24 Members convened after bridge for our first ('Tuesday Session Debrief') on Tuesday 31 May.
The following hands and issues were discussed:
- Pre-emptive bids, bidding or not bidding; bidding over them (or not)….see hands 4, 11, 15, 21. Consensus – often better to accept being pre-empted than taking a big risk and bidding at a high level “blind”. Not all 7-card suits are suitable for pre-emptive openings. Sometimes, partner is “pre-empted”.
- Role of opening leader’s partner on opening lead – attitude or count? hand #18. It is very important for partnerships to agree on this important first step in defence. On this hand, North often plays in 4D, a spade ace is led, but must not be continued. West should indicate this by a discouraging signal (many play low encourage on the First lead, and West should play 10S).
- Unblocking in defence can be a challenge – hand #23.
- Valuing the hand – to open or not to open – hand #9.
- Role and limitations of Gerber 4C…important general discussion…avoid a policy of “4C is always Gerber”.
- Jakoby – see hand #6, “Hand of the Week” below. When no intervening suit bid, 2NT over 1 of a major (maybe better with 5-card majors, but can work with Acol) tells partner “I have at least 4 of your major, and points for game”. This allows plenty of room to explore slam options where appropriate….see below…
“Hand of the Week”
![](/images/618102/Hand_record_2022-05-31_Board_6.png)
East deals and passes, South opens 1S, West passes and North bids 2NT (Jakoby – see above).
By agreement, South’s rebid of 3C (artificial - shows a singleton or void in C and a decent opening hand) prompts North to pause and consider – South almost certainly now shows a good S suit and something in D, as he/she cannot have much in hearts or clubs….enough for North to bid….6S! With the lead coming from West, a club lead is unlikely, and so 7S easy to make.
To review the hand records for the session on Tuesday 31 May 2022 ... click here