Sunday, September 05, 2004 11:36 PM

Hand Evaluation - 2/1 ( Passed Hand )

PITBULLS:

Being a passed hand allows you some freedoms. One is the freedom from using the mal descriptive forcing 1NT when you have a suit of your own. If you do not play Drury ( like Tom & I ) you still must bid 1NT with a 3 card fit for partner with limit raise values. We do not play forcing NT as a passed hand & if partner is too weak to bid again we are not missing anything. We also open 4 card majors in 3^rd seat for leads so 1NT is probably the best spot anyway. A 2/1 as a passed hand shows a suit with probably 10 HCP’s. You have the inference that you did not open a weak two or choose to open light at the one level.

My partners & I do not play weak 2♦ bids , so a 2/1 2♦ bid probably shows that hand. You do not play weak 2♣ bids so a 2/1 in clubs shows all those hands.. A 2♥ bid as a passed hand could show a bad suit & the reason you did not open a weak 2 vul is your were ashamed of your suit rather than your high card points. The majority of 2♥ bids as a passed hand will be on a 5 card suit ( weak 2 inference ). A 7 card suit with outside stuff is also a possibility. A 1NT bid is now more descriptive as meaning a flat hand with stoppers & of course can be passed.

A 2/1 as a passed hand brings in the question of forcing vrs non forcing bids. Passed hand 2/1’s should follow the same rules as a 2/1 in competition. The 2/1 bidder promises one more bid so the opener does not have to jump in order to force. This means all the good things of 2/1 bidding still apply. If opener jumps in a suit it is a splinter, if he jumps in his own suit it is a solid suit. If he raises your suit it is highly invitational as he could have passed your 2/1. Even if opener just rebids his suit , you owe him one more bid. You cannot get out at the two level.

What about NT bids ? As you are making a rather descriptive bid as a passed hand , partner can leap to a 3NT game if he feels its there. 2NT is just invitational so if you bail out to your suit the auction will die there 99% of the time. 2/1 as a passed hand is old fashioned Goren bidding. Raising suits are invitational & you jump to game if you feel it makes. Missing a slam is not an overriding consideration in these auctions.

♠AKxxx ♥AKxxx ♦x ♣Ax You open a spade in 3^rd seat , partner bids 2♦ . You bid 2♥ forcing one round & partner bids 3♦ . Leap to 4♥ giving partner a choice of game contracts in the majors. Do not forget that partner is “all in” if he bid & rebid his suit.

♠AKxxx ♥x ♦Axxx ♣AQx You open a spade in 3^rd seat , partner bids 2♦ . You bid 3♥ to show your huge diamond fit & stiff heart.

Will there be a case where partner will bid a 2/1 with a fit for openers suit? I do not think so . My partners & I play fit showing jumps as a passed which takes care of all the 2/1’s with 4 trump or three very good ones. The forcing NT takes care of all the limit raises with 3 trump. Tom & I also play 2NT to show a simple or limit raise with 4 trump so those hands are covered also. As a passed hand ♠AJx ♥x ♦AJ10xx ♣xxxx , I would bid 3♦ as a fit showing jump rather than the 2♦ two over one or 1NT after partner opened 1♠ in 4^th or 3^rd seat.

2/1 as a passed hand has a lot of inferences so its fun to describe your hand instead of the silly 1NT bid . Bridge is a game of suits so show yours as a passed hand !!