November 2017 - 48

Newer Players

Ask Jerry
BY JERRY HELMS

Dear Jerry,
Recently, one of my opponents
opened with a preempt in third seat
on a mediocre six-card suit. It had a
devastating effect on our auction. Is
aggressive bidding like this a modern trend that I'm missing out on?
Melanie
Hi Melanie,
I have a teaching deal that I often
use, which may help you understand
my feelings on this issue.
Dlr: West ♠ Q 8 7 5 4
Vul: None ♥ Q 3
♦ Q 10 8 7
♣ A 10
♠ A J 10 9
♠32
♥K765
♥942
♦9543
♦62
♣J
♣KQ9865
♠K6
♥ A J 10 8
♦AKJ
♣7432
I ask my students to bid and play
whatever contract they arrive at.
Here's the auction at most tables:
West
Pass
Pass
Pass

North
Pass
2♥
3NT

East
South
Pass
1NT
Pass
2♠
All Pass

A simple auction. South opens a
standard 15-17 1NT, North transfers
to spades, and then offers South a

48 Bridge Bulletin November 2017

askjerry@jerryhelms.com

jerryhelms.com

choice of games by bidding 3NT. On
any lead, there are nine tricks available
in notrump: one spade, three hearts,
four diamonds and a club. What's the
problem?
The problem? How could East possibly pass in third seat? One of my
Jerry-isms:

Good players integrate what they
can see with what they have
heard and seen.
Seeing 5 high-card points and hearing his partner pass (which tends to
show 10 or 11 points at most) should
lead East to an epiphany ... the opponents rate to possess at least 24-25
points.
Here, East has two options: 1. Pass.
"I have exactly 13 cards with nothing I
wish to say at this time"; 2. 3♣. "I have
a long, reasonable club suit with less
than opening-bid values." Clearly option 2 is far more descriptive than option 1. Now consider how the auction
might be affected:
West
Pass

North
Pass

East
3♣

South
?

What is poor South supposed to do?
Make a takeout double with only two
spades? Overcall 3NT with 16 HCP and
four small clubs in the face of the club
preempt? Overcall a four-card heart
suit? What should South do? Well,
emotionally, I would feel like slapping my right-hand opponent because

there is not an option available that
describes what I have.
If South does double, North would
likely jump to 4♠, which has no play. If
South passes in tempo, which I doubt,
North might well balance with 3♠.
South may now raise to the unmakeable game, or may pass ... who knows?
The point is that once East opens 3♣,
he has created a situation for East-
West to receive their best possible result. If 3♣ becomes the final contract,
they will certainly take at least seven
tricks and maybe eight, to go down one
or two - a much better result than defending a making game. It doesn't look
likely that the opponents could ever
effectively engineer a penalty double
of 3♣.
But wait! East has only a six-card
club suit! Doesn't a three-level preempt show a seven-card suit? If I were
East, I would explain that I almost had
a seven-card suit, and really wish that
I did have a seven-card suit. But alas, I
had to deal with what I was dealt (pun
intended).
Although I believe this Jerry-ism applies in all seats, I think it's especially
important in third seat:

Look for a reason to bid before
settling for an excuse to pass.
I guess I could have just answered
your question with a simple yes.
◾

http://www.jerryhelms.com

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