Transfers are The Go
Do you play transfers, and if so, how do you play them? This deal provided a number of different results in our Swiss Pairs event, though the results may be different in a match point session.
Board 19 from Thursday 1/08/2019
Dealer S EW Vul
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AT7
QJ842
A9
T98South opens 1NT. Despite the small doubleton spade and good five card club suit, that is a sensible opening.
If you don’t play transfers, North has to bid Stayman and then, if South bids 2D, jump to 3H, which invites game and shows 5 hearts. That is a good description of North’s hand, but not a perfect one.
Should South accept the invitation? I say yes despite the minimum twelve count: three card heart support, a good club suit, and doubleton spade should give North a good chance of making the game. It should, I believe, be bid at teams scoring though maybe not at match points.
Now let us look at the way NS should bid this with transfers. North bids 2D as a transfer to hearts, and South bids 2H, as asked. North now bids 2NT, which describes North’s hand as closely as possible: a BALANCED hand with five hearts and 332 in the other suits, and 11 HCP. South now has the final decision: PASS 2NT (minimum with doubleton heart), bid 3H (to play, minimum 1NT with THREE card heart support), 3NT (maximum 1NT with only two hearts), or 4H (maximum with three hearts or minimum with some extra values, as in this case).
Sad to say: so many players have taken on transfers but not learnt properly how to use them. As the reader can see by clicking here 4H played by South is an easier proposition than by North. This is because a diamond lead from West makes it easy whereas a diamond lead from East makes life more difficult.
The play and defence is reviewed in a chapter of my series Declare and Defend.
My latest book “Thirteen Tricks and Evil Acol” has a number of chapters dealing with basic Acol including transfers. Still a few copies available. For more information and a reader’s review, email me: villyn@xtra.co.nz
