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.
The modern game continues to create interesting auctions and we need to make sure to discuss how to respond to new situations with partner. Some of the most interesting (and useful) competitive bids are when we use a suit that the opponents have bid – called a Cuebid. There can be many different meanings for bidding the opponent’s suit. A cuebid is a tool used in a variety of different ways based on the situation. We vary the meaning to describe the hand that is most logical and often most difficult to describe in another way. Let’s take a look at cuebids of the opponent’s suit in a variety of different auctions and make sure we are on the same page with partner about the meaning of these calls.
When Left Hand Opponent (LHO) opens the bidding, partner makes an overcall, and Right Hand Opponent (RHO) makes a negative double, then Advancer is in the middle of a complex competitive auction. Traditionally, a redouble in a competitive auction shows a strong hand (10+ points), but with everyone bidding it is not likely that Advancer is too focused on showing values. Instead, we want to design our agreements to let us best describe the most common kinds of hands. In this auction, Advancer having lots of values is not common. Let’s see how using redouble as a conventional bid, called a Rosenkrantz Redouble, can be more effective than this traditional value-showing redouble.
Bridge players keep finding more and more ways to use doubles, especially in low-level competitive auctions. The traditional double by the Advancer is the responsive double. This double applies when the opponents have bid and raised a suit and partner has taken some action in the middle (either a takeout double or a suit overcall). But when Left Hand Opponent (LHO) opens the bidding with a suit, partner overcalls a second suit, and Responder bids a third suit, then a double by Advancer is not a responsive double. It is a different kind of competitive double called a Snapdragon Double – a fancy name for another double that wants to compete in the bidding. Let’s see exactly what this double shows.
When the opponents stay out of our auctions, we tend to have clear agreements about the meaning of a 4NT bid – usually Quantitative in a NT auction and Keycard in a suit auction. But in a competitive auction we are more likely to use 4NT as a bid showing two places to play. Let’s look at some of these auctions so we know what partner is trying to do when they use 4NT in a competitive auction.
When RHO opens a 2-level preempt, they have started eating up our valuable bidding space, but this is just the start of their attack on us. LHO may join in the attack and raise the preempt, making our life even more difficult. When we are bidding over RHO’s 2-level preempt we should keep this in mind. We need lots of tools to deal with this situation. Let’s look at these options.
One of the most common gadgets that we use when partner opens 1NT is Stayman. We primarily use Stayman to search for a 4-4 Major suit fit. After Stayman, sometimes we want to have a way to raise partner’s suit where they cannot pass. We will want a “Forcing Raise” (similar to Jacoby 2NT or Inverted Minors) in order to find out more about Opener’s hand. This is missing from a standard bidding system. It is a valuable tool for making a slam try while keeping the auction from getting too high.
When the opponents are playing a Weak 1NT opening bid (for example, 12-14 points), we need to bid only when we have a decently valued hand. We tend to bid with hands that would normally have overcalled at the 2-level, hands with about opening values. Here we are primarily bidding constructively because when the opponents open a Weak 1NT, our side may still have game. If we bid destructively (with only shape and without much strength) then if partner has values, they may push the auction too high. It is common to use a different bidding system against the opponents’ Weak 1NT opening bid than the one we use against a strong 1NT opening. These systems usually contain a penalty double that allows us to show a very good hand as well, and thus penalize the opponents when partner also has some values.
When partner bids 4NT as Keycard in our established fit, a void in a side suit can be useful. We may still be able to make a slam if we are missing two Aces/Keycards if the void is in a suit of one of those missing side Aces. We need a way to tell partner about this void if we haven’t already done so earlier in the auction.
On some highly distributional hands when we ask for Keycards (or Aces) using 4NT, the opponents choose to bid over our 4NT bid in an effort to obstruct our communication and “get in the way”. We should be prepared for this type of interference and have agreements for how to communicate with partner (show our number of Keycards or Aces) in this situation. Here we look at how to do this.
5NT is not a common bid. We most frequently use it in Ace-asking auctions to ask for Kings. We have another use of a 5NT bid in Grand Slam Force, but trying for a grand slam is a rare occurrence and we would like to use 5NT (especially a jump to 5NT) for another more frequently useful purpose. The modern approach is to play a jump to 5NT as a “choice of slams” to help us find the best small slam. Let’s see how this works.
Against a NT contract, when the opponents win the first trick and attack another suit they are often leading their best suit. In this case, we have an opportunity to communicate with partner. Smith Echo is an agreement that makes use of this situation to tell partner if the opening lead was good or not.
