Wednesday, September 20, 2006 6:56 AM

Bidding Judgment II

PITBULLS :

In a previous article called Bidding judgment , we mentioned how bidding judgment affects your system. This article is a continuation of those ideas. These principles differ from standard and are a result of accumulated bidding judgment & system building efforts by a lot of people. The 13^th principle we follow is 4NT is only KCB when partner bids a major. In competition , after the opponents bid 4♠/♥ , 4NT shows a distributional 2 suiter. 4NT after partner doubles 4♥/4♠ is Lebensohl as a method of pulling doubles. 4NT with minor fits implied or direct is quantitative or to play.

The 14^th principle is transfers in competition. Transfers impart special information showing a suit with any HCP range or a suit with a fit. Transfers also conserve bidding room and bring in the concept of “super accepts”. When we open a major and the opponents make a T/O double , our bids are transfers. When the opponents are bidding naturally around our 1NT opening or overcall, Rubensohl ( transfers) replace Lebensohl. This treatment identifies the suit immediately and brings in super accepts.

The 15^th principle is splinters in competition. Bridge is a game of suits. It is far more useful to have jumps as natural pre-emptive suits than splinters if the opponents overcall. These bids define your 2/1 in competition as you have this descriptive bid available. Q bids & jump Q bids replace splinters in competition.

The 16^th principle we follow is 2/1 bidding either in competition or directly is non forcing to game if the suit is rebid. This understanding takes pressure off the forcing NT by removing these hand types from that structure. Jump bids after responding a forcing NT no longer exist so these bid can take on a different meaning.

The 17^th principle followed is jump shifts as a passed hand. These are fit showing jumps as opposed to weak or splinters. NT bid by the opener asks for the stiff and a raise of the major is forcing.

The 18^th principle adopted is the use of 2NT in the sandwich position to differentiate invitational hands from competitive hands. If we bid at the 3 level directly , it is as if we jumped to that level. If we just bid 2NT ( bad) partner takes the relay to 3♣ and we just wish to compete.

The 19^th principle is 3 level negative doubles. Since the opponents are trying to pre-empt us out of our 3NT , we add hand types suitable for playing 3NT to our 3 level negative doubles. Partners first duty is to bid 3NT with a stopper , otherwise bid naturally.

The 20^th principle is direct splinters after a major opening. In order to use jumps in the other major as weak and natural , we “mask” splinters. A 3♦ splinter over a major shows a splinter in the other major. A 3♣ splinter shows a splinter in a minor. Splinters at the 4 level are exclusion KCB.

The 21 st principle is we define a use for jump shift reverses for something other than a splinter. A jump shift reverse shows a 6-5 hand with values under a reverse (10-14 HCP) . This is fun pre-emptive toy.

The 22^nd principle we follow is modifying 4^th suit forcing at the two level & one level. In order to right side the NT and keep the bidding at the two level , we play 2NT by responder as a “new suit” and a one round force. This prevents 4^th suit artificialities and contortions that paint partner in a corner. With a minor opener , bidding can remain at the one level for 3 rounds. XYZ means three bids at the one level and substitutes for 4^th suit forcing. With xyz , we just follow 2 way new minor principles as 2♣ shows all invitational hands & 2♦ all game forcing hands.

The 23^rd principle is all bids by responder after a strong NT , describe their hand pattern to the strong NT. 2♠ shows all club hands with their distribution. 2NT shows all diamond hands with their distribution. Two level Smolen after Stayman shows all patterns consisting of a major(s) and other suits. 3 level jumps in the minors show patterns of 5-5 either weak or strong. Jumps in the majors show hand patterns with 5-4 in the minors. Transfers show all hand patterns with a 5 card major(s). Stayman & Re-staymen are exceptions where the NT opener shows her distribution to responder.

The 24^th principle we follow involves minor suit KCB . in forcing to game auctions when the minor suit fit is found ( directly or implied ) under the 4 level , the bid of the trump suit at the 4 level is KCB. If the minor suit fit is just found at the 4 level, you need Kickback for KCB ( diamonds with clubs agreed ) & hearts with diamonds agreed.

The 25^th principle we follow is the slotting of some 5-4-3-1 hands into the class of semi-balanced hands. If partner has bid the stiff or the stiff is an honour , we consider the hand as semi-balanced and NT can be bid. We resort to this treatment as Standard bidding just does not handle this particular distribution very well especially with a lot of hCP’s.