What to Respond?

Playing matchpoints. You are not vulnerable and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠
♥T9532
♦KT5
♣QJ872

Partner is Dealer and opens the bidding 1♠. Your RHO (Right Hand Opponent) says "Pass". What is your call?

Show Answer

1NT

What?!? With a VOID in ♠?!?

Yes. Bidding 1NT in this auction does NOT say you have a balanced hand. It says you have 6 to 10 points and fewer than three ♠.

Which describes your hand perfectly.

If you "Pass" because you don't want to respond 1NT (and I really don't blame you -- it is an ugly 1NT response) you tell Partner you have fewer than 6 HCP. Which is NOT true. Plus Partner has a BIG hand and you will not reach your game.

If you bid a new suit at the 2 level that tells Partner you have at least 10 HCP (High Card Points) and Partner will get VERY excited with their hand! You'll probably get way too high! (At least you would if you were MY Partner!)

What to Respond

Playing matchpoints. You are not vulnerable and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠73
♥A953
♦A4
♣K9653

Partner is Dealer and opens the bidding 1♣. Your RHO (Right Hand Opponent) says "Pass". What is your call?

Show Answer

1♥

You DO have a ♣ fit. This is true. But you MIGHT have a ♥ fit. Try to find that.

If you DO find a ♥ fit then you can investigate game.

If you DON'T find a ♥ fit then you can always tell Partner about your ♣ then.

Opener's Rebid

Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠J62
♥A874
♦KQT5
♣KJ

Partner is Dealer and passes. Your RHO (Right Hand Opponent) also passes. You open the bidding 1♦. The Opponents are silent during the auction. Your Partner responds 1♥.

Is 1♥ a forcing bid?

What is your call?

Show Answer

1♥ is NORMALLY a forcing bid but in this auction it would NOT be. Partner started off by passing. Partner doesn't have an opening hand. You are allowed to pass 1♥ if you have a minimum opening hand.

BUT you don't. You have a decent 14 count. Bid 2♥ just in case Partner was close to opening the bidding. (Here they had 11 points and if you passed you would have missed a game.)

Rebid

Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠AKT5
♥QJ5
♦T85
♣KT5

You are Dealer and open the bidding 1♣. The Opponents are silent during the auction. Your Partner responds 1♥. What is your call?

Show Answer

1♠

Bid your FOUR card major BEFORE bidding 1NT.

Opening Dilema

Playing matchpoints. You are vulnerable and the Opponents are not.

Here is your hand:
♠QT972
♥KQT97
♦A
♣Q6

You are Dealer. What do you open the bidding?

Show Answer

1♠.

With two FIVE card suits always, Always, ALWAYS bid the HIGHER RANKING suit first.

Advancer Bids!

Just who is the Advancer? The Partner of the Overcaller! Playing matchpoints. Both you and the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠AK86
♥T95
♦KQT2
♣96

Your LHO (Left Hand Opponent) opens the bidding 1♣. Partner bids 1♥. Your RHO (Right Hand Opponent) says "Pass". What is your call?

Show Answer

2♣.

You have a STRONG hand! You have to communicate that to Partner. By Cuebidding the Opponents suit you FORCE Partner to bid. It tends to (in this auction) show support for Partner's suit and 11+ points.

If you bid a simple 2♥ Partner will just "Pass". They won't believe the partnership has enough for a game.

Opener's rebid

Playing matchpoints. Neither you nor the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠K5
♥AKQJ3
♦A862
♣A4

You decide to open the bidding 1♥. The Opponents are silent during the auction. Partner bids 1♠. What is your call?

Show Answer

3♦. Make a JUMP SHIFT. This should show an unbalanced hand with five ♥ and four ♦. GAME FORCING!

Rebidding 2NT shows a BALANCED hand with about 18 or 19 HCP. Partner is allowed to "PASS" that bid! Which you certainly don't want!

Rebidding 2♦ shows an UNBALANCED hand which could be minimum. (Although you could have up to a bad 18 points also -- just short of a jump shift.) Partner is allowed to "PASS" 2♦! Which you certainly don't want!

Did you like your opening bid of 1♥? It's not a bad bid and actually gets you to a better contract. You'll reach 4♥.

If you open the bidding either 2NT or 2♣ followed by 2NT you don't get to tell Partner you have five ♥ and you won't reach your ♥ fit.

If you play in ♥ you take 11 tricks.

If you play in NT you take 10 tricks.

Unbalanced hands tend to play better in a major suit.

What to Bid?

Playing matchpoints. Neither you nor the Opponents are vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠J9765
♥7
♦Q763
♣972

Partner opens the bidding 1♠. Your RHO (Right Hand Opponent) says "Double". What is your call?

Show Answer

4♠

This bid shows a weak hand with FIVE trump and shortness.

Perfect!

Lead Problem

Here is your hand:
♠542
♥KJT8
♦AQ7
♣532

The contract is 1NT. Your RHO (Right Hand Opponent) opened the bidding 1NT and everyone passed. You are on lead. What do you lead?

Show Answer

J♥

You tend to want to lead your longest suit in a NT contract. ♥ is your longest suit.

When leading, you need to play TOP of an INTERNAL SEQUENCE.

Internal Sequences

When leading you want to play TOP of a SEQUENCE if you have one. In NT you are supposed to have a THREE card sequence. So THREE cards that are in order.

So from KQJx you would lead the King.

From QJTx you would lead the Queen.

From JT9x you would lead the Jack.

However the THIRD card is allowed to skip by one pip.

So from KQTx you would still lead the King.

From QJ9x you would lead still the Queen.

From JT8x you would still lead the Jack.

If you have a higher card (should be at least two cards higher than the card you are leading) than the top of your sequence you still lead the TOP of the sequence. This is called leading from an INTERNAL sequence. A sequence with a higher card above it.

The higher card should be at least two cards higher than the card you are leading. Leading the Jack would DENY having the Queen (one card higher than the card you lead) but you still could have the King or even the Ace.

Note that the INTERNAL sequence MUST be headed by an honour. TENs in this case are considered honours.

So from AQJT you would lead the Queen. This does DENY having the King but you could still have the Ace.

From AJT9 you would lead the Jack. This does DENY having the Queen but you could still have the Ace (or King).

From KJT9 you would lead the Jack. This does DENY having the Queen but you could still have the King (or Ace).

From QT98 you would lead the Ten. This does DENY having the Jack but you could still have the Queen (or King).

From KT98 you would lead the Ten. This does DENY having the Jack but you could still have the King (or Queen).