5 Card Puppet Stayman ♠
We normally use Stayman to look for 4-4 major fits, but in this lesson we learn about an adapted (more complicated!) version of Stayman used to enquire about the opener having a 4 OR 5 card major. The advantage of doing means that you are equipped to find all
Hand of the Week #32 (Solution) ♣
N E S W 1♥ P 3♥ P 4♥ P P P The ♠2 lead is not bad for us as it would have been worse if North had led a club (sets up the defensive trick there immediately). Counting our potential losers we have 1 in
Hand of the Week #32 ♣
N E S W 1♥ P 3♥ P 4♥ P P P A fairly straight-forward auction from East-West gets them to game. West starts with 1♥ (too strong to open 1NT), East jump supports to 3♥ showing 4+ hearts and 10-12 points and West raises to game knowing of
Hand of the Week #31 (Solution) ♦
N E S W 1♣ P 1♦ 1♥ 1NT 2♥ 3NT P P P The heart lead is to be expected, and we are somewhat relieved to have 2 heart stoppers after the dummy turns up with the ♥K! Our plan, as ever in NTs, should be
Hand of the Week #31 ♦
N E S W 1♣ P 1♦ 1♥ 1NT 2♥ 3NT P P P South kicks off the bidding with 1♣, West passes, North responds with 1♦ ('up the line' as responder) and East intervenes with a 1♥ overcall. South rebids 1NT to show their balanced 15-17,
Hand of the Week #30 (Solution) ♥
N E S W 1♥ P 1♠ X 3♠ P 4♠ P P P As mentioned before, we have bid for a slim game, but the bidding was correct now we've got to play it properly to reward our good bidding. There are basically 2 ways to
Hand of the Week #30 ♥
N E S W 1♥ P 1♠ X 3♠ P 4♠ P P P An auction where North-South stay relatively silent (except for a takeout double), East opens 1♥ on the rule of 20 and West replies with 1♠. East jump rebids to 3♠, not based on
Bidding the Opponent’s Suit After a Takeout Double ♥
When your partner makes a takeout double you can often be in an awkward position as to how to respond because a takeout double is a vague message. It simply says 'please bid something partner', so the correct suit and level to bid can be difficult to ascertain. The
Hand of the Week #29 (Solution) ♦
N E S W 1NT P 3NT P P P The club lead is from length but we do have 2 stoppers there so that is not of too great a concern. The suit we want to tackle as soon as possible is the diamond suit, as
Hand of the Week #29 ♦
N E S W 1NT P 3NT P P P North opens 1NT and South jumps straight to 3NT to end this very quick auction! You could argue that South has an invitational hand as they only have 12 points, however I think that due to their