October 2022 - 59

Better Bridge with Bergen
Intermediate Players
BY MARTY BERGEN
martybergen.com
Y
ou are in second seat after
your RHO passed. Both sides
are vulnerable.
What would you do with the following
hands? As always, it's definitely
in your best interests to choose your
answer before reading my thoughts.
 1K kA J 9 lK J 4 2 'K J 9 5 3
2 4 3 kA K Q 9 lA J 5 4 2 'J 10
3 K Q J kQ 6 4 2 lK J 'Q J 6 5
4 A 3 kA Q 10 8 lA 10 9 '10 9 8 2
As I'm sure you figured out, the
question this month is: Should you
open 1NT? Although as is true of
many experts, I much prefer 1NT to
show 14-16 in first and second seat,
but because the vast majority of players
define a 1NT opening as 15-17,
I will assume that the partnership
agreement is 15-17.
O1pening bids with four diamonds
and five clubs not strong enough to
reverse are often annoying. If you
open 1', you may have a serious rebid
problem at your next turn. Opening
1l will allow you to show clubs next,
but could mislead partner about
your distribution. Of course, neither
auction will tell partner that you have
more than a minimum opening bid.
Sometimes, there is a practical
solution. Experts appreciate the great
potential of a singleton king in declarer's
hand in notrump. If your LHO
underleads his ace, the king is no longer
a dubious honor. So, if an expert's
awkward hand has the strength for a
1NT opener and includes a singleton
king, he will NOT hesitate to open
1NT. And if your auction ends up in
notrump, the singleton king is far
Improve your bidding judgment - part 17
more likely to be a stopper than a very
weak holding in the suit.
With this hand, I strongly believe
that the correct opening bid is 1NT.
It lets partner know immediately
that you have more than a minimum
opening bid, and resolves all potential
rebid problems. For me, case closed.
2 The relevant issue here is, if you
open 1l and partner makes the
expected response of 1, you are
definitely not strong enough for a 2k
reverse. So when you rebid 1NT, how
will you feel about your auction?
For me, because I would bid the
same way with a 3=3=4=3 so-so
12-count, I'd feel that I've seriously
misrepresented the strength of my
hand.
Although I'd prefer to have a stopper
or two in the black suits, I believe
that once again, the correct practical
opening bid is 1NT. After all, if the
l2 was the '2, wouldn't everyone
open 1NT? And I promise you that
having the five-card suit will often
allow you to take more tricks than
the 2=4=4=3 example. As I tell my
students, " I never saw a five-card suit
I didn't like. "
3 Of course, for players afflicted
with point-countitis, their thought
process with hands like this one
is trivial. " I have a balanced hand
with 15 HCP, so I'll open 1NT. " As I
hope you might suspect, I could not
disagree more. My thoughts are: yuck
and double yuck! Although this mess
totals 15 HCP, I think it's as ugly as
sin. How do I hate thee? Let me count
the ways:
1. No aces
2. Only 1 1/2 quick tricks
3. Zero intermediate cards
4. A dubious doubleton
5. No fewer than six quacks
Although I might be on my own island,
I don't think this mess is worth
a 15-17 1NT, so I'd open 1'.
4 With this hand, most players see a
balanced hand with 14 HCP and open
1' with no further thought. Au contraire
(I beg to differ). Why is that?
I love and treasure aces. If you
regard them as the equivalent of two
queens, to each his own. Being dealt
one ace is normal. Being dealt three
always turns me on. That will occur
on only 1 of every 77 hands!
I also am greatly impressed by
this heart suit. This four-card suit
includes three honors. I refer to
suits like this as a quality suit. Being
dealt one of these is rare (about 1 in 5
hands). I can't guarantee that these
hearts will generate more tricks than
kA Q 3 2, but I definitely like my
chances.
And did you notice the seven intermediate
cards? An average layout of
a hand would consist of one 10, one 9
and one 8. Vive la difference!
For me, this very upgradable hand
is absolutely, positively worth a 15-17
1NT opening bid.
By the way, if you believe that
example 3 is stronger than 4, my politically
correct comment is, " to each
their own. "
FYI: When playing on BBO with
a student who favors 1NT = 15-17,
when I open 1NT, I always self-Alert
that I might have fewer than 15 HCP.
October 2022 | Bridge Bulletin |
59
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October 2022

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