Forcing or Invitational?

Here is a hand I observed in last Tuesday's novice game. Let's see if anyone can bid this right.

This is the hand:

♠KQT92
♥KT72
♦K8
♣Q5

You the Dealer and you get to open the bidding. You have 13 HCP so you decide to open the bidding 1♠. Now Partner says 2♣. Your bid?

The correct bid on this hand would be 2♥. You have a 4 card ♥ suit you need to tell Partner about. Now Partner says 3♠. What is your bid?

Hmmmmmm. If someone gave this question to me I wouldn't be able to answer. It's actually a tough question not because it is a tough decision for me to make, but because I have NO IDEA whether or not that 3♠ bid is FORCING or not.

Back when I was a kid, all jump bids were forcing. So historically the 3♠ bid from Partner WOULD be FORCING. I would have to bid again. Since it is forcing I'd bid 4♠ and we'd be in game.

However modern methods have taught that this bid is INVITATIONAL. Not forcing. (If the hand wants to force to game they just bid it themselves!) So I can Pass this bid if I am minimum for my opener. Which I am. So if this bid is invitational, I have an easy Pass.

Anyhow, the person said Pass and Partner meant it as FORCING. They missed a game.

The other hand was:

♠A85
♥AQ9
♦T43
♣K974

Anyhow these are the things you need to discuss with Partner because it is so easy to misunderstand what Partner means during an auction.

Do YOU know if your Partner would mean that as FORCING or INVITATIONAL?

Lead Problem - Underleading Aces in a Trump Contract

So here is a lead problem. Here is your hand:

♠J63
♥J6
♦A8654
♣K97

The dealer is on your left and they Pass. Partner also Passes. Your RHO opens the bidding 1♥. You decide to Pass (good bid!). Now your LHO bids 1♠. Partner Passes. RHO bids 2♥. You Pass again. Now your LHO bids 4♥. Everyone Passes. It is your lead. What will you lead?

To recap the bidding your RHO bid ♥ twice and your LHO bid ♠ once. The opponents are in game. Lead?

Did you make your lead? This is actually not a difficult lead problem. Only a bad lead will allow this contract to make. Unfortunately EVERYONE in the novice game on Tuesday (and I mean EVERYONE) found the incredibly bad lead that was needed for this contract to make.

Curious as to what that bad lead was?

A low ♦. Against a trump contract everyone underlead their A♦ in order to allow this contract to make.

What is underleading your Ace? Just what exactly does that mean?

Underleading your Ace means to lead away from your Ace. Leading a card UNDERNEATH your Ace. If you lead a suit with an Ace in it and don't lead your Ace, you are underleading your Ace. This is something that you NEVER, NEVER, NEVER do in a suit (or trump) contract. By a suit contract I mean a contract in which the opponents are playing where there is trump.

Why not underlead your Ace in a trump contract? What's the big deal?

Because quite a bit of the time you no longer get to score a trick with your Ace because Declarer has a singleton in one hand and the King in the other. That means they get to win their King (because you have the only card that can beat the King but you didn't play it) and the next time the suit is lead they can trump.

Which is exactly what happened on this hand.

Here are the 4 hands:

	Dummy ♠KQT85 ♥875 ♦Q ♣QJ86
LHO (you) ♠J63 ♥J6 ♦A8654 ♣K97		RHO ♠A974 ♥Q2 ♦T93 ♣AT42
	Declarer ♠2 ♥AKT943 ♦KJ72 ♣53

With the lead being the 5♦, Declarer gets to win the Q♦ in Dummy. Now when they play their K♦ later on if you play your Ace they will trump it. You do not get to win a ♦ trick.

Big deal you say? Look at the hand and think of the auction. First of all your LHO started with a Pass. They do NOT have an opening hand. Your RHO opened 1♥ and rebid 2♥. They do not have anything extra. Then your LHO put them into game without even inviting. This means that the hand that LHO couldn't even open has now magically changed to a full opener.

