What should I bid? (September 2019)
The best submission for September came from Brian Thorp. He wins a voucher of $30 funded by TBIB, toward any purchase made at the Bridge Shop or Paul Lavings Bridgegear.
Matchpoints
Dealer W
NS vul
East
♠ QT963
♥ AJ6
♦ 865
♣ 32
| West | North | East | South |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2♣ | Pass | 2♦ | Pass |
| 2NT | Pass | 3♥ | Pass |
| 3♠ | Pass | 3NT | Pass |
| 4♠ | Pass | ? |
The 2NT bid showed 23-24 balanced or semi balanced.
The 2♦ bid was compulsory.
How do you now rate the relative merits of Pass, 5♥ and 4NT?
Hi Brian,
I would pass, but given my ♠T9 and the ♥J with my ace (rather than a side Jx or Jxx), I don’t mind cuebidding 5♥. In these type of auctions (2NT-transfer followed by 3NT), when opener is correcting to 4M, if he has a maximum with 3-card support (i.e. he has a source of tricks on the side) he is “supposed” to make a cue of 4♣/4♦ along the way just in case responder has a borderline hand and wanted to look for a slam with a fit, or play in 3NT without. Also note that partner didn’t make a 4-card super accept over our 3♥.
You also have to take note that sometimes partner can upgrade a 22 point hand, and so this favours pass rather than bidding on.
Partner might have something like
♠ AKx
♥ Qxx
♦ AKQxx
♣ AJ
in which case slam is very good
Or partner might have something like
♠ AJx
♥ KQxx
♦ AJ
♣ AKJx
where slam is on a finesse.
But partner is supposed to have cuebid with the first hand with the source of tricks.
As I mentioned before, partner may also have upgraded a 22-point hand, so playing in a 5♠ contract may sometimes even be a bit dangerous. But our ♠T9 and our ♥J makes it a bit safe to cuebid 5♥ as well (if partner didn’t really know about cuebidding over 3NT instead of bidding 4♠.
Hope that helps,
Andy
