Friday, August 05, 2005 2:43 AM

NT & Smolen 2♠

 

PITBULLS:

 

            After a strong NT opener by partner , you have a 4 card major with 6 of another suit which could include the other major. How do you describe these hands ? If you have the non forcing to game variety of these distro’s,  you have no problem. You just bid Stayman and with a 2♦ response , just bid 2NT or if you wish you can raise to 3♦ ( rare ) or some sort of Texas bid. The difficult hands are the forcing 4-6’s .

 

          The Smolen hands with hearts as the anchor suit both forcing & non forcing are also hard to describe. Smolen was devised to describe these hands after a 2♦ response to Stayman. We can kill two birds with one stone and describe the above difficult hands with a Smolen 2♠ bid. Unlike the other Smolen counterpart of 2♥ ( spades as anchor suit) which is a relay only , this bid is a relay to 2NT describing Smolen hands with hearts as an anchor suit or the forcing to game 6-4’s. 

 

          OK since the Smolen 2♠ bid shows  a number of hands,  we use 2NT by the 1NT opener as a relay. This allows us to differentiate the Smolen hands from the 6-4 hands. If we had a Smolen hand , we bid 3♥, 3♠, 3NT, 4♣ or 4♦ after the 2NT relay. If we have the 6-4 , we just bid our minor at the 3 level. Partner can now ask for the 4 card major in order to choose the best game of either 3NT or 5 of the minor.

 

          With the above pre-amble the structure below should make sense :

 

1NT     2§

2¨       2♠              Relay: a) 4ª, 5 ♥,; b) 4♥ or 4ª & 5/6 minor  GF; c) 4ª, 5♥, GF

2NT                       accepting the relay

            Pass           4♠, 5 ♥  struck out

            3§             4♥ or 4ª, 5/6§’s, GF – if 4-5, will have a singleton

                              3¨ asks for 4 card major

                                    3♥ = 4♥

                                    3ª = 4♠

                                               

            3¨             4♥ or 4ª, 5/6¨’s, GF – if 4-5, will have a singleton

                              3♥ asks for 4 card major

                                    3NT = 4♥

                                    3ª = 4♠

 

            3©             4♠, 6♥, GI

3ª             4 ♠, 5 ♥, 31 in minors, Game Only

3NT           4 ♠, 5 ♥, 22 in minors, Game Only

4§/4¨       4 ♠, 5 ♥, 3 or 4 cards in minor bid, Slam Try

 

            With the 4-5-3-1 slam try hands , KCB occurs if we have struck gold and no duplication of value in the stiff. If duplication of value present and we wish to play in the major , we bid the known 5 card major. If we have duplication of value and no fit for the 5 card major , we bid the 4 card major and partner must correct to 4NT which ends the auction. 

 

          BJ Trelford opened 1NT with Qxx xx Axx AKQxx  and I held AK10x xx KQ109xx x . I bid Stayman and BJ replied 2♦. I bid 2♠ as a relay to 2NT and BJ complies. I now bid 3♦ to show my 6-4. BJ bids 3♥ to ask me for my 4 card major. I bid 3♠ to show my exact 6-4. BJ is now aware that we may not have a heart stopper. He bids 4♣ which confirms diamonds as trump. I look at my doubleton heart and bid 5♦. Staying out of 3NT was worth 11 IMPS.