When I was in college, the players at the campus club had a large lexicon of colorful bridge slang. One frequently invoked term was BOON, which was a Bid Out Of Nowhere. A BOON – and its cousins, the DOON (Double), LOON (Lead) and TOON (Trick) – referred to an unexpected and seemingly “impossible” action by partner or the opponents.
The college club had many novices and wild bidders, and most BOONS there were just bad bids. There are legitimate situations, though, where a good partner may spring one of these surprises on you. No matter how perplexing the bid, if you trust your partner, you’ll know there’s a logical reason he chose this strategy.
In a 2-over-1 system, what is partner showing in these auctions?
Partner You
1S 2C
2S 4S
5C
The first four bids indicated that both of you held minimums, so you were expecting partner to pass 4S. Like most BOONs, the 5C bid requires you to alter your previous assumptions and figure out partner’s new message.
With what type of hand would he rebid just 2S, then head for slam? He must have extra values and a problem that prevented him from showing them earlier. A possible hand is ♠AQ7543 ♥AKJ ♦93 ♣A10.
A jump to 3S isn’t recommended with a suit this weak, so partner had no way to describe his suit length and overall strength in one rebid. He had to settle for 2S, learn more about your hand and then show his full values. His choice of a 5C cuebid rather than Blackwood suggests he’s missing the ace and king of an unbid suit. If you hold ♠K102 ♥95 ♦KQ6 ♣KJ875 , you’ll want to cooperate by bidding 5D to show your control.
Partner You
1S 2C
2NT 3NT
4NT
This is another auction that tells you partner had to hide his full strength when he made his first rebid. A jump to 3NT would have promised 15 to 17 points, so partner needs two rebids to show a balanced 18-19 points. His 4NT is an invitation to 6NT with a hand such as ♠KQ1073 ♥AQ8 ♦AK7 ♣102 .
Partner You
1C 1S
2C 3NT
4H
3NT would almost always end this auction, but partner’s BOON tells you he has something more than a routine 2C rebid. Is 4H an esoteric move toward slam, or is it an offer of a final contract?
Unless partner resorted his hand and found another ace (or two), he can’t have enough strength to be looking for a slam. Unlike the first two auctions, your response here didn’t force to game, so partner wouldn’t rebid a passable 2C if he had a big hand.
Since partner’s “hidden” feature can’t be extra high cards, it must be extreme distribution. 4H should be natural, showing five hearts (you’ve denied four hearts, so a 4-4 fit isn’t possible) and asking you to choose between 4H and 5C.
Partner’s problem was a hand that was too weak for a reverse rebid of 2H. He had to rebid 2C with ♠J2 ♥K9753 ♦Void ♣AQJ1095, but now that you’re at game level, he doesn’t want to play notrump with an undisclosed 5-card major and a void in an unbid suit. Your 3NT showed heart values and therefore good chances for a 5-3 fit.
A minimum 6-5 opener can be especially awkward when the lower-ranking suit has the greater length. Some pairs show this hand with a jump-reverse rebid (1C-1S-3H). Others agree to always open the higher-ranking major, but most prefer to use their judgment. They base their decision on which suits they hold (they open the longer suit when their 5-card suit is spades) and on suit quality (with strong hearts and weak clubs, they open 1H.
Even if you haven’t discussed these auctions, bridge logic will often lead you to the right interpretation. As with other unusual bids, fielding a BOON is easier if you have a trustworthy partner and you’re aware of the possible problem hands he might hold.
© 2009 Karen Walker