Vil's Answers for the Bidding Question

Thanks for all your answers to what were not easy questions. Not everyone was in agreement, and nobody, unsurprisingly, agreed with me on the very first problem. Here is what most of our panelists thought:

You are South each time and match points.

1. Dealer East NS Vul
The bidding has been:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1
?

Your bid holding

J9632

AKT2

AK43

The unanimous vote was for DOUBLE, with even some comments saying "What Else"? This looks like a classic takeout double, three suits and shortage in opponents' opened suit. OK, that's what the book says, so if you agree and can find no reason to make any other bid, say no more. However if you want to know why I would bid 1S, feel free to ask. I won't try and persuade those who want to do things by the book.

2. Dealer N Nil Vul
The bidding has been:

South	West	North	East
-	-	1	2
?

Your bid holding

JT

KJT853

98

QT4

This is another one where everyone agreed, again "what else" was a common theme. PASS was unanimous, and I totally agree. But what the passers expected to happen next was not at all unanimous. Some panelists insisted that North, if the bidding was passed back to him, had an AUTOMATIC double and South would then pass and count the profits. I agree that East is UNLIKELY to make 2H IF West does not remove it to a minor, but even 2H doubled, as it was, would only have scored +100 for NS. Even with such a trump stack! And what of North? North actually had a decent six card spade suit which, in my opinion, he should rebid rather than do the automatic thing that partner wants him to do. Why? Because this is one way of saying that the penalty double is unlikely to produce as much as South might hope for. Then, I asked what would you do as South if partner bid 2S instead of doubling. Don't punish partner because he or she has not done what you wanted him to do. Having been told that North's hand is unsuitable for a penalty double, should South then punish partner by bidding 3S or even 4S? I suggest you should respect partner for not giving you the pleasure of defending an unmakeable contract. Admittedly, the J10 of spades is good value opposite partner's six or seven, as is the queen of clubs plus a possible ruffing value in diamonds, but leaving 2S well alon should score most of the match points, even if partner makes ten tricks. This is, after
all, match points.

3. Dlr W Nil Vul
The bidding has been:

South	West	North	East
-	1	X	Pass
?

Your bid holding

K9653

KT5

AK743

I was surprised that some of the more senior panelists would PASS. I cannot get my head round all the theory put out by the experts, but to me it looks like I will make a few heart tricks plus a couple of clubs and even a spade from partner plus ace of diamonds won't add up to eight defensive tricks to make a penalty worth while. But why not just bid what you think you can make? partner has doubled 1H so has four spades. With your 13 count surely you can hope for nine tricks, so why not just bid 3NT? But in case partner's double is on the light side you could try 2NT. Even with the different tactics and scoring at teams, I would do nothing different. Defending one level contracts is notoriously difficult so avoid that unless you are 100% sure, and always expect a trump lead from partner in 1X doubled.

Vil