Sunday, May 30, 2004 7:35 PM

Jumping to game - major

 

PITBULLS:

 

               Standard bidding is very weak when partner responds a major , you have a flat 4-4-3-2 or 5-4-2-2 or even 4-3-3-3  with 18-19 HCP & a 4 card major fit. Mr. Goren advocates leaping to game in a major to show that hand. This is counter intuitive as it violates the fast arrival principle & forces Q bids at the 5 level or maybe  Blackwood with a worthless doubleton. Slam investigation is nearly impossible and very risky. Also it is very bad for another reason , 3NT may be the best spot as 9 tricks are  accessible &  a shaky 4-4 major suit fit that needs 10 tricks are not.  .Also leaping to 4 of a major is ambiguous & may be bid on a hand like ♠xx ♥Axxx ♦x ♣AKQxxx  or ♠x ♥Axxxx ♦x ♣AQJxxx  or ♠Ax ♥AKxx ♦AQJxx ♣Jx . There are tools developed in modern bidding theory which takes the ambiguity out of jumping to game. A strong 6-4 or 5-4-3-1 hands can always be  handled by a splinter. Without those tools  , a jump to game was made with those hands also !!!

 

          Most players have a systemic toy after a 2NT rebid . It is either check back Stayman or Wolffe relay or something similar. My partners & I play a modified Wolff relay where 3♣ forces a relay to 3♦ . I advocate rebidding 2NT with these flat hands with 4 card support where 3NT might be a viable contract.  If you choose the 2NT route ,  when partner bids 3♣ , break the relay by showing preference to the major with 4 of them . Partner now knows you have a 4 card fit while you have described a flat 18-19  HCP  also . Partner can now choose to bid 3NT or Q bid under game.

 

          If partner does not relay by making a natural strong bid , you just give preference but partner does not know if you have 4 or 3 trump . This can be clarified by making positive overtures later in the bidding. If partner is bidding another suit you probably have a 5-4 major suit fit. Just be aware that partners 2NT can be bid with 4 card support for your major . Checking back with 3♣ should be more frequent now instead of automatically bidding 3NT . If you have a very flat hand yourself , bid 3NT anyway and miss the 4-4 fit. It will most likely be a better spot ! It is nice to have a 2NT to show a class of all flat hands even sometimes with a 4 card fit in the major.

 

          The understanding that you will not have a balanced 18 HCP defines your jump raises also. 1♥-P-3♥ has to be distributional & not strong enough to splinter at the game level. You have a hand like ♠x ♥AJ10x ♦AJx ♣A1098x  , you open 1♣ with partner responding a heart. You bid 3♥ as you can not have much more or you would have made a game forcing splinter. ♠x ♥AJ10x ♦AJx ♣AKxxx  you would force to game with a 3♠ splinter. My partners & I play a jump to 2 spades as natural , strong and distributional.

 

           Lets try a few auctions      1♦-P-1♠-P  

2NT-P-3♣-P  

3♠-P-4♥

 

♠KQxx ♥Axx ♦AKxx ♣Kx      ♠Axxxx ♥Kx ♦xx ♣QJxx    you bid 3♣ as a relay & partner breaks the relay to show 4. Partner makes a slam try of 4♥ as you are under game. This brings Blackwood and your cold +1430 . You can not move over a the Goren 1♦-p-1♠-p  4♠ auction. You are shut out of making a slam try as you need a super hand by partner and the 5 level for Q bidding is silly.  Keep the slam tries under game where they belong !  I do not advocate “serious 3NT” theory for these types of auctions as 3NT as an alternative contract makes the most sense.

 

          In competition , it is nice to be able to leap to 4 of a major as a tactical bid with distributional values & a minimum. Leaping to game with a flat 19 will really confuse partner in competition. Always Q bid the opponents suit with those kind of hands or make the 3♣ strong jump shift. You hold ♠AKxx ♥x ♦x ♣QJ10987x    you open 1♣ and partner responds 1♠ . You bid 4♠ to keep the red suits out and get to your probable making game. Is this a flat 18-19 HCP as the standard bidders would do ?  Partner with ♠QJ10xx  ♥KQx ♦KQxx ♣x  bids Blackwood expecting 18-19 points and goes down in 5♠ !!

 

          Here is  an excellent auction by Tom Gandolfo . He holds ♠Axxx ♥AJxx ♦Axx ♣xx and hears the auction go 1♦ by me with LHO passing . Tom bids 1♥ followed by a double with a 4♥ bid by me vul against not vul. Tom passes , his LHO bids 4♠ so it gets passed around to him . Tom checks back with 4NT & his LHO bids 5♣ . I pass which shows 1 or 4 aces in our system . Tom bids 5♥ & he gets +650 as I held ♠J  ♥KQ109 ♦KQJ109x ♣xx . If I held a “real” hand  say ♠J ♥KQ109 ♦KQJ109x ♣Ax I would have splintered to 3♠  rather  then jumping to game. Say I bid 2♥ instead of 4♥ over the double , the auction went the same way . Would Tom have bid 5♥ over 5♣ ? I doubt it as he would just take his plus as he has no guarantee that 5♥ makes . 5♣ doubled goes for –100 so a 10 IMP loss for our side.

 

I         In the pre-splinter days , one of a minor followed by a major response with a jump to the 4 level in the minor showed 4 card support with a good minor. This bid is redundant to the splinter at the 4 level. A 6-4-2-1 or 5-4-3-1 splinter holding 18-20 HCP’s must have a good minor. I feel that the jump to 4 of a minor is an obsolete bid. I prefer the bid to show an 8 card minor with outside cards.   

 

          Anyway adjust your system so that the jump to game is always distributional rather than strong in competition or otherwise.  Pre-empt the opponents not your partner ! Starting Q bidding at the 5 level sucks !