Responding to Partner

Here is your hand:
♠73
♥Q
♦QJ9765
♣9765

Partner is Dealer and opens the bidding 1♠. Your RHO says "Pass". It is your turn to bid. You are vulnerable and the opponents are not. You are playing matchpoints. What is your call?

Show Answer

Answers: Your choices are to "Pass" or to bid 1NT. There are no other options.

I'm good with either. You do not have the 6 HCP you are supposed to have to respond to Partner's bid but it's an aggressive game these days. Sometimes you've just got to bid.

That is where 1NT comes in. This says "Partner I have 6 to 10 HCP and I do NOT have three ♠".

Responding 1NT is this auction does NOT guarantee a balanced hand.

If you bid 2♦ you told Partner you had at least 10 HCP. Partner might get a little excited!

Defence

DEFENCE! Defence is VERY difficult. Too many things to keep track of and you have NO IDEA what Partner has! But we all have to defend at times. So it is best to get used to it. (Or bid more.)

Here is your hand:
♠JT73
♥QT73
♦Q5
♣J74

The contract is 1NT. Your RHO opened the bidding 1NT and was allowed to play there. It is your lead. So what will you lead?

This hand lead a ♠. Technically if you are to lead a ♠ from this holding against NT, you should lead the 3♠. This hand lead the J♠. Not so bad as it turns out.

Dummy comes down with:

	Dummy ♠K5 ♥642 ♦J982 ♣A653
Us! ♠JT73 ♥QT73 ♦Q5 ♣J74		RHO ???
	Declarer ???

Declarer plays small from Dummy. Partner plays a card and Declarer plays a card. You WON the trick!

At this point you might be thinking that you should maybe have paid attention to what the other people played. You didn't. But they probably all followed suit and you don't give signals to each other anyhow (too complicated!) so it wouldn't matter if you did pay attention. It is now your play. What do you do?

Show Answer

You SHOULD decide that it is a GOOD thing you won that trick and continue with a low ♠. Partner ducked their A♠ which was a good thing or Declarer would get two tricks from the suit rather than just one trick.

If you are allowed to win the Jack on the opening lead, chances are Partner has some higher cards in that suit. If Declarer had the Ace, King and Queen in that suit they might have won your Jack.

Rebids

Here is your hand:
♠Q752
♥AQJ7
♦AJ62
♣A

You are Dealer. What do you open the bidding?

I think most players would open this 1♦. This shows at least three ♦ and 13 (good 12?) or more HCP.

Your Partner now bids 1♥. That shows at least four ♥ and at least 6 HCP.

What will you bid over Partner's 1♥ response?

Show Answer

How about 4♥? This would show four ♥ and about 19 to 21 points.

You have 18 HCP and 3 Dummy point for your singleton. True a singleton Ace is not as good as it appears. You'd prefer you had the A♠ and a small singleton ♣ BUT a singleton is still good and even if you counted one extra point for it you are still good to bid game.

Choice of Rebids -- Which is Best?

Here is your hand:
♠KQJ
♥J
♦KQ972
♣AJ52

You are Dealer. What do you open the bidding?

I think most players would open this 1♦. This shows at least three ♦ and 13 (good 12?) or more HCP.

Your Partner now bids 1♥. That shows at least four ♥ and at least 6 HCP.

So now you have to describe your hand with your rebid. What will you bid over Partner's 1♥ response?

If you are not sure what your best rebid is go over all the options to see what rebid is best.

First describe what you are showing when you make each of these rebids. Then select your BEST rebid.

1♠
1NT
2♣
2♦
2 (or 3 or 4)♥
2NT
3♣
3♦
Show Answer

Answers:

1♠ - This shows at least four ♠ and less than a game forcing hand. So you could have a bad 19 HCP here.

1NT - This shows a balanced hand with 13 or 14 HCP.

2♣ - This shows five ♦ and four ♣ and less than a game forcing hand. So you could have 18 HCP here.

2♦ - On this auction this would typically shows six ♦ and less than 16 HCP.

2 (or 3 or 4)♥ - This would show four ♥ and the level you bid at shows the point count.

2NT - This shows a balanced hand with 18 or 19 HCP

3♣ - This shows five ♦ and four ♣ and a game forcing hand.

3♦ - This would typically shows a GOOD six card ♦ suit with no four card major and 16 to 18 HCP.

So you can see that the ONLY rebid possible here is 2♣. All the rest of them lie about something important. Sometimes two things!

Which is my Best Lie?

Here is your hand:
♠K
♥AK75
♦KQJ2
♣AKJ2

You are Dealer. What do you open the bidding?

You have 24 HCP. Most players would open this 2♣ saying NOTHING about the ♣ suit -- just saying they have a VERY big hand.

Nothing wrong with opening 2♣ on this hand. Your Partner now bids 2♦. This says nothing about the ♦ suit. It just says they are waiting to see what you now bid.

So now you have to describe your hand.

What will you bid over Partner's 2♦ bid?

Show Answer

This is not the greatest hand to find a rebid over.

If you bid 2NT you show a balanced hand with 22 to 24 HCP.

You do NOT have a balanced hand. You have a singleton.

If you bid a suit you are now forcing the partnership to game and showing at least a five card suit.

You do not have a five card suit.

So what is your bid? Which is the best "lie"?

Bidding 2NT is probably the best way to describe the hand. You have an awkward rebid.

