What should I bid? (September 2015)
The best submission for September came from Margaret Foster. She wins a voucher of $30 funded by TBIB, toward any purchase made at the Bridge Shop or Paul Lavings Bridge Books.
Board 2, Round 7 of Swiss pairs, Alice Springs
Dealer East, I am West. NS vul, we are NV
My hand:
♠ Q85
♥ AQ863
♦ Q10632
♣ –
| West | North | East | South |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3♠ | Pass | ||
| 4♠ | 5♣ | All Pass |
Should I have bid 5 spades?
My partner’s hand was
♠ AKJ7632
♥ 9
♦ 97
♣ 876
We got plus 200 but according to Deep Finesse and one opponent, we could make 5 spades. On a trump lead this could be difficult.
At this vulnerability, I thought my partner’s hand may not have been as good.
Also, I did not think I had the defence to double.
Perhaps my partner could have opened 4 spades at this favourable vulnerability?
Hi Margaret,
I would bid 5♠ – before deciding whether to bid or not in this situation, you should always check to see if you have enough defence in the event that the opponents compete to 6♣(!), as we don’t want to bid 5♠ as a sacrifice, and then a further 6♠ as a further sacrifice! On this hand, I think with the values in our red suits, we probably have enough to beat 6♣, therefore I will compete to 5♠.
Bidding 5♠ has two things going for it – it can either be a good sacrifice against the opponent’s vulnerable 5♣, or even better, it might be a makeable contract!
Whilst it’s true that partner might’ve opened 4♠ with her actual hand (I would, but you might prefer conservative preempts), but weaken partner’s spades to, say, KJ10xxxx, then 5♠ is looking like it will be a profitable sacrifice.
You are right that you definitely should not double 5♣ for penalties – you can’t even be sure if a spade trick is cashing, so if the choice was only between pass or double, I would definitely pass.
Kind regards,
Andy
