BID WITH THE EXPERTS — SET 5 (May/June 2000)
The winner of the May/June competition with an impressive score of 75/80 is:
Igor MIHALIC (Croatia)
Answers and Marks:
1
Double 10
Pass
4
2 Pass 10
Double 8
5© 7
6© 1
3 3¨ 10
3© 5
4¨ 1
4a Agree Dbl 10
Prefer Pass 7
Prefer 5¨ 4
Prefer 4NT 3
4b Pass 10
5¨ 4
5§ 1
5 2NT 10
3§ 8
3NT 5
Double 3
Pass 1
6 6§ 10
6ª 7
6¨ 2
7§/7ª 1
7 6ª 10
6§ 9
5§ 6
5© 5
5NT 4
6© 3
5ª 2
4NT 1
How the experts voted:
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4a |
4b |
5 |
6 |
7 |
Total |
|
David
BIRD (England) |
Dbl |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
2NT |
6§ |
6ª |
77 |
|
Don CAMPBELL (Canada) |
Dbl |
5© |
3¨ |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6§ |
6ª |
77 |
|
Sharyn
REUS (Canada) |
Dbl |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
2NT |
6§ |
6ª |
77 |
|
Eddie
KANTAR (USA) |
Dbl |
5© |
3¨ |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6§ |
6ª |
77 |
|
Harold SCHOGGER (England) |
Dbl |
5© |
3¨ |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6§ |
6ª |
77 |
|
Karen
McCALLUM (USA) |
Dbl |
5© |
3¨ |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6§ |
6§ |
76 |
|
Larry COHEN (USA) |
4NT |
Dbl |
3¨ |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6§ |
6ª |
74 |
|
Marc UMENO (USA) |
4NT |
Pass |
3¨ |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6ª |
6ª |
73 |
|
Danny KLEINMAN (USA) |
Pass |
Pass |
3¨ |
Dbl |
Pass |
3§ |
6§ |
6ª |
72 |
|
Victor
SILVERSTONE (Scotland) |
Dbl |
5© |
3¨ |
Dbl |
5¨ |
2NT |
6§ |
6ª |
71 |
|
Boye
BROGELAND (Norway) |
4NT |
Pass |
3© |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6§ |
6§ |
70 |
|
Marshall
MILES (USA) |
Dbl |
Pass |
3¨ |
5¨ |
Pass |
2NT |
6ª |
6§ |
70 |
|
Sally BROCK (England) |
4NT |
Dbl |
3¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
3§ |
6§ |
6ª |
69 |
|
Prakash
PARANJAPE (India) |
4NT |
5© |
3¨ |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6§ |
5§ |
69 |
|
Andrew ROBSON (England) |
Dbl |
Pass |
3¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
3NT |
6ª |
6ª |
69 |
|
Tim BOURKE (Australia) |
Dbl |
Pass |
3© |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6¨ |
6ª |
67 |
|
Julian
POTTAGE (England) |
Dbl |
Dbl |
3¨ |
Pass |
Pass |
2NT |
6§ |
5ª |
67 |
|
Steve
ROBINSON (USA) |
Dbl |
Pass |
3© |
Dbl |
Pass |
3NT |
6ª |
6ª |
67 |
|
Tiago CANELAS (Portugal) ** |
4NT |
5© |
3¨ |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6ª |
5© |
65 |
|
Marty BERGEN (USA) |
4NT |
5© |
3© |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6ª |
6ª |
65 |
|
Tim
COPE (South Africa) |
Dbl |
Dbl |
3© |
Pass |
Pass |
3NT |
6§ |
6ª |
65 |
|
Martin HOFFMAN (England) |
Dbl |
6© |
3© |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
6ª |
6ª |
63 |
|
Sabine AUKEN (Germany) |
4NT |
Dbl |
3¨ |
P/4N |
Pass |
2NT |
6ª |
5§ |
62 |
|
Matt
GRANOVETTER (USA) |
4NT |
Pass |
3© |
Dbl |
Pass |
3§ |
6ª |
5§ |
62 |
|
Maria ERHART (Austria) |
4NT |
5© |
3© |
Dbl |
Pass |
2NT |
7ª |
6ª |
59 |
** Guest Panelist
Our guest panelist this month is Tiago Canelas,
a 22-year old from Coimbra in Portugal, who won the March/April
competition. When sending his answers,
Tiago sent me this note: "I'm very happy to have the chance of being on a
panel with some of the best bridge players in the world! It's a honour for me
and I thank you for it!" I think
Tiago's comment sums up the high esteem with which our panel is regarded. It is always nice to know that there are
plenty of bridge players out there who appreciate the efforts of our panelists,
without whose time each month this feature would not be possible.
Although Tiago began playing only eight years ago, he
has won three national junior championships and been a member of the Portuguese
Junior Team since for the past six years. He recently finished third in an
international youth bridge festival held in The Netherlands and, in July, he
will represent Portugal at the European Junior Championships in Turkey. He will also be going to the World Bridge Olympiad
in August as a member of Portugal's Open team, and in doing so will become the
youngest player ever to represent his country at the top level. Perhaps it will not be long before we are
welcoming Tiago as a full-time member of the expert panel in his own right.
We are delighted to add to two new regular members to
our panel this month. Sally Brock is a WBF Grand Master and a double
World Champion, having won the Venice Cup twice, as a member of the British
teams in 1981 & 1985. She has also won the European Womens Teams twice and
three European Union titles. Her national titles are numerous and include four
victories in the prestigious Gold Cup. She is also a bridge journalist and the
author of several books on the game.
