Competitive Bidding
Robert Todd
(574) Fit-Showing Jumps
Competitive Bidding
Robert Todd
(573) 2NT Raises in Competition

One of my favorite sayings is “2NT is a convention, not a contract.”  In specific situations, Responder can use 2NT as conventional raise of Opener’s suit.  Sometimes we need to choose between several different conventional methods for competitive auctions.  Here we look at our options for how to best use 2NT.

(573) 2NT Raises in Competition
Competitive Bidding
Robert Todd
(572) Bergen Raises

When responding to partner’s 1-Major opening bid, Responder tries to apply the Law of Total Tricks (LOTT) – getting to the size of the partnership’s fit as quickly as possible.  This is particularly true in competitive auctions but is also useful in constructive auctions. Responder must balance showing the size of their fit with showing their values.  This LOTT bidding is especially effective when our side has a 9+card fit.  In this case, the auction is likely to become competitive if the opponents have some values as well.  Predicting this to happen, we would like to be able to compete to the 3-level with a 9+card fit as quickly as possible, eating up the opponents’ bidding space while showing our values.  Bergen Raises are a set of conventional bids Responder can use when responding to a 1-Major opening bid with 4+card support (at least a 9+card fit).  Let’s see how this system works.

(572) Bergen Raises
Competitive Bidding
Robert Todd
(571) Spear

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. 

(571) Spear
Competitive Bidding
Robert Todd
(570) Cuebids of Many Kinds

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.

(570) Cuebids of Many Kinds

Competitive Bidding

(574) Fit-Showing Jumps

This Week in Bridge

(574)  Fit-Showing Jumps

© AiB                                                        Robert S. Todd
Level:  9 of 10                                          robert@advinbridge.com

 

 

General

Jumping in the auction eats up a lot of bidding space, which is likely to make communicating with partner more difficult.  Since our jump bid may make future communication more difficult, it should have a specific meaning.  When partner opens the bidding, Responder’s jump shifts can be used to show a variety of different types of hands.  We need to decide, as a partnership, which ones we want to use. We will choose different agreements for different situations.

 

Jumps by Responder are sometimes used as natural bids and sometimes used as conventional bids:

  • Strong Jump Shifts

  • Weak Jump Shifts

  • Invitational Jump Shifts

  • Reverse Flannery

  • Unusual Jump Shifts

  • Mixed Raises

  • Limit Raises

  • Game-Forcing Raises

  • Bergen Raises

  • Splinters, Mini-Splinters

  • And even more…

Let’s add one more to the list – Fit-Showing Jumps. These are an agreement that is common amongst expert players (in certain specific situations).  Unlike many bridge conventions, this one is actually well-named.  Let’s see how these Fit-Showing Jumps work.

 

 

Fit-Showing Jumps

A Fit-Showing Jump (FSJ) is a jump shift by Responder (or sometimes by Advancer) that shows a fit for partner’s suit AND a suit of our own, all with one bid. 

 

There are lots of details that are good to discuss with partner before playing this convention:

  • How many cards in each suit?    

    o   Generally, we have at least 9 cards in the two suits.  Usually it is 4+card support for partner (4-5 or 4-6+…)

  • How many points should we have?

    o   Generally a FSJ shows a limit raise.  Some partnerships allow them to be limit raise or better (LR+), but this is a special partnership agreement – discuss this with partner.

  • ·Example Hand

    ♠ K432
    ♥ 5
    ♦ KQ876
    ♣ 974

    (Remember that we evaluate our hand for HCP, length points, and shortness points.)

  • Do we have a side suit quality requirement?

    o   If we have no Honors in our side suit, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to introduce that suit (unless we are extremely distributional), so most partnerships have some requirements for Honors in the side suit.

  • Why is this useful?

    o   By showing a fit, a side suit, and a good hand we allow Opener to evaluate fitting cards, wasted values, double fits, and more - this can allow for effective bidding, especially in competitive auctions.

  • Where do we use FSJ?

    o   FSJ can be used anywhere we and partner decide we prefer them to other possible jump shift agreements, but there are two common places they are frequently played:

    - Jump Shifts by a Passed Hand - It doesn’t make a lot of sense for a passed hand to go

    jumping around unless it has a new reason to.  That is, a fit for the suit we opened. 

    - Jump Shifts by Advancer – Advancer frequently is involved in a highly competitive

    auction.  Being able to show all this about their hand in one bid can be very effective.  

 

 

Conclusion

Fit-Showing Jumps (FSJ) can be an effective tool in communication with partner, but they are not without danger.  There have been many famous mix-ups with FSJ – FSJ vs. splinters vs. natural bids. 

  • Is a FSJ only a jump shift or can it be a double jump shift?   

  • What if a jump shift is to game vs. below game?

