Diary of a Bridge Pro #28

Springfield, Il, April 10, 2024 
 I rose early in our American Midwest to put down some thoughts for today's column. It is a stabilizing factor in my unstable life, writing these blogs.
  Half past six, already there is traffic noise outside on West Edwards Street. The state capitol, with its towering dome, is only a couple blocks away. Discovery House is even closer - perhaps I’ll post myself near the 7 AM Meeting with friends of Bill, across the street. Like writing this blog, the fellowship I find in the company of those recovering addicts buoys me, keeps me near the surface of the sea.
  I’m not a recovering alcoholic, but I’ve been drinking way less - down from “Not very much at all” to almost nothing. Not that you asked, but I intend for these blogs to have elements of a diary - personal thoughts, recorded for the writer’s benefit, partly to aid his recollection.
  The life of a bridge pro can be lonely and isolating. I need to do all, write the blog, attend the Meetings, and do all I can to stay connected.
  You know what they say - It’s a dog eat dog world out there….
  *****
  Let's look at some bridge deals, here are some from my recent regional in Florida.
  

  As opener, Walter held a balanced 17 point hand: Ax, Axx, AQTx, K762.  I may have written elsewhere on the importance of using the 14 to 16 range for the non-vulnerable no trump range, as opposed to 15 to 17. Certainly I’ll confront that issue in time. For now, I just want to mention that it was in that very same Coral Springs Conference Center, back in 2018, when Chris Compton made me aware of the importance of this range one point or half-point reduction in the strength required for a not vulnerable no trump opening, down to 14 to 16 Not Vulnerable, in first through third seats.

  "It's really important to play 14 to 16 not vulnerable in the first three positions, instead of 15 to 17," Compton told me then, "It's a big improvement."

  Chris spoke with such conviction that I took his advice to heart, and I immediately lowered my not vulnerable no trump range.  That simple change has led to a substantial improvement in my scores on deals where this change has an impact - deals where we either open One No Trump and wouldn’t have before the change, or don’t open One No Trump and would have previously (like Board 2 here). That’s not even counting the multiple collateral benefits.

  After Walter’s One Diamond opening, the next player, with 5-5 in the majors (KJTxx, KTxxx, K, xx) chose to overcall One Spade. Most would bid Michaels, but this guy bid a spade.

  Just the Facts: Sergeant Joe Friday in Dragnet

---

  Swing around to my seat - I had a rather typical hand for this situation, 5-3-3-2 with 8 points: Specifically, Q9xxx, Qxx, Jx, QJT.

  I'm going to zip across the street, I'll return and complete this entry.

  *****

  Back. 

  I'd like to see our bridge world provide a lot more of this type of group support - that's not really what we do, but perhaps we should.

  I’d welcome a grass-roots movement to create a similar group to meet at bridge tournaments. Defeating addiction is a good theme, but so is “wanting to be better at bridge” - the theme is less important, in my view, than the act of gathering in a group for ritual prayer or similar.

  Back to the bridge deal:

  In present tense, I hold Q97xx, Qxx, Jx, QJT: The bidding to me: 1D - (1S) - ?

  I’m guessing the field will bid One No Trump with this hand. It turns out that RHO had 5-5 in the majors, a hand that most will Michaels with, so I’m in a spot that won’t be duplicated often. But even before the bidding gets to my RHO, our adjustment of our NV NT range has had its impact - Walter has 17 (HCP), and most will open One No with that.

  At tables where the auction begins with a One Club or One Diamond opening from East, most Souths will bid Michaels rather than One Spade. A few will bid One Heart or pass - factor all that together and there may have been only a few other tables in the entire event where the bidding began as it did at my table (1C - (1S) - ?)

  Thought for the Day:

  On most bidding problems at matchpoints, it's not you against the other players who hold your cards and face the same sequence: It's you against the mountain. You against par.

  Rookie Error to Avoid:

  Don't assume that players with your cards at other tables will face the same problems. They won't.

