Friday, January 23, 2004 7:57 PM
2♣ - Negative Response
PITBULLS:
In
2♣ theory it is popular to have 2♦ as a
“waiting bid” and 2♥ as a
negative. You do not define negative with respect to HCP’s but controls . There
are three ways to show a negative
hand after a 2♣ bid . If the opponents interfere , a direct double shows a negative with no controls . You can
still have QJx QJx QJx QJxx but as
you have no controls it is still a negative !! This is just an example of using
the opponents bid as something useful for your partnership. Knowing immediately
that there are no controls over there is very useful especially when the
auction might take off with the opponents bidding.
BJ
Trelford would rather have the double as penalty . Therefore he suggests that
bidding in competition should show controls.
The double is penalty therefore the 1st step showing no controls is
the pass. The next bid above the opponents suit shows 1 control , the next bid
shows 2 controls and the next bid shows 3 or more. This assumes they have bid
at the two level. At higher levels , double is penalty and bidding is natural.
The
2ND way to show a negative hand is a jump response . This jump shows a 6 , 7 , 8 card suit with no controls in the hand . The last way to
immediately show a negative hand is to respond
2♥ . 2♦ is lower ranking so its best to be the waiting bid to conserve room and make
relays easier.
Armed
with the information that responder has no
controls, opens the
door for re-defining 4NT Blackwood & the
GSF . Take this auction for example :
AKx Ax AKQx Axxxx You open 2♣ and partner bids 3♠ . 4NT is defined to ask the length of the suit as partner has no controls
anyway. If partner has a 6 card suit she responds 5♣ , 5♦ shows 7 and 5♥ shows 8. If partner shows 8 spades bid 7NT and put
your hand back in the box.
The
auction goes 2♣ and partner responds 2♥ showing no controls ( 3rd way ) . A direct jump to 4NT just shows a flat 28-30 HCP hand . If
you bid a suit first then a jump to 4NT is undefined
. Kantar suggests defining it as a direct
queen asking bid ( number of queens ) and further 5NT is a specific
queen ask.
Both
Tom Gandolfo and Maurice held this hand in the Saskatoon
Calcutta.
AKJx AKJ AKJ10x A and
opened 2♣ with a 2♥ response
by partner . Maurice choose 3♦ and I bid
3♥ . Queens are your only interest here so you bid 4NT.
The responses must be up
the line and show
the number of queens therefore I
respond 5 ♠
showing 3 queens . You bid 5NT asking for specific queens since you know how
many I have and I bid 6♣ showing the one queen I do not have. You bid 7NT
and put your hand in the box again as you can count 13 tricks.
What
if I answered 5♥ showing 2 queens ? 5NT is bid and I bid the lower
ranking of my two queens which is 5♦ . Partner can bid 5♥ asking if I have the heart queen. If I do have that
queen then 7NT again may be odds on.
Moral of this story is that if your negative is based
on lack of controls that redefine 4NT to something that is useful.
When
partner has shown no controls and
you have found a fit , the Grand Slam Force
should be modified also. Bidding 7 should be predicated on holding QJxxxx of the suit. Returning to the trump
suit should be the “death response” of having xxxxx
or the like. Depending on the suit and the room you have to make the 1st
step the queen and the next step the queen with extra length. You hold void AKx AKxx AKQJ10x and open 2♣. Partner
bids 2♥ and you bid 3♣. Partner bids 3♥ and you bid 5NT which brings 7♥ from partner with his QJxxxx of hearts.