Expert Conventions Expert

Game Forcing Hands with Major Fit – Advanced

When you are first learning about bidding, there is so much to process that we start with simple methods wherever we can. Having fit with partner’s major suit is a pretty common occurrence, so using a simple “raise to two if weak, three if invitational, four if game forcing” approach gets the job done. This does, however, limit the opportunities to look for slams, where we often need the four level (and 3♠ in an auction where hearts are trumps) for cue bidding. Once you have learned and understood all the basic elements of bidding it makes sense to use better methods in this situation. Watch the video and do the quiz to get to grips with the new system. Once you adopt this system, you will use 1♥ - 4♥ and 1♠ - 4♠ in a different way, so do discuss with your partners to make sure you have the same understanding before playing.

Try some hands

Hand 1

After partner bids Jacoby 2NT, how can you best describe your hand? In the play, you should pay attention to see if there are any hidden extra chances you can take to try and make your contract.

Hand 2

After your partner shows support, you need to work together to try and find the best contract. Once again, you should search thoroughly for sneaky ways to get extra tricks.

Hand 3

This time your partner has opened. How can you find out if you have the values between you for slam? And can you still make your contract when trumps split badly?

Hand 4

When you pick up a great hand and your partner opens, can you figure out how to drive to slam? And when you see plenty of finessing opportunities, can you decide which ones, if any, to take?

Back

Game Forcing Hands with Major Fit - Advanced

We need different approaches to bidding these hands with three card support and those with four or more. This video outlines both, and introduces a new convention, as well as explaining the useful way in which you can then use the jump to the four level.

Question 1/9

Walter has opened 1♠ and Penelope has a very nice hand, with spade fit. How should she respond?

Penelope has game forcing strength and spade fit, but with only three spades, she cannot show both things at once. Raising to 2♠ would be weak, 3♠ invitational and 4♠, now that you have learned the new system, is also weak, but with five card support and preferably a singleton. So she must set up the game force first, intending to show the spade fit with her next bid. She has five hearts, so she can make a natural 2♥ bid, which is forcing in our 2 over 1 system.

Continuing the same auction, Penelope has made her 2♥ bid and Walter, who does not know about the spade fit at this point, shows diamonds as his second suit. What should Penelope bid now?

Have set up the game force, Penelope needs to tell her partner that they are playing in spades. She can do this at either the three or the four level, confirming spades as trumps. As they are in a game forced auction, going straight to game is the weaker option, and would show a minimum game force. With 16 points, Penelope’s hand is better than that, and her diamond doubleton means that Walter may be able to ruff a diamond loser in the short trump hand. She should therefore take the stronger option of agreeing spades at the three level. She cannot cue bid yet, as no suit has been agreed as trumps.

Same start to the auction again, but this time Walter has bid 3♥ instead of 3♦. What should Penelope bid now?

In any auction, once a major suit has been bid and immediately raised, that suit is agreed as trumps. Whilst Penelope was intending to show the spade fit with her next bid, once Walter raises hearts, that is the agreed suit. This works well because playing in a 4-4 heart fit is easier for various reasons than a 5-3 spade fit. 3♠ from Penelope would therefore be a cue bid, with hearts as trumps, not an agreement of spades. With her excellent hand, Penelope is delighted to make a cue bid of 4♣, showing interest in a potential slam in hearts. Going straight to 4♥ would be the weaker option now, if her hand was minimum.

A new auction now, and Walter has opened 1♥. What should Penlope bid?

Penelope’s hand is not great - it’s a minimum game force, but it is a game force, and she does have fit in hearts. With three card support, she can’t show the heart fit right away, so she must first force to game. She can’t bid either 1♠ (which would show 4+) or 2♦ (which would promise five cards) but she does have 2♣ available as a balanced game force. The 2♣ response to an opening bid in any suit other than clubs is much like the 1♣ opening, in that it can be a genuine club suit, but it can also be a balanced hand with as few as two clubs that doesn’t have another option.

Continuing that same auction, Penelope has bid her game forcing 2♣ and Walter has raised clubs. What should Penelope bid now?

The raise of a minor suit in this situation does not commit the partnership to that suit as trumps, as it would if it were a major. Of course, Penelope may not even have a real club suit here, but even if she had bid 2♦, which would show a five card suit, this does not set diamonds as trumps, as the partnership might still want to play in a major or in NT. Penelope should continue her plan to show the heart fit, but she should do so at the four level because she has a minimum hand. Going straight to game in a game forced auction is the weakest option.

Another new auction now, and Walter has opened 1♥. How should Penelope respond?

Penelope has game forcing strength and four card support for partner’s major. She can show both things at once by responding 2NT (Jacoby). Whilst she does have four spades, and therefore could respond 1♠, it would make the subsequent auction much more difficult than locking in to the known nine card heart fit now.

Continuing the same auction, Penelope has shown her game force with 4+ hearts. What should Walter bid now?

Walter has more strength than he has shown with his opening bid, so he should not go straight to game, which would show a minimum hand. A new suit at the three level would show shortage in that suit, which he does not have, so he can bid 3♥, which shows a non-minimum hand with no shortage.

Still with that same auction, Walter has shown his non-minimum hand, and now it’s back to Penelope. What should she do now?

Although Penelope has a minimum game force, once her partner is known to be non-minimum, she should still cue bid her lowest control. This was not specifically covered in the video, so 4♥ is a reasonable answer. However, Walter could have a very strong hand at this point, so it is helpful for Penelope to show any controls that she has. There will be cases where, despite having a super strong hand, opener cannot bid Key Card Blackwood because there is a suit in which they cannot see a control, so after the ‘non-minimum’ rebid, cue bidding should be seen as mandatory.

If, instead of rebidding 3♥, Walter bids 3♠, what should Penelope bid now?

Walter’s 3♠ bid shows shortage in spades, but not necessarily much extra strength, so Penelope should still now show her hand as minimum for her game force or otherwise. Making a cue bid of 4♣ would be showing potential slam interest, which she does not really have, so she should just bid game. Now Walter has a good understanding of her hand, and could still bid on if he were super strong.

The links will take you to the Bridge Training website, where you can practice bidding and responding to Jacoby 2NT. You will then have the opportunity to play the hand – don’t worry if you don’t make it first time!