October 2021 - 59

Intermediate Players
BY MARTY BERGEN
martybergen.com
Y
ou are in third seat after two
passes.
If you have a balanced hand
with 12-plus HCP, you will obviously
make the same bid you would have
made in any other seat. However, if
you have an unbalanced hand, especially
a weak or modest-strength one,
being in third seat after two passes
makes me think about the song that
won the Academy Award for best
song in 1993. That was " A Whole New
World. "
The following is one of the best
bridge statements I have ever read.
" An average player thinks only about
his 13 cards. A better player thinks
about his side's 26 cards. But a very
good player is always thinking about
52 cards. "
When your partner is the dealer,
roughly 25%-30% of the time, the
first two players will pass. When I
play, here are my thoughts:
* Because I always am eager to have
a chance to start the auction, I am
delighted.
* If I have a weak or even modest-strength
hand with even a fairly
long suit, this is an ideal time for a
preempt.
* Although I obviously prefer when
our side is nonvulnerable, being
vulnerable does not cause me to
quake with fear.
* The fact that I strongly encourage
my partners to open light and preempt
aggressively helps me size up
the situation.
With the above in mind, here is my
style in third seat after two passes.
It is definitely a very aggressive one.
But not only is it a fun style; it is also
definitely a winning one. It could be
described as, " In third seat after two
passes, I strive to not pass. "
Better Bridge with Bergen
Improve your bidding judgment - part 5
Opening 1 of a suit
With balanced distribution, my
usual minimum is 9 HCP when not
vulnerable and 10-11 if vulnerable.
With a minimum or subminimum
opening bid, I will occasionally open
a very strong four-card major. When
we might be on defense, I always am
thinking about helping my partner
make the best lead for our side. But as
a wise colleague remarked to me long
ago, " Even in third seat, think twice
before opening a four-card major.
Too often, that bid may cause your
partner to compete too aggressively;
especially if he very sensibly relies on
the Law of Total Tricks. "
A rebid or the ability to pass any
response are also factors in choosing
to open light.
Preempts
With a weak hand that includes a
fairly long suit, with the " thinking
about all 52 cards " quote in mind,
I always strive to create as much
difficulty as I can for my left-hand
opponent. With an obvious preempt,
I may preempt one level higher than
a typical player would. That general
philosophy is even more true when
nonvulnerable in third seat opposite
a passed hand.
If I lack a strong hand, my LHO
rates to have the best hand at the
table. In fact, as I will make clear in
future articles, in third seat I am also
eager to preempt with certain hands
that are not weak!
The following " rules " are important
but are also easy. Any time you
are in third seat after two passes
and have a weak or modest hand, you
should think about my Rules of 16
and 24. It is reasonable to estimate
that the two passed hands have a
total of approximately 16 HCP. That
would mean that the number of highcard
points for you and your LHO is
around 24. So, if you subtract your
points from 24, you now know the
approximate number of high-card
points your LHO has. Now what?
Well, the weaker you are, the stronger
your LHO is. In that case, he is far
more important than you! Accordingly,
you should be eager to try to make
his life as difficult as possible.
With the above in mind, here are
four weak or modest-strength hands.
For each example, you are in third
seat after two passes. Neither side is
vulnerable. What would you do?
➊ 6 kJ 6 5 4 lK J 9 8 2 '9 8 5
➋ 3 kK Q J 9 7 6 3 lJ 10 9 7 '7
➌ 10 9 8 7 4 3 2 k7 6 2 lJ 10 '7
➍ J 8 7 6 4 3 2 kQ J 2 lQ J 'K
I will address these next month.
Notices of Resignation
The ACBL has received resignation
notices from Claudette
Hartman (R981470), Tobi
Sokolow (O781950) and David
Sokolow (M303407). These
notices are considered " Resignations
to Avoid Possible Disciplinary
Action " due to pending
charges.
The names and member
numbers of these parties will be
posted on the ACBL website on
the " Currently Under Discipline "
list under " Members Resigned to
Avoid Possible Disciplinary Action. "
There is no statute of limitations
on possible disciplinary
action related to resignations.
October 2021 | Bridge Bulletin |
59
http://www.martybergen.com
October 2021

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