May 2011 - 42

Bridge Player's
Survival Kit
West led the 6. The result was one
down - minus 50 for North-South.

Leslie Shafer
slamhand@verizon.net

Know when you're
off the hook
Dlr: North  Q 4 2
Vul: E-W  Q 7 4 2
AKQ84
4
 10 9 7 6
AJ8
N
 10 6 5
AK8
W E
 10 9
7653
S
KQ96
A75
K53
J93
J2
 J 10 8 3 2
West

North
1
All Pass

East
Dbl (1)

South
1NT (2)

Leslie Shafer is the editor of
"Bridge Students 'R Us," a national
bridge newsletter specifically for
Intermediate and Novice players.
You may subscribe by sending
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burg, MD 20878. Visit her web‑
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42 Bridge Bulletin May 2011

(1) What was poor East to do? She
didn't want to pass, but she couldn't
overcall 1NT without a diamond stopper. She decided on a flawed takeout
double, even though she might owe
her partner an apology later if it didn't
work out well.
(2) A knee-jerk bid. South had already
decided what his response to partner's opening bid would be and failed
to alter his plan when East doubled
for takeout. South was off the hook
after East entered the auction and
should pass with his scattered 6 highcard points.
We usually tell responder he has to
keep the bidding open when he has 6
or more HCP. This is to give opener
another chance to bid in case he has
a magical 20-point monster and wants
to be in game, even opposite a minimum response.
East had made a takeout double in
this auction, so North was sure to get
a chance to rebid. There is no reason
for South to feel compelled to bid
with his poor hand.
A 1NT response, after an opponent's takeout double, should show
the upper part of the usual 6-10 point
range (8 or 9-ish - with 10 or more
HCP you would usually prefer to
redouble).
The defense: West led a low club
to his partner's ace. East cashed the
K to show West she had the A as
an entry. East then led back her 7,
South played the 10 to force West

to play an honor. West won the Q
and led a heart to his partner's ace.
East played her last club through the
declarer's J 8 3 to her partner's K
9. When West cashed the fourth club,
East signaled with a high spade and
West led to East's A for the setting
trick.
East-West can make 1NT (or 2
or 2) because of the lucky lie of
the cards, so North-South didn't feel
too bad about their result of down
one. However, when they checked
the scores at the end of the night,
they saw that their minus 50 was way
below average. What went wrong?
Most of the other North-South pairs
had plus scores, either by bidding and
making 2 or by setting a two-level
East-West contract. Turns out it's
very difficult for East-West to take
four club tricks when their side is
declaring and they can't see either of
the North-South hands!
r

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2011
