is because amajor suit is usually a better place to playthan a minor suit. The majors score morepoints and if you have sufficient points forgame you require fewer tricks to make thecontract. You can always return to thediamond suit later if partner does notsupport spades and it seems appropriate.

With Hand 9, if partner opens with 1♠ ,your response should be 2♥. Although thisfollows the guidelines given above, it isimportant to realise that this is the onlysequence of its type where a change of suitwithout jumping pro mises a five-card orlonger holding.

Summary

• To offer a new suit at the onelevel you need at least four cardsin the suit and 6 or more points.

• To offer a new suit at the twolevel without jumping you needat least four cards in the suit and10 or more points (or 9 with agood five-card or longer suit)except when responding 2♥ over1♠ when five cards are required.

• Respond with 1NT when youhave enough points to respondbut not enough to bid the suityou would like to show. r

LAST time we looked at raising partnerafter he had opened one of a major andyou had a fit for that suit. We shall nowlook at what to do when you do not havea fit for partner’s suit. One of your optionsis to respond in a new suit. This responsewill sometimes occur at the one level andsometimes will need to be made at the twolevel. Let us look at some examples whenpartner has opened with 1♥:

Hand 1 Hand 2♠ K 8 4 2 ♠ 8 4 3♥ J 7 3 ♥ 8 7 2♦ 9 8 2 ♦ K Q 3♣ K 6 4 ♣ A J 8 7

Hand 3♠ 8 5 2♥ 9 7♦ K 10 7♣ A Q 10 9 8

With Hand 1, bid 1♠ . This shows you haveat least four spades. Also, you should have atleast 6 points to offer a new suit at the onelevel, as partner’s opening bid shows up to19 points and 6 makes game a possibility.Holding 0-5 points you should pass.

With Hand 2, respond 2♣ . This shows atleast four clubs and, because you are unableto bid your suit at the one level, usuallyshows at least 10 points. Do not respond atthe two level with fewer than 10 pointsunless you have a hand similar to Hand 3.Because you hold a hand with 9 points anda good five-card suit, the hand is strongenough to respond at the two level. If youhave a hand which resembles Hands 2 (nogood five-card suit) but has only 7-9 points,then you should respond with 1NT.

Hand 4 Hand 5♠ 8 4 2 ♠ J 4 3♥ J 7 ♥ 8♦ 9 8 2 ♦ Q 9 7 3♣ A Q 9 7 5 ♣ A J 8 7 2

Partner opens one of asuit and you don’t have afour-card fit for his suit

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Hand 6♠ A Q 9 5♥ K 9 5♦ A K 4 ♣ Q 7 5

37October 2009 English Bridgewww.ebu.co.uk

With Hand 4, if your partner responds 1´to your opening of 1™, then you shouldrebid 2™ showing a weak hand with up to15 points and at least five hearts. (Notethat every time you bid a suit again, ifpartner has not agreed it, you show anextra card in it.)

However, with Hand 5, after opening1™ and receiving a response of 1´, youshould rebid 2®, showing at least fourclubs. It is better to offer a choice topartner, and give notice that you likeclubs as well as hearts. Your partner willnow have much more information aboutyour hand than if you had rebid 2™ .Partner will know that you have at leastfive hearts as well as four clubs, becauseoffering a new suit in this situation showsan un balanced hand (with 12-14 pointsand a balanced hand you would have pre -ferred to open 1NT, and with 15 pointsand a balanced hand you would havepreferred to rebid 1NT).

Hand 6 Hand 7´ A K 4 2 ´ A J 4 3™ 8 3 ™ 8 7t 8 2 t A Q 8 7 3® K Q J 8 4 ® A K

With Hand 6, if after you have opened 1®your partner responds 1t, then rebid 1´showing a minimum hand and four spades.

With Hand 7, open 1t, and if yourpartner responds 1™ then rebid 2´, againshowing at least four spades but this timejumping to show a strong hand.

Bidding above the ‘barrier’shows a strong hand

or a fit with partner’s suit

When you open the bidding with one-of-a-suit, a weak rebid ‘barrier’ is created attwo of that same suit. For example, if youopen with 1t, then the weak rebid barrieris 2t. You should not rebid above thisbarrier unless you have a strong hand, oryou have found a fit with partner.

