Brian Davies
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Yes, I passed too, although not so much to warn partner – she is almost certainly passing anything I do.
I strongly suspected that 1♦ might make, but it seemed the least worst option. As it happened, we defeated the contract by one trick:
Hi Charles,
I agree with David, from the table talk it seems that both opponents viewed the second double as penalties and should have been alerted.
But I would be interested to see the West hand, which made the penalty double and how it differed from the West hand which made the takeout double on the first round. I am guessing that West held a very strong balanced hand – too strong to overcall 1NT, so doubled intending to follow up with a no trump bid? This seems to be the only hand consistent with this action.
Charles, the Kaplan & Rubens Hand Evaluator is probably better suited for suit evaluation than NT evaluation, but it does give support to your judgement that the North hand in Eleanor’s original post is not worth an invite opposite a 1NT opening. It downgrades the hand – only valuing as 10.45.
Amusingly, one of the pairs who passed it out play a mini no trump (10-12), so the hand is top of their range! But it is actually easier for them because they know that West cannot have as much as a 10-count.
Hi Nik, You are South at the bottom and East is dummy, on your right. Declared is unseen on the left and partner is unseen at the top.
Brian, Partner will show a doubleton …
A hand from last night.
Assuming three passes, East has a hand which met the “Rule of 15”, but it really is one of the ugliest 12-counts imaginable. Two pairs passed it out, but several opened scoring -300 at three tables. Another case where a bridge “Rule” should be described as a “Guideline”.
One idea is to play 2♠ as either a range enquiry or clubs and 2NT as a transfer to diamonds.
So 2♠ is either 11-12 or 18+ or a club suit.
Joy, on the first hand, I would comment that opening 2NT with a singleton king can sometimes have an unexpected benefit. If your left hand opponent has long spades headed by the ace, they will usually lead a small spade against 2NT or 3NT and your king will win a trick that it was never destined to make!
This Prize Quiz is still live, so I won’t comment on the bidding.
I agree that Q Plus made a rather strange play, but I don’t think it makes any difference to the total number of tricks if you play it through. There is no useful discard.
This is a Laws and Ethics forum and David’s expert opinion deals with this.
But I would like to suggest that light 1NT openings in third seat is not good bridge. I would have the opposite strategy in third seat and will be fully up to strength when opening 1NT. I am all for opening light in a suit in third seat, particularly if the suit quality is good and I want the suit led. But a light 1NT opening is an invitation for the fourth player to double and rather risky for this reason.
I would bid 2S, showing a weak hand (fewer than about 4 HCPs) and 5 or more spades.
But I can see an argument for 3S. The trouble is that partner might be misfitting.
The problem is that there is less space after a two-level opening because you are starting a level higher. You also need a method to show a hand with this shape that wants to play in game.
I am sure that Julian will reply soon enough with his recommendation.
