There are a number of things to think about when reviewing what happened on this hand, which was passed to me by Jack Knudson of Solon. Look at the South hand first. There are twenty high card points, certainly enough for a two no trump opener, but there is also a worthless doubleton spade, which, for many players, would disqualify this hand from that bid. For those players who do open two no trump, a couple of things could happen. North could take a conservative view and pass, or an aggressive view and raise to three no trump. West will likely lead a heart and South will take nine tricks before giving up the lead.
The other option would be for North to bid three clubs. They may make this bid if they are playing a convention that is know as "Puppet Stayman". This sequence allows North to inquire about openers major suit holding. South will show a four or five card major suit. From North's perspective, if South has a five card major (many players will open two no trump with a five card major), the major suit contract may be a better contract.
If North elects to bid three clubs, the non-vulnerable opponent in the East must make a decision. One of the options (as shown above) is to take a chance and tell his partner what suit he would like to see led. All South can do is double and hope. The North-South pair is able to defeat three spades two tricks for a score of plus three hundred, and a poor matchpoint result.
For the record, I would have opened the South hand with a bid of one club. This would also have led to an inferior score. I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to conventions, but I do play Puppet Stayman over two no trump with some of my partners. I am not sure that I would have used it with the North hand.
So here is the bottom line: discuss the conventions you want to use with your partner and have a good reason for using whatever you decide on. Understand what you give up and what you gain. Learn to play standard structures well before adding numerous gadgets that may not come up ofter and are easily forgotten or worse, abused.
The American Bridge Association Summer National Tournament
was held in Saint Louis, MO from July 28 to August 6.
Congratulations to the following players who were successful in
their respective events. Additional results will appear next
week.
July 28. James Hunter of Cleveland and his partner finished 7th
in the afternoon open pairs.
July 29. Carol Childress of Lyndhurst and her partner finished
5th in Flight B and Lawrence Wills of Fairview Park and his
partner were 3rd in Flight C of the Belsaw Open Pairs. Pearl
Buchanan of Chagrin Falls and Jean Pinkney of Cleveland finished
1st in Flight C of the evenng side game.
July 30, Al Freeman of Cleveland and his partner finished 4th in
Flight A of the Men's Pairs. Gwendolyn Gresham of Warrensville
Heights and her partner finished 4th in Flight A and Lillian Hale
of Warrensville Heights and Barbara Shakoor of Pepper Pike were
7th in Flight B of the Women's Pairs. Georgia Doggett of
Cleveland and Sara Seals of Shaker Heights finished 4th while
Childress and her partner finished 15th in Flight A of the
evening side game. Ernest Mapp and Lucille McGhee of Shaker
Heights were 1st in Flight B of the same event.
July 31, Doggett and Seals were 1st in Flight A of the woman's
pairs. Opal Taylor of Solon and her partner were 9th in Flight B
and Pearl Buchanan and Jean Pinkney were 2nd in Flight C of the
same event. Childress and her partner finished 2nd in Flight B
and Lawrence Wills, and his partner were 3rd in Flight C of the
mixed pairs. Doggett and Seals were 3rd in Flight A evening open
pairs. Freeman and Hale were 10th in Flight A of the Mixed Pairs
Consolation event.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.
To reach Harvey Bernstein:
hjb0416@yahoo.com