Bridge Lesson – Hand # 1
(“Jacoby” Transfer Bids and the Use
of “Check-Back”)
NORTH
Dealer: N ♠ 765
Vulnerable: E-W ♥ 962
Lead: 3♠ ♦ Q10982
WEST ♣ 64 EAST
♠ AQ942 ♠ KJ10
♥ 74
♥
KQJ
♦ 7543 ♦ A6
♣ K5
SOUTH ♣
QJ1097
♠ 83
♥
A10853
♦ KJ
♣ A832
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
P 1NT P “2♥” 1
P 2♠ P 2NT 2
P 4♠ 3 P P
P
1
Jacoby Transfer Bid – Showing
at least 5-Spades and asking Opener to bid Spades.
2
“Check-Back” – Signifying holding no more than
5-Spades accompanied with 9-10 HCP’s – Asking
Opener to chose both the Level (2 or 3) and the Denomination (S, in this
case, or NT) for the final Contract.
3
Signifying a holding of only 3 or 4 Spades, and with
an Acceptance of Responder’s Game Try as a result
of
Opener’s holding of the maximum of 16 or 17 HCP’s.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1. The use of
Jacoby Transfer bids by a Responder to an opening bid of 1NT. (Responder becomes the
Captain over any NT opening) Responder desires to have Opener be the
Declarer if Spades be the final
contract.
2.
The use of “Check-Back”, by Responder, as a means of exploration for a
Potential fit when holding only
5 pieces himself/herself. Responder knows that
Opener could have only 2 pieces of Spades and would
not want to be in a 7-card fit if that,
hypothetically were the case.
3.
Opener’s ultimate decision as to the Level and the Denomination (Major suit or NT) of the final
contract, driven by Responder’s request for same.
Playing Principles:
1. The lead of either a Club, Diamond, or
Heart, in this instance, could be harmful.
To lead away from
either an Ace or a King when Partner has not
bid the suit is usually detrimental.
The only safe lead,
in this instance, therefore, would be a Trump
Lead – the 3 of Spades.
2. After drawing Trumps, Declarer must set up
the Club suit first, before
the Opponents attack Diamonds.
By doing this, 11 tricks can be made by discarding three Diamonds from
Dummy, once the Club suit is
established.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 2
(“Jacoby” Transfer Bids)
NORTH
Dealer: W ♠ Q8
Vulnerable: Both ♥ AQJ8
Lead: 2♠ ♦ KQ54
♣ J106
WEST EAST
♠ 105
♠ 972
♥ K42 ♥ 975
♦ J73
♦
A1082
♣ A9754 ♣ K82
SOUTH
♠ AKJ643
♥ 1063
♦
96
♣ Q3
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
P
1NT P “2♥” 1 P
2♠ 2
P 4♠ 3 P
P P
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding Principles:
1. Jacoby Transfer Bid – Showing at least 5-Spades and asking Opener
to bid 2-Spades.
2. Opener would have responded 3♠,
a “Super-Acceptance,” if Opener had held the maximum of each; i.e., 4 Pieces of
Spades and 17 HCP’s.) Here with
Opener having only 2 Spades and 15HCP’s, North
responds simply 2♠.
3. Responder, South, the Captain, takes the
contract to Game in Spades, for South knows that Opener holds no fewer than 15
HCP’s, and no fewer than 2 Spades. South
holds 6 Spades and 12 Points, with distribution, enough to take the team to
Game Level in Spades.
Playing Principles:
1.
Absent any
bidding by E-W, and not wanting to lead away from the A♦ or the K♣,
East decides to lead a Trump.
2.
Declarer
counts his/her losing tricks (Since the final contract is a suit
contract). North finds one Loser in
Diamonds, 2 Losers in Clubs, No Losers in Spades, and possibly one loser in
Hearts unless the K♥ is on sides.
3.
When North gets around to playing Hearts, the
correct way is to take a “Continuing finesse” by
leading out the 10♥ from
the South hand.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 3
“Preferred Minor” and “Up-The-Ladder”
Principles
NORTH
Dealer: W ♠ A1094
Vulnerable: None ♥ K8
Lead: 6♥ ♦ AJ98
♣ Q73
WEST EAST
♠ K8632 ♠ QJ7
♥ J102 ♥ Q96
♦ 106
♦
Q73
♣ K102 ♣ AJ96
SOUTH
♠ 5
♥
A7543
♦ K542
♣ 854
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
P
1♦ 1 P 1♥ 2
P
1♠ 3
P 2♦ 4 P
P P
_________________________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1.
“Preferred
Minor” suit Opening – Showing at
least 3 Diamonds (Shows 4 or more if Partnership is playing “Short Club”)
and The Rule of “20” is satisfied so as to allow an opening bid in 1st
or 2nd position.
2.
Shows 6-18
HCP’s and at least 4-Hearts (New suit by Responder cannot be passed.
3.
Shows 11-18
HCP’s and at least 4 Spades (“Up-The-Ladder” Principle).
4.
South,
deciding that there is no game to be had, takes a preference in the Diamond
suit stopping the auction, as opposed to re-bidding the Hearts, accepting the
Spades, Bidding No-Trump, or any forcing action which would compel Opener to
bid once again.
Playing Principles:
1. Declarer, realizing that if he/she were to
draw Trumps, it would produce only 6 Tricks (Four in the Diamond suit and the
Aces of Hearts and Spades) (5 Tricks if the Queen of Diamonds is not finesse
able) and, therefore, chooses to cross-ruff the hand rather than to draw
trumps.
