November 2020 - 60

Special Contributors

Dear Billy
BY BILLY MILLER

Dear Billy:
I have a long-standing partnership that is threatening to crack
over bidding styles. I'm a relatively
conservative bidder by nature, so my
partner often takes liberties based
on this, and frequently gets away
with them.
At IMP scoring (playing on BBO),
vul vs. not, I was dealt:
♠J 5 ♥K 10 6 3 ♦A Q 5 4 ♣10 6 5.
On my left, dealer opened 1♠,
passed around to me. I reopened
with a double, which was a mistake,
as dealer jumped to 3♠, and my
partner fearlessly pressed on to 4♥
with:
♠6 4 ♥J 9 8 7 5 ♦K 9 8 7 ♣Q 4.
This failed to push our opponents
to their cold 4♠, but defending 4♥
doubled provided sufficient compensation for them. (As often is the
case, the lie was somewhat friendly
and the penalty was only 500.)
What can we do to mend this? I
am tired of being afraid to bid, and
grumbling about it only seems to
agitate my partner. A 15-year partnership hangs in the balance here.
Can it be saved?
Stuck in the Mud

60 Bridge Bulletin November 2020

dearbilly@aol.com

Dear Mud Ostrich,
This is no time to avoid the inevitable confrontation if your partnership
is worth saving. What's critical here is
that you both must adhere to the same
rules. It's fine that one player is more
optimistic than the other, or that one
player is more gutsy than the other, but
the rules are the rules and they apply
equally to both players.
A direct takeout double shows
roughly an opening bid and support for
all three unbid suits. A takeout double
in the balancing seat is allowed to be
up to a king less than a direct takeout double. You in no way are more
than a king light, so your hand totally
qualifies for a reopening double. (As an
aside, it is standard thinking that many
overcalls and doubles in the balancing
seat are permitted to be lighter in high
cards than their direct counterparts.)
Given that application, it is up to
partner to bid accordingly and adjust to
those parameters. Your partner's hand
is not a game force. It is not invitational. It is barely breathing. It's an aceless,
flat wonder, worthy of a two-level peep.
Partner's 4♥ bid was completely out of
line. Your reopening double was not.
If partner cannot see the error of his
ways, it might be time to move on. It's
amazing you made it 15 years!

Dear Billy,
Playing on BBO, as South, I picked
up:
♠A ♥A K 10 7 4 ♦9 ♣Q J 9 6 5 2.
I opened 1♣ followed by 4♠ by
West. My partner suddenly had to
drop out and a sub filled in. Holding:
♠8 4 ♥Q 3 ♦K J 6 5 4 ♣A K 7 3,
my new, unknown partner doubled
the 4♠ bid. One of my opponents
asked me privately what the double
meant! (You must be kidding.)
East was silenced, and I believe I
should have continued by patterning out my hand out by bidding 5♥.
But then in a moment of fluster, I
second-guessed myself and passed
4♠ doubled. Would love to hear your
advice.
A Fateful Reader
Dear Lacking Faith,
I am hoping you meant to say "faithful reader"? As you may surmise, I
would agree with your initial thinking. Your partner's double represents
good values and not necessarily a
spade stack. In fact, your singleton ♠A
makes it very likely his values are totally outside of spades. Because you do
not have a run-of-the-mill hand, bidding 5♥ makes perfect sense. Partner
would have no trouble correcting to
6♣ which would end the auction in a
very nice contract. Had you held a flat,
nondescript opener, you would always
pass 4♠ doubled.
◾
November 2020

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