(571) Spear

This Week in Bridge

(571) Spear

© AiB                                                  Robert S. Todd
Level:  10 of 10                                  robert@advinbridge.com

General

When the auction begins 1m – 1NT (both bids by the opponents), it is rare that we want to compete in a minor suit.  Usually in these auctions the opponents have the minors, since Responder has denied a 4-card Major.  (Even if we have a 5+card minor suit, it could still be best to pass and defend 1NT.)  In these auctions, it is effective to play a system geared towards the Major suits where we are most likely to have a fit.  Spear is an artificial system that uses all the bids at the 2-level to show different Major suit hands.  This gives us more options for how to compete in the bidding. Let’s see how it works. 

Spear

In auctions that begin 1m – 1NT, we want to be able to compete in the bidding with shapely hands with a long Major suit as well as be able to show just a good hand with a long Major suit.  We also would like to be able to show hands with both Major suits.  Spear is a system for this auction that allows us to do all of this. 

Here is how Spear works after a minor opening by LHO and 1NT by RHO.

Opener                                                Responder         

1-minor                 P                             1NT                        __?

• 2♣*        Both Major suits, at least 4-4

• 2♦*        Good hand with one long Major, 5+card suit, possibly interested in game

• 2♥           Natural and competitive, 5+card ♥ (usually less than opening values)

• 2♠           Natural and competitive, 5+card ♠ (usually less than opening values)

• X             Good hand, usually balanced, 12+ points

Note:  If we want to compete in a long suit, including a minor, we can jump to the 3-level.

Bids by Advancer After 2♣* Showing Both Majors

One of the advantages of playing Spear is that we can show a hand that wants to play offense and has both Majors. This can be useful with 4-4 in the Majors and good values, but more likely to be useful with more shape and fewer values.

Example 1 – Both Majors

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1♣                          P                             1NT                        __? 

♠ KJ874
♥ QJ874
♦ 5
♣ 93

With this hand we bid 2♣* to show length in both Majors and ask partner to choose one.

Example 2 – Both Majors

But what about with only 5/4 in the Majors?

♠ Q9762
♥ KQ87
♦ 7         
♣ 873

With this hand we want to compete in the bidding but show both our suits with one bid. If partner has equal length in the Majors (often 3-3), then instead of guessing which Major to bid, they bid 2♦, asking us to choose.

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1♣                          P                             1NT                        2♣*
P                             2♦*                        P                             2♠

 With longer ♠, we choose to play there.

Bids by Advancer After a Major is Shown  

Partner usually passes 2-Major but needs to know how to advance the bidding after our 2♦* bid.  Advancer uses Multi-2♦ Advances over our 2♦ interference.

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1-minor                 P                             1NT                        2♦*
P                             __?

• 2M         Pass or Correct

• 2NT*     Multi-Ogust

  o   3♣*        Good hand with ♥, usually 14+ HCP

  o   3♦*        Good hand with ♠, usually 14+ HCP

  o   3♥*        Natural, minimum, usually about 11-13 HCP

  o   3♠*        Natural, minimum, usually about 11-13 HCP

• 3M         Pass or Correct

• 4♣          Transfer to Our Suit

• 4♦           Bid Our Suit

• 4M         To Play

Let’s see how we bid if the auction begins as follows:

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1♦                           P                             1NT                        __?

Example 3

♠ K7
♥ KJ9743
♦ 765
♣ 42

We bid 2♥, competitive, with this hand.

Example 4

♠ K7
♥ KJ9743
♦ AJ6
♣ 42

We bid 2♦* to show a good hand with one Major.

Here are some other auctions where it is good to have some agreements.

Example 5

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1♦                           P                             1NT                        2♦*
3♣                          __?

• X             Penalty

• 3♦           Game Try in partner’s suit

• 3M         Pass or Correct

Example 6

Opener                Advancer             Responder          Interferer

1♦                           P                             1NT                        2♦*
3♦                           __?

• X             Penalty

• 3M         Pass or Correct

Conclusion

Spear is a powerful system for allowing us to compete in the bidding with a variety of different hands -- weak distributional hands and still powerful hands. This allows partner to try for game or know how much to further compete in the bidding.  Although this system applies to a specific auction, it gives you a great advantage in this common competitive bidding situation. When they avoid the Majors, we often have them, so we would like to have as many options as possible for showing these suits.