Tuesday, April 26, 2005 5:53 PM
5 Card Majors
PITBULLS:
Playing
a 5 card major system has obvious advantages. Finding your 5-3 major fit fast
and getting to major suit games rather than NT are the good things. However , coming with the territory
there are obvious shortcomings. Benito Garazzo writes that the worst “fall out”
from 5 card majors is the necessity to open 3 card minors . This creates an
element of uncertainty in getting to minor slams & games , competing and
directing leads. With a bad 3 card minor , I revert to Charles Goren and open
my 4 card major anyway playing 5
card majors. In 3rd & 4th seat it is automatic to
open a 4 card major unless my minor can stand an opening lead.
The
fact that I opened a minor as opposed to a major changes my lead directing double theory. When I open
a minor
it can mean anything from QJx to AKQJxx , consequently I use a lead directing
double to guarantee the lead of the minor when the opponents are in NT. If I
open a major , I expect that suit to be led anyway so a double negates that
lead. Partner should lead dummy’s 1st bid suit or his own suit
instead after I double. With a minor opening though , I demand my suit be led with a
double.
One
of the hangovers from 4 card majors days
is making a simple raise with 4 trump. I feel making a simple raise with 4 of
her major should be avoided at all costs. In competition , I do not play a jump
raise of partners major as pre-emptive. The jump raise can be put to a much
better use as showing simple
raise values with 4 trump. Think about it . When you play 5 card
majors you hold 9 or more cards
in partners suit. The opponents will not let you play at the two level owning
half the deck and shortness in your suit. Use the law of total tricks and raise
the auction to the 3 level right away. It keeps out the vultures and describes
your 4th trump to partner which is valuable information for further
bidding.
Tom
and I include limit raise hands in our Jacoby 2NT structure. This frees the
jump raise for something else that the partnership decides. I prefer the direct
jump raise to mean a simple raise with 4 trump. If you are in a pre-empting
mood , jump to game. Who knows you might even make it ! Knowing that partner has only 3 trump for all simple
raises assists greatly in game or slam tries , competitive auctions , penalty
doubles and alternative game contracts like 3NT. You just need some bid to
identify a simple raise with 4 trump. The jump raise does the job nicely.
Tom
and I still use a 3♦ bid over
a major to describe upper range simple raises with 4 trump. This bid is not
really needed though as you can decide to either make a jump raise or a Jacoby
2NT . Subash plays a system where 3♣ is any forcing to game splinter and 3♦ is any mini splinter after a major opener. This treatment allows splinter
bids to be made more frequently within the confines of your system. Subash has
a 3♦ bid after the 3♣ bid to ask where the splinter is or
whether it is a void ( 4 level response). With a maxi-splinter you would be
asking more often to investigate slam. With a mini-splinter of 3♦ , it is suffice to know that there are 4 trumps with
a stiff somewhere so you just leap to game. You would ask for the location only
if you had a slam going hand yourself.
Your
major structure is an important part of your system. 5 card major theory can be
improved with good partnership understandings. Discuss with partner.