Saturday, December 13, 2003 4:30 PM

5-4-3-1 Hands

PITBULLS:

A 5-4-3-1 hand or even a 4-4-4-1 is “semi-balanced” in my opinion so there are many situations where NT should be bid even with your stiff. ♠AKx ♥J ♦AKxx ♣AK10xx You open 2♣ and get a 2♦ response by partner . 3♣ is supposed to show a one suited hand or at least a two suiter. This hand should be described by a 2NT rebid . It’s the best lie you can make with the difficult semi-balanced distribution.

You hold ♠x ♥AQxxx ♦Kxxx ♣AKQ and open one heart in which partner responds 1 spade . Do you rebid 2♦ , 3♦ or what ? Bidding 2♦ does not describe 18 HCP . Bidding 3♦ does but does not adequately describe this hand . Partner can not bid 3NT as you have the club cards so you might go by your best spot. Again this is a semi-balanced trouble hand and I feel the best bid is 2NT .

You open 1♠ with ♠AQxxx ♥x ♦AKxx ♣KJx and partner responds 2♥ . A jump to 3NT with your understandings specifically shows a hand in the strong NT range . You could bid 3♦ and if partner bids 3NT you are poorly placed. Should you bid 4NT or 4♣ as a slam try ? Why not bid 3NT initially as the best lie with your semi-balanced hand ? Partner with her 12 HCP passes and you are not past 3NT your best spot & right sided for the club lead. Alternatively , partner could have been stuck and bid 3NT with 16 HCP’s herself and you could have played a 33 HCP 3NT . The initial leap to 3NT gets the HCP’s out of the way at the expense of the distribution..

You hold ♠x ♥KQJ ♦Jxxx ♣AQxxx and open 1♣ with partner responding a spade . Bidding 2♣ is kind of lame with this hand . Partner has ♠Axxxx ♥Axxxx ♦xx ♣x and passes 2♣ . Why not rebid 1NT and you find your heart contract ? From 2♣ and a result of -200 to +140 in hearts is a lot of IMPS. You hold ♠AKx ♥J10xx ♦K ♣AJxxx and again you have an indescribable semi-balanced hand . Lets get the lie over with early and open 1NT .

Opening a major & rebidding a minor at the two level can get you into ugly 4^th suit forcing complications when partner has a weak misfit hand. By rebidding 1NT instead , you have many systemic escapes you can use. ♠x ♥AJxxx ♦K109 ♣KQxx you open 1♥ and partner responds 1♠. Rebidding 1NT is far more constructive than rebidding 2♣. Partner has ♠AQxxx ♥x ♦Qxxxx ♣xx so your bid after 2♣ . 2♦ forcing to game ? After partner rebids 1NT you bid 2♣ as a relay to 2♦ ( 2-way NMF ) and 2♦ ends the auction.

Bidding 2♥ after a spade opener brings problems showing a secondary minor. Even though 2♥ is a game force unless rebid , a minor bid at the 3 level shows extra. If so , you have to make contortions and not bid your minor with an intermediate or weak hand . This brings in the ugly practice of rebidding bad 5 card majors. It also does not “show where you live” and good 3NT contracts are missed. ♠Axxxx ♥x ♦AKJ10 ♣xxx after partner bids 2♥ rebidding 2♠ with this hand is ugly ( 3♦ shows extra). Change the hand to ♠Axxxx ♥x ♦Kxxx ♣AKx and 2NT is more descriptive of this hand than 3♦.

When you do not have a fit and either partner jumps to 3NT , 4♣ or 4♦ should not be KCB . This should be a natural suit slam try that you suppressed originally to show your point count. Slams in NT can be bid quantitatively you do not need Ace asking every time you bid a slam. When one hand shows 17 HCP and you have 17 HCP just bid your 6NT !!

A Tormentee held ♠x ♥QJ10x ♦AQ109 ♣KJxx and opened 1♦ . Partner bid 1♠ so she bid 2♣ which “lost the heart suit” as she got preference to her minor which she really did not want ! A rebid of 1NT and they found their heart fit easily as partner bid 2♥ non forcing. A 1NT rebid with this hand is a “prepared bid” which helps partner out with many hands.

I am not recommending bidding NT with stiffs as a matter of course. With 5-4-3-1 and no suitable alternative , I feel that bidding NT is the best “out”. Bidding NT’s with stiffs as a matter of course is a very bad habit which undermines the partnership. However , rules are made to be broken.