October 2022 - 53

Newer Players
Ask Jerry
BY JERRY HELMS
askjerry@jerryhelms.com
jerryhelms.com
Dear Jerry,
From a recent club game:
A 7 2 k6 lA Q 10 7 'A Q J 9 6.
I opened 1' and the auction
continued:
1'
2l
1
Pass!
With both minor-suit kings
onside and 2-2 spades, we could
make 4. How should we bid this?
Greta
Hi Greta,
As always, the first and foremost
issue is partnership agreement. Your
sequence of opening 1' followed by
bidding 2l was a classic " reverse. "
Quoting from the Official Encyclopedia
of Bridge, a reverse is " an
unforced rebid at the level of two in a
higher-ranking suit than the suit bid
originally ... in most cases reverses
imply the first bid suit consist of at
least five cards, and the second suit
is shorter. " A reverse after a one-level
response is a strong bid with values
of 17 or more points, two strong suits,
virtually always with unbalanced
distribution ... exactly what you had.
Hint: With a balanced hand, opener
would either start with 1NT, or make
a jump rebid to 2NT, depending on
total values.
Continuing from the Encyclopedia,
" virtually all experts now treat reverses
as forcing. " Obviously your partner
was not on the same page. One of two
things likely went through his mind: 1)
He did not think your bid was forcing;
or 2) Having a shaded response with
only 5 HCP, he panicked and did not
wish to bid again because he was in a
playable spot. A point here: I think it
is OK to take a position in the bidding
like he did to respond with less than
full values; however, once you have
done so, you cannot take a second
position on the same hand by passing
a forcing bid!
I strongly believe that a reverse
should be 100% forcing for one round.
My preference is to play that responder's
first obligation after a reverse is
to rebid the five-card or longer major
suit that he initially responded in,
which is also forcing for one round. A
reasonable agreement is to play that
a reverse is forcing to at least 2NT or
three of opener's minor.
Using this agreement, your partner
should have rebid 2. Once you know
he has at least a five-card suit, you
could jump to 4. At this point, your
partner would likely be regretting his
initial decision to respond; however,
when the smoke had cleared and 10
tricks were in the bag, there would be
great joy in Mudville.
Addendum:
Never reverse with equal length
suits! Recently I witnessed a very
reasonable intermediate player make
the following bids. Holding:
4 kJ 5 lA K Q 7 4 'A K Q 6 5,
he opened 1' and over a spade
response, he " reversed " into 2l,
then followed by bidding 3l. This
sequence should show six clubs and
five diamonds. With this hand, the
appropriate bids would be to open
1l and then make a game-forcing
jumpshift to 3'. I say this because
I've so often seen improper reverses
on equal length suits.
Reverses show two good suits!
October 2022 | Bridge Bulletin |
53
Balancing - part 2
K kK Q J lK 5 3 2 'A J 8 6 2
Appropriate shape for a reverse,
appropriate values for a reverse, but
sorely lacking suit quality. My preference
would be to open 1NT.
http://www.jerryhelms.com
October 2022

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