I don't think I've ever seen so many good hands. That makes it fun but the downside is that good hands are more difficult than poor ones because of the many more options.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 1 on 6 July
North counts 5 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and passes. East counts 12 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and opens 1 Diamond. South counts 14 HCPs plus 1 for the Spade doubleton but lacks the good 6-card suit to overcall so passes. West counts 9 HCPs and responds 1 Spade. North passes again and East rebids 1 No Trump. All pass and it makes an overtrick for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 2 on 6 July
East counts 14 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton Heart and opens 1 Spade. South counts 2 HCPs and passes. West counts 15 HCPs plus 3 for the void and responds 2 Hearts to force partner to describe his hand. North passes and East rebids 2 Spades. West sees 18 points opposite partner's 16 or more and jumps to 4 No Trump (Blackwood). East responds 5 Diamonds to show one Ace and West stops to think. If partner has the Ace of Spades or Hearts he may be okay, but if partner has the Club Ace, he'll lose 2 tricks. He decides to go for it and bids 6 Spades. It makes for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 3 on 6 July
It floats to East who counts 20 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and opens 1 Club because he has enough to reverse if necessary. West counts 9 HCPs and responds 1 Spade. East bids 3 No Trump and it makes 2 overtricks for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 4 on 6 July
West counts 16 HCPs plus 3 for the void and opens 1 Heart. East has already passed and has no forcing bid so just raises to 2 Hearts. West now has 20 points with a fit opposite partner's 6 or more and jumps to 4 Hearts. It doesn't make but one pair was allowed 10 tricks for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 5 on 6 July
North counts 21 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton. He lacks the 25 points to open 2 Clubs with a 5-card suit so opens 1 Spade. South counts 7 HCPs plus 2 for the 5-card support and raises to 2 Spades. North adds 1 for the 5-card supported suit and raises to 4 Spades. It makes with an overtrick for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 6 on 6 July
East counts 10 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and passes. South counts 10 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and passes. West passes and North counts 12 HCPs plus 1 for the singleton and opens 1 Diamond. East passes and South responds 1 Heart. West passes and North rebids 2 Diamonds to show his 6 or more Diamonds and all pass. The computer says it doesn't make but three pairs were allowed 9 tricks and one pair was allowed 10 tricks for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 7 on 6 July
South passes and West counts 18 HCPs and opens 1 Spade. North passes and East counts 12 HCPs and responds 2 Diamonds to show 10 or more points and to force partner to describe. West jumps to 3 Spades to show his 6-card suit and 17 or more points. East sees at least 29 points and his adequate support will make partner stronger by at least 3 points. He has only one Ace so jumps to 4 No Trump (Blackwood) to check. West responds 5 Spades to show 3 Aces and East raises to 6 Spades. It makes for the top. No pairs bid the slam so 4 Spades plus 2 gets the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 8 on 6 July
West passes and North counts 11 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and opens 1 Diamond. East counts 14 HCPs plus 1 for the Diamond doubleton and overcalls 1 Spade. South counts 9 HCPs but hesitates. He needs needs 10 or more points for a 2-level response and 1 No Trump would promise a Spade stopper. He decides that the lesser evil is to respond 2 Clubs (up the line). West competes to 2 Spades and North competes to 3 Diamonds to show his 6-card suit. East adds 3 points for the supported 6-card suit and competes to 3 Spades. South and West pass and it's up to North and East to compete or not. North can make 4 Diamonds and East goes down at 3 or 4 Spades so North/South should come out ahead regardless.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 9 on 6 July
North counts 16 HCPs with a balanced hand and opens 1 No Trump. East passes and South counts12 HCPs and responds 2 Clubs (Stayman). West passes and North rebids either 2 Hearts or 2 Spades. If the former, South will jump to 4 Hearts. If the latter, South will jump to 3 No Trump. Either makes but 3 No Trump plus 2 is the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 10 on 6 July
South counts 14 HCPs minus 1 for the flat hand and opens 1 Club. North counts 15 HCPs and responds up the line with 1 Diamond to force partner to describe. South rebids 1 No Trump and North jumps to 3 No Trump. It makes with an overtrick for a good score but one pair got to 4 Spades and made an overtrick for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 11 on 6 July
South counts 7 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and opens 2 Diamonds.,West counts 14 HCPs plus 3 for the void and doubles for takeout (Big). North passes (or might increase the preempt with 3 Diamonds) and East jumps to 3 (or 4) Hearts if North raises) to show his best suit and 10 or more points. They get to 4 Hearts regardless and make overtricks for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 12 on 6 July
West passes and North counts 12 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton and opens 1 Diamond. East counts 14 HCPs but lacks the distribution for an overcall or a double for takeout and must pass. South counts 6 HCPs and responds 1 Heart (up the line). North raises to 2 Hearts and all pass. It goes down for the bottom. Some East/West pairs somehow bid and made 2 Hearts and one pair made 2 overtricks for a good score. The best score for East/West was made by passing and setting Hearts.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 13 on 6 July