2. When
playing in a suit contract, and when few tricks outside the Trump suit are
available, it is sometimes prudent NOT to draw trumps and, rather, cross-ruff
the hand instead, if that be feasible to do so.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 4
(“Reverse” Bids and The “Suit Quality Test”)
NORTH
Dealer: S ♠
10
Vulnerable: BOTH ♥ KQJ9654
Lead: J♦ or 10♣ ♦ K97
♣ A7
WEST EAST
♠ 98752 ♠ KJ43
♥ A10873 ♥ ------
♦ 54 ♦
J1062
♣ J
♣ Q10963
SOUTH
♠ AQ6
♥
2
♦
AQ83
♣ K8542
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
1♦ 1
P
1♥ 2 P 2♣ 3
P
4♥ 4 P P P
_______________________________________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1. Opening
Bidder must consider his/her 2nd
bid before making his/her
first opening bid. To potentially open
1♣ (the longer
suit here) and then to consider bidding 2♦ as Opener’s
second bid is to make a “REVERSE”.
Reverses by Opener evidence 17 or more HCP’s. Absent 17 HCP’s, one must construct one’s
opening bid so as to avoid this pitfall; i.e., one must open 1D, disregarding
bidding “length before strength”,
prepared to rebid 2♣ on Opener’s second call.
2. Responder
bids “Up the Ladder” evidencing 4 or more Hearts, with 6-18 HCP’s. Opener can never
“Pass” a new suit bid by Responder.
3. Showing
fewer than 4 Hearts, and a second choice of suits, with at least 9 or more
cards in the Minor
suits.
4. North,
holding opening count opposite Partner’s opening count knows there is
Game. When considering Game in one’s
own suit, absent support by Partner, one can apply the “Suit Quality Test” (The number of cards in one’s own suit,
“7” in this instance, added to the number of cards “10” or higher”, “3” in this
case). The summation equals the number
of tricks to which can commit absent support by Partner, “10” in this
case. This,
then justifies Responders jump to 4♥.
Playing Principles:
1. Declarer,
seeing no losers in Spades, Diamonds or Clubs, goes about drawing Trumps. Finding a 5-0 Trump split, and being unable
to do anything about it. Declarer
simply draws Trumps, giving up two Trump tricks, and then claims, 11 tricks;
one trick in Spades (the A), three tricks in Diamonds (the A, K, and Q), two
tricks in Clubs (the A and K), and five tricks in Hearts.
2. Notice there
is no need to even take the Spade finesse!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 5
(Jump to 2NT by the Opener and
“Game-Forcing” Scenarios)
NORTH
Dealer: E ♠ 964
Vulnerable: E-W ♥ 1032
Lead: 6♠ or 2♥ ♦ Q93
♣ K1083
WEST EAST
♠ 832 ♠
AKJ7
♥ QJ976 ♥ A85
♦ A106 ♦ K54
♣ J7 ♣ A42
SOUTH
♠ Q105
♥ K4
♦ J872
♣ Q965
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
1♣ 1
P 2 1♥
P 2NT 3
P 3♥ 4
P 4♥ 5 P P
P
_______________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1. East has an
evenly balanced hand, but is too strong for an opening 1NT (would have shown
15-17) and is
too weak for an opening 2NT (would have shown
20-22). Absent a 5-card Major suit, and
with no
discernibly longer Minor suit, and with 3-3 in
the Minors, the correct opening is 1♣.
2. South has
enough points to potentially overcall at the 1-Level, but absent a 5-card or longer
suit, must “Pass”.
3. East’s Jump
to 2NT shows an evenly balanced hand with 18-19 HCP’s.
4. West already
showed 4 or more Hearts with his/her 1♥ bid, and
since one NEVER says the same thing twice, is now showing 5 or more pieces with
his/her re-bid of 3♥.
5. With East
having 3 pieces of Hearts to match West’s 5 or more, West now bids 4♥ (West would
have bid 3NT if he/she had held only 2 pieces of Hearts).
Playing Principles:
1. Not wanting
to lead away from the Q♦ or the K♣, North chooses either a Trump lead (2♥) or through
strength (6♠).
2. Since West is in a Suit Contract, as opposed
to a NT contract, West proceeds to count Losers before beginning his/her
Declarer Play. Potentially, should the
Heart and Spade Finesses both fail, West would have 4 Losers, one in each suit.
3. “If the only way to make a hand is if you need certain
cards to be in a certain place, or of a specific distribution, mentally place
them where you desire them to be and play as if they were where you desire
them.
4. Once West
attempts, and then loses both the Heart and Spade finesses, and seeing there is
a certain
loser in each of the Minor suits, the only
possibility of making this hand is for the Spades to split 3-3.
If that be the case then, West could throw off either the Club or
Diamond loser, making the contract
of 4♥. West draws Trumps and then proceeds to play
Spades three times, finding success.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 6
(Negative Doubles)
NORTH
Dealer: N ♠ 83
Vulnerable: E-W ♥
A1073
Lead: 6♥, A♠, or 2♦ ♦ AQ107
♣ K85
WEST EAST
♠ K95
♠ AJ1074
♥ 42
♥
K96
♦ KJ643 ♦ 98
♣ A96
♣ Q72
SOUTH
♠
Q62
♥
QJ85
♦
52
♣ J1043
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
1♦ 1
1♠ 2
Dbl. 3 2♠
3♥ 4
P 5 P P 6
_______________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1. Absent a
5-Card Major, and with Opening count, North bids
his/her longer Minor Suit.
