Monday, March 07, 2005 10:20 PM
Hand Evaluation –
Systemic ( 3 ♣ Strong Jump Shift )
PITBULLS:
“ Fast arrival” is a hand evaluation concept. It basically means
that when you hog useful bidding space from an unlimited partner , you are weak & distributional. The Goren
jumping to game in your own suit or NT after a simple
response to show strong hands , contradicts fast arrival. The
Goren leaping to game in responder’s suit after a simple response also
contradicts fast arrival to
game. Forcing club systems were invented to prevent this poor bidding practice. Useful bidding space is just too valuable
for Bridge bidding to waste showing additional
HCP’s the Goren way. 1♠-P-1NT-P 4♠ & 1♦-P-1♠-P 4♠
are just horrible Goren auctions to
show strong hands. If you do not play a forcing club
system, there is another way.
There
is one natural bid in Bridge that should be sacrificed for convenience . The strong jump shift in clubs should always demand partner to relay to 3♦ on any
auction. If partner breaks the relay to 3♦ , she is doing it to
describe a strong response .
Breaking the relay to opener’s suit shows a limit raise
or better. One of the advantages of playing a relay
is the inference you have when you do not follow orders. This multi purpose 3♣ bid preserves the fast arrival concept in a natural system. The bid preserves bidding room with a strong hand. You are in effect using forcing 1♣
concepts within a natural bidding system.
After a major opener & a
forcing 1NT , a 3♣ bid allows a 3 in 1 bid with a spade opener & a 2
in 1 bid after a heart opener. This understanding solves the age old problem in
standard bidding on how to handle major suit hands too strong to make a jump rebid. A jump
rebid in a major is an invitational
hand showing 16-18 counting distribution. So how do you
handle hands above that range , but still not strong
enough for a 2♣ opener ? A jump to game should not show these strong hands.
Opening one of a major & rebidding 4 of the major should show a long suit with some outside cards. The only reason you
did not open 4 of your major is that you have some outside cards that prevented you from pre-empting. Good
players have always improvised with a 3♣ jump
shift with these hand types so now we are just formalizing
the concept.
♠AKQJxx ♥Ax ♦Axx ♣xx is neither a 3♠ or a 4♠ rebid after a
forcing 1NT response. This is a 3♣ strong jump shift which partner must relay to 3♦. You now bid 3♠ or 4♠ which describes
these hand types . What if you had a real strong jump shift in clubs ? This depends on the
length of the club suit . You simply bid 4♣
after the 3♦ relay with a natural 3♣ SJS bid initially. If you have a 4 card club jump shift , you also bid 3♣ but when partner bids the 3♦
relay , you follow up with 3NT.
The
sequence one of a major , a response ( forcing 1NT
) & a leap to 3NT is now a “picture bid” . This bid
specifically shows a 5-3-3-2 18-19 HCP with a doubleton in
partner’s major or the other major .
No other hand type is allowed so responder can determine where the hand will be
played. With the other 5-3-3-2 hands (18-19 HCP ) rebid 2NT.
Partner now knows that there is 3 card major support or 3 in the other major
as opener did not leap to 3NT.
1♥-P-1♠-P
3NT is also a 2-5-3-3 18-19 HCP picture bid with a doubleton
spade & a 2NT rebid is a strong jump shift with 4♦ or other 5-3-3-2 18-19’s.
Tom Gandolfo held ♠Ax ♥AKJ98x ♦Kx ♣QJx tonight & felt uncomfortable with
rebidding 3♥ as he felt it was too strong. Enter the 3♣ “multi purpose” strong jump shift. Tom bids 3♣ & I
dutifuly take the 3♦ relay so Tom bids 3♥ & I carry on to
4♥. The 3♣ bid was
invented
for bids that hand evaluation dictates too strong for an invitational bid.
The jump raise of a major response all the way
to game should never be strong in the HCP sense.
Since it jams
the auction so badly, the jump to game should be based on distribution only ( fast arrival ) . ♠AKxx ♥A1098xx ♦xx ♣x is a hand I like to
leap to game with after a spade response. After a diamond opener with a heart response , ♠x ♥AQ10x ♦KQJ10xx ♣xx this is a 4♥ bid . OK if we are
leaping to game with 11 & 12 HCP respectively , what do we do with the strong hands &
game going values ? What is your rebid when partner bids a spade with this hand
♠AKxx ♥Kx ♦KQxx ♣Axx ? This is a balanced
hand so bid
2NT. 4♠ is fast arrival &
you can always revert to spades later in the auction to correct the initial
impression.
