Monday, March 07, 2005 10:20 PM

3 Club Strong Jump Shift

PITBULLS:

There is one natural bid in Bridge that should be sacrificed for convenience . The strong jump shift in clubs should always demand partner to relay to 3♦ on any auction. After a forcing 1NT and a major opener a 3♣ bid allows a 3 in 1 bid with a spade opener and a 2 in 1 bid after a heart opener. This understanding solves the age old problem in standard bidding on how to handle major suit hands too strong to make a jump rebid. A jump rebid in a major is an invitational hand show 16-18 counting distribution. So how do you handle hands above that range but still not strong enough for a 2♣ opener ? A jump to game should not show these strong hands. Opening one of a major and rebidding 4 of the major should show a long suit with some outside cards. The only reason you did not open 4 of your major is that you have some outside cards that prevented you from pre-empting.

AKQJxx Ax Axx xx is neither a 3♠ or a 4♠ rebid after a forcing 1NT response. This is a 3♣ strong jump shift which partner must relay to 3♦. You now bid 3♠ which describes these hand types . What if you had a real strong jump shift in clubs ? The relay helps sort these hands out . If you bid 3NT or 4♣ after the relay the hand was a club strong jump shift. AKxxx x Kxx AKQx goes 1♠-P-1NT-P 3♣-P-3♦-P 3NT showing clubs . A 4♣ bid shows the more distributional type of club hand after the diamond relay.

The jump raise of a major response all the way to game should never be strong in the HCP sense. Since it jams the auction so badly, the jump to game should be based on distribution only . AKxx A1098xx xx x is a hand we like to leap to game with after a spade response. After a diamond opener and a heart response , x AQ10x KQJ10xx xx this is a 4♥ bid . OK if we are leaping to game with 11 & 12 HCP respectively , what do we do with the strong hands and game going values ? What is your rebid with this hand AKxx Kx KQxx Axx when partner responds a spade ? Enter the 3♣ strong jump shift as the tool of convenience.

You open 1♥ on AKxx AKxxx Ax xx and partner bids 1♠ . Bidding 4♠ on this hand is sick as it pre-empts you to the 4 level and ambiguity is rampant to what hand type you have. BJ Trelford recommends that you relay with 3♣ and bid at the 3 level with 3 card support and raise to 4 with 4 card support. You make a multi jump shift to clubs and partner relays to 3♦. You now bid 4♠ after the relay and you have conveyed the message that you have a moose with 4 card support. What about the flat hands that are too strong for an invitational jump raise in the major ? With these hands you have a choice of rebids depending on the quality of your cards. With 3NT as a viable option with queens & jacks , I prefer a 2NT rebid after a 1♣ opener only . Partner can relay to 3♣ and If I break the relay , I have 4 card support. If I open 1♦ , I prefer the club strong jump shift. AKxx Axx AKxx xx 1♦-P-1♠-P 3♣-P-3♦-P 4♠. I have seen good players rebid 3♠ with that hand as they did not want to leap to game . The very next hand they would leap to 3♥ with xx AKxx AKxxx xx after partner responds a heart . Try to sort that out as responder ! If you open 1♣ you do not have the luxury of a 3♣ strong jump shift. With 4 card major supoort and a flat 18-19 bid 2NT. We will sort the fit out later. Much better than jumping to 4 of a major a la Goren.

What if you have a real club jump shift with 3 card support for partners major ? x AKx AQ10xx AKxx and you open 1♦ with a heart response by partner. You rebid 3♣ and he takes the relay to 3♦ so you keep the preference to partners major at the 3 level to show 3 card support. If you bid 3NT after the relay you must have clubs but never 3 card support for partner.

OK what about the important point of “breaking the relay” . You cannot do this on a whim as partner is trying to describe his hand type. One time that it is obvious that you can break the relay is if you have serious slam intentions in partners suit. 1♠-P-1NT-P 3♣-P-3♠-P . Who cares what kind of strong jump shift partner has as I am interested in a spade slam. Another time you can break the relay at the 3 level is if you have a 6 or 7 card suit with no controls that are useful. Again you do not care what strong jump shift partner has as it is best to let partner know about your hand.

With spades and hearts , the 3♣ rebid as a relay to 3♦ has a huge advantage . This treatment allows a 3♥ jump shift as invitational ! AKxxx AKxxx xx x and you open 1♠ and partner responds 1NT . You rebid 3♥ but add an Ace to that hand AKxxx AKxxx Ax x so you rebid 3♣ .After the diamond relay, you bid 3♥ to show your strong jump shift. This treatment prevents silly shots to 4 of a major with only a 5-5 in the major with invitational values.

A diamond opener has an advantage of the 3♣ jump shift also. Besides the obvious advantages when partner responds a major you can finally describe the diamond hands to strong to rebid 3♦ ! . Ax Ax AKQJxx xxx and you open 1♦ and partner bids a heart . You bid 3♣ which partner must relay to 3♦. You now bid the other major which is systemic showing a hand too strong to rebid 3♦ . Wow !!

I have seen even good players have a “brain cramp” with regard to splinters. A splinter should show the HCP’s appropriate for the level of the auction. If you are splintering to the 4 or 3 level you should have the HCP’s also to warrant that action. Sometimes partner has duplication of value and the hand belongs at the two level or worse ! AKxx Axx AKxxx x 1♦-P-1♠-P 4♣ is a splinter to the 4 level . What about AQJx xx KJ10xxx x and partner responds a spade ? This is a jump to game not a splinter. Get the auction up high when slam is remote and you have a huge fit with distribution. Quite often the opponents will have game their way and the enter the double game swing ! The 3♣ jump shift demanding a diamond relay sorts these kind of hands out. All established partnerships need this understanding. If not , switch to a strong club system !!