Friday, September 13, 2002 11:21 PM
Bergen Raises
PITBULLS:
Mike Lawrence has written many articles on the power
of the 4th trump in major suit
auctions. For hand evaluation purposes the 4th trump is
crucial for game tries , game bids
or deciding whether 3NT is a better contract than 4 of a major . A two
of a major raise with 4 trump is a lot better hand than one with 3 trump .
Standard methods show either / or with a simple raise . Knowing that partner
has 4 trump , makes competing for partials easier and game bidding easier. Marty Bergen has come up with an idea
the one of a major and a simple raise should always just show 3 trump . This is descriptive and prevents a lot of
marginal game try bids and jumps to game . I
like this concept but then he had to come up with some ideas on how
to handle the 4 card raises .
To
handle the 4 card raises , Marty
decided that 1M – 3 M should be
pre-emptive (0-6 HCP ) . He then needed a bid to describe the normal 1M –2M
with 4 trump . He decided that the 3♣ splinter had to be sacrificed ( at least
with spades ) and he uses 3♣ to describe a 2 of a major raise with 4 trump .
Since he has thrown away the major limit
raise and made it pre-emptive he needs 3♦ to describe limit raise with 4 trump.
With
a heart opener , he has not sacrificed
splinters . This is because he defined 2♠ to mean any
splinter . Therefore a 2NT rebid by the heart opener asks partner to
describe the splinter suit and nothing is really lost as you are at the same level as an original splinter . With the spade suit he has sacrificed the “game try”
splinters and uses 3♥ as any splinter
with 3♠ as the
asking bid to determine the splinter ( for slam tries ) . So the only
shortcomings of this treatment is losing some “game try “ splinters over a
spade opener . This is countered by a good 4 card major suit response structure .
Bergen
, being the ultimate scientist , has many other treatments that go along with
this which in my opinion can be easily handled with Jacoby 2NT hands . He plays
a jump to 4♣ as a BIG balanced raise, good 3-card support,
too good for 3N. This can be described as a Value Swiss Raise with 3-trump .
The 4♦ shows a GOOD raise to 4; say 5-card support and around 8-10
hcp. He plays a 3NT jump as a limited 3 card raise.
I
am not too impressed with those
4♣/4♦ & 3NT treatments . I
prefer the Stan Cabay treatment for the 4♣/.4♦ bids . His
view is that they should be “flower bids” . These show a jump to 4 of a major
but showing where your values are ( around 8-10 HCP ) .By bidding your jump
to game bids this way you show
additional information in case the opponents are in the auction or you want to
try a slam .
1♠
?
Jxxxx xx KQJ10x x bid
4♦ as a 4♠ “flower”
1♥ ?
xx xxxxx xx AKQx bid
4♣ as a 4♥ “flower”
1♥
2♠ ( any splinter )
2NT ( asks )
3♥ stiff spade , 3♣ 3♦ stiff in those suits
1♠
3♥ ( any splinter )
3♠
(asks )
3NT ( stiff heart ) , 4♣ , 4♦ stiff in those suits
Anyway
, having a partnership understanding that a simple major suit raise always shows
3 trump is a big advantage . Covering all the 4 card raises at the 3 level can
keep out the balancers and allows re-preempting tactics . Pitbull Pat &
Susan already play Bergen raises .
I would recommend these bids for all the Pitbulls …