April 2021 - 44

IT'S

YOUR
CALL

DIRECTOR: SUE MUNDAY
SCORES: KAREN WALKER

Richard Pavlicek curated these problems from various world championships. If you are
not familiar with Richard's website, get thee there postmortem! You'll find a treasure
chest of learning materials, bridge utilities, puzzles and much more: rpbridge.net.

1. Unison
IMPs. None vulnerable.
8 6  K Q 8 6 2  A 8  J 8 6 5
West	 North	East	 South
	1	 Pass	1
Pass	1	2	?
	Call	
Votes	 Award
	3	15	100
	 Dbl	
0	
50
	 2NT	
0	
40
	 Pass	
0	
40
	2	
0	
30
	4	
0	
20
Grossack sums up the unanimity
of the panel. " 3 seems like a very
comfortable bid. The way I play, 1
followed by 1 shows four spades and
at least five clubs. Even in standard,
4=3=3=3 hands are meant to rebid
1NT, so I am assured of a club fit. And
if partner has game interest with three
hearts, they can now show that with
3. Why make an auction confusing
with an undiscussed double when 3
is a perfectly good bid? "
Cohen bid 3, but doesn't dismiss
the problem quite so easily. " It does
bother me that in the traditional sense,
East's delayed overcall would tend to
mean he has clubs as well. If he has
only diamonds, why not overcall the
first time? Anyone who claims they
know for sure what double would
mean is making it up. I actually think it
should be penalty, but I'd bet only one
out of a thousand partnerships have
ever discussed this particular question.

44 | Bridge Bulletin | April 2021

If double meant something like this
hand, I'd be happy to double. But why
couldn't it be:
J x  A x x x  K J x x x  x x? "
Lawrence, 3: " I expect that double
would be penalty. I'd be willing to
double if I had three diamonds, but I
don't so I don't. "
Sanborn agrees that double should
be penalty here. " So with iffy values for
2NT, I'll make a somewhat appropriate
raise. Many modern players will not
rebid 1 with 4=3=3=3, so we at least
have that going for us. "
3 by Meyers, who reminds us (and
partner) that no one is holding a gun
to her head. " I must have some kind of
constructive values. I am not worried about partner having only three
clubs, as my partners do not generally
rebid 1 with 4=3=3=3 distribution.
I honestly don't think there is another
reasonable call. "
Robinson, 3: " I've had good success
playing double of 2 as penalties. "
Molson, 3. " My partner should be
at least 4-4 in the black suits to rebid
1 over my 1. "
Weinstein expects not four, but five
clubs in partner's hand. " 3 will be the
best partscore, and partner can bid on
with extras. "
Rigal always has a word or two to
say about modern bidding practices.
" These days, the Young Turks never
want to play 2NT, so that call is always
artificial. The good/bad 2NT here is
how to show a competitive raise as
opposed to an invitational raise. Either
way, I bid 3. "

" I must be missing something, "
says Korbel. " The way that basically
all experts play is that with 4=3=3=3,
opener rebids 1NT, so partner promises at least four clubs. If partner was
4=3=2=4, I would prefer that he raise
me to 2 most of the time. I have no
idea what East is doing, but because
I have an easy 3 bid, I don't much
care. "
Colchamiro gets the last word. " In
theory, my opponents are supposed
to have clubs and diamonds for the
delayed entry into the auction, but
somehow they never do. I presume
partner has at least four clubs and that
with 4=3=3=3 would have rebid 1NT.
Given that, is this really a problem? Am
I really supposed to pass with the opponents having at least eight diamonds?
Am I really supposed to double with
A x at the two level? Not me. "
2. Back to the drawing board
IMPs. East-West vulnerable.
A 10 7 Q J 8 5 -  A K J 10 7 5
West	 North	East	 South
		 1	Dbl
3(1)	Pass	 Pass	?
	 (1) Weak
	Call	
	Pass	
	4	
	 Dbl	

Votes	 Award
12	
100
2	
60
1	
50

Lawrence leads off the green-carders.
" Plan A didn't go well. Need a Plan B.
Again, I'm not sure double would be
for penalty. One can imagine a perfect
hand for North that would give us a
play for 5:
J 9 3  2  J 9 7 6 4  Q 9 4 2.
I'm hoping for a nice 200 against 3. "
Colchamiro passes and says his Plan
A would have been different from the
get-go. " Why didn't I overcall 2 the
first time instead of doubling? With
partner marked with some spades
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April 2021

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