March 2013 - 44

Upgrading Your Game

Lynn Berg
lberg@cfl.rr.com

Transfers are useful bidding tools,
but there are more places for disagreement and confusion than you
might imagine. Last month's discussion was about one-suited, major-suit
hands. What about a hand like:
ࡕK J 9 5 4 ࡖA Q 8 6 3 ࡗ6 ࡔK 8?
Whether you use transfers depends
a lot on your partnership's idea of
what a 1NT opener can look like.
Sometimes we get a hand with two
doubletons that still looks like a
notrump opener. Perhaps only one of
the doubletons is a major. But opposite a 1NT opener as extreme as
ࡕA Q ࡖK 10 ࡗQ J 9 8 7 2 ࡔA 7 4,
it's not a good idea to transfer to
spades and then jump to 4ࡖ, a common treatment with the 5-5 hand
above. In the old days, before transfers, we'd have jumped to 3ࡕ, then
bid 4ࡖ if partner's response to 3ࡕ
was 3NT. We knew that partner did
not have doubletons in both majors,
so it was entirely safe. If you and your
partner haven't discussed how far you
push this envelope, you should.
What is your partnership policy
with a weak hand like:
ࡕJ 9 7 5 4 ࡖK 9 8 6 3 ࡗ6 ࡔ8 2?
44 Bridge Bulletin March 2013

Without having discussed it, you
can choose at random one of the majors, cross your fingers and just pass.
Or you could have the agreement that
a transfer to hearts followed by 2ࡕ
shows a weak hand. Partner should
leave it at the two level in spades unless she has a very strong preference
for hearts - enough of a preference
to bid hearts at the three level knowing that you have a weak hand. If you
have the strong hand, you'd transfer
to spades and then bid hearts at the
three level, implying game values.
With 5-4 in the majors, start with
Stayman. If partner bids a major,
that's trump. If partner's answer is
2ࡗ, you could still have a 5-3 majorsuit fit. Bidding your suit at the two
level would show a weak hand and
is in no way invitational, let alone
forcing. With a game-going hand,
the traditional method over 2ࡗ is to
jump to three in your five-card suit. A
variation called Smolen (an Alert, of
course) has you jumping in your fourcard suit so that partner can be the
declarer if you uncover a 5-3 fit.
Minor-suit transfers
First, note that transfers into clubs
and diamonds, showing at least a
six-card suit, are Alertable. The most
popular treatment is to use 2ࡕ as a
transfer to clubs. With a weak hand
and diamonds, the 2ࡕ bidder "corrects" to 3ࡗ. The flaw in this approach is that the diamond contract
will be declared by the weaker hand,
while the notrump opening hand is on
the table for all to see. In recent years,
four-suit transfers have evolved: 2ࡕ

to clubs and 2NT to diamonds being
the most common approach.
Why bother transferring to a minor, out of the higher-profit notrump
strain, anyway? Usually it's an extreme hand, maybe a bad hand like:
ࡕ- ࡖ8 6 2 ࡗQ J 9 7 6 5 3 ࡔJ 8 7
where three of a minor has better play
than a notrump contract. On the other
hand, it could be a wonderful collection like:
ࡕ- ࡖA 8 6 ࡗA Q J 10 9 6 5 ࡔK 8 7,
where a diamond slam is surely
worth investigating. Some partnership agreements take the refinements
even further. As usual, when the
notrump opener breaks the transfer
to bid something other than the suit
requested, it's good news. She's generally showing a maximum hand and a
fit. In clubs or diamonds, that would
mean an honor and two more or at
least three small.
It's easy to distinguish between
these two extremes. You transfer and
quit bidding with a really weak hand,
transfer and keep bidding with the
good one. How you bid subsequent to
the transfer with a good hand depends on your agreement. Would bidding a major now show a second suit,
or shortness, or would it be a cuebid?
One big disadvantage of four-suit
transfers is that 2NT is no longer
available as a natural, invitational
raise. The solution with a nice 8-point
hand like:
ࡕK 6 3 ࡖ7 2 ࡗQ J 9 6 ࡔQ 10 8 7
is to bid Stayman followed by 2NT.
➤

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2013