frs1016@centurylink.net
The prevalent style in competitive bidding is to bid when it’s your turn. Players emphasize obstruction: “striking the first blow” and making it hard for their opponents to bid accurately. Occasionally, the aggressors may find a miracle fit that produces a good sacrifice or a makeable high-level contract.
| Dlr: South | ♠ J 7 | |||||||||||||
| Vul: N-S | ♥ 9 7 | |||||||||||||
| ♦ A Q 10 9 6 4 | ||||||||||||||
| ♣ K Q 7 | ||||||||||||||
| ♠ A 10 9 3 2 | ♠ 8 6 5 | |||||||||||||
| ♥ K 10 8 5 2 | ♥ J 6 | |||||||||||||
| ♦ 2 | ♦ J 7 5 3 | |||||||||||||
| ♣ 9 3 | ♣ 10 8 6 5 | |||||||||||||
| ♠ K Q 4 | ||||||||||||||
| ♥ A Q 4 3 | ||||||||||||||
| ♦ K 8 | ||||||||||||||
| ♣ A J 4 2 | ||||||||||||||
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Opening lead — ♠A
Well, methinks people doth bid too much. I have written articles questioning the wisdom of undisciplined bidding. Throwing the auction into a tizzy may be great fun, but if your partner has no idea what your bids promise, he can’t act intelligently.
Moreover, when you enter the opponents’ auction with a weak hand — when they are more likely to buy the contract — there is a trade-off: You give away information declarer may use.
When today’s South opened 1♣, West couldn’t resist climbing in with a “Michaels” cuebid of 2♣ to show, typically, five cards in each major. That action had no debilitating effect on North-South, who barreled into 6NT.
West led the ace and a low spade, and South won and cashed the ♣A K. When West followed, South could assume that West’s pattern was 5-5-1-2. So South next let the ♦10 ride. When the 10 won, South took the king, returned to dummy with the ♣Q and ran the diamonds. He had plenty of tricks and made the slam.
West’s bid was a losing action in practice. (If West keeps silent, North-South may reach 6NT, but South will need a crystal ball to make it.) In my opinion, it was a loser in theory as well.
