BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

WHAt would you bid next on each of the above hands? AS I explained yesterday, east’s bid is not showing a spade suit. It is the conventional Fourth Suit Forcing (FSF) bid, asking partner to describe his hand further. each hand is similar, but slightly different in distribution.

On (a), he is able to describe the hand perfectly as 1-5-4-3 with a response of 3 ♣ . On (b), by rebidding 3 ♦ , he is able to tell partner he is at least 5-5 in the red suits. On (c), 3 ♥ is the bid east least wants to hear, but it is the safest.

And on (d), he can happily show his half stopper in spades with 2NT — the bid east was hoping to hear, when he opted to use FSF.

The east hand is ♠ Jxx ♥ Jx ♦ K10x ♣ AQ10xx.