IMPROVE YOUR PLAY
with Larry Matheny

 

The weak jump overcall has been popular for several decades.  Years ago the jump overcall was used to show strong hands but the bid was used so infrequently, the weaker version became the standard.  Here is the weak jump overcall used very effectively.

Scoring:  Matchpoints (Pairs)

Hand#9

Dlr

W

Vul

E/W

S

J986

H

A854

D

9

C

QJ65

S

107432

H

2

D

AK102

C

A92

  pad  

S

AKQ

H

J7

D

Q6543

C

K43

 

S

5

H

KQ10963

D

J87

C

1087

West

North

East

South

    1S

   Pass

2D

3H

    4D

    5H

   DBL

   End

    

 

 

 

 
BIDDING:  West held a weak suit but with three quick tricks, he was strong enough to open.  East made a 2/1 game forcing bid and then South made a weak jump overcall (good suit, weak hand).  West’s hand was now worth a raise but North, noting the favorable vulnerability, applied maximum pressure by jumping to the five-level.  East wanted to raise spades but finally decided it was too high and ended the auction with a double. 


PLAY:  West led the ace of diamonds and the defense collected four tricks: one spade, one diamond, and two clubs.  That was down two for -300, a good result for N/S.  Most of the E/W pairs were allowed to play game in spades scoring +650 losing only one spade and one heart.  Looking at the results East should have supported spades but…well, sometimes preempts work.


Copyright ©2010 Larry Matheny.