ANSWERS: (I thought these answers would not be controversial. I was wrong, but I firmly believe in the answers I am giving you.) Material intended for more advanced novices that might be confusing to beginners is in blue.
1.
Hint: If your partnership has enough for game, what is the most likely game?
Answer: Your most likely game, if you have one, is 4S, and if you don't overcall 1S, it will be very difficult to convince partner that you have five spades. You are not strong enough to double and correct to spades which shows about 18 points - your hand may take enough tricks on offense but if partner doubles the opponents after you double and correct, partner will be quite disappointed. Generally, overcall the higher ranking of two five-card suits, and level and strength permitting, you can bid the other suit next time unless the first suit is supported.
2.
Hint: Do you have a five-card suit? Do you have support for all the unbid suits? Do you have enough to overcall 1NT?
Answer: With no five card suit, you don't have enough to overcall. You don't have support for all the unbid suits, and partner is going to be very likely to bid spades with four of them since we love major suit fits and you showed spades. You don't promise four spades but you do promise three and usually have four. If your left hand opponent bids, partner will compete to 2S with four, and may compete to 4S over 4H with a decent hand with four spades or five weak spades. You also don't have enough to bid overcall 1NT. Your best option is to pass. If the bidding goes (1H) P (1S) P (2S), now you have good support for the other two suits and may make a takeout double. [
You could even do it if that last call was 2H but it is more dangerous since the opponents don't necessarily have a fit so you might not either.]
3.
Hint: Do you have a five-card suit? Do you have support for all the unbid suits? Do you meet all the requirements to overcall 1NT?
Answer: You have 16 HCP and yet I am going to suggest that you pass! There is no overcall that describes your hand and you are lacking heart support for a takeout double, and hearts is the suit partner is going to strain to bid if you double.
I am aware that if partner has six hearts to the jack and 4 points, that either overcalling 1NT or doubling will get your side to a great 2H contract. However doubling will get your side to hearts when partner has four hearts also, and he holds 4 hearts a lot more often than he holds 6. Remember that partner will be willing to compete to 3H or maybe even 4H with a four-card or weak five-card suit.
The big problem with a 1NT overcall is that your left hand opponent (LHO) heard his partner bid spades and will likely lead a spade, and after your opponents take seven or eight spade tricks, you'll be in fine shape!
Seriously, if your partner is weak, LHO leads a spade through any spade honor(s) your partner has, and the opener takes five spade tricks and a couple more. If partner has 10 points, he'll raise to 3NT and partner's S-Kx or S-Qxx will be trapped on opening lead to give RHO five spade tricks. If partner has nothing in spades, RHO gets five tricks anyway. Even if partner has a solid spade stopper, RHO likely will get in and end up with four spades and an ace.
Overcalling your four card club suit isn't likely to be helpful - you're likely to play 2C with a bad trump fit or 3C opposite three clubs and some values, and you've got all those spades to handle. [
Sometimes you'll hit your partner with lots of clubs and a weak hand and he'll bid 4C or 5C, which will not be good for your side.]
4.
Hint: You don't have a long suit of your own, but you have great support for the other suits. What is your singleton worth if partner plays the hand in a trump contract?
Answer: This is a perfect minimum takeout double. When you are dummy (assumed to have the same number or fewer trumps than partner), you can value your singleton at 3 points, giving you the opening strength needed to make a takeout double. You have excellent support for any unbid suit and shortness in their suit. In a 2001 Bridge World poll of experts, this hand was considered the minimum for a takeout double.
I feel quite strongly about this. Unless you are too good to overcall (generally 19+ counting length), your takeout double should have opening strength counting shortness in the opponents' suit, and at least 3-card support for any unbid suit. If you have a doubleton in an unbid
major, don't double. [
If you have a doubleton in an unbid minor, you might take a chance and double if you have about 17 points and great support for the two other unbid suits, but if you double with 13 and partner bids your doubleton, you deserve what you get. And if you "forget" and do just that, and partner bids your doubleton, just leave it. Hope he has five or six. For if you try to "fix" it you are showing at least 19 and partner should bid game with 7 points.]
5.
Hint: If your partnership has enough for game, what is the most likely game?
Answer: You meet the requirements for a 2C overcall and also for a takeout double. If you do have enough for game, it's more likely to be in a major suit than in 5C or 3NT, and it's a lot harder to find a major suit fit after a 2C overcall than over a double which emphasizes all three unbid suits, I would choose the double. (Note: if the suits were switched, and one of the majors was the decent five-card suit, I would choose to overcall, since it would be quite difficult to find a 5-3 fit in that major after a takeout double since doubling and correcting to that suit shows 19+.)
6.
Hint: Do you think you have enough to compete on? Compare the upsides to bidding to the downsides.
[/quote]I was told that there would be controversy with this answer and it's possible that the player who suggested that didn't know which answer I supported!
There is no question that we have enough strength to overcall. I hope nobody wanted to make a takeout double which is lacking in proper support for both hearts AND diamonds! I also hope that nobody wanted to overcall 1NT; this hand is at least a couple points too weak for that. So the real discussion is between 1S and pass.
Why do we overcall?
(1) To compete for the part score or find your best contract.
(2) To be a nuisance when it's their hand.
(3) To direct a lead.
(1) If your partner has seven points and three spades, he will raise your 1S overcall to 2S - perfect! You will be in a decent contract, plus you will have hampered their bidding a lot unless they have an easy fit to find. [
Your 1S overcall will allow your partner to compete to 3S with four trump if they find a red-suit fit and compete to the three level. This is good.] Also, if partner has a decent hand, your most likely game is spades and the best start to find that game is a 1S overcall.
(2) A 1S overcall over a 1C bid takes up most of the 1-level and is an excellent nuisance bid, especially when partner raises. If responder doesn't have enough to bid 2H, his negative double might show 4 hearts or 5 hearts or 6 hearts and it might be hard to sort out whether they have a fit or not. If their fit is in diamonds and responder can't bid 2D, you've really fouled them up.
(3) Those that want to pass will say that the 1S overcall will get an unwanted spade lead. While they are correct if LHO has enough points and enough hearts to bid 2H, many times my 1S overcall will force hearts to be played by RHO putting me on lead.
If the opponents choose to play in notrump by LHO, I actually want a spade lead, as that is my longest suit and I am the one who holds the defensive entries. I do not consider lead direction to be a major factor in this decision as I want a spade lead against notrump, and don't want one against diamonds or hearts if LHO can somehow play those contracts.
Since (1) and (2) point to overcalling 1S and (3) doesn't point either way, I think 1S is the clear choice.
Isn't it possible that you could overcall 1S on this hand, and get doubled and go down a lot? It is possible, but let's say your partner has nothing. You are quite likely to take a heart trick and two club tricks, maybe three if they lead them unless LHO is short - and if he is, he is trumping with a trump trick he was going to get anyway. You are likely to get a spade trick by length even if LHO has four good spades. So you could go down 2 or 3 against their game, and that is in the unlucky circumstance that you find West with strong spades and East with a reopening double. [
And I'll admit that on a really, really bad day, your partner will have scattered jacks and queens and great length in the red suits, meaning no game for them. Is East that likely to have a reopening double if that is what North has?]
To be frank, I was surprised that someone indicated that there might be controversy on problem 6 among experts.
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