2 way NMF - Preferences

Tuesday, August 02, 2005 1:06 AM

2 Way NMF - Preferences

PITBULLS:

2 way NMF has come a long since first invented by Stan Cabay a ¼ of a century ago. The 2♣ bid indicating all invitational hands was a stroke of genius because it unleashed some “old fashioned” Goren bids as useful bids in your repertoire . Jump bids as forcing have gone out of style as jumps have been given the task of showing invitational hands in modern Bridge. Since 2♣ is a “catch all” for all invitational hands , jumps can now be assigned their original Bridge meaning. Jumps into new suits , your jump response as well as jump preferences can show forcing hands with long suits . What could be more simple ?

When partner opens a minor and you respond a major , there are a variety of hands that you could hold that also have a preference for partners minor. If you have a 5 card fit for partners minor with a 4 card major and a game forcing hand , I prefer an inverted minor bid . You can always find your 4-4 major suit fit later in the auction by responder bidding her 4 card major. You have done your duty and announced to partner that you have 5 trump and game forcing values by bidding an inverted minor initially. All other patterns that have a 4 or 5 card fit with partners minor can be shown via the 2-way NMF structure !

What if you have 5 of a major and 5 of partners minor with game forcing values ? This is where 2 way NMF shines. Partner opens a minor and you respond your major. Partner rebids 1NT so you go back to Goren days and give a jump preference. This can not be invitational as you did not bid 2♣ so its strong and forcing and specifically shows 5-5’s or other strong distributional hands. Ok what if you had a 5-5 with 5 card support for partners minor and invitational values ? You bid 2♣ and partner relays to 2♦ so you now give preference to partners minor. Reserve this sequence to show 5-5’s and invitational values. Also use the Goren jump sequence for any 5-5-2-1 with game forcing values. 1♦-P-1♠-P 1NT-P-3♥-P strong and game forcing . You have now got all the 5-5-2-1 hand patterns out of the way.

OK what if you have 5 of your response with 4 card support for partners minor & game going values ?. You revert to another Cabay innovation and use the idle 2NT bid ! 2NT is idle because all invitational sequences must start with 2♣ . You bid 2NT as a relay to 3♣ . If you rebid your suit that shows 6 of them with 4 card support for partner. The 5-4-3-1 patterns are shown by bidding your stiff and 5-4-2-2 patterns by bidding 3NT . Simple !!

1§ 1¨

1N 2N

3§ 3¨ 6 diamonds, 4 clubs, singleton major

3© 5 diamonds, 4 clubs, singleton heart

3ª 5 diamonds, 4 clubs, singleton spade

3N 5 diamonds, 4 clubs, 2-2

1§ 1©

1N 2N

3§ 3¨ 5 hearts, 4 clubs and short diamond

3© 6 hearts, 4 clubs and singleton

3ª 5 hearts, 4 clubs , singleton spade

3N 5 hearts, 4 clubs , 2-2

1§ 1ª

1N 2N

3§ 3¨ 5 spades, 4 clubs, short diamonds

3© 5 spades, 4 clubs, short heart

3ª 6 spades , 4 clubs , singleton

3N 5 spades, 4 clubs, 2-2

1¨ 1©

1N 2N

3§ 3¨ 5 hearts, 4 diamonds and short clubs

3ª 5 hearts 4 diamonds and short spade

3N 5 hearts, 4 diamonds , 2-2

1¨ 1ª

1N 2N

3§ 3¨ 5 spades, 4 diamonds, short clubs

3ª 6 spades, 4 diamonds , singleton

3N 5 spades, 4 diamonds , 2-2

Still on the theme of a major response and a 4 card fit with partners minor what about the 4-4 hands with game forcing values ? Worse still what if you have the dreaded 4-4-4-1 with 4 of partners minor and game forcing values ? Enter the 2♦ catch all forcing to game bid . You respond a major , flash the forcing to game signal by bidding 2♦ and then support partners minor. You can bid your singleton as a control later in the auction. Simple !

What about the weak hands with partners minor ? A 4-6 or 5-5 weak hand with your major ? This is very simple playing 2-way NMF . If partner opens a diamond and rebids NT after your major , you use the 2♣ bid as a relay to 2♦ and simply pass. If partner opens a club and rebids 1NT after your major , you bid 2NT (relay to 3♣ ) and you simply pass !

We have all our bases covered with support for partner minor and a major response except invitational hands with 4 card support for partners minor. Going for an elusive 11 trick game rather than 3NT is not a good idea so we just bid 2♣ and bid 2NT invitational with those kinds of hands.