Hmmmm. Suspicious. Sure this can happen. Perhaps now LHO is counting distribution and does have an opening hand. But it could also mean that the opponents don't have the values for a game. Further investigation of the hand reveals that the opponents are off 4 tricks right off the top. That means that you and your partner can take the first 4 tricks without Declarer being able to do anything. If the opponents are in 4♥ and you take the first 4 tricks they are down in their game contract.

But the underlead of the A♦ killed the defense. Now the defense can no longer take 4 tricks. The opponents will make the game.

What is the proper lead?

Leads are tough. You do not have a great lead on this hand. Leading an unbid suit is fine. But the point is that if you decide to lead a ♦ (one of the unbid suits) then lead the ACE♦!

In fact if you lead anything other than a low ♦ Declarer cannot make this contract.

If you lead a trump, Declarer will take out trump and probably play a ♠. Then you and Partner can take your A♠, your A♣ and K♣ and your A♦. Down 1.

If you lead the A♦, then no matter what you play next Declarer will go down. You can take your 4 tricks right away or win the A♦ and play trump. Declarer will take out trump and probably play a ♠. Then you and Partner can take your A♠, and your A♣ and K♣. Add that to your A♦ trick and get down 1.

If you lead a ♣ the proper lead is the 7♣. Low from an honour. Partner will win their A♣ and perhaps return a ♣. You can win this and win your A♦. Then you can play a ♠ for Partner to win. 4 tricks. Down 1.

So NEVER underlead (lead away from) an Ace in a suit contract.

In NT underleading Aces is fine. This is because in NT the Ace cannot get trumped later on. So underleading Aces is fine against a NT contract. Just not against a trump contract.

1NT: Responder has a 5 OR 6 card major and also a 4 card major

If you are not sure what Stayman is, please check out the previous Stayman posts before reading this one:
Introducing Stayman
Responding to Stayman

You also need to know what Jacoby Transfers are so first read this post: Introducing Jacoby Transfers.
Then read this post: Jacoby Transfers - Completing the Transfer

This post combines a couple of posts together. If may be easier if you read them first:
1NT: Responder has a 6 card major and also a 4 card major
1NT: Responder has a 5 card major and also a 4 card major

Here is a table that shows what you should have for this auction:

	1NT
2♣	2♦
If you now bid:	This shows:
2♥	A five card ♥ suit (along with a 4 card ♠ suit) with 8 or 9 HCP
2♠	A five card ♠ suit (along with a 4 card ♥ suit) with 8 or 9 HCP
3♥	A five card ♥ suit (along with a 4 card ♠ suit) with 10 or more HCP
3♠	A five card ♠ suit (along with a 4 card ♥ suit) with 10 or more HCP
4♥	A six card ♥ suit (along with a 4 card ♠ suit) with values for game not slam (about 10 to 15 HCP)
4♠	A six card ♠ suit (along with a 4 card ♥ suit) with values for game not slam (about 10 to 15 HCP)
6♥	A six card ♥ suit (along with a 4 card ♠ suit) with values for slam (about 18 or 19)
6♠	A six card ♠ suit (along with a 4 card ♥ suit) with values for slam (about 18 or 19)

On all these hands Partner opened the bidding 1NT. I bid 2♣ (Stayman) and Partner responded 2♦ saying they do not have a 4 card major. What is my bid now?

