The hands for this bidding challenge were taken from the November 2002 issue of BRIDGE Magazine. Here we show the auctions of two BIL partnerships:
sceptic and geofspa are two members of the Beginners/Intermediates Lounge (BIL) at Bridge Base Online.
OliverC teaches Precision Club in the BIL and robertn is one of his students.
Bd: 1; Dlr: North; Vul: None; IMPs
North
S 2
H KQJT
D K4
C AT8642
West East
S QJT9 S 8643
H 9876 H A5432
D JT7 D 63
C QJ C 75
South
S AK75
H
D AQ9852
C K93
West North East South
sceptic geofspa
1C Pass 1D
Pass 2C Pass 2S
Pass 3H Pass 4C
Pass Pass Pass
An unfortunate start when there is confusion about whether 4C is forcing or not that at least results in a positive score, but that's about that can be said for it.
I'd prefer sceptic's rebid to be 1H rather than 2C given the strength of the suit although this would actually make the subsequent auction more difficult.
West North East South
OliverC robertn
2C (1) Pass 2D (2)
Pass 2H Pass 4D (3)
Pass 4NT (4) Pass 6C
Pass Pass Pass
(1) 11-15pts, 6C or 5+C and 4-card major
(2) Relay
(3) Control ask
(4) 3 controls, A=2, K=1
A well controlled Precision auction to the top spot after the most cumbersome opening in the system.
Best contract: 6C
Scores: sceptic/geofspa 1 OliverC/robertn 10
Bd: 2; Dlr: East; Vul: NS; IMPs
North
S AQT873
H 962
D T72
C 7
West East
S 42 S J65
H AJ43 H K875
D A643 D 98
C 432 C AT86
South
S K9
H QT
D KQJ5
C KQJ95
West North East South
sceptic geofspa
Pass 1C
Pass 2S Pass 3D
Pass 3S Pass 4S
Pass Pass Pass
It seems almost impossible to avoid game with these cards and sceptic-geofspa's sequence is typical of many.
West North East South
OliverC robertn
1C (1)
Pass 2S (2) Pass Pass
Pass
(1) 16+ pts, any hand
(2) 5-7 pts, good 6-card suit
Excellent judgement allows them to stay at a makeable level and avoid the very poor game.
Best contract: 2S
Current scores: sceptic/geofspa 4 OliverC/robertn 20
Bd: 3; Dlr: South; Vul: EW; IMPs
North
S 976
H AK73
D AK85
C K6
West East
S A42 S 85
H Q654 H J98
D 32 D J76
C 7543 C QJT98
South
S KQJT3
H T2
D QT94
C A2
West North East South
sceptic geofspa
1S
Pass 2D Pass 3D
Pass 3H Pass 3S
Pass 4C Pass 5C
Pass 6D Pass Pass
Pass
A controlled auction to a fine spot. The hand illustrates the problems of deciding on a trump suit and perhaps the only way to bid to the top spot is when South rebids 2S when holding such good spades.
West North East South
OliverC robertn
1S
Pass 1NT (1) Pass 2D
Pass 2H (2) Pass 3C (3)
Pass 3D (4) Pass 3S (5)
Pass 4C (6) Pass 4H (7)
Pass 4S Pass Pass
Pass
(1) Forcing for one round with a variety of hands
(2) Asking bid in spades
(3) 5-card spades with 2 of the top 3 honours
(4) Control asking (but taken as diamond asking)
(5) 3 controls, or Hxxx
(6) Asking in clubs (taken as control asking)
(7) No club control (or 3 controls)
A hand that illustrates the dangers of a complex system. When an error is made the consequences can be disastrous. At least the recovery here is to a making contract but the good slam is missed.
Best contract: 6S
Current Scores: sceptic/geofspa 12 OliverC/robertn 24
Bd: 4; Dlr: West; Vul: Both; IMPs
North
S AKQ73
H A4
D A
C KJT74
West East
S 984 S JT
H QJT987 H 652
D KQ3 D JT874
C 2 C Q95
South
S 652
H K3
D 9652
C A863
West North East South
sceptic geofspa
2H Dbl Pass 3C
Pass 3H Pass 3NT
Pass 6C Pass Pass
Pass
Exotic expert methods would not be a great help with the North hand and sceptic takes a practical approach bidding the excellent small slam. sceptic-geofspa were not playing Lebensohl which may have helped a little, since South could have held almost nothing for his bidding.
West North East South
OliverC robertn
2H Dbl Pass 2NT (1)
Pass 3D (2) Pass Pass
Pass
(1) Transfer to 3C
(2) Showing very good clubs
Although transfer lebensohl had been agreed, continuations and tranfer breaks had not been fully discussed - or at least remembered. A lesson for us all when making new partnerships - playing lots of conventions may be fun but you do need to understand all aspects of them.