  Leaving my specific hand out of it, in your favorite partnership, what does 1NT show after 1C (1S) - ?.

  Basic Intermediate textbooks, if they still exist, may have taught that this bid shows 7 to 10, even 6 to 10, with a spade stopper.

  Pioneering theorist Al Roth took a much different view - he considered this a “Free Bid” and had very high requirements for it. More like 9 to 11, and always a double spade stopper.

  So to me, there are two things wrong with the 1NT bid with this hand: 1) Our hand isn’t good enough 2) We have too many spades (I almost never bid 1NT with a five card holding in their suit.

  For the sake of this exercise, I'll imagine that I board my ten-speed bike and head up to Bridge World Headquarters (and Edgar's home) on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

  Obviously this is an imaginary conversation, since: A) Kaplan has been deceased since 1997, and B) in the late 1980's, when I'm setting this imaginary incident: It was quite unlikely that I'd be out on my bike in the morning hours, and if I was, I’d be unlikely to be visiting Edgar.

  Let’s imagine that I come up upon Edgar in front of his brownstone on West 94th Street, watering the sidewalk. I never saw Edgar water his own sidewalk, but we can pretend.

  I wheel my bike over to his curb, and greet him, then ask:

  “Say Edgar, I wanted to ask you, What are the requirements for a free No Trump response after partner opens and RHO overcalls?”

  “Your subtext deals with ‘Free Bids’”, he says.

  “‘Free Bird?’” I echo. “Don’t tell me your a Lynyrd Skynrd fan!”  

  Naturally my reference is lost on him but he plows ahead.

  “A One Spade bid by responder after a One Heart overcall shouldn't promise a huge hand - it’s  a playable method, but inferior. Better to just let responder bid One Spade if he feels like it. I was wrong about this in the first K-S book, and Al was wrong about it when he presented "The Roth Stone System of Bidding".

  “Personal Growth Opportunity,” I remark.

  Kaplan continues: But I haven’t changed my thinking about a free One No Trump bid, like after 1D by partner, One Spade by RHO - Al was right about that. I thought so then (in the 1950’s when Al’s book was published), and I think so now.

  Typically 9 or 10 HCP, even 11, and always a double stopper in the opponent's suit, spades in this case.

  “That's a lot of hand to require - that’s just not how people play nowadays. Yesterday I played against a guy who had Kxx, Qxx, Qxxxx, xx, his partner opened a club, I overcalled a spade, he bid a vulnerable One No Trump with that hand, seven high and a single spade stopper.

  EK: How did it work out for him? 

  BG: He went minus 200, we would probably have gone down in Two Diamonds if he passed. 

  EK: So there you go.

  ******

 Echoes of that imaginary conversation were reverberating in my mind when I faced this problem in Florida last week. “I could bid 1NT, sure,” I thought, “But why should I?”

  Reasons to Bid: It's fun to bid / We might have a game / I do have 8 HCP and it might be hard to catch up later if I don't act now.

  Reasons Not to Bid: I don't have much hand - no length in other suits, only a poor 8 HCP, at most 1 1/4 spade stoppers and I have to count the nine.

  Best Reason not to bid: I have five of their suit!."

 If I bid 1NT, partner would raise to two, or more likely three, no trump, and RHO would be done bidding. 

 After I passed, partner re-opened with a double. I didn't have to decide whether or not to pass for penalties (I might bid 1NT on the second round instead), for RHO continued with 2H. I doubled 2H. My reasoning ran:

  Partner doubled One Spade for take-out - he's supposed to have solid opening bid values for this re-opening, and also at least three, frequently four, card length in hearts.

  Quick Conclusion: We have more than half the points, and at least six, possibly seven hearts. So I have an easy double.

  I doubled - they stayed there - I led the queen of clubs, though a trump lead, or even the jack of diamonds, would also have been fine.

  They floated down 800, against our possible 120 or 150, or even 400 or 430. Even down 500 would have been close to a top for us.

  Pro Tip: When they overcall in your five card suit, try this countermeasure: Pass!