BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

PLAYING Pairs, your partner opens 1♦, and rebids 2♣ after your 1♥ response. You give simple preference to 2♦, and partner then makes a game try. What action do you take when he next bids (a) 2NT (b) 2♥, and (c) 3♦? The really important point to understand, when opener makes a further bid after you have already limited your hand, is that he is showing extra values and wants to be in game if your hand is better than minimum.

here, your hand is an ace stronger than it might have been for your bidding, so your problem isn’t whether to bid, but which bid to make.

After 2NT on (a), you can safely raise to 3NT. (b) is a bit more difficult because 2♥ is showing secondary support for your suit, which may only be a doubleton; it suggests that 4♥ might be a better contract than 5♦ if you held a 5-card suit.

hand (c) is more difficult still, and you probably have to risk 3NT and hope you are going to take nine tricks before the opponents get their spades established.

The one thing you must not do is pass.