Tuesday, January 02, 2007 8:40 PM


Kickback III

 

PITBULLS:

 

          Pulling 3NT to a minor should never be done from a position of weakness. When 3NT is pulled to a minor, it should show slam intentions and not the Edmonton practice of defining it as being KCB . Defining pulling 3NT to a minor as KCB , encourages taking control & single handed bidding. Pulling 3NT should be a slam try & not just taking control of the auction. Give partner some more say in the proceedings. Partner can Q bid , sign off in 4NT or take control herself by bidding Kickback. If partner does not discourage or does not bid Kickback , your 4NT must be defined as KCB and not as the final contract.

 

          Here is a common inverted minor auction. 1♣-P-2♣-P

                                                                            2NT-P-3♦-P

                                                                            3NT-P-4♣-P

 

4♣ is saying , I have heard your minimum but I am still interested in slam. It should not be saying , I am taking control of the auction so answer Aces. If that was her intention , why did she just not jump to 4♣ immediately after 2NT ? If partner now bids 4♦ , that is Kickback and accepting the slam try. If partner now Q bids , 4NT is unmistakably KCB .

 

          Taking control by jumping to 4 of partners minor is clearly KCB . If partner fails to do that early , she does not get a 2nd chance just be pulling 3NT to our minor. This is a slam try and Kickback is used for KCB purpose otherwise 4NT is the death response.

 

          1♠-P-2♦-P

           3♦-P-3NT-P

           4♦    is a slam try and 4♥ is Kickback. If all the opener wanted was Aces it begs the question , why did she not just jump to 4♦ immediately ? Having a general rule that pulling 3NT to 4 of your minor is KCB is too simplistic. You still might be looking for a key Q bid that would allow you to venture past 4NT as a contract. Q bidding in the age of Kickback & minor suit KCB is not dead , just partially diminished with the Kickback suit. 4NT with this style of bidding is almost always to play. Kickback replaced 4NT as KCB and not just returning to the minor at the 4 level. Be careful.

 

          There are some minor auctions where Kickback is not needed. 1♠-P-2♦-P

                                                                                                           3♦-P-4♦    is obviously KCB as it is silly to bypass two Q bids & 3NT  with slam intentions. In modern bidding where 4NT is no longer Blackwood with minors , Kickback & 4 of your minor are both KCB . The context of the auction sorts things out. So you want to be a Bridge expert J.