CONTRACT BRIDGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22603, 16 December 1936, Page 19

CONTRACT BRIDGE

REBIDDING PROBLEMS MARGIN OF ERROR .

BY FINESSE

One of the widest fields in the bidding structure at contract is the rebid. not only in the opening, but also in the responding hand. Here it is that most people go wrong—if there is anvtliing wrong. Just look lor yourself the next time you get into a bad contract and go down several tricks, and you will probably find that the fault can lie traced in most cases to the rebid of either hand. It is more often than not the key hid on account of the fact that, a first bid with opener or responder has a pretty wide range, and purposely leaves a good deal of strength undisclosed. For instance, a player opens with one of a suit; he may have 2J to 5} honour-tricks. His partner responds with one in a suit; he may have anything from J up to 4 honour-tricks. Hut it is the rebid which generally elariiies the situation, and discloses a good deal of the balance ol strength. Sometimes it still leaves a bit undisclosed, but in such a case the position is that partner generally cannot logically drop the bidding, and the player will inevitably have another opportunity to speak. Hut if the possibility of still further strength is apparently denied by a player, then the only inference his partner can take is that ho has not got it. The key of the situation is, therefore, the inference, positive or negative, to be drawn from a rebid. Division into Zones In Contract Bridge Complete, it is laid down that in rebidding there are four zones:—l, Minimum, or partseore; 2, intermediate; 3, game; and 4, slam zone. What is meant by this is that after the first responso it is possible to decide approximately into which zone the two hands can be placed. Take No. 1, the minimum zone, and the responses are generally one notrump; a single raise, or a pre-emptive suit take-out, coupled with a minimum holding by the opening bidder, and this means that he could not remove an honour-trick or a card of the trump suit from his hand and still leave an opening bid. The object of such a situation is safety, in this way:—lf the response was a single raise, pass. If the response was one no-trump, pass with a balanced hand and no six-card or longer suit. It is better to rebid a six-card suit. With an unbalanced hand show a second biddable suit if lowerranking than the first, or rebid a rebiddable suit; otherwise, pass. Thirdly, a pre-emptive suit take-out can always be safely passed. Now we come to (he intermediate zone, which is not quite so simple, in this, the earmarks are of two kinds. , (a) The opener hns-,a weak hand, but the response was a suit take-out, forcing for one round, which may show either a weak or a very strong hand. (b) The opener has a strong hand, but the response wfts one notrump or a single raise, which may have been shaded. Ohject- Information and safety. (a) With a weak hand the opener should try to show partner the distribution of his hand, by bidding no-trump if he can do so at the level of one; by giving partner a single raise if ho has adequate trump support; by showing a new lower-ranking suit; or by rebidding a rebiddablo suit. (b) If the opener is strong, but the responder may be very weak, opener should make a rebid which shows strength, but which responder need not carry to game unless he has rebid values of his own; a jump raise in partner's suit; a jump rebid of his own suit; a bid, or raise to two no-trump; or a non-jump bid of a now suit at the level of three, which is forcing for one round, but which need not be carried to game. Also included in this category are "reverse" bids. The bid of a higher ranking suit by a player who has bid one of lower rank is called a reverse. The reverse when it occurs at the level of two or higher logically depicts a fairly strong hand, because it compels partner if he wishes to express a choice for the first-named to climb to a still higher level. The Game Zone

This occurs when either partner makes a response which is actually forcing to game, or else opener is so strong that game is possible even if responder haR a weak hand. The object is security. The opener's first thought is to make sure the bidding will not be dropped short of game. If the response was forcing to game, the opener should simply make the rebid _ which best shows the strength and distribution of tho hand. If the response is not forcing to game, the opener makes a forcing rebid by jumping one trick in a new suit, or bids game immediately in a suit or no-trump. Tho slam zone is mixed up with the game zone, and it does not mean that a slam must always be bid, but that a player wishes to explore the slam possibilities before contenting himself with a game contract. This situation occurs when tho opener has a strong hand and tho response is forcing to game. The object is information and safety. Tho opener endeavours to make somo rebid which will not risk having the bidding dropped at game, and which will cither give partner as much information. as possible or coax some desired information from him. When the response was forcing to game the opening hand has little to worry about. He knows that partner's hand is so strong that a game will be reached, so that the safety factor —the danger of being set; —need not be considered, and the only problem is how best to give as much information as possible about his own hand. It is here that the majority of players should study the following order of rebids. Expert Opinion Given

Wanting to find out for certaifi what was the best rebid when partner had made a forcing take-out, 1 wrote a little while ago to Mr. Albert Morehead in New York. Mr. Morehead, I consider, one of the finest analysts in the world of bridge. My question was whether to rebid my own suit or show another suit, if 1 had this choice. The advice received was this: With a sixcard suit and a four-card suit, it is better to rebid the six-card suit and show the four-card suit later; with 5-4 or 5-5 suits the new suit should usually bo shown. In the opinion of Mr. Morehead the showing of a new suit and/or of a rebiddable suit when partner has forced are interchangeable. The question of tho opening hand has to be considered, ot course, and with a bare minimum, care must be taken not to give partner a wrong idea of the hand; the alternative response is the minimuni number of no-trump, showing no added values. With adequate trump support for partner's suit a raise «hould be made, lacking the requirements for the showing of a new suit, or a rebiddable suit. You will noto that this rebid conies third in the list. But, with very strong support for partner's suit the opener may make a jump asking bid (which sets that suit as the trump suit); or else try for a slam with a conventional four no-trump bid. A further article on rebids will be published later.