Monday, September 29, 2003 8:52 PM

Improving Jacoby 2NT

PITBULLS:

Jacoby 2NT shows a forcing major raise with 4 trump or a limit raise with 4 trump in our system. . What it does not show is a good suit as a source of tricks or you would have made a 2/1 and jumped in the major. Also , what it does not show is a singleton or else a splinter would have been a more beneficial bid.

The Jacoby 2NT is an old convention . Bergen , Martel and the Swedes have improved it . Serious 3NT theory can also assist the effectiveness of the Jacoby 2NT . The main complaint about Jacoby 2NT is that it does not show minimums or maximums with singletons . The treatment also did not show minimums very well as the jump to game opposite an unlimited hand jammed slam exploration to the 5 level and violated fast arrival. The old treatment also does not allow the Jacoby 2NT hand to “explore” the other hand very well .. The following treatment is my opinion is a better way to play Jacoby 2NT.

The 3♣ bid should be reserved to show any minimum even with singletons. This eradicates the horrible leap to game to show a minimum and allows the other hand to ask for the singleton if there is still slam interest after a shown minimum . Why show a singleton if you have a minimum and help the opponents with their lead ? The principle of concealment with minimums comes into play. This leaves the opening leader in the dark where declarer can have a singleton on an auction

1♠-P-2NT-P

3♣-P-4♠-P

If partner has slam aspirations and wants to ask for the singleton , she bids 3♦ after your 3♣ reply and you bid up the line to show your respective stiffs. BJ Trelford recommends just use the suit order starting with clubs to show the stiffs and bypass the trump suit which shows a minimum with no stiffs. No memory work involved. The effectiveness of the 3♣ bid has to be appreciated though.

Spades trump 3♦ asks 3♥ - stiff ♣ . 3 ♠ - no stiff , 3NT – stiff diamond , 4♣ - stiff ♥

Heart trump 3♦ asks 3♥- no stiff , 3♠ - stiff ♣ , 3NT – stiff diamond , 4♣ - stiff ♠

The direct 3♦ bid is reserved for all good hands with a stiff minor . Partner bids 3♥ as a query and you reply 3♠ with a singleton club and 3NT with a singleton diamond ( step responses ). With this treatment you know the singleton at the 3 level and the additional fact that partner has a good hand. Without duplication of value , Q bidding will commence under game.

This treatment leaves the other major to show a singleton in that major with a good hand after 2NT . A direct rebid of your major after 2NT shows a good hand with no singleton. A jump to game is a very rare bid and would show all values in the trump suit with no outside controls. A 3NT response is a “serious “ slam try. These bids are all the same as standard Jacoby 2NT. Only the 3♣ & 3♦ replies to 2NT differs from standard Jacoby 2NT.

If partner made a Jacoby 2NT with a limit raise and you reply 3♣ , a return to our suit is a sign off showing the limit raise. With distribution you may over rule and bid game anyway but the “blame transfer” is complete J

Jacoby 2NT is a you tell me type of bid . If you want to reverse that process you use the “Serious 3NT”. All good hands where you want to take control and show serious slam interest is done by the “Serious 3NT” . This forces partner to Q bid . You may have a singleton , a void , a 6 card suit or whatever but you want to take control rather then tell partner what you have. The 3NT bid switches captaincy of the auction . This bid tells partner that the next bid (if your Q bidding goes well ) will probably be KCB Blackwood.

A jump at the 4 level shows a two suiter. A jump at the 5 level is Exclusion Blackwood with a void. Two suiters with maximum values would probably be bid by the “Serious 3NT” route where you need to discover specific controls for slam.

Established partnerships play inverted minors as “limit raise or better” . The major structure should parallel the minor structure in my opinion. Jacoby 2NT is limit raise or better because you can “get out” with the 3♣ bid showing the dog. The beauty of this treatment is that it frees 1♠-P-3♠ and 1♥-P-3♥ from the clumsy limit raise bid. These bids can now be used as slightly pre-emptive i.e. a simple raise with 4 trump. The law of total tricks can be used to access a hand and a simple raise can guarantee three trump. This is a nice side effect of improving your Jacoby 2NT.