Friday, October 07, 2005 1:35 AM

2♣ - Single Suiters

PITBULLS:

We have a relay structure to assist us in showing strong two suiters after opening 2♣ . What about strong one suiters ? There are 3 ways to bid strong one suiters in our system after opening 2♣. A jump to game in a major shows the Namyats type hands of 8 1/2 – 10 tricks with a long suit. The stronger one suiter you use the relay structure. BJ held this “in between“ hand tonight. AKJ1098x Ax void A1098 and opened 2♣ . I bid 2♦ and a 7-4 is just too strong to leap to 4♠. BJ chose 2♠ which forces me to relay to 2NT then BJ bids 3♠. The 4 level is reserved for Q bids by responder. Responder can not introduce a new suit at the 4 level in this particular auction. I bid 4♥ over 3♠ as a “source of tricks” or a Q bid implying spades and BJ takes a calculated risk by bidding 6♠. My hand is ♠Qx ♥KQ10xx ♦xxxx ♣Jx and the slam comes home when the heart jack comes down ( hearts were 3-3 anyway ).

The last way to show a strong one suiter is the jump bid. We play 2♦ as strong to eliminate the 4-4-4-1 from the 2♣ structure, therefore a jump bid sets the contract and demands a Q bid. Change BJ’s hand to ♠AKQJ10xx ♥Ax ♦void ♣AKxx and he would bid 3♠ over 2♦ . This sets the suit, so I would Q bid my heart control by responding 4♥. The next bid by BJ is defined to be suit asking in this particular auction. He bids 5 clubs and we use step responses up the line with the return to trump as the “death response” . I would bid 5♦ to show 3^rd round control or a doubleton. 5♥ would show the King , 5NT the KQ and bidding 7 would show the singleton. BJ has heard enough and leaps to 7♠.

Hear is a hand from a Bermuda Bowl where the French team got to 4♥ with their strong one suiter. Can we do better ? ♠A10x ♥AKQJ10xx ♦KQ10 ♣void . We open 2♣ and partner bids 2♦ so we bid 3♥ which sets the suit. Partner must Q bid so he bids 3♠. You bid 4♦ as a suit ask and partner bids 4♥ showing nothing there. You now bid 4♠ which is a suit ask and partner bids 4NT showing the queen. You now bid 6♥ with confidence and outbid the French team.

After opening 2♣ , a minor rebid is assumed to be a single suited hand. A rebid of a minor can not be a two suiter except in one rare instance ( 2 suiter in the minors ) . If you had a two suiter , you would go the relay route with your major even if you were 6-5 with a longer minor. If you had a 5-4-3-1 with a 5 card minor , you would make the “best lie” of bidding NT rather than bidding a 5 card minor. This leaves the minor bid after 2♣ as a single suited hand. As usual , when you have a single suited minor, the goal is 3NT. Responder can bid NT probes at the 3 level rather than a suit. You hold QJx xxx xxx xxxx and partner opens 2♣ and you bid 2♥ . Partner bids 3♣ and you bid 3♠ to steer the contract to 3NT . Partner has

♠x ♥KJ10 ♦AK ♣AKQJ10xx and 3NT makes while 5♣ goes down. If partner bids hearts instead you can leap to 5♣ knowing that spades are wide open and partners heart queen is all you need.

What if responder has a one suiter after a 2♣ opener ? With a good suit , the answer is easy you bid 2♦ & break the relay . What about a negative response with a 6 card or longer suit majors or minors ? Give responder QJ1098x or Q1098xxx or Q10xxxxxx of spades for example . These are described with a jump response over 2♣ of 3♠. Partner bids 4NT which can not be Blackwood as you deny any controls with the bid. This bid asks for the length of your suit in simple step responses. 5♣ would show 6 , 5♦ would show 7 , 5♥ would show 8 and 5♠ would mean you grabbed the wrong card out of the bidding box.