Washington Bridge League Solver's Club  -  Mar/Apr 2004

Moderator: Steve Robinson

      Congratulations to Robert Stone and Gerald Lerner who tied for first with a score of 490. They win a free entry to the Unit Game and will be invited to be on a future panel. Tied for third were Mohamed Abdallah, Barry Bragin, Nikula Tcholakov, Robert Jenkins, Dan Moraru, John Livingston and Alan Shaw with a score of 480. Tied for tenth were Mitchell Karlick, Goldie Brody, Bob Hartmann, Bill Wade, Ivan Brendler, Hal Hindman, Charity Sack and Jimmy Ritzenberg with a score of 470. Tied for eighteenth were Chris Marks, Kevin Avery, Peter Haglich, David Wakefield, Mathew Mallory, Bill Fountain, Todd Zimnoch, Kevin Barnes, Michelle Cantave, Matthew Campbell, Jean Franke, Jihfu Lai, Murray Jacobson, Kent Goulding, Dave Abelow, Irene Perkins, Burt and Lynn Hall and Monique Smith with a score of 460. Tied for thirty-sixth were Irving Weinstein, Mike Zane, Greg Belmonte, Ruth Cohen, Bill Gress, Walter Taschek, Susan Bowles, Ron Daringer, Drazen Kretchmer, Saul Penn, Walter Taschek, Ted Ying, and Rick Uhrig with a score of 450. Tied for forty-ninth were Walter Kerns, Lloyd Rawley, Leon Letwin, Rick Bingham, Andrew Brecher, Johnny Petersson, Jim Creech, Walter Beckerman, Chris Miller and Mark Laken with a score of 440. Tied for fifty-ninth were Robert Gunnell, Harriet Glazer, Tom Musso, Rosi Lindstrom, Atul Jain, Tracy Brines, Chuck Yaple, Mike Kovacich, Hy Chansky, Prahalad Rajkumar, Joan O’Neill, Scott Merrritt, Tim Crank, Millard Nachtwey, Stu Fleishmann, David Walker and Mathew Haag with a score of 430. The average score of the 285 solvers was 376.  The average score of the experts was 444.

All readers are encouraged to send answers and/or new problems to Steve Robinson, 2891 S. Abingdon St. #A2 Arlington, VA, 22206.  In addition to the winner receiving a free play at the WBL Unit Game, Steve will play with anyone who gets a perfect score or who exactly matches all five of his answers.  If you send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the above address along with your answers, Steve will send you a copy of the new problems to ensure that you can meet his next deadline.  You can pick up a copy of the problems at the WBL Unit Game in Maryland, and can send answers or requests for problems to robinswr@erols.com.  WBL Solvers Club uses Washington Standard as published July 1996.

     The book Washington Standard second edition is out.  If you are a serious bridge player, this book is a must.  You can purchase a copy from Steve for $25.00 at the Unit Game and at tournaments or can send him a check for $28.95 that includes $3.95 for priority mail.

     Double for penalties is the answer to this problem. However, double is for takeout promising support for the unbid suits especially the majors. A singleton king is not what I call heart support. The experts consider two calls, pass and the takeout double which promises support for the unbid suits. Pass has the advantage of being able to see what the opponents have before entering the fray. Of course, LHO who is obviously short in clubs, could respond on next to nothing so his bid has to be taken with a grain of salt. However, you will hear RHO’s rebid.

    Four experts agree with me and await further developments. What might be bad for you is that it might go all pass. If West passes, partner might not be strong enough to reopen or even if he’s strong enough to balance, he might not have the right distribution. If partner is 2443 he might not reopen for fear of allowing the opponents to get to a better spot. 3NT might make if partner has one winner such as a pointed king. The good news is that players rarely pass 1 when they are short.

Parker: ”Pass---From someone who never passes, I can't see what bad things can happen after a pass. I will be able to bid 3 or double depending on how the sequence comes back to me. This way I can show clubs and not totally confuse partner.”

Roman: ”Pass---Maybe I'll get to show this hand by doubling and then bidding spades or some such and maybe I won't, but for now I'm going plus. Hands that start like this sometimes end with the opponents going for big numbers.”

    Your next problem could be an opening lead problem.

King: ”Pass---3NT might be a more practical bid, but I will just pass for now and see what happens.”

Schwartz: ”Pass---3 is weak so no point to that. The only other possibility is 3NT. Will I be happy if LHO doubles? Now I have to consider running to their suit.

    Four experts double. Partner, being a passed hand means that he is less likely to have a long red suit.

Cappelletti: ”Double---Plan to bid notrump over red-suits. Over 4, bid 4NT and pass 5; or bid 6NT over 5.”

Great! Partner has -AxxxxxQxxxxxx and you end up in 6NT.

Woolsey: ”Double---Since partner didn't open a weak two-bid, it is unlikely that he has enough hearts to bury me. I think the danger of missing a spade fit and belonging in 4 rather than 3NT outweighs the danger of partner driving to 4.  Another point is that if I double and then bid 3NT, West is less likely to find what might be a killing heart lead than if I bid 3NT directly particularly if partner responds 1.”

