Point Count Schmoint Count!
How many lessons can we learn from just one deal? Look at board 4 from this session:
Board 4 from 15/05/2019
Dealer W All Vul
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652
K73
AKT82
K61. Should West open the bidding? West has TEN high card points only, BUT has three suits and a void. A void can usually be counted as an extra THREE points, which is what it is worth UNLESS it is in your partner’s suit. Since you don’t go to the bridge club to pass, open the West hand 1D and wait to see what happens. As it happens, when West opens 1D, North can not bid anything and will pass, and East will respond 1H, which also shocks South into silence. Yes, both North and South might no longer bid once their main suit has been bid by an opponent, that is just the way it is. Next, West bids their spades and now EW have found their spade fit. And when East raises to 2S, that should be the final contract. That is clearly what did not happen at the club, because every NS pair but one played in a heart contract, ranging from 2H to 4H. Obviously, West did not open the bidding in all those instances.
2. When North opens the bidding with 1D, South responds with 1H and North has two options: a) raise to 2H or b) rebid diamonds. You have probably been taught to rebid diamonds because you have only three hearts. Fair enough, I won’t argue with that, though my personal preference with the North hand would be to raise hearts. Even a 4-3 fit is likely to play well. But let’s say North rebids 2D. What should South bid next? South could just rebid 2H but a minimum rebid here doesn’t quite reflect the hand. A jump rebid in responder’s suit should be read as an invitational hand with a 6 card suit, and that fits with South’s hand perfectly. North, despite only a thirteen count, has good heart support and outside strength in South’s suit plus the king of clubs, so should accept the invitation gladly and bid on to game. That is what must have happened at most tables, because 4H was the final contract.
3. Unfortunately, and here is where more lessons are needed: every declarer but one fell short in 4H, and the one who did make was considerably assisted by the lead of the ace of clubs and club continuation! Those declarers who did not succeed must have failed to learn the crucial aspects of the finesse and communication between the two hands. The king of hearts at the first trick will uncover East with all four trumps, then the marked finesse to the ten and dummy entered again, however you do that, for a second finesse, thus picking up East’s queen and making the game. There are more lessons in this deal but for now, enough is enough!
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