September 2022 - 64

Advanced Players
Mike's Advice
A difficult decision in the auction
No one vulnerable, North deals:
West North East
2l 3' Dbl
Who was right? Your opinion?
Let's face it: North had a difficult
South
1' 1k Pass
?
Your partner opens 1' and continues
with 3', getting doubled in the
process. You are South, having as little
as possible to do with the auction,
as you hold:
J 9 7 6 3 2 kJ 10 6 4 l9 6 4 '-.
Should you do anything?
In fact, you should pass. The only
bid you can consider is 3, and that
will work only if partner has some
spades himself. He seems to have six
or seven clubs. They should be good
clubs because he is bidding against
two opponents who have shown fair
values.
3' doubled is passed out. Here's
the entire deal:
 Q 10
k 3
l A 8 7 2
' A K J 8 5 3
 K 8 4
k Q 2
l K Q J 10 5
' 10 6 4
 A 5
k A K 9 8 7 5
l 3
' Q 9 7 2
 J 9 7 6 3 2
k J 10 6 4
l 9 6 4
' -
Partner had a bad day at the office.
He lost two spades, a heart, three
diamonds and two clubs. Down four.
Minus 800.
South queried whether North
should have bid 3'. North queried
why South hadn't bid 3.
64 | Bridge Bulletin | September 2022
decision. If South had three clubs and
two diamonds, 3' might make or be
close to making. In all fairness, North
bid a little too much, but he found the
worst possible dummy. On the other
hand, South could have bid 3, but
would have looked silly if North had
one spade. 3 doubled might also
have been down a ton.
Arguing who should have bid here
won't get you anywhere. Here's a
more important question: Were
North-South doomed to play in 3'
doubled? The answer is no. South
could have saved the day. How?
If you use weak jumpshifts in competition,
a very effective tool, he could
have bid 2 over 1k. This shows a
six-card suit and denies enough to
bid 1. 2 isn't always a winner,
but it gains in many ways. It shows a
six-card suit. It denies a good hand.
It gets in the way of the opponents'
bidding. If your partner fits your suit,
he may be able to compete. The South
hand is weak, but if North has spade
support, North-South may be able to
make a few spades. And because you
show a weak hand, your partner won't
do anything drastic.
If South bids 2, West will have
a hard time finding a bid. He has no
" good " bid to make. More importantly,
South will have gotten his suit into
the bidding and North will be a lot
less interested in his club suit.
Postmortem: On hands where
South makes a weak jumpshift to the
two level, North may pass, but he may
sometimes want to bid again. He can
raise. This is a preemptive action, not
invitational. Or North can rebid his
suit. 3' here would say that North is
BY MIKE LAWRENCE
michaelslawrence.com
serious about clubs and doesn't want
to hear South bid again. North could
also bid 2NT. This is a strong bid
that asks South to describe his hand
further. Given South has 2 to 5 HCP,
it should be easy to show what he has.
Here's how South responds to a 2NT
bid:
3' = Weak hand, bad suit. For
example:
J 8 7 6 4 3 k5 4 3 2 lQ 7 '9.
3l = Weak hand, good (in context)
suit. South, remember, has a limited
range. He won't have very many
" good " suits. For example:
Q J 8 7 5 4 k5 4 l9 8 4 '9 8.
3k = Good hand, weak suit, e.g.,
J 10 7 6 4 3 k4 lQ 4 3 'Q 10 4.
Given that South has a maximum of
5 points, this is a maximum hand.
3 = Good hand, good suit. For
example:
K 10 8 6 5 4 k5 4 l5 4 'Q 8 5.
Having this 2NT bid available is
useful, but it comes with a caveat.
You and your partner have to be in
agreement. Not many players, in my
experience, have discussed how to
continue the bidding after a weak
jumpshift.
Note: Some players use weak
jumpshifts in competition only. Some
use them all the time. This 2NT bid
works in all cases.
http://www.michaelslawrence.com
September 2022

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