Misleading Partner
Is it always partners’ fault when they make the wrong opening lead? Might you be to blame?
- Coming Soon: Common Mistakes in Bidding – Learn more here.
Your right-hand opponent opens 1♦. What is your bid?
It is always a good idea to enter the auction after an opponent has bid. Giving your opponents an easy uninterrupted ride is often the key to a bad
result.
You have nearly an opening hand here. Is there any way that you can tell
your partner this?
Mistake: Overcalling with a bad suit.
If you bid 1♥, you promise a 5-card suit. You don’t promise a bad suit
however. Your high card points should be in the heart suit. A good rule of
thumb is to have two of the top four honours in the suit. If you are
undecided as to whether to overcall, ask yourself if you want partner to lead your suit.
If you bid 1♥, partner will lead hearts instead of the natural lead of a club.
The heart lead is disastrous for the defence. Declarer can knock out the ♦A
while still having control of all the other suits. Declarer will make eleven
tricks on a heart lead but only eight on a club lead. Worse still, partner will
be very unhappy with your overcall and you won’t win the postmortem.
This is not a good hand to double with either. Your major suits are too weak.
Just bide your time. Partner may yet surprise you with a bid which you can
raise.
Principle: An overcall promises a good suit, not a good hand