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By Fred Gitelman
Here are five more pairs of hands that you can try bidding with your partner. After each hand I will include a "recommended auction" based on the 2/1 Game Force (or 2/1 GF) and 1NT Forcing principles that were discussed in my previous articles.
Hand One
Opener
A Q J 9 8
K 4
5 4
K 9 8 3
1
2
3
4
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Responder
K 6
A 8 7 6 5
J 8 2
A Q 4
2
2 NT
3
Pass
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The opening bidder has the sort of hand in which it is correct to rebid a five-card major after a 2/1 response. A 3 Club rebid by opener would be considered a reverse and show either lots of extra high card points (say 17 or more), or two very strong suits, something like:
K Q J 9 8
4 2
4
A K J 10 3
Note that there are some players who would prefer to open 1 Club (versus 1 Spade) on this hand. I am not one of them.
So the opener is not strong enough to reverse into 3 Clubs. He does not have the three-card support that a Heart raise would promise, and he does not have the Diamond stopper that 2NT demands. Rebidding the five-card Spade suit is the least of evils. Responder's 2NT is a stall -- an attempt to slow down the auction to better facilitate finding the right game contract. Responder would like to have something more in Diamonds for this bid, but 2NT is another "least of evils" bid. As you will see, there is still plenty of time to resolve the Diamond problem.
Responder's 2NT gives opener a convenient chance to show his Club suit. Now responder's 3 Spades suggests a doubleton Spade -- with three-card support responder would have raised on the last round (instead of bidding 2NT). Opener, with strong Spades, a useful card in Hearts, and nothing in Diamonds, should judge to play 4 Spades (which is by far the best contract on these cards). Notice how nicely the system allows the partnership to decide between 3NT and 4 Spades.
Hand Two
Opener
9 6 5
K Q 8 6 5
A 10 8
A 6
1
3
Pass
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Responder
Q 8
A 10 6
K J 8 7 6
K 5 4
2
4
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The opening bidder does not need four-card trump support to raise the 2/1 suit. That is not to say that opener should always raise with three-card support. In particular, opener should normally prefer to rebid a six-card major rather than raising a minor suit 2/1 with just three-card support. Also, with a hand like:
A Q
Q 9 8 7 4
6 5 2
A J 10
Opener should prefer to rebid 2NT despite holding three-card Diamond support, as his Diamonds are very weak and his holdings in the unbid suits are very strong. On the actual hand for opener, however, raising Diamonds is best, as opener has three nice Diamonds and no Spade stopper (so 2NT is out).
Responder's rebid of 4 Hearts is an interesting bid, especially considering that 3 Hearts would have been forcing. Notice that the responder has a very minimum 2/1 for his jump. This seems to conflict with the Goren principle that jump bids promise extra values. In fact, this 4 Heart bid is an example of a more modern trend in bidding, the principle of fast arrival (or simply fast arrival). Fast arrival means that when the bidding is already forced to a certain level (the game level in this case), bidding to that level immediately is the weakest possible action. Most 2/1 players use the principle of fast arrival in several auctions that start with a 2/1.
One of the weaknesses in the way that many people play 2/1 is that they do not have enough bids that limit the strength of the hands. The fact that the initial 2/1 establishes a game force makes it very easy to use lots of "waiting bids" and for both partners to keep making bids that describe their distribution (as opposed to limiting their strength). Using the principle of fast arrival is one way to get around this problem. This auction is a perfect example of how fast arrival can be useful. Responder's 4 Hearts shows a minimum game force. With extra values and Heart support, responder would bid 3 Hearts instead. The theory here is that when responder has extra values (and he bids just 3 Hearts) the four-level can be used to cuebid in search of slam. When responder's hand is minimum, however, slam is not as likely and the extra space is not likely to be needed.
The principle of fast arrival works well on these hands but it also has its drawbacks. In the above auction, for example, opener could have a very strong hand for his unlimited rebid of 3 Diamonds. Even if responder has a minimum, opener may be strong enough that slam is in the pictures and the fast arrival jump to 4 Hearts could preempt the partnership out of the bidding space needed for sensible investigation. I actually prefer not to play fast arrival. For me, the jump to 4 Hearts in the above auction would show a specific type of extra value hand, something like:
3 2
K Q 5 4
A K J 10 6
7 6
That is a hand with extra values in trumps and Diamonds (the two suits bid). With most other hands that wanted to raise Hearts, responder would bid 3 Hearts. This style is known as picture bidding. I believe that the picture style is more accurate than fast arrival, but it is also more difficult to play. I strongly suggest that if you are new to 2/1 GF, that you stick with fast arrival for now.
