Sunday, November 14, 2004 5:09 AM
One of a Major - 3NT
PITBULLS:
Once partner opens one
of a major , bidding a 2/1 with a 4
card minor should be avoided if at all possible. It is not a very
descriptive bid and can lead to some pretty bad contracts. There should be some
“bidding security” that a 2/1
shows a 5 card or longer suit. A forcing NT should have an upper limit of a bad 14 HCP and covers all
the balanced 12-13 HCP hands without a 5 card
suit. Bidding 1NT
forcing first followed by using
your tools to show strong minor raises
or bidding 3NT will get you out of this dilemma . Bidding a 4 card minor as a 2/1 with a strong NT range 14+ to 17 is even worse. What is your
next rebid - a leap to 3NT ? That really describes your hand to partner. If you
are going to pre-empt partner , at
least make the bid descriptive. A 4-3-3-3 hand is ideally suited for that
particular 2/1 auction.
There
are some hands where you are forced to bid a
2/1 with a flat NT opener with a 4 card minor after a major opener.
If you have 3 card support for partner
, a 2/1 is a given . If partner
opens a spade and you have 4 hearts
, a 2/1 has to be manufactured.
However , there is a tool to show all 4-4 in
the minor hands with a doubleton in partners major & a strong NT
range. A direct leap to 3NT shows
these hands after a major opener.
This
bid has the advantage of finding an immediate minor suit fit . If
partner pulls 3NT to 4 of a minor
, it is never out of a position of weakness . In fact , either minor is KCB for that minor ! Here is an example hand from a recent
tournament . You have ♠KJxxx ♥xx ♦AQJxx ♣x and
open 1♠ . Partner
leaps to 3NT showing 2-3-4-4 and a strong NT opener. You bid 4♦ and partner bids 4♥ showing 1 or 4 key cards. Partner held ♠Ax ♥AJ10 ♦Kxxx ♣Axxx and you easily reach your +1370. Now try it with a 2/1 in clubs by partner. You may be
reluctant to try for slam after hearing partner bidding a 2/1 in your stiff. Is
partner required to raise diamonds or should he bid 2 or 3NT to show his
balanced hand & heart stoppers ?
Anyway
the 3NT jump to show 4-4 in the minors and a strong NT range is a handy bid for your
arsenal. The bid narrows the 2/1 with a 4
card minor to a small range of hands mostly with a 3 card fit for your major. This leap to 3NT
is a strict bid . You can not improvise with a 4-3-3-3 or a 2-4-4-3 . The 3NT
bid MUST hold 4-4 in the minors.
If
you do have a balanced strong NT hand without
the requisite 4-4 in the minors , bid a 2/1 in your 4 card minor and leap to
3NT. A 2NT rebid is an either or bid showing
a minimum or a 18-19 HCP balanced
hand. With a 3-3-4-3 and a
balanced strong NT , I would not even bother showing partner the support for
his major and just leap to 3NT after his rebid. If I hold a hand like ♠Kxx ♥KQxx ♦Axx ♣Kxx
and partner opens a spade I would bid 2♣ and over his 2♦ rebid I would bid 2♠ and subsequently try to steer the contract to 3NT. 9 tricks might be a better
game if partner has a poor opener with queens and jacks.
Especially on the
terrorist vulnerability when you are giving maximum leeway , I see no reason to
jump to 3NT after you have bid a forcing NT.
If partner can not bid over 2NT ,
you are high enough. In fact you have relays where you can bail out after 2NT .
A leap to 3NT in my mind should indicate a choice of contracts between 3NT & 4 of
partner’s major.