I wouldn't encourage you to bid NT with singletons but in case of emergency sometimes you must make the best of a bad situation. Bidding 2NT is better than any other call.

If you REALLY don't want to rebid 2NT on this hand then you must open the bidding 1♦. If Partner responds then you have various ways to force to game. However if Partner doesn't respond you may be stuck in 1♦...

If you feel you have too many HCP to open just 1♦ then rebid 2NT over Partner's 2♦ waiting bid.

Declarer Play Problem

Dummy:
♠KQ763
♥974
♦KJT6
♣T

Here is your hand:
♠5
♥AKQJ63
♦Q85
♣K93

You end up in a 2♥ contract after your RHO opens the bidding 1NT (15-17 HCP).

The lead was the J♠. You played Q♠ from Dummy and RHO wins the A♠. Then they switch to the Q♣.

What card are you playing from your hand? The King, the nine or the three?

(Hint: Review the bidding!)

Show Answer

I hope you won your King♣!

How should you know to play that card?

Think about it. What was the bidding?

RHO opened the bidding 1NT. They have 15-17 HCP. You have 15 HCP. Dummy has 9 HCP. There are 16 HCP missing. That means that your LHO has AT MOST a Jack.

What was the opening lead? The J♠. LHO has no more high cards.

The Opponents Interfere over a 1NT Bid

Here is your hand:
♠JT842
♥5
♦732
♣7542

Your LHO is Dealer. They Pass. Partner bids 1NT. (You make your "15 to 17" announcement like a good little bridge player.) Your RHO bids 2♥. Your turn to bid.

Look at that. You were just about to bid 2♥ to transfer Partner to ♠! You remember that you and your Partner are playing "Stolen Bids". That means that IF you "Double", Partner will know that this is a transfer to ♠ and bid accordingly. What is your call? You are playing match points.

Show Answer

I hope you PASSED!

Before the opponents bid you were intending to transfer to ♠. That was a better contract then 1NT probably. But you really didn't want this contract did you? You have a terrible hand.

The opponents aren't really stealing this contract from you. They are rescuing you from a disaster. If you don't have a ♠ fit you are in big trouble. Even with a fit you might still be in trouble.

Let them have this hand. You don't want it.

P.S. If you bid you are in big trouble. Even if the Opponents don't find a "Double". Which they will of course. The one has five of your ♠ (much better ones than you have) and their Partner showed a nice hand by bidding over the 1NT bid.

Overcall or not?

Here is your hand:
♠Q2
♥A4
♦AT43
♣KJ753

Your LHO is Dealer. They Pass. Partner also Passes. Your RHO opens the bidding 1♠. Your turn to bid.

What is your call? You are playing match points.

Show Answer

To make a 2 level overcall you should have at least an opening hand. You do have the values. But you need a GOOD SUIT to make a 2 level overcall. How many trump tricks do you think you can take?

Believe it or not you have 1 trump trick.

You overcall 2♣ on this hand and you are down three. If the opponents know what a reopening double is you are also down three but this time you are doubled.

Can the opponents make a game?

No. Funnily enough the only 2 level contract the opponents can make is 2♣! Ha! Irony.

If you only have minimum values when you make a 2 level overcall it is best to have a six card suit. A GOOD six card suit.

Here's a nice 2♣ overcall. This is what they should look like:
♠82
♥A4
♦AT4
♣KQJ753

Rebid Problem

Here is your hand:
♠A8
♥AT4
♦AJ94
♣KQT5

You decide to open the bidding 1♦. The opponents passed throughout the bidding. Partner responds 1♠.

What is your bid? You are playing match points.

Show Answer

First thing to think about is "Do you have a fit for Partner?"

When Partner responds they are only showing a four card suit. You do NOT have a fit.

Since you don't have a fit, you now need to describe your hand. You are balanced. How do you show Partner you are balanced? Yes, you bid NT.

The trick is what LEVEL do you bid NT?

Bidding 1NT shows a MINIMUM hand. A hand that was not good enough to open 1NT. So about 12-14 HCP. (With 15 HCP and a balanced hand you would have opened 1NT. So you would not have 15 HCP.)

You have 18 HCP. You cannot rebid 1NT.

Jumping to 2NT shows a balanced hand that was too good to open 1NT but not good enough to open 2NT. So about 18 or 19 HCP. That describes this hand perfectly!

So your response is 2NT.

Responding to Partner

Here is your hand:
♠AQT4
♥AQ42
♦K962
♣8

You decide to open the bidding 1♦. The opponents passed throughout the bidding. Partner responds 1♠.

What is your bid? You are playing match points.

Show Answer

First thing to think about is "Do you have a fit for Partner?"

When Partner responds they are only showing a four card suit. But you have a four card suit. You have a fit. You need to support Partner.

Bidding:
2♠ would show about 13 to 16 points with four ♠
3♠ would show about 17 or 18 points with four ♠
4♠ would show about 19 to 21 points with four ♠

So now the question is "How many points do you have?"

If you answered 15 points you were only counting your High Card Points. Since you have a fit you can also count Dummy points.

So the question (again) is "How many points do you have?"

You have 18 points. 15 HCP and 3 Dummy points.

Therefore your bid is 3♠.

This is actually the hand that goes with the hand from the last two posts.

Here is the other hand:
♠K752
♥3
♦AQJT
♣AQ32

♠AQT4
♥AQ42
♦K962
♣8

In the game only two pairs managed to reach the small slam. Good for you if you were one of them!