Bidding Quiz BRIDGE

You are South and the bidding has gone: South West North East

1 Pass 2 Pass

2 Pass 2 Pass

?

What would you bid now with each of the following four hands?

1. AQJ82 Q5 AK73 109

2. AQ764 10 AJ92 Q84

3. KQJ985 K95 AQJ6 -

4. AK973 J4 AQJ85 6

***

1. Three notrump. A good bidder knows how to transmit and receive information accurately. That is the key to an effective partnership.

Thus, it would be wrong in this case to bid only two notrump. That is what you would do if you had the same distribution but only 13 or 14 points. Since you have 16 points, and your extra values have not as yet been portrayed, you can best describe your hand by jumping to three notrump. It would be equally wrong to bid two spades at this point, which would clearly understate your high-card values and at the same time suggest a six-card spade suit.

2. Three clubs. Here you have a different type of hand, so you send a different type of message. Rather than bid two notrump, you should take this opportunity to show your thus-far-undisclosed support for partner’s club suit.

The three-club bid, following on the heels of your spade and diamond bids, pinpoints your heart shortness and completes the picture of your hand. The rest is up to partner.

3. Three spades. This time you have still another type of hand. You can’t bid notrump with your 6-4-3-0 distribution, and you can’t support hearts with only three of them, since partner is virtually certain not to have more than four hearts.

However, your spades are almost selfsufficient as a potential trump suit, since they are playable opposite a singleton and, if need be, even opposite a void.

The jump to three spades is justified by your 16 high-card points.

If you were to bid only two spades, partner might think you had only a minimum opening hand.

4. Three diamonds. Bidding diamonds a second time indicates that you have at least five cards in the suit and thus describes a hand with no less than 5-5 distribution. After your three-diamond rebid, partner should be in an ideal position to select the best final contract.

Tomorrow: Weaker is stronger.