June 2020 - 47

Newer Players

Startup Bridge
BY LYNN BERG

lberg@cfl.rr.com

Major-suit raises
One of the first steps along your
bridge education is learning what to
do when partner opens 1♥ or 1♠.
Because partner's bid promises at least
a five-card suit, we can support the
suit whenever we have three or more.
Here's what most of us do:
With 6-9+ points, we make a single
raise: 1♥-2♥, promising at least three
hearts.
With 10-12 points, we make a jump
(limit) raise: 1♥-3♥. Many have the
agreement that this promises fourcard support.
In the popular 2/1 bidding style, the
forcing response of 1NT to one of a
major allows responder to show a limit
raise with only three-card support by
bidding 1NT first and then jumping to
three of partner's major. In this auction:
1♠
2 anything

1NT
3♠

responder shows 10-12 points but only
three-card support.
Knowing that partner has four-card
support can help opener decide whether to accept that invitational jump.
If you are not playing 2/1 (yet), you
can still have the four-card requirement for an immediate jump raise. Say
partner opens 1♥ and you hold:
♠A 2 ♥J 9 3 ♦K J 8 4 2 ♣Q 7 6.
Make the forcing bid of 2♦ first,
then raise partner to the three level in
hearts, promising three-card support.

With 13 or more points, don't make
a direct raise to game! Instead, you
might:
⦁ bid a new suit first and then go to
game
⦁ employ the Jacoby 2NT convention
with four-card support
⦁ employ a splinter bid if you have a
singleton or void
⦁ make a strong jumpshift with 17+.
Why not just bid game directly?
While you know the hand belongs in
game because partner opened and you
have an opening hand, you still don't
know if partner has extras. Jumping all
the way to the four level uses up a lot of
bidding room. It's hard to make a safe
investigation for slam at this high level.
One of the biggest advantages of the
2/1 style is the use of "slow arrival."
Consider this auction:
1♥
2NT

2♦
3♥

Because responder has forced to
game with 2♦, 3♥ is stronger than
a jump to 4♥ would be. It leaves
room for opener to describe his hand
well below the level of game. Often,
Blackwood can be avoided altogether
with slow arrival.
So what about the auction 1♥-4♥?
For many decades, long before the
advent of 2/1, this direct jump to game
has shown a weak but shapely hand
with five-card support.

♠2 ♥9 7 6 5 3 ♦A 8 6 4 2 ♣9 3
There are two reasons for this strategy: There's a good chance the opponents have a good fit, since we do. Why
let them find it easily? And we might
even make a game, believe it or not.
Partner will have little trouble drawing
trump. Either we have diamond fit and
the suit will set up if partner has a hand
like:
♠7 5 ♥A K J 8 4 ♦K Q 7 ♣8 6 5,
or perhaps a crossruff situation will
develop if partner holds, say:
♠A 9 7 5 ♥K Q J 8 4 ♦7 ♣A Q 7.
Be warned, though, that five trumps
are not enough by themselves. You also
need another suit at least four cards
long and, best-case scenario, a quick
trick somewhere in the hand. With:
♠8 4 3 ♥A 9 7 5 2 ♦6 5 ♣K 7 2,
you may have five-card trump support,
but this holding is worth only a single
raise.
◾

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June 2020 Bridge Bulletin

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June 2020

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