2. East holds the
standard holding required to overcall = (5 or more cards in the suit and 8 or
more HCP’s at the 1-Level.
3. A Negative
Double (Any Double by Responder at
his/her first opportunity after an opening bid of one of a suit by Partner and
an overcall by Responder’s RHO) = “I hold 6 or more HCP’s and at least
4-cards in each of the unbid suits”.
4. Since North
knows that, if possible, never let the Opponents play a hand at the 2-Level
when you and Partner hold at least an equal number of HCP’s as the Opponents,
and since North knows that South holds at least 4-Hearts, North can compete in
Hearts at the cheapest level; “3” in this instance.
5. and
6.
Neither East nor West can compete to the
3-Level since neither Partner holds the 9th piece of Spades
which would have been required to compete to the 3-Level in
a Contested Auction. When
both sides hold
an
approximately equal number of HCP’s, one can, with assuredness that one is not
likely to be severely
punished, compete to a bidding level whose trick
commitment is equal to the number of Trumps held by the
team wishing to
compete.
Playing Principles:
1. North will
lose 2 Spades, 1 Heart, No Diamonds (The K is finessable), and 2 Clubs for a
total of 5 Tricks
for down 1.
But note that EW can make a
contract of 2♠ which is a much better score than EW
makes by setting NS one trick, even if
“Doubled”.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 7
(Negative Doubles)
NORTH
Dealer: N ♠ J10
Vulnerable: None ♥ Q9763
Lead: K♦ ♦ 5
♣ QJ1062
WEST EAST
♠ K96 ♠
842
♥ ------- ♥ 10854
♦ KQ98743 ♦ J6
♣ A53 ♣ K974
SOUTH
♠ AQ753
♥
AKJ2
♦ A102
♣ 8
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
P P 1♠ 2♦ 1
Dbl. 2 P 4♥ 3
P
P P
_______________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1.
Here, 2♦
is a standard Overcall at the 2-Level.
It evidences 5 or more Diamonds and at least 10 HCP’s. Note that even though there is a 7-Card suit
here, the hand is too strong for a weak (3♦) preemptive
jump overcall.
2.
Here, North
has a standard ideal Negative Double
which shows his/her 6 or more HCP’s and the expected 4 or more cards in each of
the two as-yet unbid suits (Clubs and Hearts).
3.
South, knowing
that North now holds, minimally, at least 4 Hearts and 6 or more HCP’s, can
jump directly to game (4♥). North has 18 HCP’s along with 3 additional
Distributional Points for North’s singleton Club (21 Combined total points),
which when coupled with North’s minimum of 6, totals at least the 27, enough so
as to presume that a Game Contract can be bid and made.
Playing Principles:
1.
The best
lead from West would be the Diamond K (Top of a sequence).
2.
South, as Declarer,
would attempt, as much as possible, not to draw Trumps, but rather to
cross-ruff the hand, since N/S holds few tricks outside the Trump suit
itself. Absent a number of tricks
outside the Trump suit itself, and with shortness in both hands, Declarer, in a
suit contract, often finds his/her best source of tricks is to cross-ruff the
hand as the best course of action so as to make the most tricks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selection of Most Commonly-Accepted
Best Leads
Remember, these are not necessarily in any preferential order, and on
any one hand, the reality is often that one of these below-listed options could
be better than any other, based upon the bidding, the lay of the cards, the
level of the final contract, any number of other variables.
Against No Trump Contracts
1. Fourth Best
from Your Longest and Strongest Suit (Only if you have at least one (1) Outside
Entry to regain the Lead Later on.
2. Partner’s
Bid Suit – Low from three or more to an honor, else Top of a sequence or of a
Doubleton, else, Second Highest from three or more to nothing.
3. Top of any
Sequence of three or more to the Sequence.
4. The Second
Suit Bid by Dummy.
5. Any Unbid
suit.
6. Remember, in
general, usually lead passively, not aggressively, against a strong opening
“2C” or 2NT on your right.
Against Suit Contracts
1. Partner’s
Bid Suit – again low from three or more to an honor, top of a sequence or of a
Doubleton, else second Highest from three or more to nothing.
2. Top of a
sequence of two or more cards in sequence.
3. Low from
three or more to a Jack or a Queen.
4. A Trump – To
lessen the number of Trumps in the Dummy hand.
5. An Ace or
King from any Ace-King combination (Dependent on partnership pre-arrangement as
to which, the Ace or the King, is led.
6. Remember, in
general, the lead of an Ace (without the King) is a poor lead (Except often
against a Slam contract), as is the lead away from either an Ace or a King, if
partner has NOT bid that suit.
7. Remember,
also, that, absent a suit having been bid by Partner, a lead of a Singleton or
a Doubleton is oft times fruitless as it gives Declarer a free finesse, and
will not succeed in allowing you to Trump on a later trick, as Declarer will
often proceed to immediately draw your trumps.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 8
(Competitive Bidding)
NORTH
Dealer: E ♠ AJ643
Vulnerable: N-S ♥ K7
Lead: 4♦ ♦ 105
♣ A432
WEST EAST
♠ K109 ♠ 7
♥ 85 ♥ J643
♦ AQJ632 ♦ K874
♣ Q9
♣ KJ107
SOUTH
♠ Q852
♥
AQ1092
♦
9
♣ 865
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
P P 1♦
1
1♠ 2 2♦ 3
3♠ 4
P
P P
_______________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1. West opens 1♦ prepared to
possibly re-bid 2♦at his/her next opportunity to bid,
which would evidence 6
or more
pieces. When an opening Bidder rebids his/her unsupported suit, it generally
shows 6-pieces,
irrespective whether it be a Major or a Minor suit.
