Monday, December 04, 2006 11:52 AM
Hand Evaluation – Limited Hands ( Kickback )
PITBULLS:
It is
very important in Bridge to have a way of dragging
your feet when partner has visions of bigger & better things.
The most common “death response “ is immediately
returning to the trump suit when partner is inviting with a Q bid. If partner
is Q bidding , even rebidding your 4 card suit as a
“death response “ is perfectly acceptable.
In
minor auctions or NT auctions, returning to
NT at your first opportunity is the death response. Do not forgot
that once you have announced
your minimum
, partner has heard you so is still trying , you
should co-operate with a good minimum.
If your minimum is truly dreadful , bail out to NT again. OK with all this pre-amble , lets bid this hand that nobody in a Spingold got to their cold 6♣.
You
open a club with ♠109x ♥A109x ♦Jx ♣AKxx , partner bids 2♣
inverted showing limit raise or better. You bid 2NT which describes your weak NT type of minimum. Partner bids 3♦ which is a game
force & showing where she lives ( we assume) for NT purposes. We have
nice controls so we show our heart stopper by bidding
3♥. Partner now bids 3♠ which now clarifies
her previous bids as trying for a club slam, rather than making sure that 3NT was
the best spot.
What now ? Should we
sign off in 3NT , Fast arrival to 5♣ or bid 4♣
? Since you limited your
hand with a 2NT bid, 4♣ is not KCB. The unlimited hand must use the Kickback bid of 4♦ , if she wants to take
control. I think since you have nice controls with a genuine club suit , you should give partner that information by bidding 4♣. She has
the information that you did not
make the “death response” of 3NT which you would have with soft values & a 3 card club suit.
Partner
now bids 4♦ which is clearly Kickback for clubs. You respond 4♠
showing zero or 3 key cards. Partner has ♠AJx ♥x ♦AK109 ♣QJ109x , 6♣ is higher
than 75 % . Partner bids 5♣ so you carry on to 6♣ as you have 3 of
them. Nobody in the Spingold
final got past 3NT !! Note this auction showed a very
important part of minor suit KCB . Once you have limited your hand in
some way , forcing NT
, 2NT rebid , even a strong NT
you are not allowed to use minor suit KCB. Your job is just to advise partner
you do not have the
dreaded 3 card minor with soft values.
Partner who is the unlimited hand
must use minor suit KCB ( Kickback ) .