August 2018 - 64

Special Contributors

Dear Billy
BY BILLY MILLER

Dear Billy,
My partner and I disagreed about
the bidding on these hands:
Partner
♠AQ754
♥3
♦Q42
♣AJ86

Me
♠2
♥KQJ974
♦AKJ965
♣-

Partner
1♠
3♣
3NT
5♥ (3)
6NT

Me
2♥
3♦ (1)
4NT (2)
6♦
Pass

(1) Fourth-suit forcing.
(2) Roman Blackwood.
(3) 2 aces, matching in color or rank.
She says my 3♦ bid is fourth-suit
forcing, to which I agree. But because I'm the captain (responder),
shouldn't she have trusted me and
passed 6♦? The diamond slam is
cold, but 6NT is down. I know I could
have jumped to 4♦ on my second
or on my third bid, but I was afraid
she might bid 5♦ before I could bid
Blackwood, putting me to a guess as
to whether I should bid a slam.
Captain, My Captain
Dear Kangaroo,
After auctions start with a 2/1 game
force, most fourth-suit bids are usually natural because there is no need to
create forcing bids artificially; you're
already in a forcing auction. It is possible that the fourth suit could be used
to temporize as the most space-saving

64 Bridge Bulletin August 2018

dearbilly@aol.com

and/or tactical bid, possibly used to
right-side a final contract. But chances
are, the fourth suit is natural.
On your auction, should responder
have continued with 4♦ over 3NT,
diamonds would clearly be natural and
slam-going. If partner raises to 5♦,
you will try 6♦. Should partner take a
preference back to 4♥, you might cuebid 5♣. Partner can evaluate her hand
and will know whether she has the
right stuff to go to slam. Best to make
sensible, representative bids.
Here's a no-no: bidding Blackwood
with a void. Don't do that. With side
voids, cuebid your way to slam.
Here's another rule to obey: 4NT
over 3NT is always quantitative, never
Blackwood. Lots to learn!
One last comment: It is not necessarily true that the responder is the
captain. Captaincy is a tricky concept.
Usually one becomes the captain when
partner has limited their hand, but the
final decision could still be passed back
to the limited hand. Live by the motto:
"I bid my hand, you bid your hand."
And I agree that partner should not
have corrected 6♦ to 6NT. She had an
excellent hand for diamonds.
Dear Billy:
Twenty-five years ago, when I
played in the Culbertson Club in
New York City, a multiple world
champion and her son were our opponents. Her son rebid 3♣ with a
hand similar in nature to the one I
am submitting to you. Mom passed
with a minimum. After the play,

Mom then told her son he should
have bid 3NT with an eight-trick
hand, expecting one trick from Mom.
Recently, my partner and I were
dealt these hands on OKBridge.
Me
♠65
♥K974
♦-
♣AKQ8753

Partner
♠AQJ2
♥Q6
♦K543
♣J42

I opened 1♣, LHO overcalled 1♥,
and partner made a takeout double.
RHO passed, and I jumped to 3NT,
heeding Mom's advice. But when
LHO passed, partner jumped to 6NT
(which LHO doubled at his turn).
Did I do something wrong?
Living In The Past?
Dear Nostalgic,
When you jump-rebid 3NT, you
were indicating a long, strong club
suit, a heart stopper, and maybe a little
something on the side. With 18 or 19
balanced, you would have rebid 2NT
not 3NT. In either case, a simple raise
from 3NT to 4NT is more than enough
to describe a hand looking for slam.
My standard range for making a
quantitative 4NT bid opposite my
partner's opening bid is 18-19 HCP,
balanced. Responder does not have
enough to bid slam on this deal. If
opener shows 18-19, then a 13-count
such as the one your partner actually
held, is only worth an invite.
However, with the actual opening
hand - though it is quite nice - a simple
jump rebid to 3♣ portrays the accu-
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