Hand Three
Opener
K J 9 8 7
8
A 9 8 4
K J 5
1
2
Pass
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Responder
5
A J 10 9 5 4
K Q 3
10 8 7
1 NT
3
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Playing SAYC or Goren, responder's hand would be worth a 2/1 in Hearts. Responder would plan to rebid Hearts, suggesting a six-card suit and invitational values. Playing 2/1 GF you cannot make a 2/1 on an invitational hand (like responder's). You have to start with a Forcing 1NT response.
Opener's 2 Diamond rebid is exactly the same bid he would make using SAYC or Goren. Responder could now bid his Hearts at the two-level, but that would be a strong suggestion to play the contract in 2 Hearts. For example, if you take away responder's Diamond King:
5
A J 10 9 5 4
Q 3 2
10 8 7
5
A J 10 9 5 4
Q 3 2
10 8 7
Responder now lacks the values to invite game. He should bid Hearts at the cheapest level (the two-level) and expect opener to Pass most of the time. With the King of Diamonds in addition, however, responder's hand falls into the invitational range and he can express his extra values by jumping to 3 Hearts. Opener, with a high card minimum and a poor fit for Hearts, has an easy Pass. It would be a bad idea for opener to try 3NT just because he has a singleton Heart. The 3 Heart bid suggests a good long suit and opener needs a very good reason to suggest another trump suit (or notrump).
Hand Four
Opener
A Q J 10 9
8
A Q J 9 8
Q 7
1
2
3
Pass
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Responder
K 5 4
9 6 5
K 5 4 3
10 3 2
1 NT
2
4
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It is a good idea when playing 2/1 to play a singleton raise of a major suit opening as "constructive" -- showing around 8-10 points in support. With a lesser raise, you should start with a Forcing 1NT and take opener back to his major at your next turn. That is what responder is up to here. His hand is not strong enough for a direct single raise so he starts with a Forcing 1NT.
Opener's hand, although strong, is not strong enough to force to game with a jump shift of 3 Diamonds. He must rebid 2 Diamonds and hope for another chance to show his extra values. Responder should go back to 2 Spades (as opposed to passing 2 Diamonds) for two reasons:
- To keep the bidding open -- as you can see game is still possible and Passing 2 Diamonds is giving up on game.
- There must be an eight-card fit in Spades, but there may be just a seven-card fit in Diamonds. Remember that opener may sometimes have to bid a three-card minor in response to a Forcing 1NT.
When responder goes back to Spades, the opener is strong enough to take another call. He should make the most natural game try possible in these cases. Here, rebidding the fine five-card Diamond suit is clearly the most natural way to try for game. Note that opener's 3 Diamonds shows a very good hand. With a weaker hand containing 5-5 distribution, opener would Pass 2 Spades. Opener's 3 Diamonds gives the message, "Partner, I have at least 5-5 in my suits and extra values. Where do you want to play?"
Responder's 4 Spades may look crazy to you with just six points, but this choice shows excellent judgement. Responder can count 10 very likely tricks if opener has no more than A-Q-J-x-x in both of his suits. If one of opener's suits is weaker than that, he would certainly have some compensating high card values on the side. Always remember that Bridge is a game of tricks, not points!
Hand Five
Opener
K J 5
A Q 4 3 2
7
A 6 5 4
1
3
Pass
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Responder
Q 9 8
6 5
K Q 10
K Q J 9 8
2
3 NT
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Opener has a great hand in support of his partner's 2/1 suit. His 3 Diamond rebid is an example of a splinter bid. I have discussed splinters in some of my previous articles. There are many auctions in which splinters are very useful and this is one of them. A splinter bid carries the following message, "Partner, I have a good hand with at least four-card support for your suit as well as a singleton in the suit bid. Please evaluate your hand based on that information." Note that playing 2/1 GF, the natural meaning of 3 Diamonds (to show a very strong two-suiter) is not that important. With that type of hand the opener can bid a forcing 2 Diamonds and see how the auction progresses.
Responder has an easy time of picking the right contract in this case. He has plenty of wasted values opposite partner's known shortness. This state of affairs often means that 3NT is the right contract. Notice also that responder has a double stopper in Diamonds even opposite a small singleton. The double stopper will give responder the luxury of being able to lose the lead. Opposite opener's actual hand this means that the declarer in notrump will have time to knock out the Ace of Spades without worrying about the Diamonds being run. Opener has an easy Pass over 3NT as he has already described his hand perfectly and should respect his partner's decision.
If, instead responder had a hand like:
A Q 10
6 5
Q 9 8
K Q J 9 8
His Diamond holding (opposite a known singleton) would not be strong enough for 3NT and responder would move towards a high level Club contract.
The splinter bid is indeed useful in this auction. Without this convention the opener would simply raise to 3 Clubs regardless of where his singleton was. It may then be difficult for responder to judge between 3NT and a Club contract (or maybe even a Heart contract).
If you have any questions about this article and would like to send mail to Fred Gitelman, please e-mail Zidea.
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