Improving 2/1 Game Force - Part 1, Continued

PROBLEM 2: The (misguided) principle of fast arrival

You hold this hand:

You open 1, partner forces to game with 2. You raise to 3 (isn't it nice to know partner has a good five card suit?) and partner jumps to 4. What should you do now? If you play 2/1 the way that most pairs do, partner's unnecessary jump in a forcing auction shows a minimum hand (the principle of fast arrival). That information is not very useful here. Opposite this minimum:

you have a laydown slam. Opposite this minimum:

the five level is not safe. The problem here is the jump to 4. This bid deprives you of finding out at a safe level whether or not a spade control exists. The theory behind using the principle of fast arrival after 2/1 auctions is that without fast arrival, neither partner ever gets to express whether or not they have extra values. Standard 2/1 places such a large emphasis on bidding out your pattern and finding out how well the hands fit that the bidding is often at a high level before either partner has been able to limit his hand. Using fast arrival gives responder a chance to say that he has a minimum 2/1. Unfortunately, the price that must be paid for limiting responder's hand is too high. There are simply too many times that you need the four level for cue-bidding, especially when opener's hand is virtually unlimited (as is usually the case in 2/1 auctions). Even if both opener and responder are minimum, twelve tricks can easily exist if the hands fit well. Here is the solution that I propose:

In the above auction (1-2-3) and in all similar 2/1 auctions in which responder can raise opener's major for the first time at the three level:

A jump to four of opener's major, instead of a raise at the three level, is a picture jump. A picture jump shows good trump support, a good suit of your own (promised by the 2/1) and no first or second round control in any unbid suit. Opener usually has such a good picture of responder's hand that he can place the contract (sometimes after using Keycard Blackwood). Here is an example of a hand for a jump to 4

by responder in the auction we have been discussing:

A jump in a new suit is a splinter (a singleton in the suit bid), but it is very well defined. Like the picture jump it shows good trumps and a good 5 card 2/1 suit. The splinter bid denies first or second round control in the unbid suit. Also, do not splinter with a singleton Ace or with a void. Here is an example of a splinter bid of 4

in the above auction:

Once again, responder's hand is so well-defined that opener will frequently be able to place the contract. In the above example, opener will know that:

produces slam while the same hand with the A instead of the A belongs at the four level. Notice that in the auction that we have been discussing, responder never mentions the word "hearts". The raise is implicit. It is certainly non-intuitive that the splinter should be in support of hearts (as opposed to clubs) and you should have an explicit partnership understanding before making this kind of bid.

With all other hands with 3 card or more support for opener's major, raise at the three level (auctions in which you can raise at the two level are different - perhaps I will discuss those in another article). Since both opener's and responder's hands are virtually unlimited at this point, it is necessary to have a way for either partner to show genuine slam interest. The answer is a convention called "Serious 3NT" (John Gowdy discussed Serious 3NT in a previous issue of Canadian Masterpoint). Here is the definition of serious 3NT:

When an 8 card or longer major suit fit is agreed at the three level and the bidding is forced to game, a bid of 3NT by either partner is completely artificial. It says: "partner I have serious slam interest, please cue-bid for me."

If you fail to bid serious 3NT when you have the opportunity and cue-bid instead, that carries the following message: "Partner, I do not have serious slam interest, but I am cue-bidding in case you do."

What should you cue-bid? In my partnerships with Geoff Hampson and Sheri Winestock we have found the following approach very successful: I suggest that a cue-bid in partner's 2/1 suit shows one of the top three honours (Ace, King, or Queen). A cue-bid of your own 2/1 suit shows two of the top three honours. A cue-bid in an unbid suit shows any first or second round control (Ace, King, singleton, or void). Cue-bidding is always done up the line. By skipping a step, you deny an appropriate holding in the step that you skip. 4NT by either partner is always Roman Keycard Blackwood. Some consequences of this approach to slam bidding:

It is impossible to get to the five level off two quick tricks in any suit.
It is almost never necessary to cue-bid at the five level. In case you haven't noticed, cue-bidding at the five level is usually a sign of desperation - you don't know what to do so you cue-bid at the five level to transfer the decision to your partner.
You will never get too high when neither partner has the extra values or knowledge of a good fit needed for a serious slam try.
You can never play in 3NT when you have an eight card major suit fit after a 2/1 auction. Some players (Irving Litvack for example) would find this to be a big enough problem that they would not consider playing this method. In my experience, playing in 3NT in these sorts of auctions is the least of your problems. This is especially true when responder is known to have at least a five card 2/1 suit and the odds are high that at least one person has an unbalanced hand and/or has extra values.

To continue reading Improving 2/1 Game Force - Part 1, click here.