September 2021 - 43

textures, I'm treating this as a very distributional
one-suiter. If partner has
the kA with length, I am a loser here. "
Lee launches a variant of the fast
arrival principle. " 5'. With hands
like this, it's always such a guess for
everyone at the table. I'll just make the
bid directly that I think I'm going to
have to make at some point anyway. "
Meckstroth, too, goes all in. " 5'.
Want to bid it immediately. "
Rigal muses creatively before
bouncing to 5'. " I'm not sure whether
we combine leaping Michaels with
DONT [we don't]. It would be nice on
this hand, but not normal to do so. My
choices are 2', letting the opponents
in cheaply, or 4'/5', concealing the
hearts. I think I'll go with 5'. It may
be hard for the opponents to defend
accurately. "
" What a dangerous hand! " exclaims
Colchamiro as he selects his 3' call.
" Opposite:
A x x kQ 10 lx x x x x x 'x x,
we're cold for 5', but opposite:
K x x x kx x lx x x x x 'x x,
we could go for minus 500 or 800.
So it's a guess whether to go big or go
small. I'm gonna take out the big stick
and try 3' followed by 4k if I get the
chance, or 5' if I have to. If I do go
for minus 500 or 800, maybe they're
on for 4 or 5l and the loss will
be only 4 or 5 IMPs. But really, who
knows? "
Robinson bids 3'. " Playing my
system, I could double, which shows a
four-card major and a longer minor. If
partner bid 2' asking for my minor,
I would then bid 2k, which shows a
good major-minor hand. If partner
bid 2l asking for my major - which
also shows major-suit support - I'd
jump to 4k. Playing inferior methods,
however, I'll just bid 3'. "
" This is a great hand to play 2NT
as hearts and a minor, " says Molson,
venturing beyond the system boundaries
without permission. " I could
close my eyes and hope I don't hear
4l or 5l. What the heck, I haven't
gone for 1100 in months; 2NT, planning
to correct diamonds to hearts. "
5. Door #1 or door #2?
IMPs. None vulnerable.
A Q 7 kA K Q 10 8 lA 7 5 2 'K
West North
East
Call
2'
1k
2NT
Votes
10
5
South
?
Award
100
80
30
There are basically two possible
answers to this problem. Stretching
the range and distorting the distribution
to open 2NT is remotely possible,
but not for this panel: It's either 2'
or 1k.
Sanborn chooses 2', planning to
follow with 2NT. " I have a chance to
play either major or notrump. 1k is
for those who have never played a
game at the one level. "
Colchamiro, too: " 2' followed
by 2NT. If my k8 were the '8, this
would be unanimous. "
2' by Robinson. " The only question
is what to rebid over 2l? I'd
rebid 2NT. "
Cohen says he's comfortable opening
2', followed by 2k after the
likely 2l response. " I suppose 2'
then 2NT is also in the picture. But
I should decide before making my
rebid, so it can be in tempo. "
Weinstein, 2'. " I don't like the
prospect of a 3l jumpshift if I open
this hand 1k, and because we're not
playing Kokish, the auction should
time out well if we start with 2' and
show our hearts. We can raise 2 or
2NT. It would be a much uglier problem
if we were playing Kokish. "
Armed with Kokish [not part of
BBS], Rigal is delighted to open 2'.
continued on page 61
NEXT MONTH'S PROBLEMS
It's Your Call uses the Bridge Bulletin
Standard system. Enter the MyACBL
member portal at acbl.org and click on
It's Your Call on the left-hand menu.
You'll find a link to the system notes at
the top of the page.
1. IMPs. East-West vulnerable.
A K 7 6 5 kJ 8 7 2 l- 'K J 7 5
West North
East
3'(1)
Pass
South
1' 1l 1
3l ?
(1) Four-card diamond support, 6-10
points
2. IMPs. East-West vulnerable.
A 8 5 kA Q J 7 l10 6 3 '10 5 4
West North
East
2l Dbl (1)
1' Pass
Pass
(1) Three-card heart support
3. Matchpoints. North-South vulnerable.
-
kK 6 5 lK J 10 8 7 3 'A K 8 6
West North
East
South
1k 3 ?
4. IMPs. North-South vulnerable.
A 10 7 kK Q lA 8 3 '10 9 8 7 5
West North
East
Pass Pass
Pass Dbl
Pass
South
3l Pass
?
5. IMPs. North-South vulnerable.
Q J 3 k9 7 4 3 lA K J 5 '7 5
West North
East
South
1 Pass
Pass 2' 2k ?
IT'S
YOUR
CALL
South
1k
?
July Top Online
Scores. See page 76.
September 2021 | Bridge Bulletin |
43
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September 2021

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