February 2025 - 43

Grossack. " Double just says I want
to compete somewhere and tends to
deny four spades. Can't let 'em play
2h when we have over half the deck! "
Meckstroth thinks double is not
ideal, " but I will risk that we can
make something. "
Rigal's double denies four spades.
" 2NT by me would be lebensohl,
but 2NT by partner would be both
minors, scrambling. "
Colchamiro doubles, planning to
bid 2NT over 2s. " I'm assuming that
a direct 2NT would be a takeout of
some kind. "
Sanborn tries 2NT. " My second
choice is a responsive double. "
Robinson takes it a level higher.
" 3NT. I can't think of another way
to bid this hand. West did open in
third seat and could be very weak,
and could have only four hearts. East
could be weak for his raise. Opposite:
sK Q x x hx dA Q J x x cx x x
you make 3NT unless they lead a
club. And you might not make 3c. "
3. Halftime show
IMPs. Both vulnerable.
sK 6 5 hA J 10 8 3 d9 8 4 3 c7
West North East
1c
Call
3d
Pass
3h
3s
3NT
Pass
Pass 3c Pass
Votes
4
3
2
2
1
South
1h
?
Award
100
90
80
80
60
Sanborn bids 3d, " allowing partner
to support hearts, bid 3NT or punt
with 3s. "
Lin calls 3d a " natural-ish, or
'punt,' bid and game forcing. All bids
over 3c are game forcing. I think 3s
is more accurate because it implies
diamond weakness, but I like that
partner can still bid 3h over 3d and
9-8-4-3 isn't a bad stopper. Maybe
it throws off the lead, too. I don't
mind playing in hearts opposite honor-x
with my nice interiors. "
Colchamiro likes that 3d leaves the
most room. " Seems slightly too good
to pass. I don't know about 3h -
partner could easily raise with hx x,
assuming I have a six-bagger. "
For Robinson, it comes down to the
form of scoring. " 3d. At IMPs, I'll be
aggressive. If partner has:
sA x x hx dx x x cA K Q J x x,
3NT is very good. Even if partner's
clubs are only A-Q-J-10-x-x,
we can still have play for 3NT.
Matchpoints would be different.
Bidding over 3c is aggressive and
you don't need to be that aggressive
at matchpoints. "
" Hard problem, " says Grossack,
who passes. " I tend to go low on the
jump rebids in a minor; here, I don't
have a fitting card and only 8 points.
I feel like in the modern era, 3NT
goes down three a lot more than it
makes with my cards. But it also
depends on who's bidding that 3c.
Bridge really is a situation-dependent
game. "
Rigal does the math and passes. " I
have no idea what is right, but I think
game will be less than 50% and the
undertricks might be quite significant
if game isn't making. "
Molson passes. " We might miss a
vulnerable game, but ... "
Meckstroth moves forward with
3h. " My hearts are good enough to
play in a 5-2 fit. "
Boehm, 3h: " 3d will elicit threecard
heart support, but a decent
heart doubleton makes 4h playable,
e.g.,
sA Q x hQ x dx x cA K x x x x,
a minimum without a useful singleton
diamond. "
Donn tries 3s, " Getting partner to
declare with a diamond stopper and
to possibly suggest hearts without
one. "
" I don't feel very good about this
one, " says Korbel, who also tries 3s.
" I doubt partner will raise me to 4s
since he has denied holding four
spades. "
3NT by Cohen. " If there are nine
tricks in both clubs and notrump, I'll
take the extra 490 points. If there are
only eight, it will be the same minus
100. "
4. Red zone
Matchpoints. Both vulnerable.
sK Q hA 8 5 3 dA J 10 9 8 5 c3
West North East
South
1d
Pass 1h 2c ?
PANEL ANSWERS FOR THIS MONTH'S PROBLEMS
1
2
August Boehm
Larry Cohen
Mel Colchamiro
Josh Donn
Zachary Grossack
Daniel Korbel
Amber Lin
Jeff Meckstroth
Janice Molson
Barry Rigal
Steve Robinson
Kerri Sanborn
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
3NT
2NT
3
3h
3NT
3d
3s
Pass
3s
3d
3h
Pass
Pass
3d
3d
4
3h
3h
3h
3h
3h
3h
3h
4h
3h
3h
4c
4c

5
Dbl
Dbl
Dbl
Total
480
460
500
4s 470
Dbl
490
4s 470
Dbl
500
4s 430
Dbl
Dbl
490
490
4s 410
4s 420
February 2025 | Bridge Bulletin |
43
February 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2025