Hand 1

♠QJT98
♥KJ94
♦9
♣JT7



Hand 2

♠9732
♥KJ842
♦A74
♣4



Hand 3

♠KQJ986
♥AK52
♦
♣J98



Hand 4

♠K954
♥K97632
♦94
♣A



Hand 5

♠QJ86
♥AKQJT7
♦J2
♣T



Hand 6

♠AKQ873
♥AKJ2
♦4
♣J3



Hand 7

♠AT732
♥QJ52
♦J4
♣J5



Hand 8

♠KQT653
♥KJT7
♦Q
♣52



Hand 9

♠T863
♥AKQ983
♦A5
♣9



Hand 10

♠KT53
♥AKT954
♦KT8
♣



Hand 11

♠K952
♥AQJT52
♦5
♣Q8



Hand 12

♠8542
♥AK852
♦Q63
♣A



Hand 13

♠Q942
♥AK9765
♦J4
♣9



Hand 14

♠Q964
♥AK832
♦875
♣4



Hand 15

♠Q632
♥AQJ963
♦JT
♣T



Hand 16

♠AT652
♥T986
♦T
♣AQ9



Hand 17

♠A975
♥AJT95
♦3
♣962



Hand 18

♠KJT3
♥AJ9832
♦A6
♣9



Hand 19

♠J743
♥AQJ92
♦984
♣4



Hand 20

♠AQJ862
♥AK84
♦A3
♣J



Hand 21

♠AJ8753
♥Q862
♦K
♣AT



Hand 22

♠Q8764
♥AQ42
♦A3
♣K4



Hand 23

♠AK963
♥A632
♦6
♣AT4



Hand 24

♠KT9532
♥AQT8
♦
♣JT9



Hand 25

♠AQT543
♥KJ94
♦
♣A72



Hand 26

♠AK42
♥KQJT98
♦8
♣T8



Hand 27

♠QJT863
♥A763
♦A
♣87



Hand 28

♠AQ9753
♥AT85
♦QJ8
♣



Hand 29

♠QT72
♥KQ975
♦KT
♣53



Hand 30

♠A543
♥KQ8752
♦QT
♣8



Hand 31

♠KJ8743
♥9763
♦AK5
♣



Hand 32

♠QJT5
♥AJ853
♦A9
♣63



Hand 33

♠K843
♥AKT75
♦QT8
♣8



Hand 34

♠7653
♥AKQJ54
♦3
♣85



Hand 35

♠QJ83
♥AKT852
♦Q94
♣



Hand 36

♠AJT2
♥AKJ932
♦5
♣94



Hand 37

♠J762
♥AK843
♦2
♣J96



Hand 38

♠AT9743
♥K964
♦4
♣A7



Hand 39

♠K854
♥87643
♦JT
♣A2



Hand 40

♠JT865
♥K943
♦7
♣AJ5



Hand 41

♠9865
♥AKJ96
♦A9
♣64



Hand 42

♠J862
♥AQJ85
♦T9
♣84



Hand 43

♠AJ97
♥QJ742
♦5
♣863



Hand 44

♠AQT972
♥AT54
♦A
♣A6



Hand 45

♠QJ954
♥AQ52
♦K
♣953



Hand 46

♠KQJ952
♥A873
♦96
♣3



Hand 47

♠AKT853
♥QJ63
♦62
♣Q



Hand 48

♠A752
♥AT875
♦J43
♣A



Hand 49

♠QJ642
♥A843
♦83
♣J2



Hand 50

♠AKQJ
♥J8643
♦63
♣43



Hand 51

♠KJ764
♥KT43
♦K5
♣J4



Hand 52

♠AK65
♥KT742
♦2
♣QJ3



Hand 53

♠KQT973
♥AJ86
♦9
♣A6



Hand 54

♠QT754
♥J862
♦6
♣AJ7



Hand 55

♠J6532
♥KT96
♦A97
♣T



Hand 56

♠QT53
♥AJT86
♦Q7
♣86



Hand 57

♠8632
♥AQ765
♦A7
♣Q3



Hand 58

♠76543
♥AK72
♦T
♣J87



Hand 59

♠KQ9654
♥AJT6
♦42
♣7



Hand 60

