What’s your call?
| 3NT | ||||
| 4♣ | 4♦ | 4♥ | 4♠ | 4NT |
| 5♣ | 5♦ | 5♥ | 5♠ | 5NT |
| 6♣ | 6♦ | 6♥ | 6♠ | 6NT |
| 7♣ | 7♦ | 7♥ | 7♠ | 7NT |
| Pass |
Robinson: 3NT. “Partner shows a good hand, so I’m bidding the cheapest game.”
Kennedy bids 3NT. “Last chance.”
Lee: “3NT. Not enough defense to pass.”
Stack’s rule: “When in doubt, invoke Hamman’s Rule to bid 3NT if it is a reasonable choice. Doesn’t seem like this hand will stretch to 3NT with only one spade stopper, but there is no reason to think that 4♣ or pass will produce a good result either.”
Hampson says his hand adds up to 3NT: “Partner has a game-going hand with only four hearts, plus I have a spade stopper and a notrump hand.”
Weinstein, too: “I have a balanced hand without four hearts and the ♠K x, right? If I needed a swing, I might bid 4♥, but 3NT feels pretty normal to me.”
Cohen is not squeamish. “With a protected king in their suit, I’ve learned to just close my eyes and bid 3NT in such situations. Nobody says I have to be happy about it. My good partners hold ♣A K x x x and the ♦ A (or ♥K Q).”
Boehm explains: “Because partner is unlimited, I can’t pass up the chance for a vulnerable game.”
Colchamiro calls this “a deceptively difficult problem, particularly at IMPs.” He bids 3NT. “At first I thought that 4♣ was the safest choice. Partner is sure to have at least four of them. But then I realized that most hands that will make 4♣ will produce nine tricks in notrump, and on those where 3NT goes down, 4♣ is likely to go down also. Second choice is pass. 4♣ doesn’t get us anywhere, almost no matter what partner has. ”
Rigal bids 4♣ and screams in all caps, “Takeout doubles should be taken out!” 3NT was never even a gleam in his eye. “If partner corrects to 4♦ , I bid 4♥. Passing the double might work at pairs, but not at teams.”
Sanborn also bids 4♣. “Passing might be right, but could lead to a disaster. 4♥ is a possibility from my side, but could run into bad breaks. I can’t imagine we have enough tricks for 3NT. I expect partner’s distribution to be 2=4=3=4 or 2=4=2=5, so I’ll go with my best option.”
Korbel presents his choices: pass, 3NT and 4♥. “At any other colors, I would certainly pass. But here I will try 4♥ and hope to make it. 3NT is possible, but we will probably have to run nine tricks off the top, which seems unlikely with my hand.”
Meyers tries 4♥, too. “This is tough. I could brave it out and bid 3NT, but I would want a third spade to do that. I know we are likely playing a 4–3 heart fit. Because there is a game bonus, I am not enthused about bidding 4♣.”
Lawrence passes. “Partner has 11 or more points, but making something our way is not certain. In fact, if we reach a 4–3 fit, we might be in trouble. I just hope that my ♠K is not a total waste.”
