BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

What would you open on each of the above hands, and why? Hopefully, you will have elected to bid 1♣ on each, especially if you are playing duplicate, the reason being that you will have planned your rebid before opening. you will have realised that if you open 1♠ and partner responds 2♦ or 2♥, you will be unable to show your five-card club suit without misleading partner as to the strength of your hand. unless a fit can be found with partner, your

hand remains fairly minimum with only 13 HCps. A response of 3♣ would be forcing and promise 16+ HCps without necessarily guaranteeing a club suit. If you find it difficult to come to terms with opening 1♣ on hand (2) where the club suit is so pathetic, remember that distributional values constitute an important part of Acol bidding. you need to tell partner that you have at least ten cards in the black suits, whilst keeping the auction at the lowest possible level. We’ll take things a stage further during the rest of the week.