BRIDGE
Hope and glory
Andrew Robson
THE 'GAMBLING' 3NT opening bid shows a solid seven or eight card minor suit and little else. If partner can provide stop- pers in the other three suits, he will pass and 3NT will prove a satisfactory contract. If not, he will remove it to 4+ (or more) for opener to pass or correct to 4s. Its main defect is that it presents the opposi- tion with a blueprint of the whole hand. Cover up the East-West cards and see if you can declare as well as Mark Molson one of Canada's top players.
Dealer West Neither side vulnerable
The Bidding
South West North East
3NT Double 4+ Double
4+ pass
pass 44 pass pass pass
It pays to bid aggressively over an opposing gambling 3NT opener — with good chances of a fit in one of the other three suits. Thus North-South reached 44 with just 21 points. West led •5 — plan the play. Molson won the • lead — clearly a singleton — with dummy's ace. He led 4K and 4J, running it successfully when East played low. Leaving East's 4Q outstanding, he cashed +A and 4K and exited with his 4. West won and led another • — all his remaining cards were ♦s. Declarer discard- ed dummy's last 4 and trumped in hand; he trumped a • in dummy, establishing his last two 4s, crossed back to hand with 4A, drawing East's 40, and cashed his +s. He conceded two •s at the end but had made 10 tricks.
Tony Forrester and I play that whilst an opening bid of 3NT is based on a good (but not necessarily solid) minor suit, outside aces and kings are perfectly admissable. By disguising our hand to a far greater degree, the opponents remain in the dark. So, of course, does partner!
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