There are lots of things to discuss with partner, so adopt these FSJ carefully and in specific bidding situations where you and partner are in clear agreement. 

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(572) Bergen Raises

(572) Bergen Raises

When responding to partner’s 1-Major opening bid, Responder tries to apply the Law of Total Tricks (LOTT) – getting to the size of the partnership’s fit as quickly as possible.  This is particularly true in competitive auctions but is also useful in constructive auctions. Responder must balance showing the size of their fit with showing their values.  This LOTT bidding is especially effective when our side has a 9+card fit.  In this case, the auction is likely to become competitive if the opponents have some values as well.  Predicting this to happen, we would like to be able to compete to the 3-level with a 9+card fit as quickly as possible, eating up the opponents’ bidding space while showing our values.  Bergen Raises are a set of conventional bids Responder can use when responding to a 1-Major opening bid with 4+card support (at least a 9+card fit).  Let’s see how this system works.

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(571) Spear

(571) Spear

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. 

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(570) Cuebids of Many Kinds

(570) Cuebids of Many Kinds

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.

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(569) Rosenkrantz Redoubles

(569) Rosenkrantz Redoubles

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.

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(568) Snapdragon Doubles

(568) Snapdragon Doubles

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.

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(562) NT and Balancing Auctions: Other Balancing Actions

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(562) NT and Balancing Auctions: Other Balancing Actions

When our left-hand opponent opens the bidding and the auction passes around to us, we have a big decision to make – should we get into this auction, or should we leave the opponents to play at the 1-level? We have a variety of bidding tools to help us compete in the bidding, but we need to use our judgment about when to compete in the bidding and when to keep quiet.  Here we look at some of the classic bidding situations where we have a difficult decision and then overview some of our bidding tools in these auctions.

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(561) NT and Balancing Auctions: Jump Overcalls in the Passout Seat

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(561) NT and Balancing Auctions: Jump Overcalls in the Passout Seat

One place that we do not need a jump bid to show a weak hand is in the passout (PO) seat, also known as the balancing seat.  In this seat with a weak hand, say 5-8 HCP, and a long suit, we would not bid; we would simply pass the hand out.  Bidding here with so few HCP may give the opponents a chance to reach a better partscore or game that they may not otherwise reach.  Since we will not bid in the PO seat with a weak hand and we could make a simple overcall with 9-10 HCP and a long suit, then a Jump Overcall in the PO seat is free to be used to describe a different type of hand that can otherwise be difficult to show. 

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(555) Competitive Auctions: Scrambling 2NT

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(555) Competitive Auctions: Scrambling 2NT

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. 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.

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(553) Competitive Auctions: 4NT in Competition

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(553) Competitive Auctions: 4NT in Competition

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.

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(552) Competitive Auctions: More Bidding over 3-Level Preempts

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(552) Competitive Auctions: More Bidding over 3-Level Preempts

When the opponents open the bidding with a 3-level preempt then much of the tension in our decision-making process comes around “Should we bid beyond 3NT?” This is especially true when the opponents open the bidding with a 3-Major preempt, because when we have one long minor suit then we likely want to play in 3NT or 5-minor. This allows us to use 4-minor in some interesting conventional ways, just as we do vs. a 2-level preempt.

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(551) Competitive Auctions: Bidding over 3-Level and 4-Level Preempts

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(551) Competitive Auctions: Bidding over 3-Level and 4-Level Preempts

When the opponents open at the 3-level or 4-level they put a lot of pressure on us to make difficult decisions without much room to maneuver or describe our hand.  This preempt will force us to either double or overcall at a very high level – we will not have many of the options that are available to us at lower levels.  Let’s look at each of these options and see how we need to adjust our thinking and bidding because of the lack of space and options available to us. 

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(550) Competitive Auctions: Leaping Michaels

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(550) Competitive Auctions: Leaping Michaels

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.

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(547) NT Bidding: Responding after a Penalty Double of a 1NT Opening

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(547) NT Bidding: Responding after a Penalty Double of a 1NT Opening

When we open the bidding with 1NT, showing 15-17 points, if an opponent makes a penalty double, we are less likely to be looking to invite or bid game. We are usually looking to escape from a 1NT contract and attempt to find some safer place to play. This safe place will hopefully be our largest fit or a long suit in the weak hand (in Responder’s hand). In order to find this place to play we need to look at how Responder’s bidding options change after a penalty double.

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(546) NT Bidding: Responding to 1NT vs. 3-Level Interference

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(546) NT Bidding: Responding to 1NT vs. 3-Level Interference

There are many systems the opponents play in order to interfere over our 1NT opening bid, but almost all of these systems use the 3-level (actually 2NT+) for the same meanings – 2NT as a weak bid showing both minors and 3-level bids as weak with a long suit, preemptive. It is important that we and partner are on the same page for how to deal with this higher-level interference.

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