#1 - Hugh's 'Hand of the Week' - Tuesday 31 May 2022

24 Members convened after bridge for our first ('Tuesday Session Debrief') on Tuesday 31 May. 

The following hands and issues were discussed:

1. 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”.
   
   
2. 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).
   
   
3. Unblocking in defence can be a challenge – hand #23.  
   
   
4. Valuing the hand – to open or not to open – hand #9.
   
   
5. Role and limitations of Gerber 4C…important general discussion…avoid a policy of “4C is always Gerber”.
   
   
6. 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”

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