Easy Guide to Five-card Majors
by Sally Brock

Batsford, £13.20 inc p&p from the Mr Bridge Mail Order Service
Tel: 01672 519219 (code BK28)

This book annoyed me. It started when I was informed that I was expected to be familiar with Roman Key-Card Blackwood, which I recently described in another publication as 'the spawn of the devil': this convention is aimed at established partnerships and is not remotely suitable for the average club player.

This 'Easy Guide' clearly sets out the advantages of five-card majors in certain situations, contains comprehensive advice concerning the development of the auction, reveals a lot about the author's personal preferences (and prejudices) and carefully avoids discussion of certain problem areas.

For example, having responded 1 to a (better minor) 1 opening with four hearts and six diamonds, which is the recommended strategy when lacking the values to force to game, how does responder differentiate between this shape and, for example, a 5-5 red two-suiter, particularly when the auction becomes competitive?

In places, the suggested methods are - to put it delicately - idiosyncratic. For example, the recommended opening on:

A Q 7 3     J 7 4 3     8     A K Q 2

is 1NT; this is an outrage - an unnecessary misdescription.

Again, the recommended response to a 1 opening when holding a hand including K-Q-J-10-x-x and K-x-x is 1NT! If partner passes, which he will do with a 5-3-3-2, and may well do with a
5-4-2-2 or 5-4-3-1 if the four-card suit is a minor (this is the author's advice, not mine), at best you get a lucky match-point top. At worst, you will miss a game, or go down in the wrong part-score. Whatever the outcome, if you play this hand in 1NT you will surely be on your own: it is normal to bid 2 and 3.

Although the author's suggestions taken en masse constitute, as one would expect, a coherent and playable method (though not, as the discerning reader may have inferred, one to your reviewer's taste), the usefulness of the book is diminished by analytical errors and inconsistencies. For example:

K J 8 7 3   A 10 2   A J 6   K J   Q 10 2   J 7 6 3   7   A 10 9 6 5

The 'easy sequence' is 1 - 2 - 2NT - 4. True, this is an easy sequence and it is clear that four-card major players could have a problem (if West rebids 2NT, East might think that the spade fit is only 4-3 and so opt for 3NT; if he makes a trial bid of 3, East might not like his heart holding and so bid only 3). Unfortunately, the effect of this is somewhat spoiled when one recollects that the author's clear recommendation is to open 1NT (15-17) with the West cards - this is liable to end the auction.

Again:

A K 6 4 3   A Q 2   7   A 7 6 3   10 9 7 5   K J 10 4   A 5 4   4 2

The bidding went 1 - 3 - 4 and the author asks: 'What went wrong?'. In fact, nothing went wrong: the chances of 6 making are about 46% (hardly a 'favourite') so the slam should be avoided.

A keen player wishing to find out more about five-card majors could do worse than refer to Marc Smith's series of articles in the August to December 2003 issues of Bridge Plus.

Richard Fleet

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