When West opens 1NT just what do you bid on the North cards? When we asked most players they bid some number of spades. But are you beating 1NT? If you think that the answer is "Yes" then double. This will be fine so long as partner realises that it is a penalty double and passes whatever they hold. Remember that if East has a good hand they will probably redouble. Also if partner has nothing you will go down in 2♠ or higher.

So, double! I was West and finished with 3 tricks for -800. Well done Lisa.

Today's hand shows just what you should do when you are in trouble. While we cannot totally agree with this bidding the declarer should say, "Oh dear, how do I make this?"

We, almost certainly have a heart loser and so we cannot lose anymore

In the bidding different people  have different ideas. Jill & I have a simple philosophy, "if you use conventions it should come up often and then you won't forget it". We also love a convention that keeps us out of trouble

This is why we use  the Asptro over their 1NT opening. This is

1. 2♣ shows hearts and another suit, if the other is spades they will be longer
2. 2♦ shows  spades and another, If the other is hearts they will be longer
3. 2♥ /♠ show a 6 card suit
4. 2NT shows the minors

Why does it come up more often than other defences to 1NT? While 2 minor shows 5/4 or longer in the 2 suits they can be either way round

In the gentle session this week we used the convention 3 times the first of which was board 1 it would have worked for North to show they do not like hearts by bidding 2♦ and then would have played there. It is difficult to take more than 6 tricks against this contract but even 2 off would have been a top as 1NT makes with an overtrick.

If you would like to know more about Asptro email bridgebug@gmail.com

When the bidding starts like this, just what would West bid with their hand? 2NT

If your agreement is that it shows the minors (Unusual notrump) you are stuck.

Our advice in this position is that it should show 2 places to play and that agreement is ideal on this hand

Okay, let us assume that is what happens how should the bidding continue?

If you get to game can you make it? 

Try to answer before clicking the answer tab

All natural notrump bids have a narrow range in points and shape. The shape usually shows a balanced hand and the points re generally in a range of 3 or 4 points.

How many points would a bid of 1NT show in this seat? (Remember that it is the protective seat).

Does it show a stop in opener's suit?

if you are too strong to make that bid what do you do?

Finally how should the bidding proceed?

So you open 1♦  and partner responds 1NT. What does partner hold and what does he deny?

What are you going to bid now?

The bidding on hand 1 this week should go just like this. East should make a weak jump overcall of 2♥ and West should raise to game. This gives North a problem. They do not know whether 4♥ is making or not. Has West bid it just to preempt North/South or was it bid to make? North does not know and might well force North into an error one way or another..As it happens 4♥ makes but 5♦ is cheap.♦ 

We assume that South caused all of the problems by opening 2♦, West has no problem and passes.

North now faces a problem with no diamonds just what should they do? North knows that they have 6 diamond between them but they only know that they have 5 spades and 5 clubs between them. North should pass (this might not be supported by everyone). However, looking at the double dummy analysis it says that 2♥ should make. It is a pity then that the contract went 3 off. Which means that defence made 8 tricks.

If North passes should East bid? They have 13 points and it is worth a bid in the protective seat?It seems that the choice is between double and 2NT.Double should get to a spade contract and 2NT should get a raise. Tough.

Preempts work! Learn that if partner preempts do not panic.

Straight in at hand one from last week. At one table it was easy where South's 1NT was overcalled with 2♥ which ended the auction. This North/South failed to find their spade ruff.

At the other table we expect that the 2♥ bid was made as well and North should  think, "I have 10 point and should not look for game in 3NT".However, we might well have a club part score. have we got a way of playing in clubs?

There are 2 popular methods

1. Lebensohl - 2NT asks partner to bid 3♣ and see what happens next. In this case 3♣ would be passed

2. Rubensohl where 2NT is a transfer to clubs.

If you have either method available it would be good for you.

There you were all ready to open 2♣ and those nasty opponents preempt in hearts. What now?

Perhaps we start with a double. When partner bids 3♣ what now?

Ah, how about a cue bid in the opponent's suit?

If you do that, on this hand with a balanced hand and a heart stop partner will bid 3NT. Now 6NT by you right sides the contract

Just what should South bid as a passed hand?

Simply, you are going to raise so use the Losing Trick count. You have 1spade loser, 3 hearts, 2 diamonds and 1 club. 7 in total so we have a game raise. We are much too good to raise to 4♥ so what about a splinter. So 4♣ .