North counts 9 HCPs plus 3 for the void and 1 for the doubleton and opens 1 Diamond. East counts 6 HCPs plus 3 for the void and jumps to 2 Hearts (Weak). South counts 12 HCPs and responds 2 Spades. West counts 13 HCPs and raises to 3 Hearts. North raises to 4 Diamonds and all pass. No one bid and made anything, but 3 Hearts or 4 Diamonds should make for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 14 on 6 July
East counts 15 HCPs plus 3 for the void and opens 1 Heart. South passes and West counts 12 HCPs plus 1 for the Club doubleton and responds 1 Spade to force partner to describe. North passes and East jumps to 3 Hearts to show 17 points or more and a 6-card suit or better. West has adequate Heart support, sees at least 30 points between them. He is interested in slam and knows that his Heart support makes partner stronger. He ponders whether to check Aces and hope that the points are sufficient or to invite to see if partner has extra points and hope that the Aces are sufficient. Whichever he chooses will lead him toward the slam but it doesn't make. It is really difficult to get to game and stop. Three pairs did it and one pair made the overtrick for the top. What kind of player are you? Would you rather bid a slam and not make it or make it and not bid it.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 15 on 6 July
South counts 18 HCPs minus 1 for the singleton King and opens 1 Diamond. North counts 13 HCPs and responds 2 Clubs to show a 5-card suit, 10 or more points and to force partner to describe. South jumps to 3 No Trump and all pass. It makes with 2 overtricks for what should be the top. One pair was allowed an extra overtrick to nose them out.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 16 on 6 July
West counts 17 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and opens 1 Club since he has enough to reverse if necessary. North passes and East counts 6 HCPs and responds 1 Heart. South counts 14 HCPs but lacks the distribution to overcall or double for takeout so passes. West rebids 1 No Trump and all pass. It makes for a poor score when one pair made 2 Hearts and others were allowed extra tricks in No Trump.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 17 on 6 July
North counts 11 HCPs plus 3 for the void and opens 1 Diamond. East counts 9 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and overcalls 1 Spade. South counts 9 HCPs minus 1 for the flat hand and responds 1 No Trump. West counts 11 HCPs plus 2 for the doubleton and responds 2 Spades. North rebids 3 Diamonds to show 6 or more Diamonds and all pass. It makes with an overtrick for a good score. One pair somehow got to 3 No Trump and made an overtrick for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 18 on 6 July
East counts 13 HCPs plus 1 for the singleton and opens 1 Club. West counts 17 HCPs and responds 1 Spade to show 6 or more points and to force partner to describe his hand. East rebids 2 Spades and West stops to think. He sees a 4-4 major fit with at least 30 points between them and he has 3 Aces. He decides to jump to 5 Spades to invite slam and if partner has more than promised he will go to slam. East has little extra strength so passes and it makes for a middle score One pair bid and made 6 No Trump for the top. Another pair made 3 No Trump plus 2 for second.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 19 on 6 July
South counts 16 HCPs with a balanced hand and opens 1 No Trump. If all pass it will go down 1 although One pair was allowed to make it. Two others transferred to 3 Diamonds and were allowed to make that.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 20 on 6 July
West counts 14 points plus 1 for the doubleton and opens 1 Club. North counts 15 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and doubles for takeout (Big). East counts 6 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and responds 1 Spade. South counts 5 HCPs plus 1 for the Diamond doubleton and advances 2 Diamonds. West raises to 2 Spades and North raises to 3 Diamonds. East competes to 3 Spades and all pass. It makes for what should be the top but one pair was allowed to make 4 Spades for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 21 on 6 July
North counts 11 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton with no Aces, more Quacks than prime honors so passes. East counts 9 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and passes. South counts 9 HCPs minus 1 for the flat hand and passes. West counts 9 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and opens 1 Club. North overcalls 1 Diamond, East raises to 1 Spade and South competes to 2 Diamonds. West rebids 3 Clubs to show his 6-card suit and all pass. It makes for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 22 on 6 July
East passes and South counts 18 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and opens 1 Heart. West passes and North counts 12 HCPs and responds 1 Spade to force partner to describe. South jump-shifts to 3 Clubs to show 19 or more points and to force to game. North raises to 4 Clubs and South corrects to 4 No Trump to play. All pass and it makes with an overtrick for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 23 on 6 July
South counts 16 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and opens 1 Club. North counts 8 HCPs and responds 1 Heart. South jumps to 3 Clubs to show 17 points or more and the 6-card suit. North rebids 3 Hearts to show his 6-card suit and South raises to 4 Hearts. It makes for a 3-way tie for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 24 on 6 July
West counts 11 HCPs plus 1 for each doubleton and opens 1 Heart. North passes and East counts 11 HCPs and responds 2 Clubs to show 10 or more points and to force partner to describe. South counts 12 HCPs plus 2 for the singleton and overcalls 2 Spades. West rebids 3 Hearts to show his 6-card suit. North passes and East raises to 4 Hearts. South competes to 4 Spades and it makes for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 25 on 6 July
