This Week in Bridge
(555) Scrambling 2NT
© AiB Robert S. Todd
Level: 7 of 10 robert@advinbridge.com
General
In competitive auctions where the opponents have found a fit, we compete aggressively – especially at Matchpoints. We frequently use double (for takeout) with three-suited hands and sometimes with two-suited hands. If we have all three of the unbid suits, we have a traditional takeout double and we will be able to handle the auction relatively easily. Sometimes we will need to make a takeout double with less than perfect shape (i.e., two-suited hands with 5-4 or 5-5 shape.) We double with these “off-shape” hands because we have no better call and the player who is short in the opponent’s suit should be the one who strives to compete. To handle these situations, we want partner (Advancer) to have a tool to help us find our best fit. As usual, in competitive auctions our choice of convention will be 2NT. This gadget is called Scrambling 2NT.
Scrambling 2NT
Remember, we like to live by the motto, “2NT is a convention, not a contract!” This is another example of putting that idea to work for us.
Example 1
1♠ P 2♠ X
P 2NT
Opposite a takeout double when the opponents have found a fit, if Advancer has one clearly preferred suit, they bid it. If Advancer has two suits, they have a choice to make. They could just guess which suit to bid, but a better option is to bid 2NT showing “two places to play.” Over this Scrambling 2NT both Interferer and Advancer bid their suits up the line until they can agree on a suit.
Note: With a natural 2NT bid, the Advancer would just pass the takeout double, converting it to penalty. Thus, 2NT is available to be used for our conventional call – Scrambling 2NT.
Example 2
1♠ P 2♠ X
P 2NT P 3♣
P 3♦ All Pass
In this example auction the bids show:
X Interferer makes a takeout double.
2NT Advancer shows two places to play – with the Scrambling 2NT.
3♣ Interferer shows ♣.
3♦ Advancer shows not ♣; they have ♦ and ♥.
Pass Interferer passes because they prefer ♦ to ♥.
Some Other TWO-Suited 2NT Bids
2NT can be used to show other two-suited hands in competitive auctions where the opponents have found a fit. We use it as the Unusual 2NT, showing the two lowest unbid suits, when we jump to 2NT. When we compete or balance with 2NT directly, we often need it to show “two places to play.”
Example 3
1♠ P 2♠ P
P 2NT
In modern bidding, this shows two suits, not just the minors. It is generally ♣ + ♦ OR ♣ + ♥. It is not ♦ + ♥, because when we have the two highest suits we can double and if partner bids ♣, we can correct it to ♦ to show ♦ + ♥ (this is not a strong “double and bid” hand, since we passed previously).
Conclusion
2NT is often used in competition to show many different types of hands. Lebensohl uses 2NT to differentiate strength (and stoppers), while Unusual Notrump or Scrambling 2NT use 2NT to show two-suited hands (two places to play). The key is that 2NT continues to be the most useful conventional bid in all of bridge and we will proudly continue to look for more ways to use it!