Good or Bad?

In that holistic vein, you pick up the following hands, all with ten points. Before the bidding commences, would you say they are good, medium or bad?

• (a). Bad. Yucky 4333 shape, no sequential honours, no tens or nines.

• (b). Good, fabulous shape, all the honours in the long suits – and good intermediates to-boot.

• (c). Medium. Fair shape – at least you have a five-card suit but nothing special.

You would open the bidding with Hand (b) but would not consider it with either of the others.

However, say your partner opened the bidding 1♣ and, over your 1♥ response (correct on all three), partner rebid 1♠, showing five clubs and four spades. The best hand of the three is now Hand (c) – with a good club fit, good bolstering spades and a side ace – you’d jump to 3♣. However, Hand (b) is now looking markedly less exciting, as the hallmarks of a misfit are present – indeed it may be sensible to slow things down by bidding 1NT. Hand (a) remains unexciting, although you do have a club fit. I guess a 2♣ preference is called for.