Bidding Quiz BRIDGE

Your right-hand opponent deals and bids Three Diamonds, both sides vulnerable. What action (if any) would you take with each of the following four hands?

1. ♠ AQJ7 ♥ A1063 ♦ 4 ♣ K982

2. ♠ Q96 ♥ A94 ♦ KJ73 ♣ A86

3. ♠ AKQ984♥ AJ ♦ KJ4 ♣ K9

4. ♠ AKJ973 ♥ KQ ♦ 10 ♣ KQ95

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1. Double. The primary purpose of a preemptive bid is to make it difficult for the opposing side to reach their best contract. Certainly this aim is frequently achieved, and there is nothing unusual about the opponents winding up in a bad contract as a result of a preempt, or in their being frozen out of the bidding altogether.

The best way to defend against a preemptive bid is to bid naturally: double for takeout, overcall with a strong suit and moderate values, and, most important of all, pass when it is unsafe to compete. With the given hand, a takeout double is clearly best. You have exactly what you are supposed to have for the double — opening bid strength, shortness in the opponent’s suit, and excellent support for all the unbid suits.

2. Pass. Any other action would be dangerous, since your left-hand opponent might have the bulk of the missing highcard strength, and you have no safe place to land. Besides, you should feel that you have a very good chance to defeat three diamonds should that become the final contract.

3. Three notrump. This might seem radical, but it could well be the winning bid. Other possibilities are three spades (which is ultraconservative), double (which might confuse the issue) or four spades (which might not work out as well as three notrump, since you would have to make 10 tricks instead of nine).

Partner needs very little to produce nine tricks in notrump, but needs a fairly good hand to yield 10 tricks in spades. There is also the danger that your lefthand opponent might be able to ruff a second diamond lead. Admittedly, partner might have a hand that would make game in spades and not in notrump, but the best you can do in these situations is to estimate which type of hand he will be dealt more often and act accordingly.

4. Four spades. The choice lies between three and four spades, and either one could turn out right. The key consideration is how often you would miss a game by bidding only three spades. If, say, partner had as little as the queen of spades and the jack of clubs, you would very likely make ten tricks, but he would surely pass a three-spade bid. There is obviously no precise answer, but the general rule is that in close situations, it pays to take the slightly more aggressive tack when it comes to bidding games.

Tomorrow: That old black magic.