Opener should then think that a slam might be on if partner has a spade control and so cue bids 4♦ showing a diamond control. Now 4♠  from responder and 4NT (Blackwood) from opener. From partner's answer we  know that a slam is 50% at worse. So should we bid it?

Probably, this might be cold  and will never have zero chance.

As it happens in the play we need the spade finesse, and after drawing trumps take it and that is 12 tricks

The first problem is just what does East bid? Well what are the options? 

Only 2 really, double and 1NT. The problem with double is that if partner responds 2♣, which looking at your hand seems likely, 2NT from you might well be too high. So 1NT gets our vote

Now, look at the South hand. The options here are pass or 2♦. 2♦ here is not strong as all hands that are strong should make a penalty double and this should make some trump tricks whereas defending 1NT your hand will probably only make 1 trick(♠K). We would recommend 2♦ 

Notice that 2♦  is 1 off for -50 and 1NT should make for 90.

When we are playing this form of bridge every point counts. Every hand on a Thursday is worth over 4% of your score

There are lots of problem with this hand from Thursday. The first question is should North open 3♣?

If North does open it is clear that East should pass because the standard advice is that we do not preempt over a preempt. Now question 2. What should South bid? 

Question 3 If South wants to choose 3♦ or 3♥ is it forcing?

Now assume that North does not open. East will open 2♠. Question 4 is what should South bid?

The bidding shown happened at one table. The 5♣ bid was voidwood. This says , "Show me your keycard but do not include the ♣A". This is a fine contract that with that spade split should fail. This fails with a diamond lead and a spade back which is ruffed.

However, a diamond was led and a diamond returned that was won with the 10 in the South hand. Now declarer has their chance and must concentrate on making the contact. Declarer, however, led a spade. Whoops! It is very easy to forget to make your plan in the heat of battle. We are taught in a trump contract to keep C. A. L. M.

C - . Count your immediate tricks.

A - Add tricks from other sources, that is slow tricks by power, tricks by length and possible tricks by position.

L - Loser check. Count your play losers.

M = manage your entries.

So plan the hand and then look at the answers.

This was hand 1 on Wednesday and the bidding shows how it started at our table 

First question. Would you pass with the North hand as dealer? Is it weak ? Yes. Has it got 6 spades? Yes, so it looks like a weak two to me. This makes it harder for East/West. If North does open a weak two have you, with the East hand, got a bid to describe your hand? You should play leaping Michaels here. That is, by bidding a minor suit at the 4 level you are showing that suit and the unbid major.

Second question. If the bidding goes as shown what should East rebid? If West has the ♣Q and either the ♥Q or a doubleton the slam should be making. Do not try to bid hands like this using science because I do not know a way of asking for Queens. Just bid 6♣.

Third Question.  If East/West bids 6♣ should North/South bid 6♠? Well 6♠ on this hand is cheap only going 1 off however, as 2 out of 3 tables were allowed to play in 4♠ you will still get a bottom. So we were right - Only Jesus saves,

We only had 2 tables of the gentle session this week. To make it work we really need more of you to come along to this non-serious but competitive session.

There were many interesting hands but we picked this one out for you. It was hand 3 and the bidding at one table was as shown.

The second table got to 3NT and there is always 10 or 11 tricks that can be made. However, in spades can you see how to make 12 tricks after a top heart is led? Have a think before you click the answer and maybe the title is a clue.

.

Once in a blue moon partner opens 1NT and you hold 22 points and a balanced hand. You and partner hold 34-36 points between you and the small slam is good and the grand slam unlikely so you bid 6NT.

Once in a lifetime you hold 20 points balanced and you hear partneropen 2NT. This happened to me and the first thing I did was to check the back of the cards to see if we both had the right hand and then bid 7NT. (Some pairs took 3 rounds of bidding!)

There were 2 possible slam hands this week the first was hand 1.

2♦ is 10+ points and so 2NT is 15-19 and forcing. 4NT is quantItative saying bid 6 with a maximum. Now North is only 16 points but with K Q x in partner's suit and most of their points in they might accept and bid 6NT. However, most did not bid more than game.

For the super aware some might have noticed that 1 pair misscored and saiid that West played the hand. This was not corrected because it would not changed the score on the board.

The bidding is a bit tough on the hand from Thursday 11/4 and it revolves opener's reverse. 

