IMPs. Both vulnerable.
♠A 9 8 2 ♥K J 7 6 5 4 3 ♦—3 ♣A J
| West | North | East | South |
| 1♥ | |||
| 2♣ | 2♦ | Pass | ? |
What’s your call?
| 2♥ | 2♠ | 2NT | ||
| 3♣ | 3♦ | 3♥ | 3♠ | 3NT |
| 4♣ | 4♦ | 4♥ | 4♠ | 4NT |
| 5♣ | 5♦ | 5♥ | 5♠ | 5NT |
| 6♣ | 6♦ | 6♥ | 6♠ | 6NT |
| 7♣ | 7♦ | 7♥ | 7♠ | 7NT |
| Dbl | Pass |
Lucky 13
At last, a clear cut majority! It is unclear whether the 2♥ rebid is forcing in this sequence — most of the panelists think not — but 13 of them
make the call.
Calmly, the Gordons suggest, “2♥. There is no need for drama here. There is time.”
“Moth-eaten suit and misfit say to me ‘stay low,’” says Falk. “Nothing about the bidding so far has improved my hand. Partner knows the vulnerability and form of scoring as well as I do; he won’t drop the bidding without sound reasons, and if he does, he’ll be right.”
Rigal is one of those who plays 2♥ as non-forcing, and admits, “This might well backfire on me. But I can’t stand to reverse into 2♠, and I’m optimistic that we will find spades if we have a fit (partner cannot have four unless he has game-forcing values, or he would double 2♣ rather than bidding diamonds). My second choice is surely 3♥ — but that overstates the suit quality.”
Stack bids 2♥, fully aware that it may end the auction. “2♥ is not forcing and partner may pass with a nondescript 10 points.”
“What’s the problem?” the Joyces ask. Easy for them to say — they’re playing that 2♥ promises another bid.
Kennedy, too, is wondering, “Is there any reason not to rebid my suit?”
Likewise, Cohen: “Certainly I am repeating the seven-card suit before showing the four spades. If partner has four spades, he can always introduce them next. Seems normal.”
Ditto the Sutherlins: “No need for us to introduce spades yet. We need to emphasize that our hand has lots of hearts.”
Two panelists couldn’t resist the allure of the spades.
Meyers bids 2♠ to set up the game force. “Then I’ll bid some more hearts.”
Sanborn is temporizing with 2♠ because she believes 2♥ is non-forcing and “I’m too good for that. A forcing 2♥ would be the perfect bid. 3♥ is somewhat misleading and 4♥ is too unilateral.”
Although he believes 2♥ to be forcing, Meckstroth chooses to bid 3♥ “to show my playing strength now. Rebidding 2♥ will leave me poorly placed later.”
Walker, on the other hand, bids 3♥ because she doesn’t think that partner’s two-over-one in competition promises another call. “I can’t bid a passable 2♥ with a five-loser hand — especially since 2♥ could be a gun-to-my-head rebid with five hearts and a dead minimum. As little as:
♠K 10 x ♥10 ♦A J x x x x ♣x x x
from partner gives me a good play for game.”