November 2022 - 69

Special Contributor
BY DR. JAMES
MARSH STERNBERG
mmay001@aol.com
L
Consults with the Doctor
2NT: Various conventional and natural uses
et's start with the majors
and 2NT. The first thing that
everyone thinks of is 1M-2NT
as Jacoby, a forcing raise. Most play
this shows at least four trumps,
game-forcing values and usually a
balanced hand. There are exceptions
to the last condition. Variations -
well in the minority - include playing
this convention with only three
trumps or as a limit raise.
A more useful approach in my view
is to use the 2NT response as natural
and game forcing, typically with a
doubleton in opener's suit. Using this
approach, other forms of " Jacoby "
are employed, such as 3' over either
major to show the game-forcing raise.
Other pairs use 2 over 1k and 3'
over 1 to do the same thing.
In the auction 1M-1NT (forcing);
2NT, opener shows a 5-3-3-2 hand
with 18-19 HCP. I often see a player
rebid 2NT with a good 16 or 17
HCP. Such hands, if not opened 1NT,
should rebid two of a minor instead.
When responder takes a preference
to opener's major, the 2NT continuation
shows 16-17. It's common to play
some form of transfers after 1M-1NT;
2NT.
2NT can be used as an asking bid
after opener makes a single raise of
responder's major. Auctions such as
1'-1k; 2k-2NT or 1l-1; 2-
2NT are examples.
This completely generic treatment
asks for more description from opener,
namely, how many trumps does
opener hold, and how good is opener's
hand. This treatment is often referred
to as " spiral. "
The structure opener uses to describe
his hand is this:
3' = minimum hand, three trumps
November 2022 | Bridge Bulletin |
69
3l = maximum hand, game forcing,
three trumps, unbalanced
3k = minimum hand, four trumps,
no singletons
3 = maximum hand, game forcing,
four trumps
3NT = maximum hand, four
trumps, balanced
Some partnerships who play Drury
- an asking bid by a passed hand of
how good opener's third- or fourthseat
opening bid is, use 2NT to show
a strong passed-hand raise, typically
at least five trumps, a singleton, and
limit-raise values. For example,
Pass-1; 2NT can show a hand such
as:
Q 8 6 5 4 kA 4 lK J 5 3 2 '8.
So much for the majors. But let's
not forget about the little guys: What
about 2NT and the minors? Let's
start with 1m-2NT. Are you playing
it as invitational or game forcing?
Why? Let's see if I can convince
you of the superiority of the forcing
treatment.
The main reason to use 2NT as a
forcing raise is to avoid 3NT when it
is wrong. For example, playing 2NT
invitational, you open 1' with:
9 kK J 10 5 lQ 10 7 'A Q 8 6 4,
and partner bids 3NT. Now what? Or
you open 1' or 1l with:
A Q 8 4 k10 lA Q 7 5 'Q 8 7 6,
and partner bids 3NT. Now what? Are
you passing? Of course you are. So
now, on the first hand, you are in 3NT
opposite:
J 10 5 kQ 9 2 lA K 3 'K 7 5 2.
And with the second hand, you are
in 3NT opposite:
J 10 4 kQ 7 5 lK 9 8 'A K 10 5.
In both cases, you are going down
in 3NT, with plays for 5' or 6'!
What went wrong?
What went wrong was using up too
much bidding space. Opener was shut
out of further describing his hand.
We need to have a way to avoid 3NT
when it is clearly wrong, yes?
By playing 2NT as forcing, we can
avoid this. The key is opener being
able to show shortness, which he
can't do over an immediate 3NT. I
will show you how in the next column.
" What
about invitational hands? "
you ask. A good question and, of
course, I have a good answer.
When do we need 1m-2NT as invitational?
Well, for starters, we never
need it over 1' because we can first
bid 1l then 2NT as invitational. For
example, with:
A 8 3 kQ 10 2 l9 8 3 'A J 5 4,
an invitational hand, start with 1l
over partner's 1', then bid 2NT.
So the auction should go 1'-1l;
1M-2NT or 1'-1l; 1NT-2NT.
What about over 1l? With 6-10
HCP (balanced, no four-card major),
we bid 1NT. With 12-plus HCP, we
bid 2NT forcing. So it's only with
exactly 11 HCP over 1l that we have
a problem. But should we give up a
whole system to cater to this rare
hand? No, we can play that 1l-1NT
shows 6-11 HCP instead. This is one
of the reasons we try to open 1' rather
than 1l whenever possible. It's
much easier to respond to 1'.
November 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2022
