January 2025 - 59

Better Bridge with Bergen
Intermediate Players
BY MARTY BERGEN
martybergen.com
Opener rebids after a 1NT
response to 1h - part 2.
The ground rules for the examples
below are the same as last month.
You opened 1h and partner responded
1NT. Whether partner's 1NT
response was forcing or semi-forcing,
what will you rebid?
A sA K Q 10 hA J 6 5 4 d6 4 c7 5
B sA hA 10 8 6 4 3 dA K 8 cK J 10
C sA 7 hQ J 10 9 6 5 4 dK Q 10 7 c-
D sA J 10 hA K J 10 2 d5 3 cA 10 9
A Yuck! With this hand, since we
definitely are not strong enough for
a 2s reverse, finding a rebid after
1h-1NT is as unpleasant as it gets.
And you can probably hear the laughter
from those who would have painlessly
avoided this nightmare with a
Flannery 2d opening.
Although this hand is upgradable
with the nice 5-4-2-2 distribution
and all its strength concentrated in
your two longest suits, now that you
know that responder lacks four spades
and probably has 0-2 hearts, to say
we are not well-placed would definitely
qualify as an understatement.
I suppose that the correct answer
here is 2c. And it is true that we are
bidding our better minor! But, if he
passes 2c with a 3-1-5-4 distribution,
we are in big trouble.
But we may survive. Perhaps partner
is about to jump to 3h with a threecard
limit raise. Or, as he frequently
does on this type of auction, he will
take a preference to two of our major.
However, there used to be a way to
avoid this dilemma. In the olden days,
to facilitate showing both suits without
reversing, players opened 1s with
Improve your bidding judgment - part 44
hands like this. Of course, in 21st century
bridge, that is definitely not " in. "
I am not a resulter, but because a
likely response to one of a major is
1NT, this problem was foreseeable.
As I have repeatedly written and stated,
" Any suit headed by four honors
should be treated as if it had an additional
card " and opened 1s.
B With this very strong hand, once
partner responded, you must force
to game. And once responder denied
four spades, you are guaranteed that
your side has a fit in at least one of
the three other suits. And with that
in mind, even though partner wasn't
strong enough to force to game, slam
is very possible.
Your side's possible best game contracts
include 3NT, 4h, 5c and 5d.
In fact, if he has the right hand, the
following slams are all very possible:
6c, 6d, 6h, 7c, and 7d.
With the above in mind, what forcing
bid should we make? 3c. Why?
Although our diamonds are stronger, if
we rebid 3d but did belong in clubs, it
would be very difficult to find that fit.
When opener jumpshifts into a
minor, responder should definitely
think twice before immediately raising
that suit. With a doubleton in
opener's major, he should often choose
to make a preference bid in that suit.
C Bid 4h. The hand had too many
controls and slam potential to open
with a 4h preempt. But once partner
responds, you can't risk playing in a
partscore. Even if responder's only
useful card is the dA, that might
be enough to allow you to have just
three losers.
Because responder limited his hand
with his 1NT response, and your
jump to game could be based more on
shape rather than high-card points,
January 2025 | Bridge Bulletin |
59
and your side is already at a high
level, responder should almost always
not try to be a hero and simply pass.
A nice, practical rule for all partnerships
is, after a 1NT response, unless
opener makes a forcing rebid (jumpshift
or reverse), forget about slam.
Even world-class pairs sometimes forget
the following: " It is better to miss a
good slam than to bid a bad one. "
D This is not a 17-point hand! Why
do I love thee?
* three aces;
* a great five-card suit;
* four quick tricks;
* four potentially useful, well-located
intermediates.
The bottom line. The only correct
rebid is 3NT. 2
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January 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2025
