Mike Lawrence - Insights on Bridge: Moments in Bidding

Copyright 2019 Mike Lawrence

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the publisher.

PUBLISHED BY:

Baron Barclay Bridge Supplies
3600 Chamberlain Lane, Suite 206
Louisville, KY 40242
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www.baronbarclay.com

ISBN: 978-1-944201-23-4

Cover design by Mary Maier
Text design and composition by John Reinhardt Book Design

Printed in the United States of America

AFTER WRITING OVER 25 books on bridge that discuss certain aspects of play, defense, system, or general bidding, Ive begun a series of books aimed at turning aspiring players into good players. Note I dont say expert players. That will be the next step.

Bridge isnt a game where you can immerse yourself for six months and become a good player. Theres just too much to learn. You have to start somewhere and then move in the right direction.

Typically, when you start playing in a club, you feel lost. After you get your feet on the ground, you still recognize that you arent moving very fast. Going forward requires that you get good guidance. Many players at your club will offer advice.

Much of that advice, unfortunately, isnt very good.

This series of books includes hundreds of mini-lessons, complete with insights and advice you can count on. The material is devoted to situations and problems you will see at the table but not in other books.

This book (#1 in a series) wont make you an expert.

But these books will start you on the path to being a good player and a good partner.

Enjoy the trip.

Mike Lawrence

West Deals+No One Vulnerable

THIS HAND IS really a simple one. Either West opens with 1NT or he doesnt. The question for West is whether bidding 1NT with two small spades is good bridge. This is a recurring theme which you would like to be aware of in advance.

My opinion is that 1NT is a fine bid. You can choose to have a headache in the bidding or in the play.

If you open 1 or 1 and partner bids 1 , your headache will come up in the bidding. You have too much to bid 1NT and you have too little to bid 2NT. Other bids leave you awkwardly placed as well.

You wont be happy if partner responds 1 . What would your best rebid be now? Just another headache.

If you reach 3NT, your headache will come up in the play. If the defenders lead a spade you may go down on a hand where 5 was cold.

However. Take a second look at the two hands. 5 is not cold. If clubs are 4-1, 5 wont make. Against that, 3NT will make for sure if spades are 4-4 or if they do not lead spades. If South is the one with five spades, North wont know to lead them and you will take nine or ten or eleven notrump tricks in no time.

For me, a 1NT3NT auction is fine. I much prefer making a bid that describes my hand perfectly (more or less) than to make a bid which leaves me sadly placed if partner makes a bid I am not ready for.

North Deals+No One Vulnerable

THIS IS A typical balancing problem. North opens 3 and East, with a nice hand, is right to pass. Double is dangerous with only two spades and the hand is too weak for 3NT.

Not so easy for West when 3 is passed around to him. He has an interesting problem. He expects East to have some points. They have to be somewhere. The odds are that East has some of them and South has the remainder.

What West would like to do is bid 3 and have that end the auction.

Unfortunately, if West bids 3 , East will often have a good enough hand that he is entitled to bid. Since West is really weak, passing it out is best. If East-West can make 3 , East will have a good hand and he will raise, and you will find that you cant make 4 .

Its hard to pass but thats probably Wests best bid.

On the hand East has here, he would probably bid 3NT. He has two diamond stoppers and good cards on the side.

West isnt a passed hand. He could have a sound opening bid, in which case East should bid 3NT.

If East does bid 3NT, it will go down a lot. West would probably bid something. Likely he would bid 4 . That will go down and its possible that it will be doubled.

Theres something else here thats important.

If West was the dealer and wasnt vulnerable, some would open 3 . Some would pass because of the four-card heart suit.

If West was in third seat, opening 3 would be routine. In third seat, preempts have little in common with preempts in first or second seat.

A professional player playing with a client was taking forever to make a play. After a five minute pause, he still hadnt decided what to do and he went back into his pondering mode. After a few more minutes of nothing, his opponent asked, Are you getting paid by the hour?

South Deals+No One Vulnerable

WEST HAS A good hand and is justifiably annoyed when South opens 3 . West is going to bid something. Its just a matter of what he is going to bid.

West has two obvious choices and one choice that is awful.

Double is not a viable bid. Partner will all too often insist on one of the majors and West doesnt have support. His realistic choices are 3NT and 4 .

Important guideline: When an opponent preempts and you are thinking of bidding four of a minor, you should give serious consideration to bidding 3NT instead.

This hand cant guarantee nine tricks at notrump. But it cant guarantee ten tricks at clubs either. Frankly, whichever choice you prefer will need some help from partner. Since you get a game bonus if you make 3NT and only a partscore bonus if you make 4 , 3NT gets the nod.

Note by the way that if you bid 4 , you may reach 5 . Since 5 requires eleven tricks and 3NT requires nine tricks, it should be clear to bid 3NT.

East has a modest hand. Perhaps he should look for a major-suit contract. I suggest he does not. The reason is that a 3NT overcall is poorly defined. It can be bid with a balanced fifteen-count or a shapely twenty-count. Since East is reasonably content with notrump and looking for a major is uncertain, passing it out is a good idea.

Many years ago I was lucky to get to play with Grant Baze. Most players know him for various of his rules including this one:

Six-five, come alive. This meant that if you have 6-5 distribution, you should do a lot of bidding. Heres one of my special moments with Grant in which he was an opponent.