November 2022 - 46

IT'S
YOUR
CALL
DIRECTOR: SUE MUNDAY
SCORES: KAREN WALKER
Marc Smith conducts the monthly
Bidders Challenge on Bridge Base
Online. Marc is an internationally
known player, writer and teacher
who lives in the UK. He coauthored
" 25 Bridge Conventions You Should
Know " with Barbara Seagram, and
" The Bridge Technique Series " with
David Bird - both of which won the
American Bridge Teachers' Association's
Book of the Year award.
This month's problems are a sampling
of the demon dilemmas Marc
has posed to his panel of bridge experts.
Next time you're on BBO, check
out the Bidders Challenge.
1. Touring the toolbox
Matchpoints. Both vulnerable.
A 5 kK 4 2 lQ J 10 5 '10 8 4 2
West North East
South
2 4'(1)
4 ?
(1) Strong, forcing, at least 5-5 in
clubs and hearts (leaping Michaels)
Call
4NT
5'
5k
Dbl
5NT
Pass
6'
Votes
7
2
2
1
1
1
Award
100
80
70
60
50
40
20
The Bridge Bulletin Standard toolbox
includes leaping Michaels, a nifty
convention to show extra-strong
two-suiters when the opponents open
a weak two-bid. Say the opponents
open 2k or 2: A leap to four of a minor
shows at least five cards in that
minor plus at least five cards in the
46 | Bridge Bulletin | November 2022
unbid major. If the opponents open
2l, 4l shows both majors.
Note: Leaping Michaels shows
a monster hand, not just your garden-variety
two-suiter. Some experts,
like Larry Cohen, consider
it game forcing, which explains his
call, as you'll see in a bit. It's a great
convention when it comes up, and
you're not really losing anything by
playing it. If you held a hand with
clubs that was so strong that you felt
that a simple 3' overcall wouldn't do
it justice, you'd double first, then bid
clubs. Ditto with diamonds.
Appreciating the startling club and
heart fits, the plurality of the panel
tries 4NT.
" I think 4NT should be a slam try for
clubs, " says Weinstein. " But if partner
thinks it's for hearts, I'm not heartbroken. "
[We see what you did there.]
" I want to make a slam try in
hearts, " counters Meckstroth, who
starts with 4NT. " I play 5l would be
just that, but I'm not sure of methodologies
here, so I will bid 4NT, then
5k as a try. I don't want to play in
clubs at matchpoints. "
Molson describes 4NT more generally
as a slam try in one of partner's
suits. " I'm too good for 5', not good
enough for 5. "
Meyers hopes 4NT is some kind of
slam try and not key card, " because
that is what I am bidding. I think that
should be the meaning because we
don't have suit agreement. "
Lee terms his 4NT an artificial
slam try in one of partner's suits.
" Pass and pull [traditionally the
strongest action in a slam-investigatory
auction] is problematic, and in
practice, partner will often be light
for their 4' bid here. So I can't do
more than try. "
Grossack, 4NT. " I don't know
what this means, but it must be slam
positive, else I would just compete in
my best fit, double for penalty or pass.
Hopefully partner can take it from
here. "
Sanborn bids 4NT as a slam try in
one or both of partner's suits and asks
the question all partnerships playing
this convention should decide:
" How good is the 4' bid? These days,
people are lighter than was intended
originally. "
Rigal bids
5'. Nuances
perhaps unavailable
to
Bridge Bulletin
Standard
students: " It is
best to play that
pass forces douBarry
Rigal
ble facing any
'normal' hand.
Double is maybe
forward-going
in hearts and 5' forward-going in
clubs. Pass, then remove the double to
5'/5k to play. "
Robinson chooses 5k. " Why can't
partner have:
x kA Q J x x lx x 'A K Q J x,
and my A is worthless? "
Colchamiro, too, opts to bid 5k,
" though double is a close second
choice - which would show sort of
what I have, although I have a bit too
much length in partner's suits. But
for all I know, I could have as many as
November 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2022