2. Here, 1♠, bid by
North, is a standard simple Overcall at the 1-Level. It evidences five or more Spades
and 8-15 HCP’s. Had North held 16 or more HCP’s, he/she
would have first made a Take-out double,
and then bid Spades at his/her next turn to
bid.
3. Here, 2♦ is a
standard supportive response opposite an opening bid. When a Responder supports
Opener’s suit at the cheapest bidding level, it shows trump support and
6-10 HCP’s.
Note: East could have also used the negative double to show
his/her four Hearts, with a Fall-Back bid of
support for the Diamond suit at a later time.
4. Here, South,
realizing that North can have, at most 15 HCP’s, and realizing that there is no
possibility for
game (especially sine E-W have already shown 20
HCP’s, and with nine (9) known pieces of Trump,
competes immediately
to the 3-Level (committing to 9 tricks with 9 Trumps). In a
competitive auction,
with both sides having approximately an even
number of HCP’s, one can compete to the level of the number
of
trumps held by the partnership representing an equivalence to the number of
tricks to which their bid
Commits.
Playing Principles:
1. The lead by
West is Partner’s suit, and in this instance one lead low from three or more
pieces headed by
an honor. Note: West would have led the Ace of Diamonds if
that were the honor card.
2. In this
hand, Declarer makes exactly 3♠, losing one Spade (a Trump trick), No Hearts, one
Diamond,
and two Clubs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge
Lesson – Hand # 9
(“Jacoby” Transfer Bids and “Check-Back”)
NORTH
Dealer: E ♠ A8642
Vulnerable: Both ♥ 1043
Lead: 10♦ ♦
K5
♣ J107
WEST EAST
♠
KQ1093 ♠ J7
♥ A92
♥
K865
♦ Q3
♦
AJ74
♣ Q63
♣ AK8
SOUTH
♠ 5
♥
QJ7
♦
109862
♣ 9542
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
1NT P “2♥” 1
P 2♠ 2 P 3NT 3
P P 4 P
_______________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1.
West immediately accepts the bidding Captaincy, and decides to invoke
the Jacoby Transfer System to
show his/her
five-Spades. West knows that there are
two feasible game contracts here, either 4 Spades,
or 3 No Trump, but wishes East to be the
Declarer should the final contract be in
Spades.
2.
Here, East dutifully bids 2♠.
Note with the absence of a “Super-Acceptance” (what would have been a
“3♠” bid by East), East denies a holding of either four
Spades pieces, or 17 HCP’s, or both.
3.
Here, West, knowing that East could have only two Spades, uses the
“Check-Back” bid of 3NT. This
requests that East either “Pass” with a holding
of two Spades, else correct to “4♠” if he/she holds either
three or four Spade pieces.
4. Here, East
correctly passes to reflect his/her acceptance of the 3NT contract and a
rejection of the
potential 4♠ contract,
since he/she holds only two Spades.
Playing Principles:
1. The safest
lead here is the 10♦, top of a sequence.
2. In this
hand, Declarer elects to attack the Spade suit early, and develops four
eventual Spade tricks by
forfeiting one Spade
trick, the Spade Ace as soon as North is willing to do so, thereby promoting
four tricks
in
that suit. Note, in playing the Spade
suit, Declarer plays the Spades from the East hand first
(The short
side).
3. In this
hand, Declarer makes 5NT, four Spade tricks, two Heart tricks, two Diamond
tricks, and three
Club tricks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 10
(Opening Length Before
Strength)
NORTH
Dealer: E ♠ K6
Vulnerable: E-W ♥ 8752
Lead: A♦ or K♥ ♦ Q76543
♣ K
WEST EAST
♠ 10952 ♠ AJ874
♥ AJ1043 ♥
-------
♦
K9
♦
8
♣ 76
♣ AQ108542
SOUTH
♠ Q3
♥ KQ96
♦ AJ102
♣ J93
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
1♣ 1
P 2 1♥
P 1♠ P 2♠ 3
P 4♠
4 P P
P
_______________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1. East. Satisfying the Rule of “20”
decides to open the bidding. Note,
however, that East opens with 1♣
rather than with his/her 5-card Spade suit. “Open
Length BEFORE Strength”.
2.
Here, South passes even though he/she has opening count. South does not hold the necessary
requirements in the direct (2nd
seat) position relative to an opening call from one’s
the hand, here, is inadequate for a direct seat
overcall.
3.
Here, West, knowing that East could hold as many as 18 HCP’s takes a
second call with his/her Spade
support and 10 support points (8 HCP’s plus one
for each of West’s doubletons).
4.
Here, East correctly proceeds to game with his/her 19 support points (11
HCP’s, 3 distributional points
for the Diamond singleton, and 5 distributional
points for the void in Hearts). When a “Golden Fit” is
uncovered, wildly distributionally-distorted
hands are worth much more than the initial high card point count
would, at first consideration, be considered.
Playing Principles:
1. The safest
lead here is either the K of Hearts (Top of a sequence), else the A of Diamonds
(the unbid suit).