Our second new panelist is Canada's Don Campbell who,
we are delighted to announce, will be teaching regularly here at Bridge Forum
International. Don is an expert player
with numerous Canadian regional wins and many placings in ACBL national events
to his credit including an Open Pairs victory.
We have a 5-way tie on the panel this month, with
particular kudos for Bridge Forum International, since two of our teachers,
Harold Schogger and new-man Don Campbell, are amongst those recording scores of
77. The other three are David Bird, Eddie
Kantar and Sharyn Reus, for whom it is a third consecutive top-three
finish. Just one point behind them, on
76/80 and deserving of an honorable mention, is Karen McCallum.
1.
E-W Vul. Dealer South. IMPs
ª 3
¨ K Q 8 7 5
§ A 6
West North
East South
— —
— 4ª
?
VOTES: Double 14, 4NT 10, Pass 1.
MARKS:
Double 10, 4NT 6, Pass 4.
The panel are split into two main camps — double or 4NT — although many of those who chose to double commented that they did not consider the hand strong enough for 4NT, implying that pass may be their second choice.
McCALLUM:
Double. Not enough for 4NT. I can't commit to the 5-level facing a passed hand.
BIRD: Double.
If partner has a poor hand he will pass and the worst that is likely to happen
is that you convert -420 into -590. If instead you bid 4NT and find partner
with a bust, you may go for 1100 upwards. I will convert 5§ to 5¨, but this seems a close decision.
ROBINSON:
Double. Takeout but could be passed. Why commit to the 5-level when partner
could have nothing.
SILVERSTONE:
Double. Not enough (for a coward like me) to commit us to the 5-level. Too much
(for a hero like me) to pass.
Eddie
had another reason for preferring double...
KANTAR:
Double. More flexible than 4NT. Partner may want to pass!
And
at the opposite end of the wish list...
HOFFMAN:
Double. Optional. I hope partner will pull it.
Some
of the doublers felt that this hand was too defensive for 4NT...
POTTAGE:
Double. Having three probable defensive tricks, I choose the most flexible
action. To bid 4NT I would want more shape — a void spade, or a 6-5 hand or
maybe a highly concentrated 5-5.
BOURKE:
Double. More flexible and less committing than 4NT, which should be based on a
hand with a higher offensive to defensive ratio.
COPE:
Double. A take-out double seems a better option than 4NT when I have the club
ace, which adds to my defensive values in case partner elects to leave the
double in. (Make the ace of clubs the ace of diamonds and I would bid 4N).
CAMPBELL: Double. It is fairly
normal to play this as card showing. Gone are the days of the pure penalty
double. Plus, I don't think I have enough playing strength for 4NT.
ROBSON:
Double. The hand has a fairly low offense to defense ratio given its shape.
Facing
a balancedish hand, defending 4ª is likely to work better than trying for a 5-level contract.
One
panelist even blames me for her choice (in case it goes wrong, no doubt)...
REUS: Double.
Normally I would pass, but our dear panel director, Marc, has convinced me that
it is right to make "off shape" takeout doubles. He claims it is right more often than wrong.
I believe him.
Looking
at the panel's answers, I don't think it's just me that believes in this
theory. Not that everyone sounded
overly convinced...
MILES:
Double. No strong feelings about this hand.
Pass and 4NT are close alternate choices.
Their
description of this double seems to range from 'optional' to 'clear takeout'...
SCHOGGER:
Double. I intend to bid diamonds over a 5§ response. Am
I missing something here?
A
number of the panelists disagreed, though....
KLEINMAN: Pass.
It would be scary enough to enter committing to the 5-level, but I don't even
have the tools that would let our side find our best strain. In standard methods, 4NT is takeout, but I'm
not prepared for the likely reply in clubs. It wouldn't do to correct clubs to
diamonds: partner would expect 4-6 in the reds, not 5-5. I believe that over a
4ª preempt, double is best
used to takeout and 4NT to show hearts and an unspecified minor.
UMENO: 4NT.
Takeout for two suits, correcting 5§ to 5¨. If double
were takeout, that might be more palatable. Yes, we might go for 1100, but with
shortness in spades, it may be more dangerous to pass.
The
panel seem to think double is for takeout, although when we get to Hand 4a some
of them are not quite so sure. Sabine plays double as takeout but still chooses
4NT...
AUKEN:
4NT. The only alternative is double, which works better when we should let them
play 4ª. But we play double as
take-out oriented and I wouldn't know what to do over 5§. 4NT shows any 2-suiter, which is basically what I
have. Still I may easily be convinced that double is better, let's hear some
good comments.
While
Sally plays double as more penalty-oriented and wishes she didn't on this
particular hand...
BROCK: 4NT.
I don't know what your style of doubling is here. I play take-out over 4© but more like a strong
no-trump over 4ª. I am too removed from that to want to do it, so I try 4NT. If I
played take-out doubles, though, I'd make one.
I'm
not sure we have a "style"... just what you think it would mean if
you sat down facing an unknown expert with whom you had no time to discuss
it. Only Larry offers a concrete reason
for choosing 4NT rather than double...
COHEN: 4NT.
In my experience, when people open 4M at this vulnerability, they mean
business. By insisting on 5 of a red suit I can win if either we make or they
make. When I double, partner will usually
leave it in, and that will only be right if both contacts fail.
While
Matt votes for 4NT but really sums up the case in favor of a takeout double
(assuming that is what you think double means)...
GRANOVETTER:
4NT. Showing two suits. This is a percentage action, based on South holding
about eight spades, leaving room for partner to hold length in diamonds or
hearts. If West doubles the final contract, however, I will apologize.