Eight is enough

My young partner Alexander and I couldn't get our teammates from the most recent Eight is Enough at the Watertown, MA sectional (which we had won), but we got another very good pair: Steve and Vincent. We began the evening in a three-way whence we emerged with the disheartening total of 9 victory points. One of these teams ended up in second place, but that's small consolation. So, now we had only two more rounds—we would need blitzes in both matches in order to finish in the overalls.

One rather odd aspect of this event was that every single board in the first two rounds was played (at our table) in a no-trump contract: eleven at 3NT, one at 1NT. The first board of the next set was also a notrump contract. Together with three more in the final set, we ended up playing 2/3 of all contracts without the benefit of a trump suit.

Things turned around for us in the third round: we won by 39 IMPs. There were three pushes and three swings in our direction. Two of these were grand slams bid by our teammates but not by our opponents. We can't take any credit there. But here is a hand that merits some comment: my hand was ♠JTxxx ♥Kxx ♦x ♣QTxx. We were at favorable vulnerability and I passed as dealer. The next player also passed. Alexander opened 1♠ and the next player doubled. One of my favorite tactics is to feign strength. I could perhaps have jumped to 4♠ but who knows whether they might successfully reach 5♦ or 5♥? Instead I splintered with 4♦. The next player passed and Alexander signed off in 4♠. We were not doubled and drifted off two tricks for -100. Meanwhile, our teammates were able to bid a comfortable 3NT on their combined 25 hcp. Here's the whole hand...

This is thinking out of the box, for sure. Third-hand bidding is an art in itself. If prospects for your own game look dim, and the vulnerability is favorable, it's reasonable to try to get in the way of their game. So far, spades hadn't been claimed and, if I was to end up on lead, a spade out might be quite helpful, thus the 1♠ bidding card. I was as surprised as anyone to find out that declarer had only three. And I will have to be careful if this becomes a habit ("Alert: at least three spades, may have a really bad hand"). But coming as it did with three boards still to play,  it was a great shot across the bows of the opponents.

Oh yes, we added 38 VPs in our last two rounds and ended up tied for fourth place.

Third hand bidding

In an otherwise dismal robot duplicate tournament on BBO, I began with this hand in third seat (nobody vulnerable): ♠8532 ♥AT5 ♦AK9 ♣J85.  The first question: is this a full opener?  Well, if I was playing weak no trumps, yes obviously, especially non-vulnerable after two passes.  But I can't stretch this into a strong notrump and despite the 3 quick tricks, it is also 4333, the very worst shape.  On the Zar scale, it counts to 24 where a full opener would be 26.  So, the next question is: is it a valid third-seat light opener?  I believe that the only time you should open light in third seat is when you have (1) a half-way decent suit (or better) for lead-directional purposes (and perhaps to protect against massive penalties) and (2) where you can happily pass partner's response.  This hand certainly qualifies on the second count, but I have no suit of any credibility that would still allow a pass over partner's response.  I passed therefore, as did LHO.  This was worth 94.5% as 20 out of 23 of my human counterparts opened the hand and ended up going down in three or four spades.

The auctions varied, but this was a common one: p p 1♣ p;  1♠ p p 2♣; 2♠ p p 3♣; p p 3♠.  Their side can actually make 4♣ with a reasonable guess in hearts or with a defensive error.  Here is the full deal.

In general, I find in these robot duplicates that passing out questionable hands often reaps a reward.  It seems that the other humans just can't bear to pass a hand out when they know that they have the best hand at the table.  For more thoughts on this topic in this blog, see Light Third-hand Openers. 

Light third-hand openers

I've never found a really good written formula for when and how to open a sub-standard hand in third seat.  I've presented some ideas myself earlier in this blog: Third and Fourth Seat Openers.

A hand came up yesterday evening at the club which suggests a new rule for light third-hand openers: once partner has raised your "suit", never bid a new suit (unless partner forces you to).  This should never be necessary if you start with your best suit.  My partner picked up the following hand: ♠– ♥AJT8 ♦KQ432 ♣T843.  Only the opponents were vulnerable.  After two passes, partner bid 1♥.  My hand was ♠A976 ♥Q53 ♦J6 ♣K975.  My RHO passed and I contributed 2♥.  This went around to my RHO who backed in with 2♠.  Considering that I had a flat maximum, and somewhat forgetting that I had passed originally, I doubled.  Partner now felt that 2♠ was a likely make (it was) and decided to retreat to 3♦, giving me a choice of red suits.  I took this as a good distributional but solid opener, and jumped to the heart game.  My LHO was happy to double this and we went four off for a round zero (even two down would have given us the same matchpoint result).  Double-dummy, we can make 1♥, 2♦ or 4♣ (the par result).

So, what lessons if any are to be learned?  I've always believed that a passed hand should not take any questionable actions.  Doubling 2♠ was not automatic so I should not have done it.  But I think partner should have opened the hand, if at all, with 1♦ (his best suit).  If I bid 1♠ (as I surely would, assuming no intervention), he can then retreat to 2♣.  I would assume a "full" opener of course but the hand really is a full opener (27 Zar points which is an automatic opener in any seat) and, as noted, we can actually make 4♣.

So let me restate my guidelines for light third seat openers (with the new addition):

• Open only in a good suit of four or more cards, one which you'd like led [no "prepared" bids];
• Be ready to pass partner's one-level new suit bid [you can't rebid 1NT because you have too few points, by definition];
• Unless there's a suit you really want led, tend not to open with a very balanced hand, especially vulnerable;
• Don't bid a new suit of your own unless partner makes a forcing bid (he shouldn't, as a passed hand, unless he has a very good hand and fit for you).

Here are a few hands that I think should open 1♥ in third seat:

• ♠A86 ♥KQ93 ♦J6 ♣T975 (probably should pass this if vulnerable);
• ♠K862 ♥AQT5 ♦6 ♣T975, assuming you can't open this with an artificial 2♦ (if partner bids a natural 2♦, you'll just have to suck it up);
• ♠A86 ♥KQ963 ♦86 ♣T95.

 Here are a few hands that I think should probably be passed in third seat, especially if vulnerable:

• ♠A86 ♥KQ93 ♦J65 ♣T97;
• ♠A86 ♥KJ93 ♦Q5 ♣T975;
• ♠A6 ♥K83 ♦Q65 ♣QT975.

Comments welcome.