2. With the
Ace of Diamond Lead, Declarer makes five, but records six with the K♥ lead with
the
8♦ being
discarded on the A♥ at trick one. A Spade trick loss cannot be avoided. Note: The
hand makes either 5 or 6 with only a combined 19 HCP’s. “Points
Schmoints”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 11
(Opening Length Before
Strength)
NORTH
Dealer: S ♠ A7652
Vulnerable: None ♥ AQJ5
Lead: 3♠ or J♣ ♦ 82
♣ 92
WEST EAST
♠ Q98 ♠ 103
♥ K10764 ♥ 83
♦ 107
♦
Q9643
♣ KQ7 ♣ J1086
SOUTH
♠ KJ4
♥
92
♦ AKJ5
♣ A543
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
1NT P
2♣ 1 P “2♦” 2 P
3♠ 3
P 4♠ 4
P
P P
_______________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1. North, the appointed “Captain”,
realizing there is Game in the hand, invokes the Stayman Convention.
Note: Opposite
a NT opening, Responder, holding both a 5-card AND a 4-card Major suit, uses the Stayman
Convention, NEVER a Jacoby
Transfer bid. The reason is that a 4-4
Major suit fit, if present, usually
plays better than a 5-3 Major suit fit, and is,
therefore, preferable.
2.
South denies any 4–card Major suit holding.
3.
North now shows his/her 5-card Spade suit holding, forcing South to Game in two alternative possible
Game-Level contracts – 4-Spades, else 3NT. Any
NEW suit 3-Level bid by Responder to a 1NT opening bid,
following the use of the Stayman Convention, is
Game-Forcing.
4.
South accepts the 4♠ option, holding 3 pieces of Spades to match the 5
Spades shown by North’s
3♠ bid. Had
South held only 2-Spades, he/she would have selected the alternate option of
3NT as
the final contract.
Playing Principles:
1. The
alternate choices for a lead here are either the 3♠ or the J♣.
2. By chance, a Club lead holds Declarer to
making 5-Spades, but without a Club lead, North can make 6 by
finessing the J♦, then
discarding an otherwise Club losing trick on the A♦ and the K♦.
Note: This is a so-called “magic hand” in that it
6 can be made but not necessarily bid. North,
absent a
Club
lead, lost nothing to attempt the Diamond finesse, for if it had lost, North
would lose a Spade and a
Diamond instead of a Spade and a Club.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 12
(“Klinger Ogust” – Bidding Over
Partner’s Weak 2-Bid)
NORTH
Dealer: E ♠ 984
Vulnerable: None ♥ 107
Lead: A♦ or A♣ ♦ 987542
♣ 86
WEST EAST
♠ AJ53 ♠ K6
♥ K4
♥
AQ8532
♦ KQ ♦ 106
♣ KQ1043 ♣ J72
SOUTH
♠ Q1072
♥ J96
♦
AJ3
♣ A95
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
2♥ 1 P “2NT” 2
P “3♠” 3 P 4♥ 4
P P P
_______________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1. A weak 2-Bid showing 5-11 HCP’s with a
6-Card Heart suit.
2.
A forcing bid, Invoking the Klinger “Ogust”
System, asking Opener to describe his/her hand as to both
Point Count and Numbers of Honors in Opener’s Suit. Note: Responder, the “Captain” has to
have 15+
HCP’s or more to even begin to perceive that a Game
contract might be feasible. To
inquire regarding
this possibility, however, Responder must seek
further information as to the quality and strength of
Opener’s hand. “Klinger Ogust” affords this tool.
3.
An artificial response, showing nothing about the Spade suit, but
rather, 8-11 HCP’s and two (2) of the
top 3 honors in the Heart suit.
4.
Armed with this information, Responder, the “Captain” bids Game in
Hearts.
Playing Principles:
1. In this hand, eleven (11) tricks are
available by Declarer, and no lead allows more or less to be made
by
either side assuming the defense does not wait while Declarer establishes
his/her Club suit.
Once Declarer attempts to set
up the Club suit, and seeing the long Club suit in Dummy, South must run
to
take his/her A♦ before Declarer can pitch his/her
losing two Diamonds on the established
long
Club suit in the Dummy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 13
(“Michaels Cue-Bid”)
NORTH
Dealer: E ♠ Q10975
Vulnerable: None ♥ KJ965
Lead: 4♣ ♦ 10
WEST ♣ A7 EAST
♠ J432 ♠ AK
♥ 104
♥
Q8
♦ Q98765 ♦ A42
♣
4 SOUTH ♣
J108632
♠ 86
♥
A732
♦ KJ3
♣ KQ95
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
1♣ P P
“2♣” 1
P 2♥ 2
P
P 3 3♣ 4
P 3♦ 5
P P 3♥ 6
P
P P
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1. A “Michaels Cue-Bid” showing a distribution
of 5-5 or longer in both of the Major suits with either a very
weak (6-10 HCP’s), or a very strong (16+
HCP’s). Note: If North had held
11-15 HCP’s, a count in the
middle of these two HCP ranges, a Michaels
Cue-Bid would not have been used.
Alternatively, North
would have bid both suits himself/herself,
i.e., made a simple overcall of 1 Spade intending to re-bid
2♥ at his/her next turn to bid.
2. A simple preference for the Heart suit. Note: South takes the preference at
the cheapest bidding level
for South must
account for the fact that North could have a very weak 6 HCP hand.
