... albeit temporarily. He is still having trouble with his wrists and typing is giving him grief but Vil is happy to do this sort of thing when a reader has anything that would be of interest to others. He writes:
One of my readers has sent in some interesting deals for my comment. I am using them for this Wednesday Review though the hands did not occur on a Wednesday. But the questions asked and the points I would like to make are interesting nevertheless.
Dealer E ALL Vul
My reader asks: “if you were me (East), what would be your opening bid? There were 20 points but considering that I had no suit of my own, I cautiously bid 1C knowing that I could always jump rebid a major. So S passed, my partner passed and N bid 1S. I then bid 2H and made 3H. Most of the others opened 2C, partner bid 2D, N passed, E rebid 2H, partner bid 3D and ended up E playing 3NT. 3NT is makable after E won a club lead, lost the Q of diamond, lost another club or two, used QH or JH as bait to lure the KH, entered W's hand with 10H to play out the winning diamond. However on the hot seat many players failed to see this and they went down. Also, any good opposition would hold up the KH so E could not get to the diamond. Nasty hand!”
My comments: I think the East hand is not worth opening any higher than at the one level, but I would open 1H rather than 1C. If partner cannot respond, it is simply a matter of luck whether 1C or 1H scores more. As it is, some Wests would not pass an opening of 1C (they would bid 1D) or 1H (would raise to 2H) but that was not the question. When North came in with 1S, I do agree with East's 2H bid. 3NT should never make unless the defence goes wrong. The play could go a number of ways, but North should always DUCK the queen of diamonds when declarer leads it. That effectively kills the diamond suit even if declarer has a second diamond. And, yes, the heart play can be effective, because if declarer leads the queen and jack and North refuses to win either time, declarer now has four heart tricks. Presumably, South would have led a club to start with, which doesn't help declarer, but at least there is a second club trick IF South tries to establish the suit. A very interesting hand all round, with many possibilities but frankly, I would be happy to play this hand in 2H and make an overtrick. Note how awful 1C would have been had North not come to the rescue!
Dealer N NS Vul
My reader said: “I was East. North opened 1D, I passed, S responded 1S, my partner passed. You can see the dilemma my partner and I were in. N rebid 2C, S bid 3C, my partner then bid 3S, I was confused so I passed and N/S ended up playing 5C. According to our agreement, if one of us bid the opposition's bid suit that means asking for cover of that suit. We had missed a 5S contract. Afterward I asked an Open player and she said they failed to find it too.”
My comment: Your partner was quite right to bid 3S and there should have been no confusion. With opponents bidding freely, and West having passed, how on earth can West be now wanting cover in the spade suit in order to play in 3NT? That simply does not make sense. It should be obvious that West has a hand with a lot of spades, and that she could not bid when South bid 1S. In similar situations, when one bids an opponent's first bid suit after passing the first time the opponent bids the suit, it must show such a hand. I must say that if your opponents bid to 5C after West's 3S bid, they did very well to get there. I think 5S would be very tricky for West to play but East should certainly have bid 4S once West came in with 3S. That is because East has so many points and potential tricks in the red suits. Tricky problem of hand evaluation and bidding! But give credit to NS if they actually got to 5C
Dealer E ALL Vul
“I was E again and found myself in a similar situation to the first one. This time I opened 2C, though I did not have my own suit but I was stronger and both the club and the spade were good. Some people played in 3NT but 5C is a safer contract.”
My comment: At match points there is little profit in playing in a minor suit game with big hands. The bidding should go: 2C-2D; 2NT (NOT 2H or 2S)-3NT. I don't agree that 5C is a safer contract, because there are eleven top tricks in NT. I think, though, that SIX clubs is the best spot. Declarer should be able to manage two diamond ruffs in the East hand. You should not normally look for the 'safer' minor suit game at match point play. If you do contemplate a minor suit game, you might as well bid the slam because 3NT making 4 will always score more than 5C or 5D making six.
KJ854
K94
KT5
93