AUDREY GRANT'S BETTER BRIDGE MAGAZINE September / October 2021 | Page 6

A FEATURE FROM THE BRIDGE WORLD

This hand is taken from The Bridge World , a journal for expert players , founded in 1929 . There has never been a set of unanimous responses to the Master Solvers ' Club bidding problem .

Both sides are vulnerable . You are sitting South . West is the dealer and opens 3♣ . Partner , North , doubles , and East passes . What call would you make with this hand ?

Vul : Both Dlr : West dealer

3♣

♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ w

Dbl n

s Q 9 4 2 K 7 6 9 7 A 10 6 4

? e

Pass

When partner makes a takeout double over West ’ s preemptive 3♣ opening , partner presumably has more than minimum values . Combined with your 9 high-card points , your side has the majority of strength . A game contract is possible , but it ’ s unclear Where the partnership belongs .

The auction , however , has given you an indication of possible contracts . You have four spades , and partner ’ s takeout double suggests partner has at least 4-3 in the major suits . If partner also has four spades , you have an eight-card spade fit . Even then , do you bid 3♠ or 4♠ ?

Another possibility is notrump . You have a balanced hand with two club stoppers , the ♣A-10 . You won ’ t have to worry about a potential 4-3 spade fit but suits will likely break poorly , making it difficult to establish and take the tricks you need . So is 3NT a sure bet ?

A third possibility is to pass , converting partner ’ s takeout double into a penalty double . You have a good shot at two trump tricks plus any side suit winners you and partner have . Also , the opponents are vulnerable . Down one doubled gives your side plus 200 , and there ’ s some chance for down two or three . Of course , pass will only be profitable if game is not makeable for your side . If you can make game , then you ’ ll need 3♣ to go down three , doubled , for plus 800 .

For nearly two-thirds of the panel , pass is an easy decision . They aren ’ t convinced game in spades or notrump will make , but they expect West ’ s 3♣ contract – vulnerable – can be defeated . Some choose to gamble with 3NT , while the rest bid a quiet 3♠ , hoping to hear more from partner .

4 AUDREY GRANT ’ S BETTER BRIDGE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2021

Let ’ s see what the experts have to say , starting with the majority .

FRED STEWART : Pass . Take the plus . Partner likely has four spades , but that is not etched in stone . If 3NT makes , we will take a lot of tricks against 3♣ .

ZACH GROSSACK : Pass . I don ’ t know how many spades to bid . If I bid 3♠ , we will miss a game a lot of the time when we have one . With imminent bad breaks , 4♠ would be an overbid – right-hand opponent is overruffing in clubs . Most importantly , there ’ s no guarantee of an eight-card fit . I expect to defeat 3♣ , winning big when our side has no game .

DANNY KLEINMAN : Pass . Close with 4♠ and 3NT . As we may lack trumps enough for 4♠ and tricks enough for 3NT , I ’ ll place my bet on a plus 200 – or , if we have a game , an even bigger plus 800 .

LEONARD HELFGOTT : Pass . Heavy for just 3♠ , and pass is likely better than 3NT when the opponents are vulnerable .

JOHN DIAMOND : Pass . Take the money when game and fit are questionable .

LARRY ROBBINS : Pass . We should beat this most of the time and will make a game about 50 % of the time … but finding the correct strain will be a challenge .

Only a handful of panelists choose to bid 3NT . They reason there ’ s a better chance of taking nine tricks than beating 3♣ doubled by more than two tricks .

ZIA : 3NT . No idea what ’ s best .

BILLY EISENBERG : 3NT . I expect this to make . 500 would be the most we can expect on defense .

Even holding four spades and some values , none of the panelists bid 4♠ . They all agree 3♠ might be a bit conservative , but 4♠ would be an overbid .

KAREN MCCALLUM : 3♠ . It ’ s constructive . 4♠ would be too pushy , especially with only a four-card suit . If partner can ’ t move over 3♠ , game will be thin and unattractive . Passing could easily be the winner .

BRIAN GLUBOK : 3♠ . Partner will raise with four spades and 16-17 high-card points or more , so there are few hands with which partner will pass and we ’ ll miss game . If , instead , I bid 4♠ , partner might get rambunctious with , for example , ♠ J x x x ♥A Q x ♦A K Q x x x ♣ ―.

BART BRAMLEY : 3♠ . Down the middle . But pass if I need a top . Opposite a 12 high-card-point 4 = 4 = 4 = 1 hand , we may or may not set 3♣ , and game will be pushy at best .

BETTER BRIDGE CONCLUSION : Pass . Game is far from certain in our direction , and it is also unclear which game might be best – 3NT or 4♠ . With partner ’ s values for a threelevel takeout double and our club holding , we should be able to defeat 3♣ doubled at least one trick , likely more . Of course , we are violating Edgar Kaplan ’ s advice to “ take out takeout doubles ” and will have to apologize to partner if this doesn ’ t work out .

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