Hand 8 Hand 9´ J 5 ´ J 2™ A Q 7 2 ™ A K 9 8 5t A K Q 8 7 t K 3® Q 8 ® A K 8 3

With Hand 8 open 1t and if partner bids1´, rebid 2™ showing four hearts. Althoughthis is not a jump rebid, it is a strong bidas it is a new suit bid above your 2t barrierbid and it forces partner to bid again. Notethat you cannot simply be looking for aneight-card heart fit with your partner, ashe might not have four hearts since heresponded 1´ rather than 1™. Your rebidof 2™ suggests that you are in te r est ed inplaying in a no-trump contract if partnerhas clubs covered.

With Hand 9, you should open 1™ andif partner responds 2t then you can rebid3®, showing at least four clubs and a stronghand. Again, you have not jumped but havegone above your barrier rebid (this time itwas 2™), so you are showing a stronghand, which forces partner to bid again.

SummaryWhen rebidding after opening withone-of-a-suit:

• Support partner’s major if youcan.

• Rebidding your own suit shows atleast five cards.

• Do not jump or go above the rebidbarrier unless you have a stronghand (16+ points). r

THIS month we shall look at more ofopener’s rebids after opening with one-of-a-suit. With the following hands you haveopened with one-of-a-suit and partnerresponds with a new suit in which youhave four cards.

Hand 1 Hand 2´ A K 4 2 ´ K 2™ 9 3 ™ A Q 7 2t K J 10 8 2 t 8 3® Q 4 ® A K J 9 7

Hand 3´ K J 8 5™ A 2t K Q 9 8 7® A Q

With Hand 1, if after you open 1t yourpartner responds 1´, you should rebid 2´showing four-card support and a minimumhand. Partner can now decide whether ornot game in spades is appropriate.

With Hand 2, you should open 1® and,if partner responds 1™, you should rebid3™, again showing four-card support butjumping to show a strong hand.

With Hand 3, after you have opened 1tand partner has responded 1´, you shouldrebid 4´. Because you have 19 points andyour partner has at least 6 (a combinedtotal of at least 25) you should go straightto game.

You have no supportfor the suit partner has bid

What should you do with hands wherepartner has offered you a new suit but youdo not have support for it?

Hand 4 Hand 5´ 6 5 ´ 6 5™ A Q 9 8 3 ™ A Q 9 8 3t 8 7 2 t 8 7® K Q J ® K Q J 7

Opener’s rebid after opening one-of-a-suit

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37December 2009 English Bridgewww.ebu.co.uk

one heart, five diamonds and two clubs,making a total of nine tricks. Is there any -thing declarer should worry about though?

Yes, declarer should be careful whenplay ing the diamonds, otherwise he mayend up in the wrong hand. If he simplyplays them from the top starting with theace, then the king, then the queen, he willfind himself in the dummy hand with noentry back to cash the two small winners.When playing this suit, declarer mustremember the following rule:

Play high cards from the shorterholding first when cashing.

So, on this deal, when it comes to playingthe dia monds, declarer must play a smallcard to the queen and next lead the jack,and if both opponents followed to thefirst dia mond trick (this will happenabout 96% of the time), he can safelyplay the ten and overtake it with the aceand cash his two remaining winningdiamonds.

With the following deal, the order ofwhich suits to play is extremely important:

´ A K Q 7™ J 5t 9 8 2® 9 6 3 2

´ 10 3 ´ J 8 5 4™ A 6 2 ™ 9 7 4 3t Q 10 7 6 5 4 t J 3® K 10 ® Q J 7

´ 9 6 2™ K Q 10 8t A K® A 8 5 4

South is in 3NT after this auction:

West North East South1™

Pass 1´ Pass 1NTPass 3NT All Pass

West leads the t6 (the fourth-highest cardfrom an honour in his longest suit).

Again, South should stop and count thetricks before playing the first card fromdummy. There are three definite spadetricks (with a fourth if the opponents haveexactly three each, but this will onlyhappen about one third of the time), threeheart tricks (but the opponents must beallowed to win their ace first), two dia -monds and one club (a second trick willprobably become available if the clubs areplayed often enough). This means there isa total of nine definite tricks, but in orderto achieve them a heart trick must be lostto the opponents.

