December 2011 - 50

Better Bridge with Bergen
that you might win all four of your
clubs by ruffing three of them in the
dummy.
2 A K J 7 4 2 8 6 4 3 A Q

Marty Bergen
www.martybergen.com

Splinter Bids 102

Bid 4NT. Partner's singleton diamond is the perfect remedy for your
weak suit. As long as responder has
an ace, 6 should be easy. Because
he must have strength in the black
suits, you should not be concerned at
all about losing a trick in clubs.

Last month, we started with Splinter
Bids 101, in which responder's double
jump in a new suit over partner's
1 or 1 opening shows shortness.
(1-Pass-4, for example.) After
this response, for the time being,
opener is in control. Responder has
provided a good description of his
hand. He has four or more hearts,
zero or one diamond and 13-16
dummy points. A typical hand for a
4 response to 1 would be:

- A K 9 7 5 4 2 A 7 5 4 A 8

A Q 5 Q 10 6 3 2 K J 6 4 3.

How many points are needed to
make a splinter bid?
Because a splinter is game-forcing,
the amount of strength needed to
make this bid can always be obtained
by subtracting the number of points
partner has promised from 26 (the
total number of points suggested to
make a major-suit game).
When you make a splinter bid, your
hand will be the dummy, so the key is
your number of dummy points. Here
are some guidelines:
❖ If partner opens 1, he has at
least 13 points. In order to make a
splinter bid of 3, 4 or 4, you
need 26 minus the value of partner's minimum opener (13), or at
least 13 dummy points.

Because voids are rare, opener
should assume that responder has a
singleton in his short suit. Opener will
now take a second look at his own
hand and evaluate slam prospects.
On the following hands, you open
1 and partner responds 4:
J 6 K J 9 7 4 K Q A 7 5 2
Bid 4. Your K Q opposite partner's singleton are wasted. On this
auction, it is likely that your hand is
no better than if your diamonds were
the doubleton 3-2. On the other hand,
if responder had splintered in clubs,
you would have had interest in a heart
slam. A singleton club opposite your
ace would open up the possibility
50 Bridge Bulletin December 2011

Bid 7. Responder has at least
four hearts, 13-16 dummy points and
a singleton diamond. There are very
few hands where you can confidently
bid a grand slam. This is one of them.
We are now ready to get into more
of the details about splinter bids. With
this convention, I have found that the
best way to do so is with a Q & A approach.

❖ If you open 1 and partner
responds 1, he is showing at
least 6 points. Therefore, to make
a splinter bid of 4 or 4, you
would need 26 minus 6, or 20
dummy points. In practice, because hands with as many as 20
points are rare, no one should have
a problem if opener splinters with
a nice 19 count.
❖ If partner opens 2, you respond
2 (artificial, waiting), and he bids
2, he has a great hand. Therefore, to make a splinter bid of 4,
4 or 4, you don't need much at
all.
Are some hands too strong to
make a splinter bid?
Yes. Because a splinter bid uses up
so much bidding space, I suggest that
your strength be well-defined. After
partner opens 1 or 1, a splinter
raise promises 13-16 dummy points.
If you splinter with a very strong hand
and opener signs off, you may be
tempted to bid again. That approach
will result in too many dangerous
five-level contracts. No thanks. With a
stronger hand, I prefer to bid Jacoby
2NT and keep the auction at a lower
level.
r
Teachers, directors, club owners,
booksellers and coordinators: My
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2011