Definition: Opener's rebid is a reverse if it makes responder show preference of their first suit at the 3 level. A reverse is simplest played if it is forcing to game.

So with the bidding shown the opener's rebid of 2♠  is probably a  point  or two short but the ♥K looks like a good card.

Now, have you and partner discussed how you respond to opener's reverse? You should have! A simple method is called Blackout. This convention says if responder holds a hand where we might not have a game even opposite 18-19 from opener you bid the cheaper of 2NT or fourth suit forcing. So here 2NT would be Blackout and 3♦ shows reasonable values. In this case a 9 count is fine and opener could have 3 hearts and so let us give partner room and just bid 3♦.

Now to the play. Remember, we are in a trump contract and so we keep C. A. L. M.

Count your quick tricks by power. That is, tricks you can take now but remember we often do not take those tricks now but use to get from hand to hand. 

♠  -1, ♥ -4 , ♦ -5, ♣ -0. Total 10

Add tricks from other sources. That is slow tricks by power, tricks by length, tricks by ruffing in the short hand,  possible tricks by position.

Tricks by length. we have a trick by length in diamonds and so long as hearts are not 5-1 or 6-0 there are 2 tricks in that suit. That comes to 13. 

Tricks by ruffing in the short hand. We should not cash the spade Ace but we should ruff a spade early in the hand.

That is plenty of tricks so

Loser check. We have 1 club loser and 3 spade losers. Too many so how to reduce those losers? We can ruff 1 and throw 2 on the hearts.

Manage the hand.  Only now do we look at the lead. If it is a club we will lose it but if it is a spade we should ruff. Now we draw trumps and look at the hearts. Declarer has only 2 cards and dummy has 5. So we play the honour from the short hand first. Cash the King and then play a heart to the Ace. 

Following this plan we take a spade ruff, draw trumps, Cash the spade Ace and then make 5 hearts, 13 if they did not lead a club.

A simple topic this week that comes in a few parts. It is from hand 1 Thursday 21/3

First question is after the bidding shown should North pass or bid 4♥? Well, so long as you trust partner enough not to have bid 3NT with a heart void you should pass because you will make as many heart tricks in notrump  as in hearts. However, the majority bid 4♥. So we will look at the hand when it is played in 4♥ by North.

Second, are your leads disciplined?  What would you lead from -

1)  Q 7 6 3       2) 9 7 6 3 

If you lead the 3 from both holdings how can  partner get it right? The recommended lead is 3 from the first holding and 7 from the second.(we say 2nd and 4th). So a low card promises a picture.

Now look at todays hand when East leads the ♠2. What card should West play if dummy plays low? Of course it is the Jack, partner's low card promises an honour and the only honour you cannot see is the queen and so partner has it and the Jack will win.

West should now think, "If I can get partner in to play another spade we can stop the declarer making any tricks in spades.

So, it definitely is "third hand plays high enough"

Now a quiz, the double dummy analysis says that the 4♥ should fail can you see the very unlikely lead to defeat the contract?

Although we only played 12 boards in the Gentle session this week we could have picked some points of interest in all of them. However, we eventually chose hand 11.

We assume that 4 card major players will open 1♥  although a 1♣  opening and a preemptive raise could well give East/West some problems.

At least one pairs did not play Michael's cue bids and so had to content themselves with an overcall. This should not have been a success but with most players not managing to make the game it scored better than it should.

Let us look first at the pair in 3NT. The way to beat this is to lead the ♥K  and East overtakes it to play the ♦Q. This is so tough and if you did not find it do not worry about it.

The first thing to notice is that the ♥ K is a  delusion as you might need to overtake it to get to the dummy. You should also notice that as South has bid most of the missing points will be in the South hand.

Now let us look at those playing in game in spades or diamonds. These are trump contracts and so we make C. A. M. P.

Count you quick tricks by power. You have 1 heart and 1 diamond.

Add tricks from other sources. In spades we have 2 slow tricks by power and probably 2 tricks and length. In diamonds we have a probable trick by position (Finesse), 2 slow tricks by power and 2 possible tricks by length.

Loser check. We have 2 losing spade and a possible diamond loser. So that is okay.

Manage the hand. In the spade game we have 10 tricks but in diamonds we need the diamond finesse. Overtake the ♥K and lead the ♦Q aiming to finesse. 11 tricks in spades but can you see how to make 12 in diamonds?