It is very important that you ‘do yourwork before you put your feet up!’ By thisI mean that you must let the opponentswin their ace of hearts early, before you losecontrol in the other suits. You have to winthe first diamond trick but do not betempted to play diamonds again at tricktwo. Instead, lead a small heart towards thejack, hoping the opponents will win withtheir ace. If they do, then, upon regainingthe lead, you can simply cash the rest ofyour nine tricks. If the opponents do notwin the ace of hearts at their first oppor -tunity (it is often correct to wait beforeplaying aces, but more about that in an - other article) then play another heart, anda third heart if necessary until you haveestablished the three required heart tricks.

SummaryAs declarer, do not play a card fromdummy until you have made a planfor the whole play, counting winnersin no-trumps, and taking into accountyour strengths and weaknesses. r

OVER the past year we have looked solelyat bidding, so this month it is time forsome Really Easy card-play.

When you are declarer, the opening leadhas been made, and dummy’s hand hasbeen spread on the table, it is time to stopand think and form a plan. When you areplaying in a no-trump contract you shouldcount the number of tricks you can defi -nitely make between the two hands as wellas those you hope to develop. The timingof which suits to play when can often beextremely important.

´ A 9 2™ A J 5 4t Q J 10® A K 3

´ J 10 5 3 ´ K Q 8 7™ Q 10 ™ K 9 8 2t 7 3 t 9 8 5® Q J 10 8 4 ® 5 2

´ 6 4™ 7 6 3t A K 6 4 2® 9 7 6

South is in 3NT after this auction:

West North East South1™ Pass 1NT

Pass 3NT All Pass

The opening lead is the queen of clubs.(West will usually lead his longest suitagainst a no-trump contract, and the topof an honour sequence is far more con -structive than the fourth highest).

South should now stop and count thetricks available. This looks like a straight -forward contract with one top spade trick,

Really Easydeclarer play

in no-trumps

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THE CUMBRIA CONGRESSwill take place on

19th - 21st March 2010in Windermere

NOTE the location published in the Diary is incorrect

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43February 2010 English Bridgewww.ebu.co.uk

partner responds 1´, then rebid 1NT,again showing 15 or 16 points with abalanced hand and fewer than fourspades, (otherwise you would support thesuit). If, how ever, partner responds 2® or2t, then rebid 2NT. Although you havefour-card support for partner’s diamondsuit, it is usually better in this situation torebid in no-trumps to show your strengthand shape. If you rebid 3t, then you aresuggesting you have an unbalanced handwith five hearts.

With hands with 17-18 points, againopen with one of a suit but this timejump-rebid in no-trumps. This willsometimes occur at the two level andsometimes at the three level.

Hand 3 Hand 4´ A Q 5 ´ K 5 ™ A Q 10 2 ™ Q 8 3t 4 3 2 t K 8 7® A Q 5 ® A K Q J 7

With Hand 3, if your partner responds 1´to your opening of 1™, you should rebid2NT showing 17-18 points, a balancedhand and fewer than four spades. Do notworry about having such a poor diamondsuit, as this rebid describes perfectly bothyour point count and hand shape, andthere is no other honest rebid that you canmake. If you ‘gamble’ with another bid,you will mislead your partner. If partnerresponds with 2® or 2t, then jump-rebidinto 3NT.With Hand 4, open 1® and in response to

1t, 1™ or 1´ jump-rebid in 2NT, againshowing a balanced 17-18 points. Thereshould not be a problem playing the handif the auction should end there, as partnerhas at least 6 points, giving your side acombined minimum of 23.

Finally, if you have a balanced handwith 19 points, open with one of asuit and rebid 3NT whether yourpartner responds at the one or twolevel.

Hand 5 Hand 6´ A K ´ J 4 3 ™ A 8 3 ™ A J 8 7t K Q 8 2 t A Q 8 3® Q J 8 4 ® A K

With Hand 5, if after you have opened1t, your partner responds 1™ or 1´,then rebid 3NT showing 19 points, abalanced hand and fewer than four cardsin support for his major. If partnerresponds with 2® , then rebid 3NT(again, usually better than supportingpartner’s minor), showing 17-19 points(note that you could be jumping to 3NTwith 17-18, or bidding 3NT because youhave 19).With Hand 6, open with 1™ and rebid

with 3NT whether partner responds 1´,2® or 2t.All of the above no-trump rebids are

non-forcing limit bids. This means thatthe point count is closely defined and thatyour partner is not forced to continuewith the auction but can pass. This doesnot mean, however, that your partner willpass. Partner should only pass if he ishappy with a no-trump contract and atthe level you are currently at. Partner canraise 1NT or 2NT to game, or invite with2NT over 1NT, or can bid a suit if his handsuggests that this is the best action.Continuations after no-trump rebids will

be covered next time. r

THISmonth we return to bidding and lookat some strong balanced hands. First, re -mem ber that to open with 1NT you needbetween 12 and 14 points and a balancedhand. (A balanced hand contains no void,no singleton, no more than one doubletonand no five-card major.) We have not yet covered the 2NT open -

ing, but this shows between 20 and 22points. It is balanced hands that are toostrong to open with 1NT and yet notstrong enough to open with 2NT that weshall look at now. If you have a balanced hand with between