Lublin: ”Double---I double to see if partner has spades and then bid 3NT if partner bids a red suit.”

Gray: ”Double---Is there any other option?”

    Two experts bid notrump. They expect a club lead. Right!

Adams: ”1NT---Yes, an underbid, but I do not expect the auction to die here. 3NT is big overbid.  1 and double are really misdirected.”

    If partner transfers to hearts, you can jump to 3NT knowing that you won’t get a heart lead.

Hopkins: ”3NT---Partner can pull if he has a strong Major, otherwise I will have to tough it out here. The problem with this bid is that I might miss a Spade fit and I expect to get a Heart lead a fair amount of the time.”

    When you are long in the opponent’s suit and there is no clear-cut action, it’s usually right to pass. Take action when you are short.

    Partner has overcalled at the two level and you have nine HCPs. This hand is somewhere between a weak limit raise and a strong simple raise. You need approximately ten points to make a passed hand limit raise. Since partner could have KxAJxxAKxxxxx for his 2-overcall, passing could cause you to miss a makeable slam which is on a heart and spade finesse which are odds on with the opening bid. So the problem is how much is this hand worth? Five experts say simple raise and five experts say limit raise. I say limit raise. If this were a major suit, I would say simple raise. However, if partner has six club tricks, all partner needs is a spade stopper and either the ace of hearts or king of diamonds to make 3NT. Kx10xxKxAJ10xxx is enough with the club finesse working and he could have a lot more.  

    Five experts make a simple club raise.

Parker: ”3---What is the trick? I have support, no other long suits, no spade stopper and nine points. If this doesn't equal a simple raise I need to take up another game. Partner can always bid again with extras.”

Cappelletti: ”3---Must bid.”

Roman: ”3---This isn't a limit raise, and surely no one will pass. Should be the first unanimous (experts and solvers) problem in the history of this forum.”

King: ”3---I don't think this hand is good enough to cue bid 2 and I don't see what other bids are available.”

Schwartz: ”3---Tends to be better than a major suit raise so I am comfortable with that even with my good in and out evaluation (better hand than 10xxKxxQxxxAxx).”

    Four experts agree with me and make a limit raise. Being a passed hand limits your hand so partner can’t expect much more than you have.

Woolsey: ”2---I can't have much more for a passed hand, with my excellent club support and nice primes.  A 3 call could be a lot weaker. If partner drives to game, this dummy won't be a disappointment.”

Lublin: ”2---Too good for just 3. Will bid 2 first. Possible notrump game.”

Adams: ”2---Three big cards, might as well encourage a little.”

Hopkins: ”2---I have just enough to suggest getting into 3NT.”

    One expert passes. You can’t pass when partner needs so little to make game.

Gray: ”Pass---Game is unlikely, 3 may be too high if partner has less than opener. Keep it simple.”

    Nobody mentioned the winning call at the table, 2NT! Not only does 3NT make when partner has a spade stopper, it also makes sometimes when West assumes that you have a stopper and fails to lead a spade, which is what actually happened when this hand was played. A great Italian player bid 2NT, got raised to 3NT and it made and their spade stopper was Jx opposite 10xx.

    When partner overcalls two-of-a-minor, think about how little partner might need to make 3NT.

    I made a mistake when I set up this problem. I meant to make South an unpassed hand. I have to live with South being a passed hand but I did say that 2 would be game forcing. Ten of the experts found alternative actions to the clear cut 2 bid. I think its right to play fourth suit by passed hand as natural and non forcing. This hand type comes up more often than the 5332 hands that have no stopper in the fourth suit. Since 2 promises another bid, what do you do with this hand?

    Two experts pass. Could be right if partner has five clubs but could be a disaster if partner has four bad clubs.

Cappelletti: ”Pass---More likely to have disaster than success by bidding 2NT.”

Gray: ”Pass---How can 2 be a game force when you are a passed hand? If 2 is game forcing, I can't bid that. I guess I pass - looks like total misfit, clubs may be best (ruff diamonds in dummy). Hideous hand.”

    Four experts jump in hearts. While 3 should show this hand, confusion could set in. In some systems 3 is a splinter in support of clubs.

Woolsey: ”3---A jump in a new suit is a splinter only if either the suit is clearly unplayable or if a non-jump in the suit would be NATURAL and forcing. Since 2 isn't natural, 3 must be, and since 2 is GF, the jump in the fourth suit must be a natural 5-5 invite.  This may get us too high, but at least we will get to the right game if we have one.”

Parker: ”3---Same bid as I would do if not a passed hand. Invitational and 5-5 in the majors. Question, how can 2 be a game force by a passed hand? What do you bid with KxxxxAxxxxxxx?”

Roman: ”3---The problem with bidding 2 (in light of our silly agreement that a passed hand can force to game when opener hasn't shown extras) is that unless partner's third bid is 2NT, when we next bid 3