Best contract: 6C
Current Scores: sceptic/geofspa 22 OliverC/robertn 24
Bd: 5; Dlr: North; Vul: NS; IMPs
North
S AKT83
H QJ6
D KT964
C
West East
S 97 S 6542
H K9 H A743
D J75 D 3
C T98732 C QJ64
South
S QJ
H T852
D AQ82
C AK5
West North East South
sceptic geofspa
1S Pass 2D
Pass 4D Pass 5C
Pass 5D Pass Pass
Pass
The key to this auction was South's rebid. Perhaps the master bid is 4S, showing spades values and no heart control as sceptic-geofspa use Italian cuebids - namely, they do not distinguish between first and second round controls. This would give North the option of passing 4S knowing that there are two heart losers.
West North East South
OliverC robertn
1S Pass 1NT (1)
Pass 3D (2) Pass 5D
Pass Pass Pass
(1) Forcing
(2) 14-15 points, at least 5-5
Unsure of continuations after 3D Robert settled for the practical bid although it was always likely to be the final resting place.
Best contract: 4S/5NT
Current Scores: sceptic/geofspa 28 OliverC/robertn 30
Bd: 6; Dlr: East; Vul: EW; IMPs
North
S KQ73
H K4
D JT752
C T6
West East
S J9 S 52
H T986 H QJ53
D K986 D AQ4
C 987 C J532
South
S AT864
H A72
D 3
C AKQ4
West North East South
sceptic geofspa
Pass 1S
Pass 2S Pass 3C
Pass 4S Pass Pass
Pass
There are really two ways of bidding - you can underbid initially and then bid aggressively afterwards, or you can overbid initially and then be cautious later in the auction.
In this case I believe that North underbid initially and then bid cautiously, not a good combination especially when your reputation is for aggression!
North has a number of options over 3C, of which a 4H cuebid is probably best.
West North East South
OliverC robertn
Pass 1C (1)
Pass 1NT (2) Pass 2C (3)
Pass 2D (4) Pass 2S (5)
Pass 3NT (6) Pass 4H (7)
Pass 5D (8) Pass 6S
Pass Pass Pass
(1) 16+
(2) Balanced 8+
(3) Control asking
(4) 0-2 controls (A=2, K=1)
(5) Natural and asking in spades
(6) HHxx
(7) Asking in hearts
(8) 2nd and 3rd round control
A smooth and efficient auction to the top spot illustrating the power of relay/asking bids.
Best contract: 6S
Current Scores: sceptic/geofspa 34 OliverC/robertn 40
Bd: 7; Dlr: South; Vul: Both; IMPs
North
S AJ9
H AK762
D 9752
C A
West East
S KQT432 S 765
H 85 H JT93
D 863 D A
C 32 C QT965
South
S 8
H Q4
D KQJT4
C KJ874
West North East South
sceptic geofspa
1D
2S 3H Pass 4C
Pass 4D Pass 4H
Pass 4S Pass 5C
Pass 6D Pass Pass
Pass
West North East South
OliverC robertn
1D (1)
2S 3H Pass 4C
Pass 5D Pass Pass
Pass
(1) 11-15 pts, 2+ diamonds
A pessimistic view partially caused by the imprecise nature of the Precision 1D opening. Actually I feel that 4C should show the 5-5 nature of the hand and North has a number of options (4D, 4S) to show the power of his hand.
Best contract: 6D
Current Scores: sceptic/geofspa 44 OliverC/robertn 46
Bd: 8; Dlr: West; Vul: None; IMPs
North
S A
H A742
D KJ6
C KJ762
West East
S QJ43 S T987
H KJ53 H QT98
D T9 D A
C Q43 C T985
South
S K652
H 6
D Q875432
C A
West North East South
sceptic geofspa
Pass 1C Pass 1D
Pass 1H Pass 1S
Pass 2NT Pass 3D
Pass 4D Pass 4S
Pass 5D Pass 6D
Pass Pass Pass
West North East South
OliverC robertn
Pass 1C (1) Pass 2D
Pass 2H (2) Pass 2NT (3)
Pass 3D (4) Pass 4C (5)
Pass 4D (6) Pass 4H (7)
Pass 4S (8) Pass 5D (9)
Pass 6D Pass Pass
Pass
(1) 16+
(2) Control asking
(3) 3 controls (A=2, K=1)
(4) Asking in diamonds
(5) 6 diamonds to a top honour
(6) Diamond ask
(7) Queen of Diamonds
(8) Spade ask (a little superfluous)
(9) 2nd round spade control
Another excellent auction for the system as they bid to the top spot.
Best contract: 6D
Final Score: sceptic/geofspa 54 OliverC/robertn 56
So a narrow victory for the Precision pair but a good score by both. Oliver and Robert demonstrated the strength of Precision when you can have uninterrupted strong club auctions but also showed the problems of playing complex systems.
If you have any questions about the bidding, please give me a call.
This page was last updated on December 14, 2004
© 2004 P S Gipson