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 Bidding Judgment by David Bird

In this quiz, we will look at some deals where bidding judgment was required. The deals come from actual play.

Question 1

  Your Hand
♠ 10
♥ A K 8 7 6
♦ Q 9 8 4
♣ K Q 3 		 
Q: 1 - This competitive bidding auction comes from the Australian Women's Teams Playoff. What will you do now on the South cards?
SouthWestNorthEast
---Pass
1♥4♠5♥5♠
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass. You have close to what partner would expect for a 1♥ opener and no particular expected defense to a spade contract. The South player decided to double and this was the deal:

♠  A K Q 9 7 5 2

♥ 

♦  7 6 5

♣  A 7 2

♠  6 4

♥  Q 10 9 5 3 2

♦  3

♣  9 8 6 5

♠  10

♥  A K 8 7 6

♦  Q 9 8 4

♣  K Q 3

♠  J 8 3

♥  J 4

♦  A K J 10 2

♣  J 10 4

North led the ♦3. W. Zhang, the declarer, won with dummy's ace, drew trumps and played a diamond to the jack. Twelve tricks were made for a score of 1050, against 680 for 4S 2 at the other table.

South's double was very poor, as I see it.


Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 2

  Your Hand
♠ 9 7 4 3
♥ J 4 3
♦ K 7
♣ J 9 8 2 		 
Q: 2 - What will you say on the South cards here?
SouthWestNorthEast
Pass1♣Dble1♦
?


 Your choice:
A: 1♠. To bid at the one-level does not promise much and may help partner to compete, or bid constructively. The original South passed and this was the deal:

♠  A J 8

♥  K 5 2

♦  2

♣  A Q 10 7 6 4

♠  K 10 6 2

♥  A 10 8 6

♦  A Q J 6 5

♣ 

♠  9 7 4 3

♥  J 4 3

♦  K 7

♣  J 9 8 2

♠  Q 5

♥  Q 9 7

♦  10 9 8 4 3

♣  K 5 3

After 1♣ - Dble - 1♦ - Pass, 3♣... North doubled again and South bid 3♠, which was passed out. 10 tricks were easily made. Only an unlikely heart lead, to the queen, followed by a club switch beats 4♠.

If South had bid 1♠, North would go to 4♠.


Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 3

  Your Hand
♠ K 9 7 6 5 4
♥ K 7 6 5
♦ 
♣ K Q J 		 
Q: 3 - This is another deal from the final of the Australian Women's Teams Championships. What would you do next on these South cards?
SouthWestNorthEast
-1♣2NTPass
3♥Pass4♣Pass
?


 Your choice:
A: 4♦. Most players use 2NT to show the lowest two unbid suits (hearts and diamonds here). Only by special agreement should 2NT still show the minors over 1♣. This was the deal:

♠  A Q J 3

♥  2

♦  9 8 5 3

♣  A 7 6 5

♠  10

♥  A Q J 9 8 4

♦  A K J 7 6 4

♣ 

♠  K 9 7 6 5 4

♥  K 7 6 5

♦ 

♣  K Q J

♠  8 2

♥  10 3

♦  Q 10 2

♣  10 9 8 4 3 2

South correctly read her partner for the red suits initially. When North cue-bid in clubs to suggest a heart slam, South changed her mind and thought North must have the minors. She passed 4♣! The contract went five down against 6♥ 1 at the other table. That was a disastrous 15 IMPs away.

At the other table, West passed and North opened 1♥. When South responded 1♠, she rebid 6♦. South corrected to 6♥.


Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 4

  Your Hand
♠ A K 9 6 3
♥ 4 2
♦ K 5 3
♣ 10 7 4 		 
Q: 4 - This is another deal from the Australian Women's Teams Playoff. What action will you take on these South cards now?
SouthWestNorthEast
--1♣Pass
1♠Pass3♦Pass
?


3♦ is a mini-splinter, showing four-card spade support and short diamonds.

 Your choice:
A: 4♠. You have to know your system here. Some play that 3♦ shows a singleton diamond, whereas 4♦ would show a void diamond. In that case, 3♦ might be bid on a strong hand, intending to bid on if partner signed off in 3♠.

Others say that 3♦ is a game-try splinter and 4♦ would show a stronger hand with either a singleton or a void diamond. This was the deal:

♠  Q 4

♥  K 9 8 7 5

♦  Q J 10

♣  Q 5 3

♠  J 8 7 2

♥  A Q 6

♦  2

♣  A K J 8 6

♠  A K 9 6 3

♥  4 2

♦  K 5 3

♣  10 7 4

♠  10 5

♥  J 10 3

♦  A 9 8 7 6 4

♣  9 2

South chose to bid just 3♠, which was a poor underbid. As sometimes happens in such circumstances, the cards could not have lain better and four overtricks were made!

North had shown her hand with the mini-splinter and had to assume that partner held something like:
♠ Q 6 4 3
♥ 9 3
♦ K Q 5 3
♣ 10 7 4

In which case game would be too high.


Your result so far:
Open Question

Question 5

  Your Hand
♠ 8 3
♥ A J 5 3
♦ Q J
♣ A Q 4 3 2 		 
Q: 5 - This is another competitive deal from the final of the Australian Women's Teams Playoff. What action would you take here?
SouthWestNorthEast
---Pass
1♣1♠Dble4♠
PassPassDblePass
?


 Your choice:
A: Pass. North had indicated four hearts with her first double. Now she doubles 4♠. With a likely 4-4 fit in hearts, it would be very poor judgment for South to bid to the five-level, instead of defending. This was the deal:

♠  K J 9 7

♥  10 6

♦  A 10 7 4 2

♣  J 9

♠  A Q

♥  Q 7 4 2

♦  9 8 5 3

♣  K 10 5

♠  8 3

♥  A J 5 3

♦  Q J

♣  A Q 4 3 2

♠  10 6 5 4 2

♥  K 9 8

♦  K 6

♣  8 7 6

4♠ doubled would have gone three down for 500. South took the double out to 4NT and ended in 5♥. This was very poorly judged when the fit was likely to be only 4-4 in hearts. She was lucky that the lie of the cards was fairly benign for her.

West led a spade against 5♥. Dummy's ♠Q won, as did a finesse of the ♥J. The ♥A failed to drop the king, and declarer could not avoid two diamond losers. That was minus 100 instead of plus 500.


Your result so far:
Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

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