In the previous column, we looked at the types of hands where it’s relatively safe to make a one-level overcall with a 4-card suit. Two of the most important requirements are a strong major and good high-card strength. Length in the opponent’s suit can be an asset, too, because it increases the likelihood that partner has shortness there and some length in your suit.
Can you apply the same guidelines at higher levels?
LHO Partner RHO You
4H Pass Pass ?
Vulnerable vs. not at matchpoints, what’s your call holding ♠AKQ7 ♥10932 ♦A ♣KJ103 ?
When this problem was posed in a bidding forum, the plurality of the expert panel voted for an aggressive 4S. Some said they surprised themselves with their choice and admitted that they might be pushing the “4H is a transfer to 4S” idea a bit too far.
Still, they reasoned that partner was likely to have a suitable hand – short in hearts with at least moderate spade length. Even if their bid found a 4-3 fit, they could see the possibility of ruffing a few hearts in dummy and leading clubs through RHO, who rated to have most of the missing high cards outside hearts.
There were also several votes for a cautious pass and a risky takeout double, and those panelists offered sound logic, too. The doublers knew partner would pass unless he had a very long suit, so they expected to be defending and beating 4H doubled on most deals.
The passers visualized the same dummy as the 4S bidders, but weren’t as optimistic about how the play would develop. They feared that RHO’s heart shortness might make it impossible to score any ruffs in dummy. The 4S bidders also recognized that problem, but were willing to gamble that partner’s spades would be strong enough to prevent over-ruffs.
Any of the panel’s three choices could work, so there’s no right or wrong action. Their thinking process, though, offers good ideas about how to evaluate issues that affect the play.
There’s plenty of guesswork involved in visualizing a possible hand for partner and predicting how it might take tricks. Competitive auctions make this a bit easier. The more bids the opponents make, the more you know about their approximate strength, whether they have a fit and where the high cards in each suit are likely to be. Even one bid, though, can give you valuable clues.
In this problem, your picture of the heart layout is the key to analyzing the benefits and the dangers of bidding. That’s also a factor you would consider if your RHO had opened 1H and you held this hand pattern. The critical difference between these two auctions is not the higher level, it’s the location of the hearts in the opponents’ hands.
Holding length in the opponent’s suit can help you identify a likely shortness in partner’s hand, but that will be an advantage in the play only if that opponent is on your right. When planning to score trumps separately, you need to focus on who can over-ruff whom. If the auction had gone Pass-Pass-4H, more panelists would probably choose the 4S overcall because partner’s spades will be positioned over the opponent who is short in hearts.
Decisions about entering the auction often hinge
on safety. Creating a mental picture how a critical suit might be distributed in
all four hands can help you spot one type of potential danger. Once you know the
risks, you have to assess the odds and perhaps trust your instincts. On this
deal, if you think it probable that partner holds ♠J10x or longer, you’ll choose
the 4S bid. If you judge that ♠10xx is more likely, you’ll settle on the
circumspect pass.
© 2015 Karen Walker