Page 4 - BB201111

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4 BETTER
VOL. 16, NO. 2
BRIDGE
N OVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
Calendar
Bridge Events
with Audrey Grant and
the Better Bridge Team
Cruises
December 4 - 11, 2011
ACBL Regional at Sea
Royal Caribbean Allure
Alice Travel
800-229-2542
December 26, 2011 - January 2, 2012
New Year’s Cruise
Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam
Cruise Professionals 800-265-3838
February 25 - March 3, 2012
Caribbean Cruise
Holland America Eurodam
Cruise Professionals 800-265-3838
September 24 - October 4, 2012
New England Cruise
Holland America Eurodam
Cruise Professionals 800-265-3838
Festivals
January 8 - 12, 2012
The Cloister
Sea Island, Georgia
Sea Island
800-732-4752
Better Bridge
Teacher Programs
November 25 - 26, 2011
Fall Nationals
Seattle, Washington
Presented by Audrey Grant
Contact: Denise Hoffman
906-226-3108
December 12, 2011
Palm Springs Regional
Rancho Mirage, California
Presented by Teri Atkinson
661-664-1678
For details on other upcoming programs
www.betterbridge.com
This is a good 10 high-card point
hand, which qualifies it marginally
for an encouraging rebid. However,
no invitational bid is suitable. 3 over-
states the heart length; 3 overstates
the diamond length; 3 overstates the
spade strength; 2NT misrepresents
the club length and the suit orientation
of the hand. Perhaps that is why,
uncharacteristically, a majority of
the panel underbids.
IRA RUBIN: 2 . Nothing fits.
RON SMITH: 2 . I am underbidding
now and hoping to catch up.
M ARTY BERGEN : 2 . When in doubt,
make the cheapest reasonable bid.
Hands with long, weak suits should
be downgraded unless there is a
known fit.
K IT WOOLSEY: 2 . A slight underbid,
but there is no decent invitation. If
partner passes, 2 might be the right
contract. If partner bids again, we
should be able to reach the best game.
ROB GORDON: 2 . No bid here is
entirely truthful. 2 is the smallest
lie, the most-probable plus if partner
passes, and the action most likely to
get partner to bid again with extras.
BART BRAMLEY: 3 . Despite my
being one trump shy, 4 will usually
be a decent contract when partner
bids it. No number of spades is right.
My instinct was to bid 2NT, but most
hands I’ve constructed for partner
play better in hearts.
JEFF RUBENS: 2NT. Too strong for
2 . There are more strikes against
2 than against 2NT.
DREW CASEN: 2NT. Every other call
is seriously flawed. Too strong to
pass or to bid two of a major. Too
weak to force to game with 3 . Not
enough length for three of either red
suit. Too weak a suit to jump to 3 .
2NT limits the hand and tells no lies.
ERIC KOKISH: 2NT. Not a textbook call
but right on strength and positional
club stopper, with good fillers for
partner’s red suits and a slow (okay,
very slow) spade stopper.
ROBERT WOLFF: 2NT. The fitting red
cards and solid club stopper impel me
to ‘run for daylight’ at team scoring
and not to take a chance on partner
passing 2 with a singleton. We are
probably 50–50 to have nine fast
tricks if partner can raise to 3NT.
BETTER BRIDGE COMMENTS
With 10 high-card points and 2 length
points for the six-card spade suit,
anything less than an invitational bid
seems too much of an underbid. The
spades are a little weak for a jump to
3 , so we would tend to side with
the invitational call of 2NT.
Master Solvers’ Club
T HE BRIDGE WORLD, founded in 1929,
is the oldest continuously published
bridge magazine. A popular monthly
column is the Master Solvers’ Club.
The reader is shown a problem that
has also been given to 25 players
ranked among the best in the world.
Cover the bottom of the page when
choosing a call. Consider the factors
that led to your decision.Then compare
your decision with the experts.
ANSWERS FROM THE MASTER SOLVERS
Scores awarded by the Master
Solvers’ Club director, based on
the comments of the experts.
2 100
2NT 90
2 70
3 50
3 30
3 10
N
W E
S
10 9 8 7 5 3
A 9
K 7 5
K 4
Pass Pass Pass
1 ?
1 2
D
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