IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

 

In competitive auctions it’s not always clear whether you should pass, double, or bid one more.  Of course, the form of scoring is often an important factor.  Playing in a pairs event, you strive for plus scores and may not want to reach the five-level.  In a team game, you want to avoid the dreaded “double game swing” so it’s often safer to bid one more.  What would you do with the South hand in this diagram?

Scoring:  Matchpoints (Pairs)

Hand#12

Dlr

E

Vul

E/W

S

97

H

5

D

Q106

C

K985432

S

AKQ10

H

1032

D

97542

C

10

  pad  

S

J86542

H

Q7

D

3

C

AQ76

 

S

3

H

AKJ9864

D

AKJ8

C

J

West

North

East

South

   

 

Pass

    1H

   Pass

   Pass

   1S

    4H

     4S

   Pass

   Pass

    ??

   

 
BIDDING:  South had a very nice hand but the auction left him with a difficult decision.  His partner had been no help so he was on his own.  Should he pass, double, or bid one more?  There were several different results when this hand was played in a local game.  One E/W pair bid the spade game and made ten tricks so South should not double.  Two N/S pairs bid the heart game and made an overtrick so that result says to bid one more and that is what this South decided to do.


PLAY: 
  West led a top spade and then shifted to his singleton club.  East won the queen and returned another one.  South was helpless; if he ruffed low West would over ruff and if he ruffed with the ace or king, West’s ten of hearts would be promoted.  Still, down one and -50 was a better result than allowing the opponents to make their spade game.  At my table, I opened 1H with the South hand and that became the final contract.  After scoring eleven tricks I was disappointed until I saw the opponents could make a game in spades.  My +200 was an average result and it was on to the next hand.

Copyright ©2010 Larry Matheny