The Duplicate Bridge Player's Burden

You pull your cards out of the pocket, perhaps count them, sort them, and hold them, thirteen pictures and rags.  Do you guard those tender flowers (think Rigoletto) with loving care?  Do you accord them your highest level of custodianship?  In short, do you take responsibility for them while they're in your keeping?

You certainly should.  They are your wards, your charges.  You must do with them the very best that you can and you should certainly treat them with respect.  Perhaps they're all "tram tickets" and your role in the proceedings of the hand will be to follow suit, giving count as you go.  Or maybe your RHO opens the bidding with 3♠ and you hold the following collection (vulnerable versus not): ♠AQ2 ♥AQ3 ♦AQ4 ♣J652.  If you were a rubber bridge player, you could reason that there's only one person to whom you owe any (temporary) allegiance and that you simply don't like your 6-loser hand enough to bid at such a high level.

But at duplicate bridge, you have a responsibility.  If not to the cards themselves, then to your partner, and teammates.  In matchpoint bridge, your teammates are all the pairs sitting in the opposite direction to you, except of course for the ones at your table right now.  Teamship with any one particular pair, is fractional, but nonetheless real.  With the hand given, you are pretty much obliged to bid 3NT whether you fancy your chances or not.  Yes, it could be horribly wrong.  You could be doubled and go down five (1400) or even six on a really bad day.  A defensive squeeze might even do you out of one of your aces for -2000.  But does that scare you?  As no less a personage than the Hideous Hog has said "Just because I had a difficult hand to bid, I was not going to shirk my duty." Do you shrink from taking bold action?  Of course not.  You have responsibility for these cards and so, like the Hog, you call 3NT with confidence and await your fate.

Or, if your not a fan of the Hog, how about Bob Hamman?  It's hard to ignore advice with such pedigree: "When 3NT is one of the alternatives, choose it."

So, with all that background, what do you make of this ugly collection: ♠QJ83 ♥97 ♦KT ♣JT743?  Do such waifs and strays deserve your special attention just like all the other hands?  You bet!

You deal, vulnerable versus not, and pass.  LHO opens 1NT (good 11-14) and partner doubles, showing values.  RHO bids 2♣ (Stayman) and LHO bids 2♦.  Partner's in there again with the red card.  RHO now bids 2♥.  This gets passed around to partner who doubles again (this is getting repetitive).  RHO passes and its up to you.  What are you thinking?  Are you doing full justice to your wards?  Let's say you pass for now and LHO now pulls to 2♠ which is passed around to you (partner doesn't seem able to double this one).

Are you tempted to pass?  Heavens, no!  Are you tempted to double?  Are you sure you're giving your best?  Remember, you're red on white.  What about 3NT?  They probably have an eight-card fit, possibly even nine.  Clearly, the cards aren't sitting well for them but it's reasonable that there are 16 total tricks.  Let's further guess that they can make seven tricks in spades.  That means we can take nine in our best suit (clubs?).  But if we have something like 25 or 26 high-card-points as seems likely, maybe we can take nine tricks in notrump too!  We apparently have everything stopped.  3NT becomes the responsible call (which you should have made over 2♥X, by the way).  If we are right, we gain 500 (600 instead of 100).  It might happen that they can only take 6 tricks in spades and we can take 10 in notrump or clubs (630 versus 300).  As it happens, our side can take eleven tricks in clubs or notrump while they can only take 5 in spades (660 versus 500).

The scoring table is on our side.  Treat our friends the cards well.  Be a hog: bid 3NT.