Some hands rotated for convenience
Diana's sequence showed 20-21 balanced and certainly ensured an uncontested auction (whereas the 1♣/1♦ openers were fighting spades). Mike, sitting East with the top trumps, was very disappointed to lead a spade through Diana and then find that the ♠K was singleton! Making +620 scored 14/18.
To be fair our opponents did not complain about our bidding, but most failed to reach this excellent game and, when 10 tricks rolled in, we scored 14/18 again.
My hand being too weak for a weak jump overcall, I settled for the space-consuming 1♦ bid. Iain and David brushed this aside and bid the normal 3NT, except that only one other pair took their 9 tricks. My misère defence gave an overtrick to lose even that matchpoint. But we both received some friendly abuse - me for the overcall on a 'queen and five deuces' and Diana for not leading my suit with a doubleton.
And finally,
"I thought 1NT should show a spade stop?", as the trump finesse failed - how quaint :)
I'm certain more abuse will be waiting for me next week!
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6 comments:
On the 1D overcall hand my partner bid a very brave but effective 3H after 1C-NB-3C [I must have mis-sorted my hand so I didnt find the 1D bid]. On a heart lead we beat 3N.
It is interesting to note that sometimes disgusting overcalls dont get punished directly but may actually prohibit partner from bidding their suit and therefore may lose out in an unexpected way.
Diana led a heart too, but there is no way to prevent nine tricks.
I certainly agree that overcalling like this does have its drawbacks.
A quaint question... I might have thought the same thing (worried look) why shouldn't I have?
(gotta love that English)
:)
CB
Reachin game on the first board just looks absolutely normal? The only way not to reach 4h is to defend 4sx. I would make a t/o double of any number of spades if it gcame back to me after say:
1d 1s p 3/4s
x p
In fact its very interesting what you should do with the hand with 6h if this comes back to you in 4s x. It would have been a rare victory for a negative free bid - you could bid hearts and then surely the dble is reduces to showing this type of strong balanced hand.
The second hand seems like the kind that might fall in the gaps of some systems. In general if you have 22-23 pointsw and some shape then you want to be in game. Playing a 5cM system north has an obvious raise to game - south has showed 5-4 (ie unbalanced and likely to have a minor singleton), then again, the auction would not proceed like that, would start with 1NT, then probably you need to be able to show that weak doubleton, as with the north hand opposite a strong NT game looks awfully far away if you have no ruff - you need to find 5 tricks in the side suits. Admittedly you would put game on the table at teams, but at MP im not so certain about it after say:
1N 2h
3c* ? * = lowest suit with value concentration.
On the other hand
1N 2h
3d* 4h/s * = low doubleton
looks obvious.
In acol (apparently what you were playing) It is an even more complex questions. A simple raise to 2s normally now shows already more playing strength that a weak NT, being made with 5431 hands and 5422 hands typically, thus it is semsible to include some of the weaker strong NT hands into it, if you judge is playing strength as being the sasme as say,
Qxxx
AQTxx
x
KQx
In my opinion this is at least as good as the strong NT hand given, yet many would simply bid 2s playing acol. In practice i would bid 3s with both this hand and the strong nt given, but dilute the potency of the strong nt by diluting its values into say
Qxxx
KJxx
Kx
AQx
And it would become an obvious 2s bid playing acol. It is one of the most difficult system changes to get used to switching from acol to 5M and back again, that the 2M raise at acol is so much heavier, a typical 2M raise in 5cM might be just
KQx
KJxxx
Kxx
xx
Where as all these very poor hands are removed from acol by simply opeiong 1NT :)
Anyway, the main point is that since 2S is heavier playing acol, so is 3S, since it contains the better half of the strong NT range and distributional hands of equivalent value.
On the third hand, welli would not have taken any action with your hand, not because of its weakness, but because of its nature. Its very devensive, with a poor suit, and partner may sac either at partscore level or worse at game level, when you had a decent chande to beat their contract. I dont really buy the "partner wont bid their suit" argument given by Mike, not because it isnt true, but because often the overcall by either hand helps declarer as much as the defence, particularly when the suits are poor. I would rather have say
Axxx
x
QT9xxx
xx
Which i think is a routine 1d overcall at any vulnerability. Now when partner decides to sac with aggressive hands you are confident that he is taking the right action, because you rate to take a lot of tricks opposite a hand with 4d and a shortage, bearing in mind that partner shoiuld be treating you as, say, a semi bal 12 count when he takes these decisions. I think 1d on the given hand rates to find 3d-2/3 vs 2s-1/2 too often to be profitable even at imps, but certainly at matchpoints.
I dont really have anything to say about that last hand, all bids seem to be a bit of a gamble, rho didnt raise spades so bidding could easily find him with 4 or even 5 cards in the minor against your 4-3 fit. 1NT could have the first 8 tricks cashing against it, then again it could bring in plenty if you ahve cahsers in hearts and clubs. Ask me another 5 years and I will probably have an opinion on it :)
Phil
On the last hand, Mike has reminded me that 3NT only makes when played by West.
"I thought 1NT should show a spade stop?"
Stoppers? What's that?
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