July 2013 - 37

It's Your Call

choice, 4 gives up getting a penalty
against 3."
"Double." Rigal invites partner's participation. "Showing extras and some
defense. Let's ask partner rather than
telling him what to do."
Colchamiro vacillates between 4
and double, and eventually places
the red card on the table. "One of the
worst moments in bridge is when you
bid in these situations and partner
puts downQ 10 9 x x, smugly giving
you the sarcastic 'Good luck partner.'"
"Double - definitely takeout,"
announce the Sutherlins. "We have
shown 10-plus cards in two suits and
we are still below game. Guessing
whether to bid 4 or 5 takes hearts
out of play."
Boehm doubles. "After correcting 4 to 4 and pinpointing my
suits, I hope to imply great high-card
strength, enough to sustain partner's
possible penalty pass."
Weinstein bids 4. "Matchpoints
is a twisted game. Though we have
the right values for double, we're too
concentrated. Also, partner already
had a chance to double 3. 4 looks
normal, but oddly, when partner has
better diamonds than hearts, we'll
often get a better score in hearts.
Furthermore, our distortion might
provoke the opponents into taking a
phantom save."
Robinson bids 4, too. "Partner
shouldn't pass with a singleton heart.
I don't want to double and have
partner pass it because he didn't have
anything clear to bid. 4 will play opposite a doubleton."
5. Matchpoints. East-West vulnerable
K 10 8 5 4 3 2 K 9 6 5 10 2
West

North

East
2(1)

South
?

(1) 2=Natural, 11-15 HCP.
Call
3
2
Pass
4

Votes
10
7
2
1

Award
100
80
60
50

Partnership agreement required
"Although 3 is an unusual preempt," explain the Joyces, "it makes
sense to us that a jump in a new suit
over a value-showing bid would be
preemptive. Although our cards are
not ideal, the shape is great!"
"3," says Boehm, "a weak jump
overcall - like 1-3. Imperfect,
but 2 seems more dangerous
because in a competitive auction,
partner will play me for much more
defense."
"Since they have not preempted,
I am still allowed to preempt," says
3 bidder Hampson. "I like the 7-4
pattern, but the holes in my suit are
too large to allow me to gamble 4
by myself."
Rigal's rationale: "Over weak twos,
a jump to 3 would be strong. Over
an opening bid, this should be weak.
Some would bid 4 I suppose, but
that looks too much like a transfer to
minus 500."
Isfeld and Henneberger evaluate:
"The favorable vulnerability combined
with 7-4 shape make up for the lack
of suit quality."
"3," according to Walker, "the
same bid I would have made over any
other opening bid."
Lawrence is content with 2,
"mainly because passing may make it
too dangerous to bid later. This hand
has terrific shape to compensate for
its weak values. Because 2 is an
opening hand, 3 here would show a
preemptive hand."
Robinson's evaluation standards are
similar. "I know 2 shows an opening
bid, but this looks like a good hand."
Unsure of what 3 would be, Slack
tries 2. "The person with shortness
should stretch to get into the auction,
and this is about as much as I want to
stretch."
"2," offers Colchamiro. "It's not in
my DNA to pass, and 3 is obviously
wrong and 4 is a bit much for me."
"I would like to preempt," says Cohen, who bids 2. "But it isn't clear
without discussion if 3 would be intermediate or weak. This isn't defined

in most people's system notes."
"We have playing strength to bid
and it seems better to go slow and
hope to get hearts into the picture,"
say the Sutherlins with 2.
Falk passes. "With a bad spade suit
and four biddable hearts, I can wait
before committing us to a level and
strain my high cards do not justify. If
I bid spades later at the three level,
partner will know I have hearts. With
spades only, I'd bid now."
Sanborn passes and prays. "It would
have been easier to bid over 1, but
after 2, any number of spades I bid
will show more strength than I have. I
hate passing, but my poor partner will
hate me if I bid."
The Coopers go high. "4. We are
disadvantaged compared to the field
that opened 1, so we use the maximum room we can."
r

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July 2013 Bridge Bulletin

37
http://www.acbl.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2013
