Saturday, February
12, 2005 8:42 PM
Hand Evaluation – ♥/♣ Two Suiters
PITBULLS:
We
have club relays to help us
distinguish good two suiters & good 6-4’s from bad ones. After we open a major & a
forcing 1NT response, we follow the Lebensohl principle
so if we relay we have the “bow –
wow”. A direct bid shows the good 6-4 or 5-5 so is game forcing somewhere. This
is , of course , after a forcing 1NT to our major.
There
is a fly in the ointment with clubs as the 2nd suit , however. No problem with
spades
& clubs as you should open 1♣ initially with a weak 5-5 in the blacks. Now opening 1♠ , bidding & rebidding clubs after a 2NT invite you show the strong two suiter . With clubs
& hearts you must reverse the Lebensohl principle as you do not have a relay to assist in
the auction . A direct
bid with clubs is weak after 2NT so use diamonds as a relay conveying
a message. You hold ♠x ♥AKxxx ♦xx ♣AKJxx , open 1♥
& partner bids 1NT . You rebid 2♣ ,
partner bids 2NT . Now what ? 3♣ should be a weak two suiter.
If you now bid 3♦ it’s a signal ( not a relay
) to partner that you have a strong club
– heart two suiter.
1♥-P-1NT-P
2♣-P-2NT-P
3♦ shows a strong two suiter with clubs , not
“patterning out”. ♠x ♥AQxxx ♦xx ♣A10xxx you would rebid your
clubs over 2NT as the weak 5-5. Alternatively we could have the
understanding that we bid our stiff in these sequences
to show the strong 5-5 in hearts & clubs . That
shows our pattern ( stiff spade or diamond ) & HCP’s precisely. Comments
?
What
about passed hand auctions ? With a passed hand , I think relays
after a 1NT & 2NT invitational bid should
not exist. If you have a decent two suiter
or 6-4 , Standard American bidding should apply ( just
bid game somewhere ) . The bid after 2NT should be “improving” the partial
& non forcing as you are a light 3rd seat opener so want
to escape 2NT. The frequency of weak two suiters is
the norm in 3rd seat & may be really
substandard. This seat position does not justify a relay
, in my opinion anyway. I have an understanding that most systems are
“off” as a passed hand. Lets add this one to the list.