Better Bridge in Barry County June 12 2014

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

	North ♠  10  ♥  A K 9 8 7  ♦  J 9    ♣  K Q 9 8 3
West ♠  Q 8 6 ♥  10 5 4 ♦  A Q 3 2   ♣  J 6 4		East ♠  K 7 4 2 ♥  Q 3 2   ♦  K 10 7 4 ♣  A 5
	South ♠  A J 9 5 3 ♥  J 6   ♦  8 6 5 ♣  10 7 2

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

East North/South A♦

 

North   2NT Pass	East 1♦ Pass Pass	South Pass 3♣	West 1NT Pass

After looking at the “Eight Conventions You Should Know and Use” for  the last few weeks, it is time to turn to an unusual convention just in case you are looking for something …well… unusual. This convention is called the Unusual No Trump Convention, and while you may not want to add it to your repertoire of conventions, still you might find today’s hand intriguing and informative. Let’s take a look.

Today’s East opened the bidding with 1♦, a convenient minor, promising at least three diamonds and at least opening count of 12 or 13 points. South with only six points chose to pass, and West with nine high-card points bid one no trump, with no four-card majors to bid. North with thirteen high card points and two five-card suits, one in clubs and one in hearts, had just the perfect bid for his partner South. North bid 2NT. This is truly an unusual and artificial bid. What was North saying to his partner South?

The 2NT bid is an Unusual No Trump bid. This bid promises either a weak hand or a very strong hand. The bid by North promised two five-card suits, and both were the two lowest unbid suits. In this case, since diamonds had already been bid, North was safe to use the Unusual No Trump bid to inform South that he had five clubs and five hearts, the two lowest unbid suits. South’s job? Take your pick. Where does the partnership have the best trump fit? Knowing that North had five clubs and five hearts, it was an easy decision for South to choose the clubs with three of them. Eight trumps constitute a Golden Fit in the club suit. Everyone passed, and South was the declarer in 3♣.

West led the A♦, the suit that partner East had bid first. When that trick won, West continued with the Q♦ which also won. A shift by West to the 8♠ was won by South with the A♠. A lead of the 2♣ to the K♣ was won by East with the A♣. Back came East’s last club, and it was won in the North hand with the Q♣. The A♥ was led and won the next trick with all following. The K♥ followed next, and again all played a heart.

The 7♥ was led from the North hand, and it was trumped in the South hand with the 10♣. A small spade from the South hand was trumped in the North hand for the North/South team. The set-up 9♣ was led next from the North hand and won the trick. The 9♥ had also been promoted and won the next trick for North/South. The 8♥ won the twelfth trick, and a small trump at the end won the tenth trick on this hand. North/South won ten tricks, and East/West won three tricks altogether.

How did those who used the Unusual No Trump fare in this online tournament? Of the over fifty tables that played this exact same hand, one table skipped the Unusual No Trump and bid and made 3♥ for a 100% score. The next fifteen players chose to use the Unusual No Trump bid and arrived at 3♣, scoring very well against the entire playing field. Those who let East/West bid and make a variety of bids did not score very well. Of the 50 who played in this tournament, over 30 players either did not know about the Unusual No Trump bid or allowed the East/West team to outbid them. To those who knew and saw that they had two five-card suits and they were the two lowest unbid suits were able to outscore their opponents handily by using a most unusual convention, the Unusual No Trump. It was a most unusual day for bridge.

The take-aways for today? Even if you choose not to use the Unusual No Trump bid with your partner, at least you are now aware that such a bid is being used by your opponents. Because it is a partnership agreement and because it is an uncommon bid, your opponents must alert and provide you with information on what the 2NT bid means. The bid is forcing to bidder’s partner for one round, and that should be noted as well. Good luck with the No Trump Unusual Convention.

 

Gerald Stein

June 5, 2014

 Number of words: 829