Oh oh, here’s another marginal hand with some different strengths and weakness. They say no two hands are ever the same, yet when it’s all said and done we only have two basic choices: open or pass.
Recall in our Monday quiz we briefly mentioned considering and contrasting our hand evaluation and bidding style to partner and the general Bridge community. This time we add a new wrinkle to the bidding poll, asking you whether you might be tempted to bid when you are playing with a conservative partner.
Okay, it’s time to “bid ’em up.” Sharpen your pencil and log your vote today. Right away you will see where you stand among hundreds of others who are making their selection.
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As a 12-14 NT player I have to rebid 2D. I would not open if my second suit was spades or clubs, because 1H-2D-2H is just horrible. Presumably you would have the same issue in sayc.
Michael
With one and 1/2 QTs, and honors spread out in all the suits ( also 4 of the 11 pts. are in Quacks) this hand should only be opened in 3rd seat. If you open in 1st or 2nd seat and partner drives to game with a nice looking 12 pts, you will be hoping for a miracle to make.
Michael
After the first day of bidding, our major has made a different selection than the Monday poll. With 41 percent of the total, he leaders voted:
….. Open in third seat
Now how about that? Actually, the 28 percent who voted for:
….. Open in any seat
were not all that far behind. After that, between 13 and 8 percent came:
….. Pass
….. Open in fourth seat, perhaps third seat
….. Open in third or fourth seat ONLY when playing with a conservative partner
While all of these propositions have merit, let’s delve into the minds that may accompany some of their proposals.
Opening in third seat provides a helpful lead direction and actually does have somewhat of a preemptive effect, requiring LHO to either double, bid at the two level or balance with a 1 Notrump call. Also, these bidders may find a 8 or 9 card Heart fit. Of course, on the downside partner might think the 1 Heart bidders have a hand worth 6 tricks and bid up to game! So those opening 1 Heart to so with the UNDERSTANDING that in third seat, their partner must realize the third seat bidder may not have full openers.
Did you know that many years ago a San Francisco man was continually frustrated with his Bridge partner who would continually open light in third or fourth seat? It happened so much that Douglas Drury finally created a convention to deal with this condition and alas, Duplicate Bridge players all over the world play the “Drury Convention.” http://www.bridgehands.com/D/Drury.htm
Those opening in any seat certainly are our frisky bidders. Most Bridge players prefer to open with 12+ point hands in first or second seat, and also disregard counting anything for a Jack-doubleton.
In fourth seat, many will pass unless their hand has sufficient length in Spades. Why? Well, with hardly more than one-fourth of the total points in hand, they figure the opponents will now begin bidding. And with two of the three hands belonging to the opponents, they figure the opponents will likely find a Spade fit and outbid the Heart suit.
Finally, opening in the later seats only when partner is a conservative bidder shows consideration to partnership tendencies. And while most of our bidders would open 1 Heart regardless of partner’s style, this approach makes good sense when the third/fourth seat bidder is also fairly conservative yet over time has realized they occasionally need to bid on partner’s behalf. In fact in the passout/balancing seat there’s actually a term for this concept called “borrowing a King” from partner:
http://www.bridgehands.com/B/Balancing_Bid.htm
Okay, on Friday we will put all of this together, bidding two marginal hands together.
Enjoy your game, Michael