♠AQ954
♥QJ54
♦A97
♣8



Hand 61

♠AK5432
♥8764
♦94
♣A



Hand 62

♠AQJ63
♥KJ92
♦7
♣532



Hand 63

♠AQJ95
♥A984
♦A3
♣86



Hand 64

♠AJ9876
♥KT95
♦6
♣A6



Hand 65

♠KQ75
♥KQJ843
♦2
♣T6



Hand 66

♠JT943
♥J653
♦AJ
♣Q8



Hand 67

♠KJ643
♥J642
♦QT
♣Q2



Hand 68

♠AJ72
♥KT872
♦94
♣A4



Hand 69

♠A842
♥AK874
♦J42
♣7



Hand 70

♠J985
♥AJT754
♦2
♣A2



Hand 71

♠AKJT95
♥QJ72
♦QT
♣5



Hand 72

♠AT53
♥QT872
♦A2
♣65



Hand 73

♠A98654
♥A752
♦A3
♣2



Hand 74

♠QT854
♥AQJ5
♦9
♣983



Hand 75

♠J742
♥AKJ975
♦A8
♣5



Hand 76

♠AQ54
♥QJT73
♦J83
♣4



Hand 77

♠AKJ983
♥K862
♦3
♣J5



Hand 78

♠AT95
♥KT843
♦Q6
♣72



Hand 79

♠AQ9742
♥K732
♦J6
♣K



Hand 80

♠KT762
♥KT93
♦A
♣953



Hand 81

♠KT72
♥A7654
♦83
♣J8



Hand 82

♠AQJT
♥AJ6543
♦J4
♣Q



Hand 83

♠AJ9764
♥A652
♦A
♣54



Hand 84

♠AJT6
♥KT9863
♦
♣A63



Hand 85

♠JT96
♥KJT32
♦76
♣K5



Hand 86

♠A765
♥K8764
♦QT6
♣7



Hand 87

♠KQ9432
♥AJ82
♦9
♣A3



Hand 88

♠AT8532
♥KQ86
♦J2
♣6



Hand 89

♠AT52
♥JT953
♦T8
♣AT



Hand 90

♠AK985
♥K983
♦87
♣Q9



Hand 91

♠AKJ8
♥AQT943
♦A94
♣



Hand 92

♠AT83
♥AQT632
♦8
♣A9



Hand 93

♠A8543
♥AJ72
♦KT
♣T7



Hand 94

♠AKT654
♥K964
♦9
♣82



Hand 95

♠AJT9
♥KQJT86
♦Q9
♣T



Hand 96

♠KQJ975
♥AK83
♦94
♣6



Hand 97

♠Q752
♥AQ6543
♦
♣Q75



Hand 98

♠AKJ2
♥AQJ532
♦K6
♣9



Hand 99

♠JT873
♥AQ75
♦Q3
♣85



Hand 100

♠QJT53
♥AJ72
♦T8
♣T7



Hand 101

♠A8752
♥AJ54
♦8
♣T62



Hand 102

♠A9765
♥A654
♦A65
♣3



Hand 103

♠Q763
♥Q9654
♦AQ
♣92



Hand 104

♠QJ98
♥QJ986
♦AK
♣82



Hand 105

♠KJT3
♥KJ965
♦JT3
♣8



Hand 106

♠KT65
♥AKJT74
♦T8
♣9



Hand 107

♠KJT64
♥AK98
♦T4
♣K7



Hand 108

♠AKQT83
♥T764
♦74
♣J



Hand 109

♠A942
♥KQT654
♦9
♣A2



Hand 110

♠AK965
♥9876
♦QJ5
♣Q



Hand 111

♠AKQ986
♥QJ96
♦Q7
♣T



Hand 112

♠KJ865
♥Q642
♦AK
♣J4



Hand 113

♠AKT64
♥J975
♦8
♣JT7



Hand 114

♠QJ9543
♥KJ73
♦
♣KQ7



Hand 115

♠A96432
♥A532
♦7
♣A5



Hand 116

♠K876
♥AQJT72
♦Q9
♣7



Hand 117

♠K9763
♥A643
♦T72
♣A



Hand 118

♠AK96
♥AKJ875
♦A8
♣9