July 2021 - 59

Intermediate Players
Better Bridge with Bergen
Improve your bidding judgment - part 2
A
s a teacher, I have always believed
in the " Socratic method "
of teaching via Q&A. So, in this
series, I will first " set the scene " with
the auction and vulnerability. I will
then provide several examples and
invite readers to decide what to do. I'll
then conclude the mini-section with
my thoughts and answer.
Dealer; favorable vulnerability
What would you do?
1 K J 3 2 A J 9 8 2 K J K 10
2 3 J 5 3 2 K J 10 9 7 5 6 2
3 J 6 3 2 K J 4 K J 6 K Q J
1 Most players would open 1. Your
partner's most likely response to that is
1NT. Regardless of whether this is forcing,
semi-forcing, or nonforcing in your
partnership, what would you rebid?
2? No! This hand definitely lacks
the strength needed for a reverse,
which would force partner to bid again
- even with a rotten 6 points. Partner's
1NT response denied spades. So on
this auction, even if I had a hand worth
a 2 reverse, rather than show a suit
that we will not want to play in, I will often
prefer to make a more practical bid.
2NT? No! This hand is definitely not
strong enough for this rebid. Partner's
1NT response could be based on a very
weak hand, so even though 2NT is not
a jump here, this rebid promises the
same 18-19 points as if you jumped to
2NT after a one-level response in a suit.
For pairs who don't play 2/1, the
nonforcing 1NT response showed 6-10
points. For them, passing 1NT would
be unclear but plausible. However,
since the great majority of players
these days define a 1NT response to
a major as forcing or semi-forcing,
responder could have as much as 11-12
HCP. So passing here could easily
result in your side missing an excellent
game contract.
Playing 1NT forcing, the technically
correct rebid is 2. Are you happy
with this? I hope not.
My other huge objection to opening
1 are the four tenaces. After this
start, if you end in notrump, there's a
good chance that you'll be the dummy,
and the opening lead will come through
you. Yuck!
Everyone agrees that it is beneficial
for the stronger hand to declare - so
that most of your side's assets are concealed.
For the expert community, it is
also very important to try to arrange
that the player with tenaces become
the declarer. We strive to " right side "
the contract.
The easy, practical solution to all
of the above is to open 1NT. No rebid
problems, and this practical bid virtually
guarantees that if your side buys
the contract, you will be the declarer.
2 With the four-card major, some
players would regard any thoughts of
a preempt as heresy. C'est la vie! If you
passed because of the fear of missing a
heart fit, what I'm thinking about your
approach to bidding would definitely
not be considered politically correct!
Instead, I'll settle for, " I'd rather be
your opponent than your partner. "
I hope you are more enlightened.
You're in first seat with a weak, shapely
hand, and are short in spades. And last
but definitely not least, the vulnerability
is the one that you should yearn for. A
very wise friend said to me, " White vs.
red isn't bridge - it's a license to steal. "
If you would open 2 - I understand
that. But for me, based on:
BY MARTY BERGEN
martybergen.com
* the excellent texture of your diamond
suit;
* the vulnerability I dream about;
* the fact that both opponents are
unpassed hands;
* " 6-4, bid more " ;
* you are very short in the most important
suit in bridge;
I would definitely, definitely open 3.
3 Fess up. Did you open 1NT? If yes,
are you aware that I believe that you
suffer from point-count-itis? I really
hope you don't think that this pile of
garbage is worth a 1NT opening. If you
argue that, " It's what others would do, "
in my opinion that is not a valid justification
to make a bad bid.
Why do I hate this hand? No aces,
no intermediates, too many jacks,
4-3-3-3 distribution. The correct
opening bid is 1.
Next month I will continue to test
your judgment with non-obvious responding
hands.

CLUB DIRECTOR
COURSES
Online (space limited)
$50 includes test
melody.euler@acbl.org
my.acbl.org/events/lookup
July 5-8
7-10:30 p.m. ET
Aug. 16-19
7-10:30 p.m. ET
Sept. 18-19
11 a.m.-7 p.m. ET
July 2021 | Bridge Bulletin |
59
http://www.martybergen.com http://my.acbl.org/events/lookup

July 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2021

July 2021 - 1
July 2021 - 2
July 2021 - 3
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July 2021 - 12
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