3. The
original Michael’s Cue-Bidder only ever bids again if he/she has
the higher 16+ HCP count. In this
instance, since only the lower range of 6-10 is
present, the cue-bidder passes. Had
there been 16 or
more HCP’s in North’s hand, North would have
made a second cue-bid, “3♣” in that instance.
4. North-South appear happy, so East pushes to
the 3-Level in Clubs with his/her 6-card suit, not allowing the
bidding to die at the 2-Level.
5. West, holding only 1 Club corrects to 3♦. It is better for West to use East’s HCP’s
with Diamonds as
Trump, as opposed to East using West’s
non-existent points with East’s Club as Trump.
6.
South knows that North holds 5 pieces of Hearts and
since South has a good hand and holds the ninth
piece of Trumps, he/she competes to the
3-Level.
Playing Principles:
1. West leads
Partner’s bid Club suit hoping to get a ruff, but to no avail.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 14
(Overcalling Over the Opposition’s
Weak 2-Bids)
NORTH
Dealer: S ♠ 6
Vulnerable: N-S ♥ 102
Lead: 10♠ ♦ A107432
♣ J976
WEST
EAST
♠ 753
♠ AKJ
♥ KJ96 ♥ AQ8754
♦ KQ9 ♦ J8
♣ K42
♣ 85
SOUTH
♠ Q109842
♥
3
♦
65
♣ AQ103
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
2♠ P 1
P 2 3♥ 3
P 4♥
4
P P P
Bidding Principles:
1. If South had
not opened a pre-emptive 2♠ bid, West could not have opened since the “Rule of
20” would not
have been satisfied with this 12 HCP count hand.
With a 2♠ bid by South, West does not hold the shape,
nor the HCP count to overcall in the direct (2nd)
seat. To overcall at the 2-Level after
a pre-empt by one’s
RHO, one requires at least opening count; to overcall at the 3-Level in
the direct seat, one requires about
15+ HCP’s.
2. If both South and West had passed, North
could have opened a pre-emptive 2♦. With a 2♠ call from South,
North must pass. One NEVER
pre-empts over a pre-empt bid.
3. Anytime the opponents pre-empt the
bidding, the opposition is left with no choice but to bid aggressively so
as to attempt to
counteract the fact that one, two, or three levels of bidding have been
stolen. Here, East
overcalls 3♥.
4. West, likewise,
must bid aggressively, and since no bidding room is available to explore for a
game-level
contract, West
bids 4♥.
Playing Principles:
1. East-West should score 11 tricks,
losing just one Club trick and one Diamond trick. Note: the Spade finesse,
if taken,
loses, but need NOT be attempted if one sets up the Diamond suit for a sluff of
the J♠,
which
would, otherwise, be a losing trick.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 15
(Responding with Support for
Partner’s Suit)
NORTH
Dealer: E ♠ 94
Vulnerable: E-W ♥ K87
Lead: 8♠ ♦ Q2
♣ J109875
WEST
EAST
♠ A10
♠ KQJ5
♥ J63
♥
A10542
♦ 10974 ♦ A85
♣
KQ64 ♣
A
SOUTH
♠ 87632
♥
Q9
♦ KJ63
♣ 32
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
1♥
P 3♥ 1
P 4♥ 2
P P
P
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding Principles:
1. An argument
can be made for either a 2♥ response by West (showing 6-10 HCP’s),
else a 3♥ bid (showing
11-12 “Support” Points: 10 HCP’s + 1 Point for the
Doubleton Spade).
2. If West had elected to bid 2♥, then East
would have invited to Game by bidding 3♥ and West
would have
then accepted by
then bidding 4♥.
If West had, alternatively bid 3♥, showing
invitational strength (11-12),
West would have gone to 4♥ without
hesitation. Either way, a 4♥ final
contract would have been reached.
Playing Principles:
1. Declarer, East, has, at first glance, No
losers in Spades, 1 or 2 losers in Hearts, 2 losers in Diamonds, and No
losers in
Clubs. Assuming, worst case scenario,
two losers in the Trump suit, East must avoid losing
at least
one of the
Diamond losers by attempting to throw them off on the K♣ and the Q♣. To accomplish this,
however,
East must first play the A♣ from his/her hand, unblocking the suit. Thus, trick #1 must be
won in
Declarer’s hand, not in Dummy’s.
Declarer can then enter Dummy with the A♠, Dummy’s
only entry, so as to
discard the two losing Diamond tricks (the 8 and 5) on Dummy’s K♣ and the Q♣.
Note: Had Declarer mistakenly taken trick #1 in
the Dummy with the Ace, he/she could have unblocked the
suit by dumping the
K♠ on Dummy’s
Ace, then using the 10♠ as an entry to Dummy’s hand
after
playing the A♣, as stated before.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 16
(“Up-The-Ladder” and “Jump Shift”
Principles
NORTH
Dealer: N ♠
J763
Vulnerable: N-S ♥ 8643
Lead: 3♥ ♦ Q6
WEST ♣ Q109 EAST
♠ Q4 ♠
AK52
♥ K102 ♥ AQ9
♦ K9742 ♦ 8
♣ J82 SOUTH ♣
AK643
♠ 1098
♥
J75
♦
AJ1053
♣ 75
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
P 1♣ P 1♦ 1
P 2♠ 2
P 3NT 3
P P P
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.
