Here is your hand:
♠AKQJ54
♥JT5
♦54
♣J6
Partner has dealt and opened the bidding 1♣. You respond 1♠. That bid is pretty easy. No point in jumping in the bidding. 1♠ is a forcing bid and Partner must bid again. I MUST remember to get this partnership to game because Partner opened the bidding and I have an opening hand.
The opponents Pass throughout the auction.
Partner responds 4♠. What is your bid?
Wait a minute. First tell me what Partner is showing for their bid.
Now what is your bid?
Show Answer
Most students Pass 4♠ right away. The partnership is in game.
But think about it. Did YOU get the partnership to game?
No. Partner did.
Partner bid game thinking you had 6 HCP and four ♠. That was all you promised for your 1♠ bid.
Yet Partner still bid game. A partnership needs about 25-26 points for game. If you only promised 6, how much does Partner need to bid game?
Yep, about 20 points.
Now Partner is allowed to count Dummy points. So they don't have 20 HCP. But they have the equivalent in HCP and shortness points.
So if Partner has 19-21 points, do the math.
You have a fit so now YOU (as Declarer) gets to count LENGTH points. Give yourself one point for each bonus trump you have. You promised four but you have six. That's two extra points in your hand. You now have 12 HCP and 2 Length points. That's 14 points.
Partner should have 19 points minimum.
Bid 6♠.
Some students like to bid Blackwood to find out about Aces. No need to do that here. You shouldn't be off two Aces. Remember, Partner leapt to game with four lousy trump. Are they really going to bid game with four lousy trump and only one Ace? They shouldn't.
Partner's hand? The one from last post:
Rebid Question
How do I know partner does not have the 'weak freak' hand with his 4S bid. Showing few HCPs, a void or singleton, and long spades?
ReplyDeletePartner opened the bidding. Partner must have at least an opening hand. Plus if they had more than four spades they would probably have opened the bidding one spade.
ReplyDeleteI think you might be thinking of when responder jumps to 4 spades after their partner opens the bidding 1 spade. Responder would do that with the "weak freak" hand.