Monday, September 18, 2006 1:35 PM
Hand Evaluation - Fit Showing Jumps ( Forcing 1NT )
PITBULLS:
Fit
showing jumps as a passed hand are now part of Bridge World
Standard. They make perfect sense as your weak two’s have
already been bid & splinters as a passed hand are ludicrous. Evaluating
fits of course is basic hand evaluation. These fit showing
jumps are especially good when partner opens a minor in 3rd
or 4th seat. The only rules are that the bid is a jump shift
meaning the best passed hand possible & show values concentrated
in the jumped suit. A NT bid by opener always asks for the stiff & a simple raise
of the major is forcing. C’est tout.
I
like fit showing jumps in another place also. We play a 2/1 over a major
as non forcing to game
when suit rebid. Therefore ,
there is no reason for a forcing 1NT followed by a jump bid to show a natural suit. This
opens up the jump bid by the 1NT responder as a splinter or
a fit showing jump to show great support for opener’s 2nd
suit. I prefer the latter.
The reason is frequency . We are already short
in opener’s major for responding 1NT
in the first place , so the odds of shortness in
another suit to be a splinter decreases. We never splinter in partners major , of course. A singleton can always be shown as a control
later in the auction.
If
you like natural bidding for your 2/1 structure (
responder generally shows 5 or more cards in the suit ) , forcing 1NT
bids can be as high as 13 HCP balanced. This understanding keeps all balanced hand responses 13 HCP’s & under in the NT family of bids. This high
upper range for a forcing NT comes at a price though as you need tools
to find nice fitting slams.
Invitational
bids in partner’s major are a weakness
with the forcing NT structure. Standard 2/1 ( 10 HCP )
have the forcing NT beat with invitational auctions because they show where
their HCP’s are located followed by
an invitational bid. Getting to slams with excellent fits are virtually
impossible after a forcing 1NT. With the
forcing NT structure, invites are quantitative so opener has no clue how the
hands fit. Getting to games quantitatively may be fine but
slams are almost out of the
question.
1♠-P-1NT or
1♠-P-1NT
2♥-P-3♠ 2♠-P-3♠ are lame
quantitative invites. Fit showing jumps as invites show where responder lives so are more effective. I prefer the
“godfather 2NT” with these invitational hands when my HCP’s are scattered.
Since 2NT is forcing one round by responder, you can make the bid with strong
support for partner’s major. Opener may pattern out or otherwise show their
hand & responder can control the auction after gleaning some information in
which to work.
Showing
a strong minor raise after a forcing NT has always been a problem.
These were the fix hands that Goren handled better than a forcing NT. Showing a
good suit & values around 10 HCP initially which opener now bids maybe as a 3 card suit prevents the 1NT
contortions. Now responder must convince opener she has that type of support for her after a 1NT
response. A fit showing jump
helps describe these hand types & it is clearly better than an artificial
2♠ after a 1♥ opener or an artificial 2♥ bid requiring a relay. You are in effect recovering
the Goren 2/1 by showing where you live , minor suit support & 10+
HCP with one jump bid . You can still use 2♠ to show a strong minor
raise but there is an extra implication now. You do not have a fit showing jump
if you chose that bid. Probably most of your HCP’s in partner’s minor.
Showing
a strong heart raise after a spade opener & a 2♥ rebid has also been a problem by responder ( other than leaping to game ) as slam
is still possible. In addition , when you had a limit raise in partners major ,
partner rebids her major , a fit
showing jump leaves slam possibilities open.
1♠-P-1NT-P
2♣-P-3♦-P ♠void ♥xx ♦AQxxxx ♣J987x
grand slam possible opposite ♠J10xxx ♥Ax ♦Kx ♣AKxx
1♠-P-1NT-P
2♦-P-3♥-P ♠xx ♥KQJx ♦Axxxx
♣xx slam opposite ♠AKxxx ♥Axx
♦KQxx ♣x
1♠-P-1NT-P
2♥-P-4♦-P ♠xx ♥Axxxx ♦KQJx
♣xx slam opposite ♠AKxxx ♥KQxx
♦Axx ♣x
1♠-P-1NT-P
2♠-P-4♣-P ♠Axx ♥xx ♦xxx ♣KQJxx
slam opposite ♠KQxxx ♥Axx ♦x ♣Axx
1♠-P-1NT-P
2♠-P-2NT*-P ♠Axx ♥Kx ♦Axxx
♣Jxxx
slam opposite ♠KQxxxx ♥Axx ♦KQx ♣x
3♦-P-3♠-P
4♥-P-6♠
*Godfather 2NT
Fit showing jumps have the
advantage of alternative game contracts especially 3NT .
1♥-P-1NT-P
2♦-P-3♠-P
3NT
♠KQJ ♥xx ♦Axxxx ♣xxx opposite ♠x ♥AQxxx ♦KQxx
♣A10x ( avoids 5♦ )
Two
suited fits are best described with a fit showing jump.
Partner opens 1♥ , you respond 1NT with ♠Ax ♥Kxx ♦K10xxx ♣xxx intending on showing a limit raise. Partner
surprises you by bidding 2♦. Leap to 4♦ which shows a fit showing jump with support
for both suits. Partner has ♠Kxx
♥AQJxx ♦AQxx ♣x so 6 is cold in either red suit.
Here
is an auction from a Bermuda Bowl where they got to 3♣ where 6♣ for +1370 was
cold. They opened 1♥ on ♠x ♥Axxxx ♦KQx ♣Axxx , partner bid a
forcing NT with ♠xx ♥x ♦Axxxx ♣KQxxx . At one table they bid 3♣ after a 2♣ rebid
by opener which was passed out. At the other table ,
they bid 2♠ showing a strong club raise which got converted to 3♣ passed out.
Our auction over 2♣ is 3♦ a fit showing
jump. This is followed by a 3♠ Q bid so on to
6♣ . Vive la difference !
I
feel there is no reason to leap to 3NT by responder after she has
bid a forcing 1NT. 2NT is a strong bid in the teeth of a misfit so can be bid with as many as
13 HCP. Passing 2NT in IMPS is rare & we have relays to bail out
in these auctions. Therefore we can define a belated leap to 3NT by responder as a fit showing jump
with partners major & soft values
giving partner a choice of contracts. If opener bids over 3NT , it is a stiff & a slam try in the agreed major. This means a leap to 4 of
a major after a forcing 1NT can not
be a balanced hand & probably shows controls &
distribution rather than soft values.