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Distribution Can Be As Important as Points (from Monday 8th May 2006).

North: Dealer; N/V vs N/V:

		ª	A K Q x x
		©	9 x
		¨	x
		§	A K 10 x x
ª	x			ª	J x
©	A K 10 x x x x x			©	Q J x
¨	A K			¨	Q J x x
§	J x			§	7 x x x
		ª	10 x x x x
		©	VOID
		¨	10 x x x x x
		§	Q x

The point about this hand is the playing strength of the South hand.

So, the experts say that with 5-5 in the black suits you should open 1§ and then bid spades at your rebid and your next bid. However, I do not think there is a problem if you choose to open 1ª - it is much harder for the opponents to compete.

So look at what happened - and what should have happened - at our tables.

After 1ª - P, South should forget the poor looking hand and say, 'Hmm, we have a fit in spades and it is pretty certain after 2 ‘Passes’ that West is going to bid.' So even if N/S have the maximum losers in each suit they are likely to make 3ª . (I would tend to bid 4ª because that is a shutout bid as far as partner is concerned and makes life difficult for West). In practice South ‘Passed’ and West was quite right to bid 4©. South now bid 4ª , West bid 5© and that was the contract.

After 1§ by North, both East & South should ‘Pass’ and West is again worth (Stop) 4©. Now, North really must bid 4ª ! If not then he may as well open hands like this 1ª and he should realise that West has a primarily distributional hand so he must compete.

After 4ª East should bid 5© - (because West bid with no knowledge of East’s Q J x) - and with a void in hearts and no defensive value whatsoever South should bid 5ª .

If I were West I would ‘Pass’; partner can make the decision about bidding again.

If West does bid 6© then North should now 'X' - since partner did not bid first time round 6ª is a gamble.

With no obvious defensive tricks in the hand South has to decide whether to leave 6©X or bid 6ª - unfortunately there is no clear guide as to which course of action to take with the bidding at such a high level

Note that if the contract is 6©X then North should start with the A-K of clubs since there is a risk that West may be void in spades.

Points to learn from this deal -

A good example of a 'playing hand'. The South hand has no defensive value whatsoever so as soon as partner bids (and shows a fit!) then he/she should show support.

In a competitive auction bid your hand to it’s value as soon as possible - West’s bid of 4© is perfect - at one table it had the desired effect of keeping North quiet.

If you want to bid 5-5 black-suited hands by showing the club first then you have to show the spades next - if the opposition are going to frighten you off then you should think about opening 1ª

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