June 2008 - 39

play bridge
A section designed with the newer player in mind.

One of the best things we have
done to improve our club in the past
year is to add a dealing machine. We
produce duplicated deals for every
session. The obvious advantages are
that all sections play the same hands
and that hand records are available
after each session.
If you play in a club or attend
a tournament that produces hand
records, you should always pick up a
copy after the session. You and partner can determine where you could
have improved your results.
The other day, a student, clutching a
hand record, approached me and
asked, "How should we bid board 12?"
Before reading on, decide how you
and your partner would bid these
hands.
North
Q875
 10 4 3
7
AQ864
South
 A K J 10 4 3
A5
AJ984
-
Their auction was simple: 1
by South, 2 by North and 4 by
South. South has 17 high-card points;
North has eight. Yet they missed a
grand slam! Both of these hands
require evaluation, not just counting
points.
After the 1 opening, North needs
to reevaluate in terms of dummy
points. With four trumps and a singleton, the hand is worth 11 support
points. This hand is attractive because
the honors are in the same suit, and it
is the long suit.

Look at:
Q 7 6 5 7 4 3 Q A 9 8 6 4
and
Q 7 6 5 Q 4 3 7 A 9 8 6 4.
Both of these hands contain the
same shape and high-card points as
the North hand shown in the bidding
diagram, but are not nearly as appealing.
If North is a conservative bidder
and bids only 2, however, South
should not rush to bid game. South
should rebid 3, which is interpreted
a help-suit game try. (In fact, South
is always going to game and still has
some interest in slam.)
Once North-South agree on a major
suit, and a new suit is introduced,
the meaning is, "If you can help
with my losers in this suit, we might
have game." It doesn't have to be a
five-card suit or even a four-card suit.
It asks partner to focus on his holding
in that suit. High cards and/or shortness are two holdings North might
have to accept the game try and jump
to 4. The worst holding in the help
suit would be three low cards - no
high-card help and no shortness.
With the given hand, North should
jump to 4 over the 3 rebid.
(Those of you who like to cuebid
might realize that North could bid
4 over the 3 try; this is an acceptance of the game try and shows the
A.) The 4 reply by North means
he has a useful diamond holding and
that is good news for South. At this
point he might jump directly to slam
because he will usually have only one
loser.
Suppose over the 1 opener,
North correctly evaluates his hand
and jumps to 3 (instead of bidding

Notes from ACBL Accredited Teachers
June 2008

Val Covalciuc
ACBL Accredited Teacher
valerierick@comcast.net
2), showing four trumps and 10-12
support points; it is time for South to
assess. As declarer, he needs to focus
on losers. Once partner has shown
four-card support, this becomes a
three-loser hand. If partner can cover
the heart loser and has only two
diamonds, the hand will produce 12
tricks. This means that opener could
make a slam opposite:
9 8 6 5 K 8 6 6 2 10 8 6 4,
with normal breaks in spades and
diamonds.
How South proceeds may depend
on system and style. Some Souths
would simply conclude the auction
with 6. The more scientific bidders
might try 4 and then cuebid the
A if partner shows the A. Once
the partnership is at the game level,
new suit bids are control bids for
slam. When the partnership is below
game, the help-suit principle applies.
It would take a fairly experienced
partnership to bid a grand slam on
these cards. Reaching 6 would be
a very good result, however, because
the point counters add 17 and 8 and
are lucky to get to game!
r
39
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2008
