One of the cardinal rules of basic bidding is to be sure you find your major-suit fits. For responder, this means that when partner opens, you should (almost) always show a 4-card major if you can do so at the one-level. There are a few exceptions – most common is bypassing a 4-card heart suit to respond a longer spade suit -- but there are others that aren't so obvious.
With experience, we start recognizing the types of problems that can’t be solved by the simple rules we learned as beginners. Here are situations where your first impulse might be to follow those rules and bid your major, but concealing it -- temporarily or forever -- rates to be a better strategy.
Partner opens 1C and you hold
♠K103
♥9765
♦AQ3 ♣943 .
1H is the standard response, but it’s not a crime to ignore a weak 4-card
major when your hand is perfect for notrump. This one has the right combination
of features – flat distribution, maximum high-card values and tenaces that you
want to protect from the lead. If partner happens to have four hearts and a
ruffing value, 1NT may not be your best contract, but it’s a reasonable one.
Partner opens 1D or 1H and you hold
♠AK108 ♥J75
♦4 ♣KQJ96 .
Respond 2C. There’s no reason to skew your distribution when you have
forcing-to-game strength, If you have a spade fit, you can find it later, but if
a club slam is in the cards, you won’t get there unless you bid the suit now.
By setting up a game force, 2C leads to an easier auction, especially after a 1H
opener. If you instead respond 1S, most of opener’s rebids will leave you with
no clear way to force and show heart support. You'll have to bid the fourth suit
and hope partner doesn’t think you’re showing a doubleton when you finally bid
hearts at your third turn. Even with a 4-3-2-4 pattern, 2C is a better response
with this strength.
Partner opens 1H and you hold ♠Q763 ♥Void
♦54 ♣KJ109854 .
This is another decision that requires you to consider potential problems later
in the auction. Your plan should be to get to a club partscore, but that will be
almost impossible if you respond 1S. When you bid clubs later, partner will
rightly interpret it as forcing and possibly artificial. You may be at the
five-level before he lets you off the hook.
The surest way to make clubs trump is to give up on spades and respond a forcing
1NT. Over partner’s rebid – you’re expecting 2D or 2H – you can bid a natural,
non-forcing 3C. Even if you’ve missed a 4-4 spade fit, clubs will probably play
better.
Your LHO opens 1D, partner doubles and RHO passes. You hold
♠K5 ♥J654
♦QJ93 ♣Q102 .
When partner opens one of a suit, he’s not always interested in majors, but
you show your length just in case there’s a fit. When he makes a takeout double,
he’s showing his length and asking you to confirm a fit. Is it ever right to
conceal a 4-card major when you know partner has support?
It can be with a hand like this one. A 1H advance is a bit of an underbid with 9
points, but a jump to 2H seems too much with such weak hearts and only 6 of your
points in partner’s suits. You can’t even be sure that any number of hearts will
be the right contract, as partner’s double doesn’t promise four cards.
You can avoid this dilemma by looking past hearts and considering notrump. 1NT
is the only advance that accurately shows this balanced high-card strength and
notrump is the only contract where your diamond honors rate to be of value.
Partner opens 1C, your RHO overcalls 1S and
you hold ♠K1093 ♥KJ104
♦J73 ♣102 .
Does the same reasoning apply when
you can show your major with a negative double? More about these decisions in the next issue.
© 2020 Karen Walker