An “Up The Ladder” bid
showing 6-18 HCP’s (Cannot be passed due to it being a New Suit bid by a
Responder).
This bid does not yet deny the presence, or absence, of either 4 Hearts
or 4 Spades.
2. A Jump-Shift by Opener showing 4 or more
Spades, 19 or more HCP’s, and fewer than 4 Hearts. This
bid is “Game-Forcing” since Responder has
shown 6 or more HCP’s and Opener holds 20 HCP’s.
3. A Sign-off showing a guaranteed Heart Stopper
(the only as-yet-unaccounted-for suit) and no interest in
Slam.
(In a Game-Forcing scenario, a
quick arrival is weaker than a slow arrival.)
Bidding
Principles:
1. Once a team has opened the bidding
with one-of-a-suit, the “Up the Ladder” Principal; i.e., never
bypassing any 4-card suit at the 1-Level,
applies to both Opener and
Responder, as they course through
the first level of bidding.
2. Once a team is committed to game by
virtue of Opener’s jump-shift opposite Responder having shown a
minimum of 6 HCP’s, the quicker the team
reaches game the less interest they exhibit for bidding beyond
the game-level; i.e. for any attempt to reach
Slam. “A quick arrival to game is weaker than a slow arrival”.
Playing Principles:
1. Declarer must be aware that in many
hands, one of the two opponents be, necessarily, regarded as the
“Danger” Opponent; i.e., that Opponent whom one would try to keep out of
the lead, if it be feasible to do
so. In
this instance, because of the sparse Diamond holding, West, the Declarer, would
like to keep
South from leading Diamonds through him/her.
2. In any NT contract,
Declarer should count his/her clear winners, and attempt to augment his/her
winners
by establishing his/her longest suit early, Clubs in this
instance, establishing 10 tricks - 3 Spades,
3 Hearts, and 4 Club tricks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 17
(Bidding 3NT rather than 5 of Either
Minor Suit)
NORTH
Dealer: W ♠ Q86
Vulnerable: N-S ♥ 10842
Lead: 4♠ ♦ 10872
WEST ♣ 103 EAST
♠ AJ3 ♠ K5
♥ KQ73 ♥ A5
♦ J95
♦
Q64
♣ QJ7
SOUTH ♣
A98654
♠ 109742
♥
J96
♦
AK3
♣
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
1♣ 1
P 3NT
2 P P
P
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.
Playing the 5-Card Major Standard American System,
holding opening count, and using the preferred
Minor opening, absent any 5-card Major suit holding, one opens either
discernibly longer Minor suit.
If the Minor suits are of equal length, one opens a Diamond from 5-5 or
4-4 in the Minors, else a Club
if they be 3-3. In this instance; West opens 1♣, holding
three cards in each Minor suit.
2. Most hands with Game values that would
otherwise make 5♣ or 5♦ almost always make 4NT. Thus, in
this instance,
even though East holds Club support, and even though East’s hand in unbalanced.
East
bids a
preferred 3NT rather than to pursue the guaranteed Club Golden fit.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1. When holding either Minor suit Golden
fit, with game values, a 3NT contract is usually preferable to a 5♣
or 5♦ contract. A 1NT response to Partner’s opening bid of 1♣ or 1♦shows 6-10
HCP’s. A 2NT
response would evidence 11-12 HCP’s, and a 3NT
response shows 13-15 HCP’s.
Playing Principles:
1. When playing
a NT contract, Declarer usually attacks his/her longest suit first, Clubs in
this instance,
Using the K♥ as an entry to Dummy, East finesses the
Q♣ which loses
to the King in South’s hand.
Declarer will then make, 4NT: 5 Club tricks, 3 Hearts, and 2 Spade tricks,
for a total of
10 tricks (making the contract with one overtrick).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 18
(“Up-The-Ladder” and “Support Point”
Principles)
NORTH
Dealer: S ♠ J6
Vulnerable: None ♥ KQ432
Lead: K♥ ♦ 1043
WEST ♣ 642 EAST
♠ K1083 ♠ A974
♥ 10 ♥ A876
♦ QJ
♦
K987
♣ AJ10953 ♣ Q
SOUTH
♠ Q52
♥
J95
♦
A652
♣
K87
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
P 1♣ 1
P 1♦ 2
P 1♠ 3
P 4♠ 4
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Although West’s hand contains only 11
HCP’s, he/she satisfies the “Rule of 20” and has the right to
open.
2. It is the responsibility of both Opening
bidder and Responder to bid “Up the Ladder” hardly ever,
bypassing any 4-card
suit.
3. Here again, this first rebid by Opener
evidences at least 4 Spades; fewer than 4 Hearts; and 13-18 HCP’s.
4. Since East holds a 4-card Spade support
for West, along with enough support points for West, East goes
right to a
Game-Level (4♠) contract.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1.
In the 5-card Major Standard American System of bidding, both Opener and
Responder need adhere to
the “Up the Ladder” Principal; i.e., rarely
bypassing any 4-card suit, particularly the Major suits.
2.
East, being the first of the Partners to see an 8-card (Spade) Golden
Fit, and knowing the Partnership
holds enough points to go to Game (4♠), becomes
the “Captain” and bids Game. By
arriving at
Game-Level quickly, East shows no extra
values. A quick arrival to game is weaker than a slow arrival!
Playing
Principles:
1. Like most
hands, the timing by the Declarer (West) as to which suit to play first is central to
making the
contact. Here it is
important, so as to establish a cross-ruffing scenario, to set up the Diamonds
first.
