October 2022 - 65

Special Contributor
BY DR. JAMES
MARSH STERNBERG
mmay001@aol.com
M
any say that 1NT is the
hardest contract to play.
That may certainly be true,
but what is the contract you never
want to play? Sure, five of a major can
be sticky but usually you are there
because you discovered you were
missing two aces. I'll bet usually you
make five of a major when you unfortunately
end there. But the really annoying
contract, the one your partner
put you in when you probably should
have been in 1NT, is 2NT. If 1NT is
difficult, certainly 2NT is worse. Can
this be avoided? Maybe.
Some players joke that 2NT is
never to play because it has so many
conventional meanings. It's tongue in
cheek, but that's not a bad idea.
Going through the ACBL convention
card, I found around 30 different
times that 2NT was a systemic choice
for one reason or another, but in only
a very few instances was it actually
to play. Let's take a trip together
through the card and see when 2NT
raises its head and why. Is it a place
to play? Should it be? Or should it
be used for another purpose? The
answers will vary, as will the degree
of difficulty, because we are going
through the card, not listing by degree
of frequency or level of expertise.
In my last article, we discussed the
direct raise of 1NT to 2NT, but starting
this month, most of what we discuss
will involve artificial uses for 2NT.
Transfers over 1NT
After partner opens 1NT, many
pairs play transfers for both the majors
and the minors. I've seen a variety
of such systems among intermediate
players, many of which are ineffective.
The most common is 2 shows
one of the minors, asking opener to
Consults with the Doctor
2NT: No man's land
bid 3'. Respnder will pass with clubs
or bid 3l to show diamonds. Simple,
yes. Effective, no. Why?
Let's look at two hands and you tell
me. Partner opens 1NT. Your bid?
A 4 2 k8 lJ 8 6 5 4 3 '10 9 3 2
B 4 2 k8 lK Q J 5 4 3 '10 9 3 2
With hand A you want to transfer
to diamonds and stop in a partial.
And hand B doesn't have enough
points to be in game. But do you want
to stop in 3l? Suppose I tell you that
your partner's diamond holding is
lA 8. How do you feel now? But
suppose partner has the l8 7: What
then?
With hand A you couldn't care
less what partner's diamond holding
is: You want to play 3l. But hand B
can take six tricks opposite lA 8, but
probably only one trick in notrump
opposite l8 7. The opponents presumably
will hold up taking their ace.
So responder needs to know more
from opener. Hence the need to play
this structure after a 1NT opening.
2 by responder specifically shows
clubs. Then 2NT by opener says, " I
don't like clubs, " while 3' says, " I do
like clubs. "
Similarly, 2NT after 1NT shows
diamonds, and 3' by opener says, " I
don't like diamonds. " Responder can
sign off in 3l. But if opener replies
3l to show diamond tolerance, responder
can pass with hand A or bid
3NT with hand B .
Lebensohl
Say partner opens 1NT and the
opponents make a natural, one-suited
overcall. The popular lebensohl
convention is useful. While there are
various forms, let's consider simple
basic lebensohl in which 2NT triggers
the use of the treatment. We
must give up the ability to play in
2NT (great!) to use this convention.
A simple example: Partner opens
1NT and the next player overcalls
2, natural. Simple lebensohl uses
2NT here to force opener to bid 3'.
At this point, responder's intentions
are known only to responder.
His subsequent bids will reveal his
intent. For example:
Opener Opp. 1 Responder Opp. 2
1NT 2(1) 2NT(2)
3'(3) Pass
Pass
?
(1) Natural
(2) Lebensohl
(3) Forced
Pass = Weak hand, long clubs, to play
3l = Weak, to play
3k = Weak, to play
3 = Stayman, promising a spade
stopper
3NT = To play, promising a spade
stopper
A complete explanation is beyond
the scope of this discussion, but an
immediate 3 or 3NT over 2 would
have the same meanings, without a
spade stopper.
2NT openings
What about opening 2NT? What
should your high-card range be? You
can get a lot of opinions, which probably
means it's not too important.
Currently, the most popular is 20-21.
Al Roth and Jeff Rubens in " Modern
Bridge Bidding Complete " advocated
22-23, while Charles Goren's original
range was 22-24. Expert Kleinman
prefers 21-22.
October 2022 | Bridge Bulletin |
continued on page 68
65
October 2022

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