15 and 19 points, then you should openwith one of a suit (remembering previousguidelines as to which suit to choose if youhave two four-card suits) and rebid in no-trumps. But how many no-trumps shouldyou rebid?

If you have 15 or 16 points then rebidno-trumps as cheaply as possible,whether this occurs at the one levelor the two level.

Hand 1 Hand 2´ A K 4 ´ K 2 ™ A 9 7 ™ A J 10 2t K 10 9 8 2 t J 9 8 3® Q 4 ® A K 7

With Hand 1, you should open with 1tand if partner responds 1™ or 1´ youshould rebid 1NT, showing 15 or 16points, a balanced hand and fewer thanfour cards in support of partner’s major.Remember that finding an eight-card orlonger major fit is of prime importance. Ifyour partner responds with 2®, then rebid2NT, again showing 15-16 points and abalanced hand. With Hand 2, you should open with 1™,

the higher of two equal-length suits. If

How to show

balanced hands

with 15-19 points

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29April 2010 English Bridgewww.ebu.co.uk

opened with 1®, you responded 1™ andpartner rebid 1NT. With Hand 1, you shouldrebid 2™. This is a sign-off (partner shouldpass whatever he is holding) and shows aweak hand with at least five hearts, usuallysix. You know partner has at least twohearts because he has rebid no-trumps. With Hand 2, you should rebid 4™. This

is also a sign-off: partner should not lookfor a slam whatever he is holding as he hasmade a limit bid (a bid with a closelydefined point range) and it is there foreyour decision as to whether to look forslam or not. You know you have at leasteight hearts between you and that togetheryou have 26 or 27 high-card points. With Hand 3, you should bid 3™. This

jump bid is forcing (partner must bidagain) and shows enough points for game(at least 10 because partner has at least 15)and exactly five hearts (with six or morehearts you can bid straight to 4™ since youknow you have at least eight heartsbetween you). It asks partner to choosebetween 3NT if he has only two hearts,and 4™ if he has three card support. With Hand 4, you should bid 3NT as

you have enough points for game, have abalanced hand, and know that you andpartner do not have eight cards in eithermajor. With Hand 5, you should rebid 2NT.

This is an ‘invitational’ bid, invitingpartner to bid game with a ‘maximum’point count of 16 or to pass with a‘minimum’ point count of 15. Althoughyou do not need to remember the pointcount, as it is the concept that is important,

this 2NT rebid will come in handy whenyou have exactly 9 points as then you willnot be sure whether your partnership hasthe required 25 points to bid a game inno-trumps or a major. If partner has 16points and two hearts, he should bid 3NTbut if he has 16 points and three hearts heshould bid 3™, as this will enable you tothen bid 3NT if you have only four hearts(as in Hand 5) but to bid 4™ with fivehearts (as in Hand 6). This is why with Hand 6 your rebid

should again be 2NT. You are prepared toplay there if partner has a minimum, andwill be able to find whichever game isbetter if partner has a maximum. With Hand 7 you should pass and leave

partner to play in 1NT as you are balancedand have insufficient points for game.

Summary• After partner has made a no-trump

rebid, responder should usuallyeither be able to set the contract bypassing or making a sign-off bid, orbe able to invite partner to choosebetween alternatives.

• The decision as to whether to lookfor slam or not should lie with theresponder and not the playermaking the limit bid. r

After partner

has rebid

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WHEN your partner rebids in no-trumpsyou know a tremendous amount about hishand, both in terms of points and dis tri -bution. If your partner opened with 1®,you responded 1™, and partner rebid 1NT,you would know that he had 15 or 16points and a balanced or fairly balancedhand with two or three hearts and two orthree spades. If he had four hearts hewould have supported you, as playing inan eight-card major fit is always our firstchoice. If he had four spades, he wouldhave rebid in them in preference to rebid -ding in no-trumps. He would not haverebid in no-trumps if he had a singletonor void. After an auction such as this, you should

usually be able to decide either what thefinal contract is, or invite your partner tochoose between two options.

