Saturday, February 12, 2005 8:42 PM

Club Two Suiters

PITBULLS:

We have club relays to help us distinguish good two suiters and good 6-4’s from bad ones. We follow the Lebensohl principle and if we relay we have the “bow – wow”. A direct bid shows the good 6-4 or 5-5 and is game forcing somewhere.

There is a fly in the ointment with clubs as the 2^nd suit , however. No problem with spades and clubs as you should open 1♣ initially with a weak 5-5 in the blacks. Now if you bid and rebid clubs after a 2NT invite you show the strong two suiter . With clubs & hearts you must reverse the Lebensohl principle as you do not have a relay to assist in the auction . A direct bid with clubs is weak after 2NT and use diamonds as a relay conveying a message. You hold x AKxxx xx AKJxx and open 1♥ and partner bids 1NT . You rebid 2♣ and partner bids 2NT . Now what ? 3♣ should be a weak two suiter. If you now bid 3♦ it’s a signal ( not a relay ) to partner that you have a strong club – heart two suiter. 1♥-P-1NT-P 2♣-P-2NT-P 3♦ shows a strong two suiter with clubs and not “patterning out”. x AQxxx xx A10xxx you would rebid your clubs over 2NT as the weak 5-5. Alternatively we can have the understanding that we bid our stiff in these sequences to show the strong 5-5 in hearts & clubs . That shows our pattern ( stiff spade or diamond ) & HCP’s precisely. Comments ?

No not forget in any auction 3♣ over 2NT invitation is a relay to improve the partial unless you have shown clubs earlier at a lower level. You have x AJxxx KQ1098 Jx that you decided to open. You open 1♥ and over a spade overcall partner bids 2NT . 3♦ is a game force so you must bid 3♣ and pass the relay. What if you have a weak heart-club two suiter ? I think the only answer is to pass 2NT invitational with your two suits . Maybe they will balance J .

What about passed hand auctions ? With a passed hand , I think relays after a 1NT & 2NT invitational bid should not exist. If you have a decent two suiter or 6-4 , Standard American bidding should apply ( just bid game somewhere ) . The bid after 2NT should be “improving” the partial and non forcing as you are a light 3^rd seat opener and want to escape 2NT. The frequency of weak two suiters is the norm in 3^rd seat and may be really substandard. This seat position does not justify a relay in my opinion anyway. I have an understanding that most systems are “off” as a passed hand. Lets add this one to the list.