Quiz 8B61 Main


Major? Notrump? Et Tu, Brute?


 by Richard Pavlicek

Friends, Romans, countrymen: Lend me your ears!
I come to bury major suits, not to praise them.

On each of these 10 problems, you must decide whether to open the bidding in your five-card major or 1 NT (15-17). If you would bid anything else, please don’t admit it, as the angry crowd might bury you along with Caesar.

Choose your opening bids then click “Score Me” to see how you did. If you finish plus IMPs after 10 boards, consider yourself an honorable man. At the end you can view the actual deals and see how two experts bid differently in each case.

1. IMPs Both vul

S K Q
H A J 10 6 3
D A J 8
C J 6 2

Opening bid in third seat? 1 H 1 NT

2. IMPs Unfavorable vul

S A 2
H A J 6 3 2
D 7 5 4
C A K J

Opening bid in third seat? 1 H 1 NT

3. IMPs Both vul

S Q 5 4 3 2
H K Q 10
D A K 2
C K 3

Opening bid in second seat? 1 S 1 NT

4. IMPs Favorable vul

S A Q
H A 9 5 4 2
D J 3 2
C A Q 10

Opening bid as dealer? 1 H 1 NT

5. IMPs Unfavorable vul

S K J 6 5 4
H A K 4
D 7 4 3
C A 8

Opening bid as dealer? 1 S 1 NT

 Quit

Top Major? Notrump? Et Tu, Brute?

6. IMPs Favorable vul

S A 10 8 5 2
H Q 8 5
D A K 3
C A 5

Opening bid as dealer? 1 S 1 NT

7. IMPs Favorable vul

S A K J 10 5
H A 4 2
D 9 4
C A 6 2

Opening bid in second seat? 1 S 1 NT

8. IMPs Favorable vul

S A 7 2
H A K 8 7 4
D A 5
C 8 5 2

Opening bid in fourth seat? 1 H 1 NT

9. IMPs None vul

S K Q J 8 5
H J 9 6
D K Q 9
C K 10

Opening bid in second seat? 1 S 1 NT

10. IMPs Favorable vul

S A K Q 10 5
H A 5 2
D K J 8
C 7 6

Opening bid in second seat? 1 S 1 NT

 Quit

Actual Results

Top Major? Notrump? Et Tu, Brute?

1. Vanderbilt Final 2001

West dealsS A 7 4WestNorthEastSouth
Both vulH K Q 9RosenkranzPetruninMohanGromov
D 10 5 2PassPass1 HPass
C Q 9 8 52 HPass2 SPass
S J 9 3 2TableS K Q2 NTPass3 CPass
H 8 7 5H A J 10 6 34 HPassPassPass
D Q 9 4D A J 8
C K 10 4C J 6 2
S 10 8 6 5
H 4 2
D K 7 6 3
C A 7 3
Gromov N-SRosenkranz N-SWestNorthEastSouth
4 H East1 NT EastZmudzinskiPszczolaBalickiGawrys
Lead: S 8Lead: D 3PassPass1 NTPass
Down 2 -200Made 2 +120PassPass
Gromov +8 IMPs

Opening 1 NT +8 IMPs

2. USBC Semifinal 2006

West dealsS 7 6WestNorthEastSouth
E-W vulH Q 10 8GarnerRodwellWeinsteinMeckstroth
D 6 2PassPass1 H2 H
C 10 7 6 5 4 3Pass2 SDblRdbl
S J 4 3TableS A 24 HPassPass4 S
H 9 7 5 4H A J 6 3 2PassPassDblAll Pass
D A 10 3D 7 5 4
C 9 8 2C A K J
S K Q 10 9 8 5
H K
D K Q J 9 8
C Q
Nickell N-SJacobs N-SWestNorthEastSouth
4 S× North2 S SouthNickellJacobsFreemanKatz
Lead: C ALead: H 4PassPass1 NT2 S
Down 2 -300Made 3 +140PassPassPass
Jacobs +10 IMPs

Opening 1 H +10 IMPs

3. World Championship Qualifying 2006

West dealsS Q 5 4 3 2WestNorthEastSouth
Both vulH K Q 10HelnessEskinazHelgemoAluf,S
D A K 2Pass1 SPass1 NT
C K 3Pass2 NTPass3 NT
S A J 10TableS K 9 8 7 6PassPassPass
H 8 7 6 4H A J 2
D 10 7 6 5 4D Q
C JC 8 7 5 4
S —
H 9 5 3
D J 9 8 3
C A Q 10 9 6 2
Kokten N-SMeltzer N-SWestNorthEastSouth
3 NT South3 C NorthKoktenLarsenAluf,TMeltzer
Lead: D 4Lead: D QPass1 NTPass2 NT
Down 2 -200Made 5 +150Pass3 CPassPass
Meltzer +8 IMPsPass

Opening 1 NT +8 IMPs

4. USBC Semifinal 2007

West dealsS K 5 4WestNorthEastSouth
N-S vulH 8MartelBerkowitzStansbyCohen
D K 6 51 HPass1 NTPass
C J 8 7 6 5 22 CPass2 HPass
S A QTableS 9 8 6 3 23 NTPass4 HPass
H A 9 5 4 2H Q J 3PassPass
D J 3 2D A 9 7
C A Q 10C K 4
S J 10 7
H K 10 7 6
D Q 10 8 4
C 9 3
Schwartz N-SEkeblad N-SWestNorthEastSouth
4 H West3 NT WestBeckerGitelmanSchwartzMoss
Lead: C 7Lead: C 61 NTPass2 CPass
Down 1 -50Made 3 +4002 HPass3 NTPass
Schwartz +10 IMPsPassPass

