Wednesday, September 10, 2003 6:09 PM
The Heart Game
PITBULLS:
Missing
4♥
games for +620 hurts. Established partnerships modify
their system to make sure that it does not happen . One
understanding is how to handle 1-3-5-4 hands
with 5-4 in the minors . When you
open one minor and rebid the other , partners heart bid after a spade response
is 4th suit forcing to game
not natural and a one round force. When opener has advertised 9 or more minor suit cards then insisting on a major
with an invitational hand is futile.
With ♠Axxxx ♥KJxxx ♦xx ♣x partner
will just give diamond preference after 1♦-P-1♠-P 2♣-P-? rather then bid 2♥ . If opener just rebids her minor then
2♥
is a one round force with hearts
as there still is a chance for a heart game . The other minor is 4th
suit forcing to game in those auctions.
O.K.
how do you bid 1-3-5-4 hands that have a 3 card heart fragment ? It depends on
where your points are concentrated
that determines your rebid . If your 3 -1 is x xxx then you bid your other
minor . If you have points concentrated in hearts then forget your other
minor and rebid 1NT ! Why ? This bid gets you to your tight 4♥ games . It is easy for partner to show an
invitational hand in hearts after a 1NT rebid . Now partner will invite in hearts
with ♠Axxxx ♥KJ10xx ♦Jx ♣x where she would just give diamond preference otherwise.
What
if you hold a 1-4-4-4 and open 1♦
with partner responding a spade ? Same thing . With heart values its better to
rebid 1NT & your 4♥
game will be found . One time partner opened 1♦
and I bid a spade with ♠Axxxx ♥xxxx ♦AQx ♣x .
He rebid 2♣ and I jumped to 3♦
invitational. Partner had a 1-4-4-4 and we missed our 620 in hearts . We both
rebid 1NT with those hands now. Also 2-4-5-2 hands with 5 of a minor and 4
hearts . Bend over backwards to rebid 1NT with these hands as you can find your heart fit easier . Rebidding your
minor will lose the heart suit
quite often.
In
4th seat do not lose the heart
suit if that is where you live. Partner held ♠K ♥KQJx ♦A10xx ♣Kxxx in 4th . Opening 1♦ will give you a rebid problem if partner
responds the expected 1♠.
In my mind , you should open 1♥
promoting the suit to a 5 card major or open 1NT with your 4-4-4-1. Opening a
diamond and rebiding 2♣ shuts out your KQJx of hearts and your 16 HCP’s
simultaneously.
The
forcing NT is another bid where you have to be careful not to lose your heart
suit . If you have ♠AKxxxx ♥Q10xx ♦Ax ♣x and partner responds a forcing 1NT bid 2♥ not 2♠ . Partner will pass 2♠ with her 4 hearts and 620
in hearts might be missed.
Subash
Gupta has invented a bid to combat the “heart game “ problem after a 1NT
response. He plays a 3♥
jump bid as invitational over 1NT
and 2♥
is always a minimum most likely with just 4♥ . This bid prevents blowing partials when the 1NT bidder stretches to bid 3♥
because she fears missing the 4♥
game . With a strong jump shift in hearts , Subash bids 3♣ which is a mult purpose
SJS & a relay to 3♦ .
After 3♦ ,
the 3♥
bid shows a strong jump shift. Truly a clever way of solving the heart problem.
BJ
Trelford used the above invitational heart jump inference to stay in a nice heart partial. He held ♠J ♥Jxxx ♦K10xxx ♣Kx I opened 1♠ and BJ bid 1NT . I bid 2♥ so what is BJ’s bid ? He has 8 HCP’s, a stiff in my first suit , no Aces and
bad hearts. So he does not have to stretch to 3♥ knowing that I can not hold invitational
values. He passes 2♥
and that is cold for +110.