January 2024 - 53

Newer Players
Ask Jerry
BY JERRY HELMS
askjerry@jerryhelms.com
jerryhelms.com
Dear Jerry,
Recently we had the following
auction:
1c
Pass
1s
2s?
The auction turned into a disaster,
as both of us felt strongly
about the meaning of the 2s bid
made by one of us. Michaels or
natural? I suspect you have an
opinion and we have agreed to
bow to your opinion.
Meredith
Hi Meredith,
First of all, you are correct. I do have
an opinion. Second of all, I don't think
anyone has bowed to me in quite a
long time!
As always, partnership agreement
is the ultimate answer. An important
consideration is that you do not need
two ways to send the same or a similar
message. In your auction:
1c
Pass
1s
?
Surely double would be takeout for
the unbid suits. It seems to me that a
jump to 2NT would be unusual takeout
for the remaining two suits. Why
would you need a bid of 2s to say the
same thing? The consensus among
experienced players is to play that either
2c or 2s in this position are both
natural bids. A couple of examples:
sA K J 10 6 3 hA 4 dQ 6 5 c8 3
Just because your RHO has bid
spades, it seems as if I would like to
bid spades, so I would.
And, holding:
s7 2 hQ 5 2 dA 5 cK Q J 8 6 3,
I would like to bid clubs despite LHO
initiating the suit.
In summation, the partnership
agreement I have is that in this type
of auction, a bid of either of the opponents'
suits is a natural overcall.
Although you didn't ask, there is a related
issue that all partnerships need
to discuss. If your RHO opens 1c or
1d and it is alerted as " could be short, "
I prefer the following agreement.
* (1c)-2c = natural club overcall
* (1c)-2d = Michaels cuebid, at least
5-5 in the majors.
* (1d)-2d = natural diamond overcall
* (1d)-2h = Michaels cuebid, at least
5-5 in the majors.
These actions are intended for when
the 1c or 1d opening bid is not necessarily
strong, simply possibly short.
When playing against a strong
club system, you may wish to augment
your methods even more. The
positive of a strong 1c opening bid is
that it conveys strength initially. A
potential negative is that it does so at
the expense of providing any sense of
direction. Because of this, you should
strain to be in their auction as quickly
as possible and to remove as much
of their bidding space as is realistic.
The most common system agreement
that I am aware of for competing
over a strong club, and a negative 1d
response to the club opener, is called
Mathe. It is very simple to use:
* (1c)-Dbl = both majors
* (1c)-1h/1s = natural
* (1c)-1NT = both minors
* (1c)-Pass-(1d)-Dbl = both majors
* (1c)-Pass-(1d)-1NT = both minors
This still permits either of us to
overcall with clubs or diamonds as
natural bids.
Depending on vulnerability,
partnership style, and frequently
the sense of humor your partner
hopefully possesses, you should be
very active with your intrusions. A
double to show both majors might be
5-4 or 4-5, something I would never
(Yes, I said never, which is not a word
I frequently use in bridge) do playing
normal Michaels over a natural
opening bid.
In addition, jump overcalls over
the strong club or negative diamond
response should be wide ranging in
terms of values and expected suit
length. Examples:
sQ J 10 7 6 2 h3 dJ 10 7 5 4 c6
sK Q J 10 2 h8 7 6 3 d8 4 3 c6
sA Q J 10 6 3 h4 dK 6 5 2 c8 2
At favorable vulnerability, I would
choose 2s directly over the 1c
opening bid with each of these. Yes,
it is difficult for partner to be sure
which hand you hold, but the value
of obstructive bidding cannot be
overstated.
Just to be totally self-serving, I prefer
using Mathe at the one level and
HELLO at the two level. Using this:
* (1c)-2c = relay to diamonds, either
diamonds or major-minor
* (1c)-2d = hearts
* (1c)-2h = both majors, at least 5-5
with better playing strength than the
Mathe double available at the one level.
* (1c)-2s = spades
* (1c)-2NT = club preempt
* (1c)-3c = both minors, at least 5-5
with better playing strength than the
1NT option available at the one level.
We play the same structure after
(1c)-Pass-(1d)-?
continued on page 54
January 2024 | Bridge Bulletin |
53
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January 2024

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