Sunday, March 06, 2005 8:54 PM
Hand Evaluation –
Tactics ( 5 of a Major )
PITBULLS:
A
jump or a bid of 5 of a
major is a very weird bid in Bridge so there is multiple definitions for taking that action . The bid is an invitational bid taking into consideration
the “context” of that particular auction. Like a chameleon its definition changes with the auction. The most common 5
level bid is the direct jump to 5 of a major 1♠-P-2NT-P 5♠ . This hand probably has a void so using Blackwood is
difficult. The jump is asking for trump
quality but very good trump quality. 3♠-P-5♠-P is the same idea – how good are your
spades ? If the opponents are in the auction
& you jump to 5 of your agreed major , it asks for a control in their suit.
With the improvement in KCB , a
jump to five of a major either directly or after all suits have
been Q bid , is a telling bid rather than an asking
bid. The jump to 5 of a major says I have nothing
in your trump suit so act accordingly. Susan & I had a good auction
tonight ♠Axx ♥xxx ♦xx ♣AKQ10x . After I supported hearts , we Q bid everything so I had a choice of bidding 4NT or 5♥. I wanted to spell
out my trump weakness so I bid 5♥ . Susan had ♥AKQxxx so got the message & +1430 was easy
.
A variation of the above theme is jumping to 5 of your major instead of the agreed trump suit when the opponents
have bid in the auction. 2♦-3♣-5♥-P
? Bid 6♥ with 2nd round
control of clubs otherwise pass or Q bid 1st
round control of their suit.
Do
not forget that a jump to the 5 level is an invite but pinpointing
something that needs partners co-operation.
Kiz Fung opened 2♣ & the opponents interfered . Susan held ♠A10987x ♥Jxx ♦Axx ♣x & partner shows
a 2NT rebid so now what ? A 6♠ bid is a single
handed shot as partner could have a doubleton spade or a bad spade
holding where 6♠ has no play. 6♠
should
make though if partner has decent spade support. Another form of the 5 of a
major bid to the rescue which is interpreted as a “broken suit”
slam try. Susan
leaps to 5♠ & Kiz holding ♠KQJx carries on to
6. It is not unreasonable for opener to
play you for a 7 card suit when you leap directly to 6 spades & take
partner out of the picture. A broken 6 card spade suit would have been shown by
inviting a spade slam.
If all 3 of
the suits have been bid or Q bid, a jump to 5 of the major demands you bid 6 with little as 2ND
round control of the remaining unbid suit. What if you need more than 2nd round control of
the unbid suit ? Scott &
I had such an auction . I opened 1♥ on ♠KQxx ♥KJxxx ♦K ♣AQx , partner bid 1♠. I splintered to 4♦ , partner held ♠Axxxx ♥x ♦AQ109x ♣xx . He can not bid Blackwood with a worthless doubleton in clubs
so what is his bid ? A jump to 5♠ is no good as I
could hold ♠KQJx ♥KQJ10x ♦K ♣KQJ so must bid 6 as I have
2nd round control in the unbid suit which
is clubs. What about a 5♦ Q bid
? Is that a demand to bid 6♠ with 1st
round control of clubs ? Last train Q bid to the rescue . You bid 4♥ which is the suit below the trump suit as a last ditch
slam effort. Partner Q bids 5♣ so you bid 6♠ which makes.
Susan
had a hand which makes use of the jump to
the 5 level .
She held ♠Q ♥KQ1098 ♦Qxxx ♣Jxx , Maurice opened 1♠ so Susan bid 1NT .
Maurice rebid 3♥ so now what ? You cannot bid
4♥ as partner could
hold ♠Axxxx ♥Axxx ♦AKx ♣A so be cold for a grand or many other hands
where 6 is lay down. If you bid at the 4 level , it is a Q bid in
support of hearts. A 5♥ bid is defined as I have good hearts but nothing to Q bid so over to you. I
have no
controls in the minors so I cannot bid KCB.
What
are some other bids of the agreed major at the 5 level ? You hold ♠Jxxxx ♥xxx ♦AKxxx ♣void , partner opens 1♥ & you respond 1♠. Partner rebids 4♥. A 5♥ bid can not be asking for hearts
as partner has shown good hearts already. Should it say I
have good spades so can you control the minors or should it mean I have the
minors under control do you have good spades ? This must be
partnership agreement . A 4 spade bid is ludicrous to play as natural after partner leaps to 4♥ . 4♠ , 5♣ & 5♦ must all be heart
slam tries via Q bidding. Therefore , I would play 5♥ as saying I control
the minors but I am weak in spades as I bypassed the spade Q bid.
What
about this freaky auction ?. You hold ♠AKQx ♥xx ♦xxxx ♣xxx , partner opens 1♥ so you respond a
spade. Partner rebids 5♥ so what is he trying
to convey with that bid ? He has ♠xxx ♥AKxxxxxx ♦void ♣AK so must be asking
for spades . You should bid 7♥ ! 5 level major bids – do not leave home with them !!
My
partner & I had an auction which uses this asking bid to solve a problem.
Partner opened 1♦ , I bid one spade on ♠AKQJ10x ♥xx ♦Jx ♣10x . Partner bid 3♣ so I took the relay to 3♦ as a temporizing bid
( he can show natural clubs , strong diamond hand or
strong spade support with the bid) . I could have broken the relay in spades to show a
slam try but I had a plan to find out about his heart control. He bid 4♣
which shows a strong hand in clubs & diamonds. Slam must be right sided so
5♠ asking for a heart control sticks out. Partner will bid 5NT with the King , 6♠ with a stiff heart
& 6♥ with 1st round control. As I have the boss
suit , I can place
the contract.
Tom
& I had an auction which comes up time and time again. How severe is the duplication of value in their suit ? Tom opened 1NT ,
the infamous Mr. Willard overcalled 2♣ . I held ♠AQJ10x ♥KQ10xx ♦Jxx ♣void so I jumped to 4♣ . This got doubled so Tom bid 4♥ freely. It is
standard agreement to play a redouble as 1st round control of clubs
so is there a bid that asks how severe is the
duplication of value ?
I bid 5♥ as an invitational bid so in this context it must ask to rate
your hand depending on club duplication of
value. Tom held the worst possible holding in clubs KQx so 5 is the limit of
this hand despite my void in the opponents suit.
Do
not misuse a jump to the 5 level , as exclusion
KCB comes into play. A Tormentee held ♠AQxxx
♥Jxx ♦AK ♣Axx with her fellow Tormentee opening 1NT . She bid 2♥ as a transfer to
spades which got doubled so partner bid 2♠ which shows 3 in their system.
The opponents have essentially bid hearts
in this auction by doubling so 5♠ must ask for a heart control. A leap to 5♥ is Exclusion
KCB but partner did not know what it meant after the Tormentee
tried that bid , so she bid 5NT. The final resting
spot of 6NT made .J
The 5 of a major invitational bid is not a demand to bid six
if you meet partners
criteria. You are allowed to make a “courtesy Q bid” along the way if
partner is unlimited
in the
auction. Giving this extra information might come in handy
if the opponents bid again or a grand slam
is not out of the question.