CounterintuitiveAnother in the “What means what” series. I saw this auction while kibbing a recent IAC Spur Team Match. North/South were playing a standard 2/1 system with a forcing notrump. At both tables, North opened a heavy 1
. (Some may choose to open this hand 2
, but I am fine with 1
).
South responded 1NT, intending to show a three-card limit-raise over partner’s rebid. But opener threw a wrench in the works by jumping to 3
, unequivocally a game-force. So how does responder
now show what he initially intended to show?
We all learn the following early on in developing our bridge knowledge—once a game force has been established, to show more, go slowly. But there are exceptions. This is one of them.
Assume that, as responder, you have this hand:
Q8
9742
32
KQT83
The common default here is that 3
merely shows preference. It DOES NOT even promise three of partner’s suit! So with very little in the way of strength, and even less in the way of support, the “expert standard” call with the above responder’s hand is 3
. Counterintuitive!
The responder in the IAC Spur Match, with a 3-card limit-raise, correctly jumped to 4
. Again—counterintuitive! Unfortunately, even with the massive hand that north had, 4
was passed. My guess is that north was not aware of what it showed.
I believe continuations after opener’s jump-shift to be a very difficult area of bidding, and one that is often undiscussed. With discussion, I believe a viable overloading of responder’s 3M bid could be accomplished, including both the “showing preference” garbage bid and the 3-card limit-raise. But knowing the “expert standard” continuation is where the discussion begins.
Any ideas?