I teach a one-hour lesson on hand evaluation, and in the 2000 Maastricht Olympiad, back-to-back deals caught my attention. I think I might add these to my lesson.
First,
My partner, David Berkowitz held :
J 3
A 10 9 3
A J 8 3
10 7 4
With nobody vulnerable he was the dealer, and he opened 1NT. No, this hand isn't worth 15-17, but we play that 1NT is a mini-notrump
in this position, and it showed 10-12. With 2 aces and reasonable spots, this was a nice 10-count. But, watch what happened to it.
David's LHO passed, and his partner, yours truly, responded 2
, natural and to play. Already his hand has improving. David's RHO jumped to 4
. David couldn't do anything but pass (I could have had nothing!). When 4
came around to me, I surprised everyone by bidding 5
! Yes, a hand that signed off in 2
was now bidding on the 5 level. Surely, I must have lots of shape (some would say, I had lost my mind). Now how do you like David's 10-count? Consider that he could have had all 10 points in the black suits and had the usual two-small and three-small in my suits. The 4
bidder passed and so did David (he didn't need to correct to hearts and give them more maneuvering room). David's LHO doubled and everyone passed. A high spade was led and David put down his dummy with pride!
Vul: Nobody Dlr: North |
J 3
A 10 9 3
A J 8 3
10 7 4
|
|
A K Q 9 8 6 5
6 4
--
A 9 8 2
|
|
10 7 2
8 2
K 7 5
K Q J 5 3
|
|
4
K Q J 7 5
Q 10 9 6 4 2
6
|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
David Berkowitz |
|
Larry Cohen |
|
1 NT |
Pass |
2
|
4
|
Pass |
Pass |
5
|
Pass |
Pass |
Double |
All Pass |
The defense took the obvious 3 tricks for down 1, only 100 points. In spades they would have made 450 or 480 depending on which red ace David leads. Maybe David would have saved in 6
(300). In any event, I was lucky to catch such a dummy. And if anyone asked David to evaluate his 10-count, I think he'd say that this was the best balanced 10-count he ever tabled in dummy.
On the very next deal, I held this 8-count
. Watch it grow:
9 8 7 6 5
Q 9
K 8 4 2
K 2
Red against white I was in second seat. The dealer passed, and so did I. My LHO opened 2
, alerted. This was the Olympiad, and almost everyone outside of America used 2
as Multi -- to show a weak 2-bid in either major. David overcalled 2
(natural), and the dealer now bid 2
. Hmm, this was interesting. I passed for the time being, and the 2
opener also passed, confirming that his suit was spades.
David reopened with three diamonds, natural.
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
Larry Cohen |
|
David Berkowitz |
Pass |
Pass |
2 (Multi) |
2 (natural) |
2
|
Pass |
Pass |
3
|
Pass |
?? |
|
|
Wow! My 8-count was now spectacular! I had four diamonds to the king in support, as well as the heart queen, which had to be a huge card. David rated to have a void or singleton in spades; nothing wasted there. My club king also rated to be a useful card. So, what could I do to show how strong my hand had grown?
I cue-bid 3
. David would know I had diamonds with him. If I had hearts I wouldn't have passed on the previous round. Over my cue-bid, David bid 4
! That suggested he had some clubs as well, and confirmed to me that he was likely to have a spade void. I wanted to jump to slam, but contented myself with another cue-bid; 4
. Should such a cue-bid show a spade control? No. Not when partner is known to have shortness. In fact, such cue-bids (usually as jumps) are called Bluhmers (after the late Lou Bluhm) and are used to say, Partner, I have nothing wasted in your short suit; all of my cards are working.
David bid 5
, and I contented myself with a pass. After all, he had bid only 2
, nonforcing at his first opportunity.
This was the full deal:
Vul: North - South Dlr: East |
9 8 7 6 5
Q 9
K 8 4 2
K 2
|
|
K 2
6 4 3 2
Q 9 7
A 9 8 5
|
|
A Q J 10 4 3
10 8
5
Q 10 7 4
|
|
--
A K J 7 5
A J 10 6 3
J 6 3
|
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
Larry Cohen |
|
David Berkowitz |
Pass |
Pass |
2 (Multi) |
2 (natural) |
2
|
Pass |
Pass |
3
|
Pass |
3
|
Pass |
4
|
Pass |
4 ! |
Pass |
5
|
Pass |
Pass (I give up) |
Pass |
|
David ruffed the spade lead and laid down the diamond ace. He led the
J next and let it ride. This was a safety play; if the diamond jack lost to East's queen, David was safe from any club attack. When the
J held, he ended up with 12 tricks and 620. (Our teammates bought it in 4
doubled and escaped for down 1).
So, on back-to-back boards, we saw a flat 10-count, and a plain-looking 8-count grow into two of the best dummy's either of us has ever tabled.