The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly 7/26

Despite being two weeks late, we still decided to write up this edition. Scoring 64.5 out of a possible 72 stars overall, the set was fairly average, finishing slightly below the overall average among the roughly 440 pairs who participated.

While many of the hands were relatively straightforward 3-star boards, there were still a few standout moments. With fewer exceptional bids than usual, this week featured more interesting mistakes, misunderstandings, and unexpected results that made the set worth reviewing.

The Good:

This was one of the hands where I thought we stood out the most. In general, jump overcalls over two level openings, unless facing a Precision 2♣ opening, tend to show strong hands because the idea of preempting over a preempt rarely makes sense.

Nevertheless, the opponents competed to 4♠ before partner made another call with the red card.

I pictured partner with a singleton or void in spades, at least seven hearts, and at most three losers in the outside minor suits. It seemed unlikely that we would take a trick in either major suit on defense, making it far too risky to defend 4♠ doubled.

On a good day, we could even be making 5♥. For example, partner could have held the same hand with one extra club and one fewer spade, or a seventh heart with a spade void. All of those hands were certainly possible, and even on the actual layout, 5♥ doubled still figured to be a reasonable result.

I was surprised to discover that partner held only six hearts along with a singleton spade honor, which meant we had an unavoidable trump loser. Even so, bidding on proved to be the winning action because defending 4♠ doubled would not have earned us the full 3 stars.

The Bad:

Once partner opened 1♥, it was clear that we were destined to play in a heart game, or perhaps even a slam if partner held a stronger hand than they did on this occasion. After the overcall, I bid 2NT to show a limit raise with four or more hearts. When partner signed off in 4♥, it seemed clear that slam was no longer a realistic possibility.

Looking back, I think I could have done better by bidding 3♦ as a fit jump shift instead of 2NT. Since I was a passed hand, fit jump shifts applied in this situation, and the bid would also have shown four card heart support. It would have described my hand almost perfectly.

Had I chosen that route, partner might have competed over 4♠, knowing about our double fit, and we could have reached 5♥ instead of defending 4♠ doubled. That said, I think 5♥ or 5♦ is a slightly overrated contract. The A♠ rates to be offside, and we could easily go down if East holds the K♦, although an avoidance play may still allow the contract to succeed.

Interestingly, every pair that chose a fit jump shift avoided the opponents' 4♠ sacrifice, suggesting that the bid may have discouraged them from competing.

The Ugly:

This was simply one of the saddest hands of the set. You are looking at 14 opposite 10, yet the hands are almost perfectly mirrored despite having a ten-card fit. It is impossible to fault either player. You cannot reasonably pass with AKQxx of hearts after the opponents have preempted and raised their suit, and you also cannot pass partner's overcall with 10 points and five-card heart support.

This was undoubtedly one of the ugliest boards of the set, and nearly 200 pairs found themselves in the same position. Cuebids just wanted to rub it in our faces that we suck at bidding!