2. Since there
are 5 Spades outstanding, West only draws 2 Rounds of Trump leaving the Queen
in the
hands of the Defense to take it whenever they wish as
opposed to intentionally forcing it out by wrongly
playing a 3rd round of Trumps.
3. After taking two rounds of Diamonds, West then
cross-ruffs the hand making 4 – Two Diamond tricks,
1 Heart, 1
Club. 2 Natural Trump tricks, and 4 Cross-ruffs of
both Clubs and Hearts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 19
(Supporting Partner’s Pre-empt and
Bidding Over Pre-Empt Bids
NORTH
Dealer: E
♠ Q864
Vulnerable: None ♥ KQJ9
Lead: 6♦ ♦ Q73
WEST ♣ AK EAST
♠ K3
♠ 1097
♥ 10865 ♥ 32
♦ 964
♦
AKJ1052
♣ J265 SOUTH ♣
97
♠ AJ52
♥
A74
♦ 8
♣ Q10843
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
2♦ 1 P 3♦ 2
Dbl. 3 P 4♠ 4
P
P P
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.
A pre-emptive weak 2-Bid evidencing 6 Diamonds and
5-11 HCP’s
2.
A furtherance of Opener’s pre-emptive bid justified by
holding few points and the 7th, 8th, and 9th
pieces
of the Diamond suit
3.
A Takeout Double
4.
A jump to a Game-Level contract
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1. When furthering
Partner’s pre-emptive call, one may bid to the level such that the trick
guarantee of which, is equivalent to the number of combined pieces of the Trump
suit held by the Partnership
(Nine – In this instance).
2. A Take-out
Double, at the 3-Level, should guarantee at least one King better than a
minimum opening count (at least 16 HCP’s)
Playing Principles:
1. When leading
Partner’s suit, without an honor or a top sequence, and when holding 3-pieces, one
should lead the second highest, planning to play “middle-up-down”.
2. When in a
suit contract, Declarer should count his/her potential losing tricks and
attempt to construct a manner in which said losing tricks can be
eliminated. In this instance, by trumping
Diamonds in the South Hand, Declarer can make 5, losing only one Diamond trick
and the K♠.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 20
(Bidding Over Partner’s Weak 2-Bid =
“Klinger Ogust”)
NORTH
Dealer: S ♠ Q87
Vulnerable: E-W ♥ K542
Lead: Q♦ ♦ AK5
WEST ♣ KJ4 EAST
♠ A9652 ♠ J1043
♥ 6
♥
A3
♦ QJ97 ♦ 632
♣ 865 SOUTH ♣
Q932
♠ K
♥
QJ10987
♦
1084
♣ A107
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
2♥ 1 P
“2NT” 2 P “3♥” 3
P
4♥
4 P P P
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.
A pre-emptive weak 2-Bid evidencing 6 Hearts and 5-11
HCP’s
2.
A Artificial and Forcing Bid, showing Responder’s 15
or more HCP’s, and asking Opener for a
further description of his/her opening count and quality of his/her opening
suit (as listed below in Bidding Principles)
3.
An artificial bid evidencing 8-11 HCP’s and none or
one of the top three (A, K, or Q) honors in the
Heart suit.
4.
Responder proceeds to Game, armed with the added
information provided in #3. Had Opener
responded “3♣” or “3♦” showing 5-7 HCP’s, Responder would
have bid 3♥ (Opener would then “Pass”), stopping
short of Game.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding
Principles:
1.
When Responder to a weak 2-Bid holds support for
Partner’s suit and holds 15 or more HCP’s, Responder invokes “Klinger Ogust” by bidding an artificial
“2NT”. This bid asks Opener to describe
both his/her total point count and the number
of Top Three Honors in the suit first bid (As enumerated herein).
a. “3♣” = 5-7
HCP’s and 0 or 1 of the Top Three Honors
b. “3♦” = 5-7
HCP’s and 2 of the Top Three Honors
c. “3♥” = 8-11
HCP’s and 0 or 1 of the Top Three Honors
d. “3♠” = 8-11
HCP’s and 2 of the Top Three Honors
e. “3NT” = 8-11 HCP’s and 3 of the Top Three Honors
Playing Principles:
1.
Declarer, South, will make 4 - losing one trick, each,
in Diamonds, Hearts, and
Spades, and no tricks in Clubs, if he/she thinks to throw off the
7♣ on the Q♠. Declarer can make 5 if he/she first correctly
guesses the Club finesses and then throws away the Diamond loser on the Q♠.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge Lesson – Hand # 21
(Competitive Bidding)
NORTH
Dealer: W ♠ QJ103
Vulnerable: Both ♥ AQ106
Lead: A♠ ♦ J102
WEST ♣ Q7 EAST
♠ AK92 ♠ 76
♥ 43
♥
875
♦ 94
♦
Q753
♣ K10932 SOUTH ♣
J864
♠ 854
♥
KJ92
♦
AK86
♣ A5
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bidding: North East South West
P
1♦ 1 P 1♥ 2
Dbl. 3
2♥ 4
P 4♥ 5 P
P P
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.
Having satisfied the “Rule of 20”, North,
absent a 5-card Major suit, opens with a 1♦, Preferred
Minor,
evidencing
three or more Diamonds and opening count.
2.
An “Up-The-Ladder Response showing 6-18 HCP’s and at
least four Hearts.