April 2024 - 68

Advanced Players
Mike's Advice
Bidding after making a
takeout double with a strong hand
Y
Pass
ou make a takeout double.
What do you do later when
you have a huge hand? Here's
an example of some of the problems
you can face:
West North East
1s
1NT
Pass
South
Dbl
?
sA hA Q J 10 dA Q 9 8 7 4 3 cJ
You doubled 1s and your partner
responded 1NT. You should be aware
that when you double 1s, your partner
may have to bid 1NT with some
crummy hands. Contrary to what you
read in books, that 1NT bid can range
from 4 to 10 points. Here's a 4-point
hand that really has no bid to make
other than 1NT:
sQ J 7 4 h5 4 3 dJ 5 2 c8 7 4.
It might be worse. Take away the
dJ, for instance. It's an ugly moment.
Given that 1NT shows something
some of the time and not much some
of the time, what should South bid?
Some play that 2d shows a good
hand. Some play that 2d is a form of
equal-level conversion. Some play
3d as showing a strong hand, but not
forcing. Most play that if you want to
force to game, you have to cuebid first
and then bid your suit.
With that in mind, your best bid now
is likely to be 2s. You can't guarantee
a game, but it won't take much from
partner to make one. I'll show you the
entire deal now. Let's see how the auction
might play out after this start.
Pass
Dlr: East s J 10 7 6
Vul: N-S h 3 2
d K 10
c A 10 8 7 3
s 9 8
h 9 5 4
d J 2
c Q 9 6 5 4 2
s K Q 5 4 3 2
h K 8 7 6
d 6 5
c K
s A
h A Q J 10
d A Q 9 8 7 4 3
c J
West North East
1s
1NT
Pass 3c
Pass 4d
Pass 5h
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
South
Dbl
2s
3d
4NT
6d
All Pass
After South's 2s cuebid, North
should be pretty happy. North could
have had a weak hand, but he actually
has 7 great points plus that jack-high
stopper in spades.
North has choices. He could bid
3NT to show a maximum 1NT bid. He
could bid 2NT to leave room for partner
to show what he has. He could
bid 3c, showing a suit. I have North
bidding 3c, natural. For all North
knows, his partner has good clubs.
If he doesn't bid 3c, the suit may get
lost.
South bids 3d, saying he has a
strong hand with diamonds. What
should North bid now? One thing
he should know is that his partner
doesn't have a balanced 19- to 21BY
MIKE LAWRENCE
michaelslawrence.com
point hand. He would bid 3NT with
that. When South cuebids 2s and
then bids diamonds, he is serious
about diamonds.
If South is serious about diamonds,
that North hand is very good. The
dK 10 is excellent support under
the circumstances. It has an ace, a
terrific value. It has a doubleton heart
which might become a ruffing value.
North should bid 4d. The one thing he
should not do is bid 3NT. That would
tell South that North has a bad hand
for diamonds. It would be a lie.
South is happy to learn that North
has a good hand for diamonds. He
asks for key cards and learns North
has an ace and the dK. South could,
I suppose, look for the hK, but reasonably
stops in 6d. It's cold for six.
Declarer actually has a good play for
seven.
Postmortem: It's not easy to bid
when you start with a takeout double
on a hand like the one South has. You
have to double first because no other
bid lets you show your hand. But the
later bidding isn't always easy. The
example auction shows good judgment
by North, who recognized the
value of his high cards.
East doesn't have much of an opening
bid, but he has useful length in the
majors. With these high-card points,
opening is tempting. I wouldn't open
with the East hand but I can't speak
for everyone. If East had the doubleton
dK instead of the singleton cK, it
would be a clear opening bid. 2
68 | Bridge Bulletin | April 2024
http://www.michaelslawrence.com
April 2024

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