Wednesday, February 07, 2007 6:49 PM

Hand Evaluation – NT ( Invitational ♥ Hands )

PITBULLS:

Partner opens a strong 1NT. Many heart hands come up that hold invitational values but you have no way of describing them , except 2NT after transferring to hearts initially. Bidding 2NT to invite with distributional hands possibly with a 5-5 is not very descriptive. Experts have solved the heart invitational hand problem with an idle 2♠ bid. This bid forces a relay by the NT opener to 2NT unless opener likes hearts . If she has hearts , she bids 3♥ or 4♥ to play. If she does not like hearts , she bids 2NT. Responder now with a 5-5 can bid her 2^nd suit as a bail out or if the NT opener has a super accept in that suit , she can make a move towards game.

Partner opens 1NT , you have ♠x ♥QJxxx ♦KJxx ♣Jxx so you transfer to hearts. Now bidding 2NT to invite with a stiff spade does not seem right. You now bid 2♠ to see if partner likes hearts. If she does not , she bids 2NT which you can pass, bid 3♦ or bid 3NT. Putting the idle 2♠ bid to work to show all invitational heart hands makes sense.

5-5’s with hearts as the anchor suit & invitational values come up quite frequently. Transfer to hearts with ♠xx ♥Kxxxx ♦x ♣KJxxx , followed by bidding 2♠. If partner bids hearts , happiness but if she bids 2NT you can now bail to 3♣. Partner will only bid again with a super club fit. Of course the strong 5-5 with hearts as the anchor suit is bid by transferring & bidding your 2^nd suit.

2♠ is an idle bid with heart transfers. Using the spade bid to show all invitational heart hands makes a lot of sense to most Bridge experts.