Hi Bobby,does the singleton King of trumps in dummy has any bearing on East’s play?If it were a small trump in dummy and East has 8C over it,might he not have returned a second spade with Kx doubleton rather than a trump?Does not work if Declarer’s trumps are AQJ10xx or QJ109xx,now ruffing a spade in dummy if declarer has the ace of spades and play a third one.East knows that West is likely to hold four clubs,the question is how good are they..regards~Patrick.

On BWTA, what if North responds two hearts?

Hi Patrick,

Yes, it would make a big difference if the singleton club in the North hand was a small club (lower than the nine), but of course, the North hand was very weak for an opening bid as it is, much less and way below standards for an opening bid without it.

You are right on, when you suggest a different defense when different cards are present. On this hand East felt that he did not want declarer to score up the singleton king separately, which probably indicated that his clubs were at least semi-solid (AJ10) which they were.

Generally, defense in bridge, particularly against worthy opponents, is by far the most difficult aspect of the game. It needs to be logically interpreted (by his play) what is the most likely type of hand (on this one, as you suggested, the solidity of his club suit) that he held, and so East defended based on that evidence. It turns out that his 9 of clubs could have been used more intelligently, by because of the many possible combinations available it is very difficult to know exactly.

And speaking generally, since numeracy is the single most important quality necessary in order to rate very high, not everyone is blessed with superior numeric mental agility. This hand illustrates that fact.

Thanks for your question, which will enable our best and brightest to feel and therefore see, what the defensive task at hand often is.

Hi Jim and Bobby,re Jim North’s 2H response, three clubs by South must be some sort of heart agreement n game try otherwise South could have bid 2NT or invite with 3H.Think this hand is worth 3H only due to KC wastage,expect pard’s overcall in the range of 8-15..if KC is the KS then 4H is a good chance,then 3C..regards~Patrick.

Hi Jim2,

Perhaps surprisingly, if partner would respond 2 hearts, I would pass quickly.

The reason being is that if partner had a likely distribution, 5-3-2-3 he should bid 2 hearts and if so, against competent defense we may be hard pressed to score up 8 tricks much less 9.

As I am sure you know, as others learn the more sophisticated aspects of advanced bridge bidding, such as this one involving responsive doubles, the more one has to adjust to the difference in responses when partner has been asked to choose between 2 suits (unless he had at least a decent 6 card spade suit) and he obliges, do not then expect anything but, at best, an average choice which will often be 3-2 in the suits you ask him to bid (remember your normal holding would be 5-5 in the reds) but the exceptions, including this hand are ever present.

The conclusion is that if partner had s. Axxxx, h. QJxx, d. KQ, c. xx he should jump to 4 hearts, and with s. AQxxx, h.10xxx, d. Ax, c. xx should bid 3 hearts and then, of course, his partner, although lacking a critical 5th heart would have to flip a coin as to whether or not he then raises to game.

If only other numeracy oriented (and therefore card players) could gain the experience necessary to understand what is being discussed here, which, in turn, would create a wonderful worldwide bridge world out there. (to the tune of Reuben, Reuben or Rachel, Rachel).

Again thanks for your question and your constant latching onto provocative questions and other educational bridge situations, most of them high-level.

I thought that the original answer was not complete, dismissing as it did that North might be 5-4 in the majors due to the overcall instead of double. Partner could also be 6-4, especially since we know that North lacks either top honor in that suit. As you noted in your reply above, though, North could really be stuck for a bid with something like:

KJxxx
QJx
A
Jxxx

So, I was indeed fishing a bit. Yes, I too would pass two hearts expecting North to show more enthusiasm with four hearts.

Hi Jim2 & Patrick,

Summing up my main point is simply that if the spade overcaller had 4 hearts whether 5-4 or a relatively weak hand, but 6-4, he should, at the very least jump in hearts, to show the enormous fit which is alive and therefore well.

The law of total tricks, revived by Bergen & Cohen, applies in spades (and facetiously in all suits) especially when involved in competitive bidding with only about half the deck (or sometimes a little less) in high cards, between the partners.

That feature needs to be emphasized in the bidding with jumps for two reasons, #1 our beautiful fit will normally allow beaucoup tricks and #2 the opponents will then almost surely have a fit of their own with also many tricks for them in their best trump suit.

The above fact sometimes comes barreling out to all four players at the table, particularly when the experience is there to those who have seen it in operation. Therefore no particular formula or bidding rule needs to be in force, only what Al Davis, the Oakland Raider owner, might have said, “That’s bridge, mister!”.