We will leave that with you

This week's hand was hand 4 at the gentle bridge session on Thursday. A part score hand where it was important to get to the level where you wanted to play quickly to give the opponents a problem.

When bidding this hand there are 2 things that both sides must remember

1. In competition all jump raises are pre-emptive;
2. Bid to the level of the fit. (Always assume that partner's bid suit has 5 cards in it)

So here we first turn to West. Partner opened 1♦ and I hold a very weak hand and 4 diamonds. 4 + 5 is 9. Bid at the 9 trick level bid 3♦.

Now North has a problem. 4♣ would not be a jump and so might not be pre-emptive. You do not want partner to think any bid is a game or slam try. However, if west had passed you should have bid 4♣  

Hand 14 this week can cause a lot of discussion.

After East opens 1♠  what should happen? First point is that while the South hand.has a nice suit the hand is not quite good enough to overcall 2♥ when you do not know if the ♦K is carrying its weight and so South should pass.

Next we turn our attention to West. Should they bid? The simple rule is - when partner opens 1 of a suit with 6 points you MUST bid but with fewer points you may bid.  Switching to the Losing Trick Count West has 2 spade losers, 2 heart losers, 3 diamond losers and 1 club loser. Total 8 but this should be adjusted to 9 for no Aces. Even so with 9 losers and partner's maximum of 7 losers we should raise to the 2 level.

First consideration now is what if West (incorrectly) passes. Has North got a bid? Well absolutely Yes. 1NT in the protection seat (which is where we are) shows a fairly balanced hand and 10-14 points. Importantly it does not promise a stop in the opener's suit. If 1NT is found Stayman and transfers still apply from partner.

Now let us go back to West bidding 2♠. When this is passed to south another tip comes into force - "Do not let them play at the 2 level."  South should bid 3♥  now.

Finally,  if North/South get to 4♥ and the opponents bid 4♠ it should be doubled and defeated.

We only had 2 tables at the gentle session this week. Can we try a bit harder people and come along. It is a pleasant session, especially if you venture into the Ridley afterwards.

Now onto hand 6 and the bidding surprised me at the table that I was surreptitiously watching. It started well and 2♦ (fourth suit forcing) presented a game force but caused responder a bit of a problem. They had shown a hand with 5 clubs and 4 spades and to repeat one of those suits would show an extra card. They had not got a diamond stop and so bidding notrump was out. This left the only choice being 2♥ 

Now as this is game forcing my question is, "What is wrong with North showing the club support by bidding 3♣?" To suggest a minor suit contract must suggest more than a minimum opening hand and now the club slam can be found.

Yes, bidding 6NT in some fields might be required but in most club events 6♣ will get you a fine score.

Sometimes you can open the bidding easily enough but your rebid is a problem.

The hand this week gives you a problem where your rebid very much depends on your style

On the hand shown the first problem occurs and for your rebid you have lots of problems and you possible options are

1. To make your bid to show 8/9 playing tricks. This is okay if you have such a bid in your armoury. We have not when partner has responded at the 2 level. Have you?
2. If partner cannot pass 2♥ because they have responded at the 2 level this is an option and partner may well bid 2♠ if they have 4.
3. You can reverse into 2♠ this is game forcing and looks best.

So you bid 2♠  and look at responder. This is game forcing and so 3♥  is stronger than 4♥ 

Do you know how to develop hands when partner opens 1NT?

The start of the bidding we have shown but what should North do next?

The opponents have stopped in 2♦  are you going to protect?

Bid 2♠ . Only good things can happen so long as partner remembers that you are a passed hand.

2♠ might make when 2♦ is also making

They might bid 3♦ and go one off.

Do not let them play at the 2 level.

When  we saw this hand we wondered just how the bidding would go, Again, with only 2 tables we saw two completely different auctions. The start of the auction at one table is given.

The 2♣  opening bid is right  as a 1♥  opening could be passed out with 3NT or 5♣  making. West overcalled 2♠  and what does North do?

A good agreement here is that double would say, "This is our last chance of a plus". Without this agreement North/South are likely to get too high, but with it South could pass for 300 or get to 3NT for 600

Players tended to make things difficult for themselves on hand 6 this week with their opening bid.

We only had 2 tables and each chose a different opening.

