The late Gerald Caravelli of Chicago was known
for his expert declarer play and his biting sarcasm. An old story concerns a
hand where he opened a major and his partner refused to show 4-card support. The
partner had his reasons for insisting on a different contract, but the decision
to make Gerald dummy did not work out well. The play ended with a tense silence
as the partner waited for Gerald to explode. Instead, he leaned over the table
and quietly snarled,
"Just tell me one thing. Would you have raised me if you
had FIVE ?"
My partner and I quote this line on occasion, always in a more good-natured tone than Gerald used, and usually because the decision to hide support was successful. "Support with support" is one of the watchwords for being a good partner, but there are exceptions. To recognize them, you need to analyze how suit quality, entries and the opponents' defense are likely to affect the number of tricks you can take in different contracts.
You LHO Partner RHO
1H Pass 1S 2D
What's your call holding ♠J762 ♥KQJ10874 ♦A ♣K ?
When this problem was posed in a bidding forum, readers offered ten different solutions, including six ways to raise spades. Among the expert panelists, though, the top two choices were 3H and 4H. They rejected all spade raises, and for good reason.
When you're pushing to a contract that will depend more on playing tricks than honor strength, you need a trump suit that can withstand less-than-perfect conditions -- a poor trump break, a forcing defense, minimum values in partner's hand. If spades are trump, two diamond leads could remove all the entries to your hand and strand your hearts. A 4-1 trump break can easily sink a spade contract, but not hearts.
With stronger high-card values, you'll usually
want to go for the higher-scoring game rather than the safer one. Suppose
partner opens 1S, you respond 2D (forcing to game), and he rebids 3C.
What's
your call holding ♠A62 ♥K2
♦AK976543 ♣Void ?
It seems an impossible problem. If you show support with 3S, you'll never convince partner you have this diamond suit. If you instead rebid 3D or 4D, you're denying a spade fit.
The solution depends on your aspirations. You have solid values for game, and if that's where you want to play opposite a minimum opener, it's probably right to bid 3S. If you're planning to try for slam, though, you're a bit short on high-card strength, so safety is more important. You'll need diamond tricks to make six of anything, and 6D rates to be safer than 6S.
If you consider the opening lead, you'll see other advantages to steering the contract into diamonds. A heart lead is likely, and it will be through your ♥K2 in a spade contract. If partner holds ♠KJ973 ♥107 ♦2 ♣AKQ109, 4S could go down, but 6D has chances (and is virtually laydown if dummy's diamond is the queen instead of the deuce).
The same principles apply at lower levels.
You LHO Partner RHO
1D Pass 1S 2C
What's your call holding ♠J65 ♥AJ ♦KQJ1074 ♣54 ?
If you play support doubles, you can double to show 3-card spade support, but that hides the main feature of your hand. With a minimum, partner may have no choice but to retreat to 2S with a weak 4-card suit. You can foresee problems with trump control in a 4-3 fit, which means your strong diamonds probably won't take more than a trick or two.
The weaker your high-card assets, the more
important it is to find the safest partscore. That will usually be your long
suit, so forego the support double and rebid 2D. If your partner believes 2D
absolutely denies 3-card spade support, try to convince him that judgment should
trump conventions and plus scores beat minus scores, even in minor suits.
© 2015 Karen Walker