Thursday, June 08, 2006 1:02 AM

Specific Suit Asking Bids

 

PITBULLS:

 

          There are two logical places for specific suit asking bids. Kantar has devised a scheme with KCB and a major fit. Stan Cabay devised a system after a 2♣ opener and setting the suit.  Kantars rule is quite simple. Any suit bid that is not the queen ask after KCB for Aces in a major is a specific suit ask. He has the “death response” concept where a return to the agreed trump suit says no interest in that suit. This leaves the number of steps from the next suit on not including the trump suit as a step ,  giving the required information. The suit ask assumes you already know the Ace situation and if used when you already know the King situation in that suit , you bring in queens & jacks !!

 

          The responses are simple steps up the line. Spades agreed and as an example you are asking in diamonds. The 1st step is queen or doubleton when you have an agreed major suit fit. The next step ( skipping over the trump suit if need be) shows the Kxx , the last step shows Kx . The raise of the ask suit shows the KQ and a leap to 7 of the trump suit shows a singleton in the ask suit. The purpose for this is to convert to 7NT with the KQ if you are worried about bad breaks or ruffs.

 

          Here is Kantar’s write up on the specific suit ask .  The next logical place for specific suit asking bids is in your 2♣ structure. My partners & I have removed the strong Roman 2♦ hands from the  2♣ structure. Instead , we have a jump bid by the 2♣ opener as setting the trump suit and demanding partner top bid a control if she has one. Like KCB , a new suit later by the 2♣ opener is a specific suit ask following Kantars scheme. The death response is returning to the trump suit and the 1st step is the queen or a doubleton if partner has some trump. Here is an auction from a hand in the Bermuda bowl.

 

AKx AKQJxx A AKx   2♣-P-2♦-P 

                                   3♥ (1) P 4♥ (2)     P

                                   4♠ (3) P 4NT (4)   P

                                   5♣ (5) P 5♦  (6)    P

                                   7♥ (7) P P            P

 

(1)    Sets ♥’s as trump

(2)    No controls

(3)    Describe your spades

(4)    I have the queen or a doubleton with trump

(5)    Describe your clubs

(6)    I have the queen or doubleton with trump

(7)    WOW !!

 

 

Responders hand is QJx xxx xxxxx xx !!