Opening 1 NT +10 IMPs

5. USBC Quarterfinal 2007

West dealsS Q 8 7WestNorthEastSouth
E-W vulH J 7 5CarmichaelMossGerstmanGitelman
D K Q 6 51 SPass1 NTPass
C 6 5 22 DPass3 CPass
S K J 6 5 4TableS 2PassPass
H A K 4H Q 6 3 2
D 7 4 3D J 2
C A 8C K Q J 9 4 3
S A 10 9 3
H 10 9 8
D A 10 9 8
C 10 7
Harris N-SEkeblad N-SWestNorthEastSouth
3 C East3 NT WestEkebladHarrisRubinMorgan
Lead: H 10Lead: D 51 NTPass2 CPass
Made 4 +130Made 4 +6302 SPass3 NTPass
Harris +11 IMPsPassPass

Opening 1 NT +11 IMPs

This swing should have gone the other way (3 NT should be defeated) but that’s real life for you!

6. USBC Quarterfinal 2007

West dealsS Q J 6 4WestNorthEastSouth
N-S vulH K 7 6 4KrekorianGrueCasenCheek
D Q 10 9 41 SPass2 CPass
C 92 NTPass3 CPass
S A 10 8 5 2TableS K 93 DPass3 NTPass
H Q 8 5H A J 9 35 NTPass6 CAll Pass
D A K 3D —
C A 5C K J 10 8 7 6 4
S 7 3
H 10 2
D J 8 7 6 5 2
C Q 3 2
O’Rourke N-SSchwartz N-SWestNorthEastSouth
6 C East3 NT WestJacobusCohenO'RourkeBerkowitz
Lead: H 10Lead: D 91 NTPass2 CPass
Made 6 +920Made 6 +4902 SPass3 CPass
Schwartz +10 IMPs3 NTPassPassPass

Opening 1 S +10 IMPs

7. USBC Quarterfinal 2007

West dealsS A K J 10 5WestNorthEastSouth
E-W vulH A 4 2BazeSmithCohlerCohen,B
D 9 4Pass1 SPass2 S
C A 6 2Pass3 CPass4 S
S —TableS 9 8 2PassPassPass
H Q 10 8 7 5 3H K 6
D Q 10 7 5 2D A K J
C 4 3C Q 9 8 7 5
S Q 7 6 4 3
H J 9
D 8 6 3
C K J 10
Meltzer N-SDeutsch N-SWestNorthEastSouth
4 S North3 S SouthSontagDeutschBatesKranyak
Lead: D ALead: H 7Pass1 NTPass2 S
Made 4 +420Made 4 +1703 H3 SPassPass
Meltzer +6 IMPsPass

Opening 1 S +6 IMPs

8. Vanderbilt Semifinal 2009

West dealsS K 8 5WestNorthEastSouth
E-W vulH 10 6SadekLauriaEl AhmadyVersace
D Q 6 4 3PassPassPass1 H
C A 9 6 3Pass1 NTPass2 C
S J 10TableS Q 9 6 4 3Pass2 DPass3 H
H J 3 2H Q 9 5Pass3 SPass3 NT
D 10 9 8 7 2D K JAll Pass
C K Q 7C J 10 4
S A 7 2
H A K 8 7 4
D A 5
C 8 5 2
Cayne N-SKatz N-SWestNorthEastSouth
3 NT North2 NT SouthNunesLevinFantoniWeinstein
Lead: S 4Lead: D 10PassPassPass1 NT
Made 3 +400Made 3 +150Pass2 SPass2 NT
Cayne +6 IMPsPassPassPass

Opening 1 H +6 IMPs

9. USBC Round-of-16 2009

West dealsS K Q J 8 5WestNorthEastSouth
None vulH J 9 6BerkowitzStewartCohenWoolsey
D K Q 9Pass1 S2 S4 H
C K 105 HPassPass5 S
S 10TableS 6PassPassPass
H Q 8 7 5H K 10 4 3 2
D A 5 4 2D J 10
C J 7 6 5C A Q 9 8 4
S A 9 7 4 3 2
H A
D 8 7 6 3
C 3 2
Robinson N-SStrul N-SWestNorthEastSouth
5 S North4 S NorthRobinsonBeckerBoydStrul
Lead: H 2Lead: H 2Pass1 NT2 H4 H
Down 1 -50Made 4 +420Dbl4 SPassPass
Strul +10 IMPsPass

Opening 1 NT +10 IMPs

10. Bermuda Bowl Qualifying 2009

West dealsS A K Q 10 5WestNorthEastSouth
E-W vulH A 5 2Robinson,IRobinsonde LiveraBoyd
D K J 8Pass1 SPassPass
C 7 62 HPassPassPass
S 9 7 2TableS J 8 4
H Q J 9 8 3H 7 6
D Q 9 6 5D A 7 4 3
C AC K Q 10 4
S 6 3
H K 10 4
D 10 2
C J 9 8 5 3 2
USA1 N-SAustralia N-SWestNorthEastSouth
2 H West3 C× NorthWoolseyThomsonStewartBrightling
Lead: S QLead: H 7Pass1 NTPass2 S
Down 2 -200Down 2 -300Pass3 CPassPass
USA1 +11 IMPsDblPassPassPass

Opening 1 S +11 IMPs

Results are from actual play, so the winning bids are not necessarily correct in theory.

Well, have you learned to praise Caesar? Or are you ready to join him?

Quiz 8B61 MainTop Major? Notrump? Et Tu, Brute?

© 2010 Richard Pavlicek