PB

Keeping Up With CONVENTIONS

Conventions FOR MAJOR
BY DAVID LINDOP SUIT OPENINGS
I Five-card Majors?
n the last issue we began looking If partner passes and you have an
at how fill out the standard opportunity to open in third or
What would be your z A K J 10
convention card that lists all the fourth chair with a minimum hand,
opening bid with this y K Q 9 8
bidding and defensive carding agree- there are tactical considerations.
hand? If the answer x 7 4
Since partner has fewer than 13
ments of the partnership. You have is 1w, then you are w 9 8 3 points, your prospects for game . . .
to use have a completed card when playing five-card majors, the popu-
you play in regular club games and and definitely slam . . . are much
lar style in North America. An less. Your side might not even win
tournaments. It is also beneficial to opening bid of 1y or 1z promises a the auction. If you do end up
fill out the card with your partner so five-card or longer suit. With no defending with partner on lead,
you know what agreements you have five-card major suit, you open the you’d much prefer that partner lead
before the game begins. longer minor suit. a spade than a club. Also, an open-
The card is color-coded: Doesn’t everyone play this way? ing bid of 1z will make it more dif-
1. Items in black indicate “stan- In places such as England, four-card ficult for the opponents to enter the
dard” methods which don’t major suit openings are common. auction than an opening bid of 1w.
require any special notification to These players would consider it So, opening a strong four-card
the opponents. strange to open a weak three-card major in third or fourth position has
2. Items in red indicate non-stan- suit when you have two very fine a lot going for it.
four-card suits. Even some top Since this tends to be the excep-
dard agreements that require you
North American partnerships prefer tion rather than the rule, many part-
to alert your opponents if they
four-card majors. nerships place the check mark
come up.
However, your partnership is somewhere between the 4 and 5 for
3. Items in blue (grey) are some- likely with the majority and you openings in third and fourth seat. In
where in between. They are fair- would check the box for 5 beside effect, partner will assume that you
ly standard agreements but you Expected Minimum Length. have a five-card or longer suit if you
have to announce them to your open 1y or 1z, but won’t be overly
opponents when they apply. Expected Min. Length 4 5
surprised if you occasionally show
1st/2nd † √†
Last issue we looked at the area up with a good four-card suit. In this
covering Notrump Opening Bids. In case, the card would look like this:
this issue we move on to Major Why Are There Two Lines?
Expected Min. Length 4 5
Openings. Here is what this area on A closer examination shows that 1st/2nd † √
†
the convention card looks like: there are two lines for the expected 3rd/4th † √ †
minimum length. One is for
MAJOR OPENING opening bids in first and second If you prefer that 1y or 1z
Expected Min. Length 4 5 position (1st/2nd) and one is for opening always guarantees at least
opening bids in third and fourth five cards, check the box under 5 for
1st/2nd † †
position (3rd/4th). all positions.
3rd/4th † †
Consider this z A K Q 4 Limit Raises?
RESPONSES
hand. Playing y K 5
Double Raise: Force † Inv. † Weak † Suppose partner z A 8 4
standard five- x J 8 3
After Overcall: Force † Inv. † Weak † opens 1y in first or y Q 10 8 4
card majors, this w 9 7 4 3 second position. What x K Q 9
Conv. Raise: 2NT † 3NT † Splinter † hand would universally be
Other: would you respond w 7 6 3
opened 1w in first or second with this hand? If the answer is 3y,
1NT: Forcing † Semi-forcing † position because there is no showing support and an invitational
2NT: Forcing † Inv. † to five-card major. Since partner is hand of about 10-12 points, you are
3NT: to unlimited, you may be headed playing limit raises. You would check
Drury †: Reverse † 2-Way † Fit † for game or slam and want to be the box for Inv. (invitational) beside
Other: sure to find the best trump suit. Double Raise under Responses.
PLAY 14 BRIDGE
VOLUME 6, NO. 5 SEPTEMBER, 2002
 PB

