Monday, December 04, 2006 11:52 AM

The Death Response – NT

PITBULLS:

It is very important in Bridge to have a way of dragging your feet when partner has visions of bigger & better things. The most common “death response “ is immediately returning to the trump suit when partner is inviting with a Q bid. If partner is Q bidding , even rebidding your 4 card suit as a “death response “ is perfectly acceptable.

In minor auctions or NT auctions, returning to NT at your first opportunity is the death response. Do not forgot that once you have announced your minimum and partner has heard you and is still trying , you should co-operate with a good minimum. If your minimum is truly dreadful then bail out to NT again. Ok with all this pre-amble , lets bid this hand that nobody in a Spingold got to their cold 6♣.

You open a club with ♠109x ♥A109x ♦Jx ♣AKxx and partner bids 2♣ inverted showing limit raise or better. You bid 2NT which describes your weak NT type of minimum. Partner bids 3♦ which is a game force and showing where she lives ( we assume) for NT purposes. We have nice controls so we show our heart stopper by bidding 3♥. Partner now bids 3♠ which now clarifies her previous bids as trying for a club slam, rather than making sure that 3NT was the best spot. What now ? Should we sign off in 3NT , Fast arrival to 5♣ or bid 4♣ ? Since you limited your hand with a 2NT bid, 4♣ is not KCB. The unlimited hand must use the Kickback bid of 4♦ , if she wants to take control. I think since you have nice controls and a genuine club suit , you should give partner that information by bidding 4♣. She has the information that you did not make the “death response” of 3NT which you would have with soft values & a 3 card club suit.

Partner now bids 4♦ which is clearly Kickback for clubs. You respond 4♠ showing zero or 3 key cards. Partner has ♠AJx ♥x ♦AK109 ♣QJ109x and 6♣ is higher than 75 % . Partner bids 5♣ and you carry on to 6♣ as you have 3 of them. Nobody in the Spingold final got past 3NT !!

Note this auction showed a very important part of minor suit KCB . Once you have limited your hand in some way , forcing NT , 2NT rebid , even a strong NT you are not allowed to use minor suit KCB. Partner who is the unlimited hand must use minor suit KCB ( Kickback ) .