Another main purpose of the
multi 3♣ jump shift is showing 3 card support for partners major. Define the multi 3♣
strong jump shift followed by
supporting partner’s major as showing 3 card support with a non balanced hand in the 17-20
HCP range. You have ♠AQJ ♥AJxxxx ♦AKx ♣x , you open 1♥ with partner
responding 1♠. You bid 3♣ , partner bids 3♦ which you follow up
with 3♠. Partner is now aware of the 3 card support & the strength of
your hand. The relay prevents partner from getting
into the way if you chose say a 3♦ bid as your rebid.
If partner now bids 3NT after a 3♦ jump shift, you still have the
same guess whether to support spades. Guessing
is repugnant to Bridge experts.
You
open 1♥ on ♠AKxx ♥AKxxx ♦Ax ♣xx , partner bids 1♠ . Bidding 4♠ on this hand is sick as it pre-empts you
to the 4 level & ambiguity is rampant
to what hand
type you have. We recommend bidding 3♣ as a relay to 3♦ & bid 4♠
with the moose & 4 trump. My partner recommends
leaping to 4♠ after the relay as a
“picture bid” showing all the controls leaving partner the
option of bidding 4NT. If you only have a 3 card fit for partner’s
major , bid 3♣ &
support partner at the 3 level after the relay . Excellent. When responder bids
3NT after the relay & opener giving major preference ,
it is not the “serious 3NT” . It is suggesting a 3NT contract with responder only holding 4♠. Without so many controls
, we recommend bidding 2NT initially rather than
3♣ & show the 4 card fit
later.. The 4♠ jump shows 4 trump
& controls after the relay.
OK what about the important concept of “breaking the relay” . You cannot do this
on a whim as partner is trying to describe his hand type. One
time that it is obvious that you can break
the relay is if you have serious slam intentions in partners suit.
1♠-P-1NT-P
3♣-P-3♠-P
.
Who cares what kind of strong jump shift partner might have ,
as I am interested in a spade slam. Another time you
can break the relay at the 3 level is if you have a 6 or 7 card suit of your
own. Again you do not care what strong
jump shift partner has as it is best to let partner know about your hand.
OK
what about all the hands that you open 1♣ & have huge support for partner’s major ? Actually this style decides your opening bids . With equal length in the minors always open 1♦ so you have the 3♣
rebid as one of your options. If
you open 1♣ say with ♠AKxx ♥Axx ♦xx ♣AKxx , partner bids 1♠ choose 2NT as a rebid. If you vigorously
support partners major , the 2NT was a bid of
convenience so you have shown your strength & 4 card fit. This treatment insures a jump raise of partners
major is invitational & a jump to game is based on distribution ( fast
arrival ) .
With spades and hearts , the 3♣ rebid as a relay to 3♦ has a huge advantage . This treatment allows a
direct 3♥ jump shift as invitational ! ♠AKxxx ♥AKxxx ♦xx ♣x and you open 1♠ , partner responds 1NT . You rebid 3♥ but add an Ace to
that hand ♠AKxxx ♥AKxxx ♦Ax ♣x so you rebid 3♣
instead . After the diamond relay, you bid 3♥ to show your strong
jump shift in hearts.
I
have seen even good players have a “brain cramp” with regard to splinters. A splinter by opener should show the
HCP’s appropriate for the level of the
auction. If you are splintering to the 4 or 3 level as opener , you should have the
HCP’s also to warrant that action to
that level. Sometimes responder has duplication of value so the hand belongs
at the two
level or worse !
♠AKxx ♥Axx ♦AKxxx ♣x
1♦-P-1♠-P
4♣ is a splinter to the
4 level . What
about ♠AQJx ♥xx ♦KJ10xxx ♣x , partner responds a
spade ? This is a jump to game not a splinter. Get the auction up high
when slam is remote & you have a huge
fit with distribution. Quite often the opponents will have game
their way so enter the double game swing !
The 3♣ jump shift demanding a diamond
relay sorts these kind of hands out. All
established partnerships need this
understanding. If not , switch to a strong club system !!