Hand 1 Hand 2´ 9 4 ´ K 2™ A 9 7 5 3 2 ™ A J 10 9 3 2t 10 8 2 t 9 8 3® Q 4 ® K 7

Hand 3 Hand 4´ A 9 4 ´ K 8 7 2™ A 9 7 3 2 ™ A J 3 2t 10 8 2 t 9 8 3® Q 4 ® K 7

Hand 5 Hand 6´ K 9 4 ´ Q 5 2™ A 5 3 2 ™ A J 9 3 2t 10 8 2 t 9 8 3® Q 9 4 ® Q 7

Hand 7´ Q 9 4™ A 7 3 2t 10 8 2® Q 4 2

With each of the hands above partner

25June 2010 English Bridgewww.ebu.co.uk

another suit, such as spades, where you arejust as weak). Next play a small club to theace and then lead another club, which youknow you will lose. Win the return (pro -bably another heart) and lead another club,which will again lose. However, after theopponents have taken their two heartwinners (you knew from the opening leadof the three, which looked like fourthhighest from an honour, that they werebreaking 4-3), they will have to give youthe lead back and you can cash all of yourremaining tricks, including two smallclubs and bring the contract home.

When to lose your losers

Whilst the line suggested above will suc -ceed, it is usually better to lose the losingtricks before cashing your top honour(s) toretain con trol of the suit. Sometimes it isessential to do this, as in the following deal:

´ J 7 4™ 8 4 2t A K 8 5 4 2® 9

´ K 9 8 ´ Q 10 6 3™ J 10 9 7 5 ™ K 3t J 9 t Q 10 6® Q J 5 ® 10 7 4 3

´ A 5 2™ A Q 6t 7 3® A K 8 6 2

Again South is in 3NT following theuncontested auction of 1® – 1t – 2NT(17-18 points) – 3NT. This time it is notclear-cut what North should bid at hissecond turn but the partnership has 25 or26 points and, although North knows thathis partner has at least two cards indiamonds making an eight-card fit, 3NT isoften an easier contract to make than 5tand it scores more if overtricks are made.

West leads the jack of hearts (the top ofan honour sequence is the correct choicerather than the fourth highest). Again South will count his winners and

form a plan once he can see dummy andbefore playing to the first trick. There is onecertain spade winner (he is lucky that Westdid not lead that suit at trick one) and twocertain heart winners, thanks to the lead,and two each in diamonds and clubs, for atotal of seven. Again, two more need to befound. It may be possible to make an extraone from clubs because South holds a longsuit but the partner ship have a much betterholding in diamonds, having eight betweenthem. Again South needs his opponents’cards in that suit to break 3-2.This time it is a little different though,

because if he plays the ace and king ofdiamonds and then a small one, there willbe three winning diamonds in the dummybut no way for declarer to reach them. Sohere it is essential, after winning the firsttrick in the South hand, to play a smalldiamond from both hands, letting theopponents win a trick early. Uponregaining the lead declarer can now cashhis winners, making the contract, and infact an overtrick.

Summary• As declarer, make a plan whendummy is laid down, before playingto trick one.

• Small cards in long suits will oftenbecome winners if that suit is ledoften enough and they becomeestablished.

• Be careful to ensure you retain anentry to enable you to cash esta b -lished tricks. r

THIS month we are going to look again atsome ‘Really Easy’ declarer card play.When you play in a no-trump contract,small cards in long suits can often maketricks for you but you frequently have tobe prepared to lose tricks in that suit firstbefore you can enjoy the rewards. This iscalled ‘establishing a suit’.