It floats to West who counts 17 HCPs with a balanced hand and opens 1 No Trump. North passes and East counts 9 HCPs plus 1 for the singleton and responds 2 Hearts (Jacoby Transfer). West rebids 2 Spades as directed and East bids 2 No Trump promising exactly 5 Spades and inviting game. West raises to 3 No Trump and it makes with an overtrick for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 26 on 6 July
East passes and South counts 24 HCPs with a balanced hand and opens 2 Clubs. West passes and North responds 2 Diamonds to force partner to describe his hand. South rebids 2 No Trump to show a balanced hand with 22-24 HCPs. North has 6 HCPs and raises to 3 No Trump. It makes with 2 overtricks for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 27 on 6 July
South counts 14 HCPs plus 3 for the void and 1 for the doubleton and opens 1 Heart. West counts 10 HCPs plus 1 for the doubleton but lacks the distribution to overcall or double so must pass. North counts 7 HCPs plus 1 each for the doubletons and responds 1 Spade. East passes and South jumps to 3 Hearts promising 17 or more points and a 6-card suit. North raises to 4 Hearts and all pass. It makes with an overtrick for the top.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Responses and Rebids
There was a great renaissance in bridge in the sixties and seventies. The Jacoby Transfer was an instant improvement to No Trump. The Italian systems brought about the Forcing-Two Clubs Openings and the Weak-Two Openings. The basic changes to 1-of-a-suit bidding were as important as any of the above. Many jump bids were changed from wasted bids forcing to game to very useful invitational bids. It became apparent that if you want to force partner to game, you can just bid it yourself.
It also became apparent that the opening one-of-a-suit bid tells partner very little. It can be 13 points or 20 points and a 3-card suit or an 11-card suit. It is the opener's rebid that really is descriptive and responder needs to stay out of the way. The partners need to bid so that one player knows what both have and can set the contract. It can be by responder limiting his hand so that opener knows what both have. It also can be by responder bidding a new suit that forces partner to describe his hand. Opener's rebid is the most important bid of the auction.
A jump-shift by responder merely uses up bidding space and makes it difficult or impossible for opener to describe his hand. Therefore an initial jump-shift by responder has been transformed to a weak bid. Too weak, in fact, to respond otherwise. The weak jump-shift can be useful when responder doesn't like opener's suit and thinks he may go down. Responder has a long suit with less than 6 points and thinks they will do better in two of his suit than one of opener's suit. He then wants opener to pass unless he has a really good hand. The responder will never make an initial strong jump-shift.
Explanation of Bids
I have discussed this subject under "Alerts, Announcements and Stops are banned" on the back of the guides, but we need a more detailed discussion.
Since some pairs utilize nonstandard conventions, their opponents can ask for an explanation at their turn to bid or later at their turn to play if they see bidding they don't understand.
A request for an explanation of a bid should be directed to the partner of the player who made the bid in question. The proper form of the request is "Please explain" or “Please explain any special agreement”.
The opponent is entitled to a full understanding of the agreement and all questions concerning the agreement should be graciously resolved.
These rules apply only to an understanding of special agreements between partners. This does not include inferences drawn from general bridge knowledge and experience. It especially does not include information as to how a player thought or acted in regard to the agreement. This would be unauthorized information.
If the meaning has not been discussed, "no agreement" is the proper response. If you've forgotten it, say so. You must not say such things as "I am taking it to mean ..."
If an opponent asks you how you took partner's bid, you should not answer. Call the director immediately.
If you bid incorrectly in response to partner's conventional bid and an opponent asks for an explanation, you must explain the agreement. You must make no mention of your misplay.
In other words, you must fully explain the agreement but never explain your thoughts or actions.
Calling the Director
You should be aware of the Club Rules and Pointers on the back of the Guide/Score sheets. Number 4 discusses the calling of the director with any Questions or suspected errors before taking any actions. A recent incident involving a revoke causes me to think that I need to discuss this matter more thoroughly.
Suppose an opponent makes a play causing you to think that there might have been a revoke on this or a prior play. The partner of the suspected revoker can ask partner if he has any cards of the suit led to try to prevent a revoke. Other than that, you must call the director immediately. Do not ask questions, turn over cards or replace a card which has been played. Everyone freezes.
When the director arrives, the player who called will explain what happened on the present play or what he thinks happened on a subsequent play. The director will ask any questions needed to clarify the situation, turn over any relevant prior plays and when he understands the situation will make a ruling. He will determine whether there was an established revoke requiring score adjustment or a revoke which is not established and can be corrected. If he can’t clearly understand what has happened, he can not make a ruling and will have to kill the board, especially if there is a time issue.
Incidentally, revoke is the proper name for this situation. Renege is an obsolete name which is not used.
The Hidden Secret to Bidding - Board 24 on 15 June