RESPONSES points plus 3 dummy points for the If your partnership plays a forc-
Double Raise: Force † Inv. √
† Weak † singleton club, you have enough to ing 1NT response, you would check
commit the partnership to game. the appropriate box. If your 1NT
This is the standard use of the Since a jump raise to 3y would response is non forcing, showing 6-
double raise of opener’s suit. Note only be invitational of you use limit 9 or 10 points, you don’t need to
that you don’t need to indicate that a raises, most partnerships use some mark anything.
single raise to the two level shows conventional method to describe a
about 6-9/10 points . . . or that you forcing (game-going) raise. The
Other Notrump Responses?
count dummy points for shortness most popular method is Jacoby 2NT. If you use the Jacoby 2NT convention,
when considering how strong a A 2NT response to a major suit is your 2NT . . . and perhaps 3NT . . .
response to make. artificial, showing four-card or responses are artificial. If you use a
longer support and a hand worth 13 more natural style, a 2NT response
What If There Is an Overcall? would typically show an invitational
or more points. Opener then has
What if you hold the z A 8 4 balanced hand of 11-12 points or a
ways to show a minimum hand or
same hand opposite y Q 10 8 4 game-going balanced hand with 13-15
extra distribution or strength. If
partner’s 1y opening x K Q 9 points. You would then fill in the
that’s your style, check the box for
bid but the opponent w 7 6 3 appropriate ranges for your 2NT and
2NT beside Conv(entional) Raise.
on your left makes an overcall of 1z? 3NT response (16-17?). Otherwise,
If you would still jump to 3y to Conv. Raise: 2NT √
† 3NT † Splinter † leave them blank. This is usually more
show an invitational hand, you applicable to responses to a minor suit
This box is red, indicating you
would check the Invitational box (next issue). Natural responses in
must say “Alert” if partner makes
beside After Overcall: notrump don’t need to be alerted.
this conventional response. Since
After Overcall: Force † Inv. √
† Weak † some responses to this convention Drury?
are also artificial, the partnership Suppose you pass z Q 8 2
The modern style is toward treat- will need to alert them as well.
ing a jump raise as preemptive with this hand and y K 7 6 3
Some partnerships would partner opens 1y. x K 9 5
(weak) after an overcall. Why? The respond 4w with the above hand, a
opponent’s overcall has made two With 11 high-card w K 8 3
splinter bid showing support for points you have enough to make a
new bids available: a double and a hearts, shortness in clubs, and
cuebid. Most partnerships use the limit raise to 3y . . . and, if that’s
enough strength for game. If your your style, read no further.
double as takeout (negative) but the partnership also uses this conven-
cuebid can be used to show a limit A popular tactic at duplicate
tion, check the appropriate box. bridge, however, is to occasionally
raise or better in opener’s suit. So,
If you don’t have a conventional open “light” in third or fourth posi-
with the above hand, you would cue-
forcing raise in response to a major tion . . . hoping for a small plus or
bid 2z rather than jumping to 3y. suit, you wouldn’t check any of
That frees up the 3y jump response to get the partnership off to the best
these boxes. You would probably opening lead. If partner has opened
to be a weak bid in competitive auc- respond in a new suit with this hand, with 10 or 11 points, a jump to 3y
tions, designed to make it difficult for planning to show the heart support might get the partnership too high.
the opponents to find their best spot. and strength on your rebid. A popular solution to this dilem-
Whether your partnership treats If you would jump to 4y with ma is the Drury convention. A
the jump raise as invitational, strong this hand, that’s fine. However, you response of 2w is artificial and asks
(forcing to game), or weak, just should mark under Other “raise to if opener has a real opening bid.
check the appropriate box. Notice four level” because the standard Originally, a rebid of 2x by opener
than any of these styles are consid- meaning of a jump to 4y is as a pre- was used to show the “light” hand.
ered standard. You don’t have to emptive raise, not a strong raise. The modern trend is to play Reverse
alert the opponents. It’s up to them Drury, where a rebid of the original
. . . or you if the shoe is on the other Two-Over-One? suit shows no interest in getting
foot . . . to look at the convention A popular modern trend is toward a higher. If you play that version, you
card or ask if they want to know two-over-one style where a new suit would respond 2w with this hand
what your jump raise shows. response at the two level is usually and pass opener’s rebid of 2y. You
forcing to game. A consequence of would fill out the card like this:
The Forcing Raise?
this style is that a 1NT response to a Drury √
†: Reverse √
† 2-Way † Fit †
Now suppose you z A762 major suit is typically played as a
hold this hand and y Q984 forcing response instead of an invi- And, unless you play any other
partner opens 1y. x KQ94 tational response . . . or semi-forc- fancy conventions over a major suit,
With 11 high-card w 3 ing if responder is a passed hand. you’re done.
PLAY 15 BRIDGE
VOLUME 6, NO. 5 SEPTEMBER, 2002