Monday, October 14, 2002 6:39 AM

 

Hand Evaluation – Systemic ( 4th Suit forcing )

 

PITBULLS:

 

            With modern bidding , forcing situations are more subtle than back in the “Goren days” . Standard American in those days , had all of responders new bids forcing one round rather than to game . Modern bidding hates jumping around to force . When a new suit is introduced by responder , it is a game force rather than a one round force. Jump shifts in a new suit by responder have different meanings other than being strong , so artificial 4th suit forcing bids are quite often used to force to game. If opener rebids her suit , a new suit by responder is considered as 4th suit forcing ( only 3 suits have been bid ) but may be only a one round force. There are good & bad things about the modern treatment.

 

For example  ♠Axxxx ♥xx ♦x ♣AKQJ0x        Partner opens 1♦ ,you bid 1♠ & partner rebids 2♦   You bid 3♣ & partner bids something so you  eventually get to game without fear of either side dropping the auction below game.

 

All well & good but what about this hand ? Also 4-6 hands with intermediate values cause problems.

 

♠Axxxx ♥xx ♦x ♣KQJxx      Partner opens 1♦, you respond a spade & partner rebids 2♦ . You can now pass & miss a possible 6♠  if partner held ♠KQx ♥x ♦A1098xx ♣Axx , bid 2♠ ( yech ) , bid 2NT  ( yech  ) bid 3♣ NMF as forcing one round .

 

In the old days of one round forces , you bid 3♣ & drop partner if no fit is found . This is not bad in this auction so if you meant to force to game , you continue bidding. If you hold the same hand as above but instead partner opened 1♥ & rebid diamonds, a  2NT bid  forcing one round seems to be the only choice . 3♣ would be 4th suit forcing to game.

 

Do we have the luxury of having these 3rd & 4th suit responses forcing to game ? Should we revert to standard Goren & have them forcing  one round only & have responder bail out if no fit is found ? The danger of that approach is there is no way of differentiating strong hands from intermediate hands as jumps mean something else .  ♠AKxxx ♥AKQxx ♦xx ♣x   and ♠Axxxx ♥KQxxx ♦xx ♣x  are bid in the same manner so confusion reigns supreme in these auctions.

 

O.K. after a lot of soul searching , I think the one round force style is very ineffective bidding & reminds me of the worst bidding system on earth which is ACOL . What has to be sacrificed in these auctions ( except for misfit auctions )  are splinters . Divide all auctions into misfit auctions & other auctions.

 

Jump bids by responder in a new suit are invitational in all these minor sequences . So this hand ♠Axxxx ♥KQJxx ♦xx ♣x  is bid with these auctions

 

1♦      1♠                 

2♦      3♥                 

 

If you open a club, responder holds 5 of a major & 5 diamonds & opener rebid 2♣ , a jump in the new suit is invitational .

 

♠xx ♥AJxxx ♦KQxxx ♣x                1♣           1♥

                                                            2♣           3♦

 

An exception would be 5 of a major with 5 clubs  as we would bid 2NT one round force so not to blast by 3NT

 

♠xx ♥KQxxx ♦x ♣AJ109x                1♦           1♥

                                                              2♦           2NT

 

Misfit auctions are defined as all 4 suits are biddable & have been bid. In these misfit auctions , a jump by responder in the 4th suit is a splinter rather than invitational.

 

1♦-P-1♠-P

2♣-P-3♥

 

Partner is showing 9 or 10 cards in the minors so trying to force a major on her with an invitational hand is folly. The 3♥ bid is a splinter in misfit auctions only. 2♥ , of course , is 4th forcing to game.

 

This above treatment preserves a nice quiet new suit by responder as forcing to game so keeps the principles of 4th suit by responder forcing to game . I hate being fixed by our own bidding system . XYZ helps out a lot as does 2NT as a one round force but the above needs to be understood for openers rebids at the 2 level.

 

  

 

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