Saturday, April 16, 2005 12:11 AM

3 Level Jumps - NT Opener

PITBULLS:

3 level jumps after a 1NT opener is certainly partnership discretion. We chose to make all these jumps 5-5 or better in the minors & the majors and all HCP ranges of these hands. The simple low end treatments are the 3♣ and 3♥ jump . These are weak 5-5’s in the minors & majors respectively. Follow up bids are very simple . Pass or correct ! This treatment means these type of hands do not exist in transfer or Stayman sequences anymore. New understandings emerge with those bids then . More about that later.

The strong 5-5’s are handled by 3♦ & 3♠ . These bids need some understandings with the follow-up bids. Lets take the strong minor 5-5’s first. 3NT is of course the death response with a loaded major hand or a 5 card major. If you have a decent hand for a minor but you do not want to go past 3NT , you bid 3♥ with clubs and 3♠ for diamonds. This allows partner to be the captain of the ship and control things. If you bid 4♣ or 4♦ directly , partner has found you with an outstanding hand for the minors and you have taken control with KCB.

Now the 3♠ jump bid. This shows a strong 5-5 in the majors so if you bid 3NT it is the death response and you have the minors or a 5 card minor. A bid of game 4♠ or 4♥ is giving preference but nothing exceptional about your hand for the majors. Paralleling the minor treatment ( easy on the memory ) , if you bid 4♣ it is KCB for hearts and 4♦ is KCB for spades. This is of course are the exceptional major suit fits.

OK whenever you play a toy like this , it opens up new meanings for old bids. You do not need transfers to show 5-5 in the majors anymore. What should a transfer to a major and then bidding the other major mean ? This is a slam try now . Coupled with Texas transfer understandings this is another method of attempting a slam with a single suited major. You do not need the transfer and jump to game as a mild slam try anymore . So what can that be ? Here is an opportunity to show a broken suit major slam try as opposed to a semi-solid or solid major suit slam try at the lower level.

Since weak 5-5 majors are handled by jumping we do not play “scrambling Stayman” anymore. Stayman means a maximum of 5-4 in the majors and after a 2♦ response a major is invitational with that major being 5 cards long . A weak 5-4 in the majors would be handled by a pass or a simple transfer to the 5 card major rather than Stayman. In all Stayman sequences after finding a major fit , the other major is a slam try in the agreed major.

Understandings such as these are the basis for partnership Bridge . Do not go to tournaments without them !