On a chilly January afternoon online bridge proved its worth again when the counties of Essex, Wiltshire and Somerset combined to run a 24 table Blue-pointed Swiss Pairs. The entries came from further afield in England than just those three counties and also from players in Indonesia, Italy and Spain.
The eventual winners were Ashley Sawyer and Gary Waller from Essex with a fine score of 106 from 7 matches.
It is not uncommon to be not quite in the groove at the beginning of a long session and so it happened that a lot of East-West pairs were “caught cold” on Board 1.
As West you hold: 763 AT5 T6543 A2
With neither side vulnerable, North deals and passes, your partner, East, opens 1D (natural 4+ cards) and South bids 2S, described as weak. There is not a lot you can do other than bid 3D. North bids 3S and East 4C, South passes. If you are not quite in the swing of things this early in the competition it is quite easy to just give preference with 4D. If you are starting to warm up then it will occur to you that, on the bidding, your partner is short in Spades and must have quite a good, unbalanced, hand. If you think 4C is a game try you can hardly bid less than 5D. However, that does not really reflect the potential of what you now know about the whole deal. Visualising East’s hand will suggest that your two aces and fifth trump will mesh very nicely with any decent hand East may have.
You have already, to some extent, limited your hand so now is the time to add to what you have already said. A bid of 4H shows not only the Ace of that suit but also a hand which has improved immensely on the strength of partner’s 4C bid. If partner was only interested in the number of Aces you have, they could bid 4D as “Minorwood” with responses on your agreed key-card scale. (If you don’t have Minorwood in your system then strongly consider adding it.) This agreement also means that there is no misunderstanding about whether the 4C bid is a cue-bid or, as in this case, a good suit needing help.
East, encouraged by your 4H bid, asks for key cards with 4Nt. This is safe because with only one key card East can still subside in game. However, it would be lazy to just reply “2 key cards”. Partner is marked with long Diamonds so your fifth trump is as good as holding the Queen and you should respond (5S in most systems) to 4Nt showing 2 key cards and the Queen of Diamonds. It is unlikely, if not impossible, that a grand slam is on but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be accurate in your response. A content partner will sign off in 6D. East’s hand was:
K K7 AK872 KJT76
Nothing unpleasant happens in either minor suit and you are the only pair to record +920 for an undisputed top. In the event, the EW field were caught cold; no pair found the slam, a few bid the game, most played a part-score and one defended 3S.
Ian Moss January 2022