Wednesday, May 11, 2005 9:45 PM

Generalizations

 

Pitbulls:

 

          Generalizations are a great thing for Bridge partnerships and their systemic treatments. Something that occurs in all instances makes it very easy on the memory. Tom & I have a number of them which I will discuss below . If your partner has understandings that always happen with a certain bid,  it is a trigger or wake up call. If you play a non Standard system , you must hone in on the differences between your system and Standard. Generalizations help with that task.

 

 Tom & I play relays . These relays always occur when an invitational 2NT bid surfaces.  The relays are always to 3♣ or a 3♣ bid is a relay to 3♦. Either bid always show hands weaker than bidding naturally. We play the good-bad 2NT when the opponents bid in the sandwich position. This is a relay to 3♣ . Forcing 1NT auctions where responder or opener bids 2NT invitational . 3♣ is a relay to 3♦ and weaker hands are shown. A jump response to 2NT over a minor directly or in competition followed by a 3♣ bid is a relay . A damn exception occurs here though. If you have opened a club and partner bids 2NT , 3♣ is not a relay nor is it forcing. One of any suit , a response  , a 2NT rebid showing 18-19  followed by a 3♣ bid is a relay. In these sequences if you relay first and then bid 3NT is a slam try in partners opening minor. You can find 4-4 major fits with the 3♣ relay bid also.

 

          We have a generalization that after a major response to our opener,  a jump to game is never strong. We show these hand types with a 3♣ strong jump shift. After a spade , heart or diamond opener with a response by partner followed by a strong jump shift to 3♣ , it is a relay. After a spade opener , partner can now show a 3♥ strong hand , a 3♠ strong hand or a 3♣ strong hand ( by bidding 3NT ). After a heart opener and a spade response,  a 3♣ jump shift is a relay to 3♦ and you can now show a strong heart or club hand or a 4 card forcing to game spade raise. With a diamond opener and a major suit response , a 3♣ strong jump shift is a relay to 3♦ and you can show a 4 card raise of partners major or a 3♦ bid too strong to rebid 3♦ or a natural club strong jump shift. After a club opener we are allowed to rebid 2NT with 4 of partners major rather than jump to game in a major.

 

          With our forcing bid after a minor opening or a major opening , we have another generalization. Our inverted minors or Jacoby 2NT are both limit raise or better hands. Both major and minor auctions can die at 3 of our agreed suit. We have another generalization with the Kokish treatment of a 1♦-P-2♣ . Only the 2♣ bidder can explore for a 4-4 major suit fit. An inverted minor can have a 4 card major and we have the same Kokish generalization. The inverted minor bidder finds the 4-4 major fit after opener rebids NT ( he may have both majors and bid NT ). Inverted minors force a relay and all forcing to game flat NT hands are shown.

 

          We have another generalization with NT bids in all 2/1 or 4th suit forcing auctions. If we leap to 3NT it is a hand that evaluates to a strong NT range ( 15-17).  If we bid 2NT it is always an either/or bid 12-14 or 18-19 to be clarified later. We have another generalization in these forcing auctions. A jump rebid in a suit is a semi-solid or solid suit but does not necessarily show extra HCP’s. No need to jump in forcing auctions otherwise.

 

          We have a generalization with a direct 3♣ jump after either major opener. It shows any minor splinter. A jump to 3♦ shows a stiff in the other major. We use the same understanding of a 3♦ asking bid as in our Jacoby 2NT auctions to investigate the location of the splinter. A singleton is always shown at the 3 level. We just use step responses to identify the stiff.

 

          We have a generalization with splinters in competition or as a passed hand . They do not exist. A jump in competition is pre-emptive ( weak jump shift ) . A jump in a new suit as a passed hand is a fit showing jump ( flower bid ). We are allowed to splinter after a takeout double as it is no use jumping in one of their possible suits. A jump to the 4 level in a new suit after a major is Exclusion KCB as is 1♥-P-3♠.

 

          Tom and I play a re-Stayman toy to find minor suit fits by asking for the NT bidders patterns. We have a generalization there also. After a 2♦ response to Stayman and a 3♣ re-Stayman , a major shows a 5 card minor. If partner bids a major and partner re-Staymans a nice generalization is that diamonds are always natural and a major rebid is always a 5 card major. Another generalization in these sequences is no matter what the initial response to Stayman was , a 3NT rebid always shows a 4-3-3-3 pattern. Another generalization is that after finding a minor fit , 4 of a minor is KCB.

 

          If responder makes a jump rebid in his suit , it is recovering the strong jump shift. It is similar to the Goren strong jump shift with a semi-solid or solid suit requirement. It can occur after a 1NT rebid also . If you go the 4th suit forcing route or the 2♦ game force route after a 1NT response , the suit is weaker.

 

          With a 2♣ opener we have another generalization. We open strong two suiters with 2♣ so we need a way of keeping the bidding low to describe them. A rebid of a major after a 2♦ response is always a relay. If hearts rebid , relay to spades and if spades rebid , relay to NT . Two suiters or single suiters are now shown. If the 2♣ bidder now bids NT , it shows the upper range 2NT bids. A 2♥ response to 2♣ shows no controls as does a double of their suit. A 2♦ bid  or a pass shows 1 control or more.

 

          Generalizations for minor KCB is great for the memory. The level where you find the minor fit is the generalization.  If you find the minor fit at the two level a jump to 4 of the minor is KCB. If you find the minor fit at the 3 level a raise to the 4 level by the unlimited hand is KCB . If you pull 3NT to 4 of partners minor, it is minor KCB . If you have just found your minor fit at the 4 level that is just the agreement and not the ask. You need Kickback to be minor KCB at the 4 level. The generalization is that the level determines minor suit KCB.

 

          You need generalizations to distinguish Q bids from natural suits. If partner has shown a strong single suiter or a strong two suiter , we reserve the 4 level for Q bids and the 3 level for suits. A Q bid is generally a limit raise or better in partners suit . Unfortunately there are exceptions. With a minor suit implied in an auction , a Q bid is asking for a NT stopper. Q bids under 4NT can be either 1st or 2nd round control.

 

          We have a generalization with 2/1 in competition or left alone. In competition , a rebid of the suit is non forcing and may just be a suit. A direct 2/1 auction after a major opener , a minor rebid is non forcing to game. A spade opener followed by a 3♥ bid is pre-emptive as is 1♥-P-2♠.  1♦-P-3♣ is a Goren 2♣/3♣ bid.

1♠-P-2♥ is not forcing to game if hearts rebid.

 

          We have a generalization with all jump shift reverses by opener. These are always 6-5 hands with values just under a true reverse (10 – 14 ) . We lose some splinters this way but these are nice pre-emptive and descriptive bids. They do not apply if partner makes a 2/1 but they can occur in competition.

 

          A good exercise for partnerships is to go through your system and determine how many common threads occur that are NOT standard. These generalizations assist the memory and avoid costly confusion in the heat of battle. The human memory works better when you can make a relationship and use the word all. A generalization is a great way to do this and assist the memory. Tom , BJ and I have a complex system so we need all the help we can get J .