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 ( 4^th suit ) rather than to game . Jump bids by responder were needed to force to game . Modern bidding hates jumping around to force . When a new suit is introduced by responder as the 4^th suit , 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 & natural , so artificial 4^th suit forcing bids are quite often used to force to game. When opener rebids her suit , a new suit by responder is considered as 4^th 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♠ when partner holds ♠KQx ♥x ♦A1098xx ♣Axx , bid 2♠ ( yech ) , bid 2NT ( yech ) so bid 3♣ NMF as forcing one round .

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

Do we have the luxury of having these 3^rd & 4^th suit responses forcing to game ? Should we revert to standard Goren & have them forcing one round only & have responder bail out when no fit is found ? The danger of that approach is there is no way of differentiating responder’s 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 by responder so confusion reigns supreme in these auctions.

O.K. after a lot of soul searching , I think the one round force style by responder with the 4^th suit is very ineffective bidding & reminds me of the worst bidding system on earth which is ACOL J. Divide all auctions into misfit auctions & other auctions so 4^th suit forcing to game can work.

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

1♦ 1♠

2♦ 3♥

When 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 to 3^rd suit forcing to game as previously noted would be 5 of a major with 5 clubs as we would bid 3♣ one round force & call it NMF

♠xx ♥KQxxx ♦x ♣AJ109x 1♦ 1♥

2♦ 3♣

Misfit auctions are defined as all 4 suits are biddable & have been bid. In these misfit auctions , a jump by responder in the 4^th 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 preference on her with an invitational hand is folly. The 3♥ bid is a splinter in misfit auctions only. 2♥ , of course , is 4^th forcing to game showing a fit for a minor or hearts.. An alternative is to retain the Goren meaning of a 4^th suit jump as a picture bid i.e. natural & forcing to game rather than a splinter. Recovering the strong jump shift with 4^th suit jumps make sense to me.

1♦-P-1♠-P

2♣-P-3♥-P ♠AKxxx ♥AKQxx ♦x ♣xx showing specifically a 5-5 or 6-5 forcing to game. Now 2♥ is 4^th suit forcing or hearts excluding this hand type. Edmonton players prefer a jump by responder in a misfit auction to be a splinter. Since responder has the majors , this 5-5 can be shown naturally starting with 2♥ & fully described by the 3 level.

1♦-P-1♥-P

1♠-P-3♣-P With XYZ understandings , 3♣ is a strong picture bid showing 5-5 . Not playing XYZ , a splinter in Edmonton as 2♣ is forcing to game.

A jump in the 4^th suit can be defined either as a splinter or recovering the strong jump shift by partnership agreement. Invitational hands by responder in the teeth of a misfit are out of the question. I prefer showing suits over singletons as a rule.

1♦-P-1♠-P

2♣-P-3♥ SJS 5-5 minimum

1♥-P-1♠-P

2♣-P-3♦ SJS 5-5 minimum

1♣-P-1♥-P

1♠-P-3♦-P SJS 5-5 minimum

This above treatment preserves a nice quiet new suit by responder as forcing to game so keeps the principles of 4^th 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. Jump bids in the 3^rd suit are invitational & jumps in the 4^th suit defined as splinters in Edmonton ( go figure ) . I prefer the 4^th suit jump to be a natural picture bid ( recovering the SJS ) but I live in Edmonton .J

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