´ A K 10™ K 5 2t J 7 6 3® 7 6 3

´ J 9 6 3 ´ Q 5 4™ Q 10 8 3 ™ J 6 4t Q 9 4 t 10 8 5 2® Q 8 ® K J 10

´ 8 7 2™ A 9 7t A K® A 9 5 4 2

South is the declarer in 3NT. North-South’suncontested auction was 1® – 1t – 1NT(15-16 points) – 3NT. West leads the threeof hearts, and when dummy goes downSouth must stop and take stock and forma plan. There are two easy winners each inspades, hearts and diamonds and one inclubs, making a total of seven. Two moretricks need to be found. It is possible,though unlikely, to make another trick inspades by finessing the ten. This wouldrequire West to have both the queen andthe jack in order to succeed and wouldonly yield one extra trick. If, however,South tries to establish the club suit andmake some of the small cards becomewinners, this will very often yield the extratwo tricks required. All that is needed isfor one of the opponents to hold two clubsand for the other to hold three, and thiswill happen 68% of the time, which is anexcellent chance. So, win the first trick in dummy (there is

no point in ducking as West can switch to

How to

approach the play

in no-trump contracts

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Hand 1. You should rebid 2™. This iscalled a ‘preference bid’, telling partnerthat you do not have many points but thatyou prefer his hearts to his diamonds.Although you are not keen on either suit,partner’s longest suit is hearts and he hasat least five of them (you know thisbecause partner has denied holding abalanced hand as he has neither openednor rebid in no-trumps). You also knowthat partner has a weak hand (probably nomore than 15 points) and therefore youwould like your partnership to stop bid -ding as soon as possible. A preference bidis a closing bid telling partner to pass.

Hand 2. You should rebid 2´. This is alsoa sign off, as partner has shown you twosuits, both of which you have chosen toignore, instead insisting on your own suit.When this occurs at the two level, it istelling partner that you have at least sixcards in that suit and very few points, andagain it is a closing bid.

Hand 3. You should again bid 2™. This isthe same concept as Hand 1, except thatthis time you do like partner’s suit. You donot have enough points to consider gamethough, so close the auction at the twolevel.

Hand 4. You should bid 3™ as again youhave three card support for partner’s five-card suit, but this time you are not surewhether your partnership has sufficient

points for game. By bidding 3™ you areinviting partner to bid game if he is goodfor his rebid (about 14 or 15 points) andto pass if he is not (about 12 or 13).

Hand 5. You should rebid 4™. This timeyou know that your side has an eight-cardmajor fit and sufficient points for game.

Hand 6. Your rebid should be 2NT. Thisshows a hand with somewhere between agood 10 points and a poor 12. It alsoshows some values in the unbid suit (clubsin this instance). Partner can take one ofmany actions now, the most frequent ofwhich are to pass with about 12 or 13points and to raise to 3NT with about 14or 15.

Hand 7. You should bid 3NT, again show -ing values in the club suit but this timehaving sufficient points to commit yourside to a game.

SummaryAs a responder making a second bidyou will have a lot of infor ma tionabout partner’s hand. At this pointyou can take several actions such as:

• Making a ‘sign off ’ (a closing bid)if you know where your sideshould play.

• Inviting partner to game if youare unsure whether you havesuffi cient points or not.

• Committing your side to play inan eight-card major fit if one hasbeen identified.

• Suggesting playing in no-trumpsif all suits appear to be covered. r

ONE of the areas where bidding can betricky is when responder is making arebid. Let us look at some hands.

HHHHH

With each of the hands below yourpartner opened with 1™, you respondedwith 1´ and partner rebid with 2t. Whatshould your rebid be?

Hand 1 Hand 2´ K J 9 8 4 ´ K Q 10 9 7 5™ 3 2 ™ 9 2t J 8 t 9 8® Q 7 5 4 ® Q 9 7

Hand 3 Hand 4´ A J 9 4 ´ K 8 7 2™ 9 7 3 ™ A J 2t 10 8 2 t 9 8 3® Q 4 2 ® K 7 6

Hand 5 Hand 6´ K J 9 4 ´ K Q 5 2™ A 5 2 ™ 3 2t 10 8 2 t J 8 3® A Q 4 ® A Q 7 6

Hand 7´ Q J 9 4™ K 2t 10 8 2® A K Q 2

Responder’s

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CROCKFORD’S FINAL 2010TOP places in the eight-team final for the Crockford’s Cup, England’s premier teamsof four competition, went to:1. Janet De Botton, Artur Malinowski, Andrew McIntosh, Nick Sandqvist, Jason andJustin Hackett.2. Ian Draper, Anne and Neil Rosen, Martin Jones, Gerald and Stuart Tredinnick.3. Graham Osborne & Frances Hinden, Jeffrey Allerton & Peter Lee.

The Plate competition was won by Andy and Cathy Smith, Ralph Smith and SteveTomlinson, ahead of Peter Law, Clive Cubitt, David Kendrick and Malcolm Lewis.