April 2005 - 60

Partnership
Bridge
By Pamela and Matthew Granovetter
www.bridgetoday.com

Pamela: "Forcing to game" means
forcing to game, right? If you drop
partner in the middle of the auction
when he thinks you're on a game
force, it's not going to be healthy
for your partnership. I had the
following disaster last night.
Dlr: North
Q6
Vul: N-S
A K J 9 3
K87
J32
A K J 9 5 3
 10 4
N
Q6
 10 7 5 4 2
W E
 J 10 6 5
32
S
4
 Q 10 9 8
872
8
A Q 9 4
A K 7 6 5
West
North East
South
1
Pass
2
2
3
Pass
3
Pass
3
Pass
4
Pass
5
Dbl
All Pass

The result was down two for
minus 500 after the lead of the K.
Pamela: We were playing the
increasingly popular style: 2/1 forcing to game (without exceptions). I
knew in my heart that I should pass
partner's 4 bid, but I was reluctant
to break discipline.
Matthew: That was some double
by East! This is what I'd call an
unlucky deal for North-South.
Nevertheless, you should have
stopped in 4, even if it does go
down one on the bad split. At the
point your partner bid 4, it was
obvious that the only playable spot
was 3NT, but having found no spade
stopper, your partner retreated to
4. It was now a good bet that
there were two spade losers and
probably one more in the wash.
Pamela: The wash was in the East
hand. But suppose partner held a

slam-going hand, for example,
2 6 5 A Q 9 4 A K Q 7 6 5.
If our agreement is that 2 is
forcing to game, wouldn't South be
entitled to bid 4 over 3, hoping
to hear a 4 cuebid? Then he could
use Blackwood to get to slam. What
kind of partnership will I have if
partner bids 4, looking for slam,
and I drop him there, because I
think we may not make a game?
The Last Word (Matthew): Not
a very good one. For this reason,
some partnerships play that the
"forcing to game" rule expires at
four of a minor, if the partnership
unsuccessfully tried for 3NT. Using
this rule, a minor-suit bid and raised
via 2/1 can be passed after fishing
for 3NT; with the slam-try hand
you gave as an example, you bid
something else, such as 3.


no good lie.
However, should you prefer,
without exception, to open all hands
holding a five-card major suit one
of a major, then with five hearts and
16 HCP you can open 1 provided
you are willing to rebid a three-card
minor over 1 (as well as 1NT), as
the best available lie.
So there you have it. The final
answer. The five principles of Do
you or Don't you? Succinctly, with
a few minor exceptions, they tell
you not to open 1NT holding a fivecard major unless it consists of five
hearts and specifically 16 HCP.

I hope some of our computer
geeks in the bridge world will help
me provide scientific confirmation
of their validity.


 Winsome & Loathsome
choose the "best lie." Ergo, the third
principle:
3. With five hearts and 15 HCP,
open 1, and over 1, rebid 1NT.
That is only a one-point lie and
would, therefore, seem to be the
"best lie."
4. With five hearts and 17 HCP,
open 1 and over 1, rebid 2NT.
Once again, that is only a one-point
discrepancy and would, therefore,
seem to be the "best lie." Indeed,
if you assign a point for the heart
length, it is no lie at all.
5. With five hearts and 16 HCP, it is
okay to open 1NT because there is
60

District 1 appointments
The Goodwill and Charity Committee
appointments made by George
Retek, who represents District 1 on
the ACBL Board of Directors, were
left off the lists published in the
March issue (page 36). They are Ann
Hartop, Ammon NB, and Louise Zicat,
Gatineau QC, Goodwill; Karl Hicks,
Dominion NS, and Peter Clark, Ottawa
ON, Charity.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2005
