My partner Libby and I have just started playing 2/1. The following hand challenged us the other day on Step Bridge. We’ve seen a few auctions on how other people had bid it, but we were curious about what your suggestions might be on this hand.

EW Vul N Dealer	♠ A K 6 2 ♥ A J 10 7 4 ♦ 9 ♣ K 6 5
♠ Q 8 4 ♥ K 9 6 3 ♦ A Q 8 6 ♣ 10 8		♠ J 9 5 3 ♥ 8 5 2 ♦ K J 7 2 ♣ Q 9
	♠ 10 7 ♥ Q ♦ 10 5 4 3 ♣ A J 7 4 3 2

Regards Jane Glass

Hi Jane,

This hand is certainly challenging, and I probably wouldn’t have fared so well!

Assuming E/W are silent, North would open 1♥ and South would now respond with 1NT. Over this,though North has extra values with 15 HCP, there’s no convenient suit to rebid (2♠ would be a reverse, but partner’s denied spades anyway), so I think I would pass and hope for the best! It’s not ideal, but it feels like any other action may lead us to a negative score. It’s true that responder may have 9 HCP, but even so game might not be that good anyway, so it’s preferable to stay low.

If you were playing in a 2/1 framework where 1NT is forcing, then North will have to rebid 2♣ (can be a 3-card suit). Over this, South would be more than delighted to raise to 3♣, and now North is at a cross road as to whether to stay low and pass, or take a chance at 3NT by bidding 3♠ to show values in spades but not in diamonds. With only a 3-card club suit, perhaps it might be best to stay low especially if you are playing matchpoints whereby securing a plus score is a good tactic.

Although it’s true that both 3NT and 5♣ are makeable contracts, it would be a different story if a) diamonds were 5-3, or b) some of South’s points were in diamonds instead!

Hope that helps,
Andy