At one table 1♥ was chosen and with 4 points opposite played there. Well at least they made it.

At the other table 2♣ was the chosen start and 2♥ was rebid. This meant they got too high and played in 4♥ .

Both opening bids were wrong. The correct opening bid is 2NT (balanced 20-22) this will be raised to 3NT with the Ace and with careful play this should be made.

Do not complicate things, or , or as my late wife told me, "Don't try to be clever, you are not clever enough!"

This hand comes from Friday night and to get the best of the contract you need simple but effective methods. 

First up are the answers to 2NT over a weak two opener in a major.

There are two main methods. Ogust (the oldest) and Robson.

We find Robson is simple and more effective.. The standard responses are -

3♣ /3♦  maximum with a feature in the suit bid or the other major

A repeat of opener's suit - minimum

A bid of the other major - NATURAL

3NT - 6 trumps headed by A, K, Q

This was hand 1 last Friday

2♥ weak two

2NT  ask

3s NATURAL

4NT - R. K. C. Blackwood

Now the other bit of kit.

6♦  1 keycard and a void.

7♠  goal

Our advice then - talk to partner  and agree your responses and have a merry Christmas and a high-scoring New Year!

There were two hands on Thursday this week where it became obvious that players have forgotten the rules for protection. 

It is simply this. 1NT in the protective seat should be 10-14 and need not have a stop in opener's suit.

So, in the hand shown a passed hand can bid 1NT in the protective seat showing 10-11 points.

Notice that on the hand shown East can make 2 spades and North can make 2NT.

The moral then - PROTECT

With this hand from Thursday many players were concerned about the level to open the North hand. Well, unless you are playing with a pedant when you have an 8 card suit open at the 4 level. (I have had a partner that would not let me pre-empt with 3 cards in a major but this is strange) with most partners 4♣ is fine.

East has a perfectly good takeout double and South should raise to 5♣. 

Now West has a problem. Should West bid? I must confess that I would but look what happens on a diamond lead from North. North/South make 2  diamonds and a diamond ruff, 1 club and 1 heart. 3 off in a contract that should be doubled is 800. Whoops.

This hand came up in the Thursday gentle pairs this week when we had 4 tables. At all four table the bidding started as shown.

North has to decide whether or not to bid. If you do bid good things can happen.

1. If it is your hand and you make your part score or even game
2. You might go 1 down with 2♥ making
3. They might push on the 3♥ and go down instead of 2♥ making

All these pluses means, "Please bid" North at our table reopened with a double and South bid 2♠ as game could not be on opposite a passed hand.

Answer: Don't let them play at the 2 level

Most players would open the South hand 1♠  here but the 1♣ opening gave North a clue.

First would you bid 6S after this start? Next question would you make it?

After the lead of the ♥J how do you plan and what do you notice?

During the relaxed Thursday morning session a player had to leave early and so I sat in and played a few boards. The first of which I failed miserably. I am not reporting this so I can be publicly flogged but because there is quite a lot to learn from the hand.

First is what opener had shown. He has 5 hearts, 4 diamonds and 3 spades and extra values. Why extra values? Because if partner had the same shape but a minimum hand they should open 1♥  and rebid 2♠  after the 1♠ reply.

Now let us look at my rebid by considering the 3 options

1. pass and play in the known 4-3 fit.
2. bid 3♥  and let partner play in the 5-2 fit
3. bid 2NT and hope it come close.

Think about it and then look in answer to see the problems with some of the options.

We aim to use this page for hands from the relaxed session on Thursdays, however, it did not run this week so we thought that this fun hand from this week's National Teams League.

If you look at the hand and you were asked to guess the auction at both tables we think that you would need 1 million guesses.

However, in our match the auction went 

At table 1, 2♠  was weak and 2NT asked. 4♣ Showed 6-5 or better and the 4♠ was a sign-off. West thought that the ♥ A would be a good lead for his partner to ruff and the rest was easy. 4♠ +1 and 650

At table 2,  2NT was unusual and as South was light they decided to pass and North bid the heart game. West did not double in case they had a better spot and that was 3 off for another 300 for the good guys.

Do you think that this was the craziest auction in all of the match. Of course not and the hand at another table shows why you should consider giving up the Multi.

At this table South passed and West opened a multi and North bid 4♥ . So East "knew" that partner had a weak two in spades and bid 4♠ . That did not play well.