Hands In Which The No-trump Declaration Is Doubtful

Suit 1 King, Knave, X Does not contain an Ace, but is
" 2 King, X, X above the average and has four
" 3 Queen, Knave, X suits stopped. It is a No-trump
" 4 Knave, Ten, X, X bid.

Suit 1 Ace, Knave, X Has an Ace, three suits stopped,
" 2 X, X, X and a Knave over the average. It
" 3 King, X, X, X is a No-trump bid.
" 4 Queen, Knave, X

Suit 1 Ace, Queen, X Has an Ace and two face cards
" 2 King, Queen, Knave more than the average, but, not
" 3 X, X, X, X having three suits stopped, is
" 4 Knave, X, X not a No-trump bid.

Suit 1 King, Queen, X Has three suits stopped, but is
" 2 King, Knave, X, X without an Ace, and is one King
" 3 Queen, Knave, X short of three King suits all with
" 4 X, X, X another face card. It is not
a No-trump bid.

Suit 1 King, Knave, X Has three King-Queen, or
" 2 King, Queen, X King-Knave suits. It is a No-trump
" 3 King, Knave, X bid.
" 4 X, X, X, X

Suit 1 Ace, X, X Has three suits stopped and is
" 2 Ace, X, X, X above the average. It is a No-trump
" 3 Queen, Knave, X bid.
" 4 X, X, X

Suit 1 Ace, X, X This is the border-line hand
" 2 King, X, X mentioned above. It may be a
" 3 X, X, X, X No-trump bid for an expert, but
" 4 King, Knave, X the moderate player is hardly
justified in risking it. The
presence of one or two Tens would
add materially to the strength of
this hand and make it a No-trump.

Suit 1 Ace, X, X, X Only above the average to the
" 2 King, Queen, X extent of a Queen in place of
" 3 Queen, X, X, X a Knave. No-trump is not advised
" 4 X, X unless Declarer is confident he
can outplay his adversaries.

Suit 1 Ace, Knave, X An average hand. With this holding
" 2 King, X, X only an expert is justified in
" 3 Queen, X, X, X bidding No-trump.
" 4 X, X, X

Suit 1 Ace, X, X Below the average, and, therefore,
" 2 King, X, X only "one Spade" should be bid.
" 3 Queen, X, X, X
" 4 X, X, X

Clubs } Has the weakest "solid" suit
or } Ace, King, Queen, X, X that with one other Ace warrants
Diamonds } a No-trump bid.
Suit 2 Ace, X, X
" 3 X, X, X
" 4 X, X

Clubs } Ace, King, Knave, X, X Absence of Queen in one case, and
or } or of King in the other, keeps the
Diamonds } Ace, Queen, Knave, X, X suit from being established. Even
} the presence of the additional
Suit 2 Ace, Queen, X Queen in Suit 2 does not make this
" 3 X, X, X a No-trumper.
" 4 X, X

Clubs } Absence of additional Ace makes
or } Ace, King, Queen, X, X a No-trump inadvisable.
Diamonds }
Suit 2 King, Queen, X
" 3 X, X, X
" 4 X, X

It is realized that in the last three cases cited the margin is
unusually close; the last one, should the partner happen to have either
Suit 3 or 4 stopped, and the Ace and some length of Suit 2, would be
very much stronger than the example justifying the bid. It is also true
that a fortunate drop of the King or Queen of the long suit, with a
little help from the partner, would make the next to the last the
strongest of the three. It is idle, however, to speculate on what the
partner may have. In such close cases it is most important to
invariably follow some fixed rule. The player who guesses each time may
always be wrong, while the player who sticks to the sound bid is sure
to be right most of the time. Experience has shown that, when only two
suits are stopped, it is not wise to bid No-trump without both an Ace
and a solid suit, and experience is the best teacher.


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Previous: The Bid Of One No-trump

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