Wednesday, February 18, 2004 5:41 AM

Hand Evaluation – 2♣ ( Relays )

PITBULLS:

One of the dumbest practices I see in Bridge is opening a one bid with a monster two suiter where you need virtually nothing from partner to make game. The rule for opening 2♣’s is , will game be missed if partner does not have a response ? If the answer is yes , open 2♣. The practitioners of this awful practice say they could get pre-empted out of their two suits or there will not be enough room to get them in. Nonsense. People pre-empt when you open these hands at the one level so if you bid later does it show the demand two bid that you have ? If you open 2♣ , get pre-empted , at least partner knows that you have a huge hand.

Subash Gupta introduced me to a very clever use of relays to get your two suits described at the lowest possible level in order to find your fit & investigate slam . These relays also allow you to remain under 3NT to get the job done. These relays only occur after a 2♣-P-2♦ waiting bid auction , they involve the concept of an “anchor suit” . The relays put responder in a “straight jacket” until opener describes his two suits. The relay rule is whenever opener bids a major , you must relay to the next level. Relay to ♠’s if ♥’s bid by the opener , relay to NT if ♠’s bid by opener. Pretty simple !!

The 2♣ structure has a disadvantage over the forcing 1♣ because of lack of bidding room. I do not like responder giving controls solely because that even robs you of further bidding room to find your fit or describe the 2♣ opener. Showing controls also robs you of positive responses. A relay structure preserves positive responses via breaking the relay. Relays conserve bidding room because responder cannot get in the way of the 2♣ opener describing her hand. There are ways to show controls later on in the auction so what is the hurry ? 2♥ initially by responder shows no controls & 2♦ shows one or more. Playing 2♥ negative & 2♦ waiting is beginner Bridge with useless HCP’s entering the hand evaluation equation. A responding scheme that uses a combination of the best of both worlds , controls & waiting bids is the choice of most experts.

We make an exception to responder showing controls with the idle 2NT bid by responder . Showing 4 controls exactly with a 2NT bid makes sense & the NT contract is not wrong sided. This means by the negative inference you did not bid 2NT , 2♦ shows 1 ,2 or 3 controls. In general though , you should find your fit first & show controls later. Bidding room seems to dictate this approach.

The first relay involves ♥’s as the anchor suit .

2♣-p-2♦-p

2♥-p-2♠-p

3♠/♦/♣/ . Two ♥’s demand responder to bid 2♠ , thereafter any bid by opener shows a two suiter with ♥’s as the anchor suit with the other suit bid. If ♥’s are rebid , opener has a one suiter. The two suiter with ♥’s is fully described by the 3 level !! ♥’s are the longer of the two suits or equal length.

The next relay understanding with ♥’s involves NT a la Kokish to describe the 25-27 balanced hands at the two level.

2♣-p-2♦-p

2♥-p-2♠-p

2NT. Now we do not have to rebid 3NT & get the bidding to a rarified atmosphere. A direct 2NT rebid without the relay is obviously 22-24 HCP. 2♣-p-2♦-p 2nt shows 22-24. The relay allows another understanding. A leap to 3NT can show a balanced hand with clubs.

2♣-P-2♦-P

3NT clubs with a 2NT HCP range hand.

The last relay uses ♠’s as the anchor suit so forces a NT bid by responder to complete the relay.

2♣-p-2♦-p

2♠-p-2NT-P

3♥/♦/♣ shows the two suits. If opener rebids ♠’s , the one suiter is shown. Again all by the 3 level all hands with ♠’s most likely the longer suit are shown.

With the permutations of the two suits & two relays to choose from you select the relay that shows the longer suit ( anchor ) in case of 6-5’s . A 6-5 in the majors can be shown by choosing the correct relay to start with . It does not guarantee a 6-5 in all cases & all suit combinations but it is more likely as opener deliberately chose to use that relay method. With the ♥ suit as the anchor you can guarantee the 6-5 . A 5-5 in ♥’s & ♠’s would be shown by the ♥ relay. Choosing the ♠ relay ( spades as anchor suit ) shows 6 ♠’s & 5 ♥’s

Two suiters are not just 5-5 , 6-5 or higher. 6-4’s can be two suits. 5-4-3-1 is semi-balanced as I call them & not two suits. When I have a 5-4-3-1- rock , I normally cheat & rebid 2NT especially with a stiff honour. Have written a couple of articles on that one distribution.

♠x ♥AKJxxx ♦Ax ♣AKQJ This would be bid

2♣-P-2♦-P

2♥-P-2♠-P

3♣ since hearts are the anchor suit they must be longer. You got your suits in under 3NT.

Contrast with standard practices where responder “pre-empts you” .

2♣-P-2♦-P

2♥-P-3♦-P

4♣ ? you are passed 3NT opposite ♠J10xx ♥x ♦KJxxxx ♣xx . Partner “pre-empts” you with many suit combinations so the 2♣ bidder cannot get her suits in under 3NT. Say partner has ♠xxxx ♥xx ♦Kx ♣xxxxx , we could get to 6♣ with the relay auction.

♠AKQxxx ♥x ♦AKQx ♣xx

2♣-P-2♦-P

2♠-P-2NT-P

3♦ Got your suits in by the 3 level. Contrast with a standard auction where partner could “interfere” by bidding his silly 5 card heart suit.

2♣-P-2♦-P

2♠-P-3♥-P

4♦ ? again passed your best spot of 3NT ♠x ♥QJxxxx ♦xx ♣KJ10x . With relay sequence getting to 3NT is childs play. Getting to 6♦ is also easy. There is a tactical advantage in the big hand getting in both his suits by the 3 level under the 3NT contract.

Because of all our understandings after a 2♦ waiting response , some players like to use the 2♦ bid as often as possible. This means that he will bid 2♦ without a control as long as he has compensating HCP’s. ♠QJxx ♥QJx ♦QJx ♣QJx , partner would bid 2♦ rather than 2♥. I do not like that as I have bought into the no control / control aspect of the responses rather than just waiting. It is repugnant to me to emphasize HCP’s like queens & jacks in any systemic structure. Keep queens & jacks where they belong , in a negative bid. You can still grope to your best fit after a 2♥ response & define asking bids , 4NT for stiffs or specific queens knowing that there are no controls. Points schmoints. Knowing that 2♦ has at least one control also helps those “waiting” bid auctions. Adding ambiguity to a 2♦ response that there may not be a control adds needless confusion to your waiting bid structure. It also very rare as if you have quite a few HCP’s , you will hold at least one control anyway.

Anyway , this treatment is an effort to keep one bids as one bids so as not to miss games & slams. Depending on the opponents to balance you to your slam is risky at best. These indiscretions really hurt in IMPS where getting to slam or game is the goal . Match point players seem to be the ones who open rock two suiters at the one level. I just cringe. Playing controls over 2♣ almost necessitates you follow this practice as due to the rank of suits , getting your hand described by the 3 level is almost impossible. You get pre-empted by responder past your 3NT game. If responder bids 2NT showing 4 or more controls , you do not care if you get pre-empted past 3NT. With this many controls you can play 4NT as a contract or usually you are in a slam. In my opinion , the 2♣ structure is far better off with relays & a waiting bid rather than a solely control structure.