November 2022 - 42

THE
BIDDING
BOX
between pairs who are experienced
on the ACBL tournament trail.
First, there is the married couple of
Paul Lewis and Linda Lewis of Sioux
Falls SD. They have five and seven
NABC titles respectively, many as
partners and teammates with each
other. Their most recent win was the
NABC Mixed Swiss Teams in 2021.
Their bidding system is 2/1 forcing
to game, featuring a weak notrump
opening.
The other pair is John Lusky and
Eric Stoltz, both of Portland OR.
They are both experienced players
who have played together occasionally
for 35 years. Only a year ago,
they decided to begin a more serious
partnership together, and have been
working hard on their system and
understandings. Their bidding system
is similar to that of the Lewises,
except they only play a weak notrump
when not vulnerable, preferring to
stick to the common range of 15-17
when vulnerable.
Problem 1
North deals. None vulnerable.
West
East
 A Q 9
k 5 4
l 10 8
' A Q 10 8 7 5
 J 7
k A Q J 2
l A K 4 3 2
' K 3
42 | Bridge Bulletin | November 2022
Stoltz
MODERATOR: JOSH DONN
josh@thedonns.com
See the West and East hands that appear on pages 53 and 54 respectively, and
try bidding them with a regular partner. Compare how you performed with the
expert pairs whose auctions you can read about in this month's column. The
North-South players are silent unless otherwise noted. The competitors were
not informed of any interference by the opponents before the bidding commenced.
The form of scoring is matchpoints with a 12 top.
The Bridge Bulletin auctions are meant to portray possible bidding
sequences to one of the top-scoring contracts using common methods.
This month features a competition
Linda
2'
2NT
3
4NT
6'
Pass
The 1l opening and 2' rebid were
standard. East next bid hearts, and
West rebid 2NT with the spades well
stopped. East next made an intelligent
choice to show support for clubs,
given the slammish nature of his
hand. West's 3 call was cooperating,
which convinced East to bypass
3NT.
4' for this pair is " minorwood, "
asking for key cards in the agreed minor.
West's 4NT call showed two key
cards with the 'Q, just as the fourth
step would if playing normal key card
Blackwood. 5l by East confirmed
all the key cards, just in case West
had interest in a grand slam. With no
kings to show and no further interest,
West attempted to sign off in 6',
but East converted to 6NT, going for
the higher matchpoint score. A nice
auction to the best contract.
Paul
1l
2k
3'
4'
5l
6NT
2'
3'
3NT
4
6NT
Lusky
1l
2l
3k
4'
5NT
Pass
After the 1l opening and 2' rebid,
East rebid 2l, as this pair usually
rebids the five-card or longer diamond
suit in this situation. West
rebid clubs to confirm six of them,
and East had an obvious call of hearts
to show " where he lives. " With spades
stopped, West bid 3NT, but East had
too much to stop there. 4' confirmed
the fit, and 4 was cooperative,
showing a spade control. 5NT
was the " pick-a-slam " convention,
saying that East wanted to bid a slam,
but wanted partner's help to decide
on the best strain. With a second
spade stopper, and clubs that looked
close to running, West chose 6NT.
This auction was a good example of
how a slam can be intelligently bid
without asking for key cards.
Bridge Bulletin auction: 1l-2';
2k-2NT; 3'-3; 4NT-5; 6NT-
Pass. Of note is responder's 2NT
rebid. Even though 3' to show six
or more clubs is a reasonable option,
2NT is descriptive and leaves opener
a little more room.
Scores: 6NT 11; 6' 9; 4NT 6; 5NT
5; 5' 1
Lewises 11, Stoltz-Lusky 11
Problem 2
East deals. N-S vulnerable.
West
 10
East
k K 8 6 5 3
l K J 10 7
' A 6 4
 A J 7 4
k Q
l A 5
' Q 9 7 5 3 2
November 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2022
