January 2025 - 49

Newer Players
BY LYNN BERG
lynn7ntxx@icloud.com
W
e all know how challenging
bridge bidding can be. We
have a 15-word bidding
vocabulary we must use to try to describe
widely divergent hands. The
history of the development of conventions
is that when a bid is rarely
used, some inventive player will come
up with a new, hopefully more necessary
meaning. The takeout double
is a great example of this: rarely do
we have any desire to claim that we
can beat the opponent's one-level bid,
but penalty doubles were the original
use. Now we use a low-level double
to tell partner to choose any suit but
that one.
Opinions about which conventions
are basic or essential - and which
ones we can delay adopting - vary
a bit from expert to expert, though
there are four often agreed upon.
1 Stayman. The great advantage
of opening 1NT is that it is so specific.
The great disadvantage is that
the one level is no longer available to
look for an eight-card major-suit fit.
Stayman has been around for nearly
a century and many variations have
also been developed.
2 Jacoby transfers. Before transfer
bids became popular, the strong
hand would be on the dummy for
all to see. Transfers conceal the notrump
opener and also allow greater
flexibility.
3 Negative doubles. When
these " takeout doubles by opener's
partner " first became popular,
they were widely adopted by a great
portion of bridge players because
they are so useful in finding fits
Startup Bridge
The basic four
without elevating the level. They
also often allow responder to distinguish
between four- and five-card
holdings. They became popular so
quickly that they require neither an
Announcement nor an Alert.
4 New minor forcing allows responder
to make sure partner keeps
the bidding open, providing information
which is essential to decide
the final contract. When opener has
limited his hand (as when he rebids
1NT), one of his messages is that he
has told his story and has no more to
say. But responder may want more
information. Fourth-suit forcing
serves a similar purpose of eliciting
information from opener.
Only the last of the four still
requires any Alert. Transfers do
require that opener name the suit
responder is transferring to.
There's no question that slam conventions,
from Blackwood to Jacoby
2NT, seem more interesting with the
frisson of the prospect of earning a
lovely bidding bonus. But for most
of us, slams are less than 2% of our
contracts.
In fact, typically less than 10% of
our bidding requires any conventional
bid. Having - and remembering -
our basic bidding agreements, counting
carefully and being able to keep
track of the suits as we play all are
more important even than Stayman.
Have you noticed that so many conventions
have been developed in
aid of finding major-suit fits? Why?
Because about two-thirds of the time,
the same cards will take more tricks
in an eight-card major-suit fit than
they do in notrump. Those are pretty
good odds. 2
West hands for the
January Bidding Box
Bid these hands with a partner. The
East hands are on page 55. The North-
South players are silent unless otherwise
noted. Scores on page 38-41.
Problem 1. North deals. None vul.
sK 10 9 6 4 h10 7 dA J 3 cQ 9 3
Problem 2. East deals. N-S vul.
sK 5 4 h2 dK Q 10 cA K 8 4 3 2
Problem 3. South deals. E-W vul.
sA Q J 8 7 3 hA 9 4 dK 3 cQ J
Problem 4. West deals. Both vul.
sK Q J 10 9 6 hQ J 3 dA 9 8 c6
Problem 5. North deals. N-S vul.
sA 10 9 8 6 hA K 8 5 dK 7 6 c2
Problem 6. East deals. E-W vul.
sQ J 10 8 3 hK 6 4 dA Q 3 cA J
Problem 7. South deals. Both vul.
sA 4 hA 9 8 dA K 7 5 cJ 10 8 7
Problem 8. West deals. None vul.
sA 4 hK Q J 7 6 3 dK 6 5 c4 3
January 2025 | Bridge Bulletin |
49
January 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2025
