In our last blog we demonstrated the use of the 2 level weak jump shift by responder and contrasted it with the treatment of bidding the suit at the one level and then rebidding the same suit at the 2 level. In either instance, responder breathes a sigh of relief and assumes he is off the hook. But what if opener has a hand where he simply is not satisfied to quit despite the grim news from partner? Well, first let me tell you that you better get this right, because if you do anything other than lay down the pass card, you have just taken control of the hand and your partner as well.
As noted in the last post, the weak jump shift should show a 6 card suit and 2 to a bad 5 hcps. In order to make game against responder’s WJS you will need a hand that was almost a 2 club opener, something in the range of 19-20 points, probably a 4 LTC hand and at least three card support for partner’s suit. If you hold that nice 19 hcps hand, but only a single in partner’s suit, then trouble is just over the horizon. Either you pass or wish you had.
Contrast this with the responsive hand that bid and rebid the suit showing 6 cards and a good 5 to 9 hcps. The only difference in the requirement for making a forward going bid is that you can make it with hands that are a little weaker. It is always hard to talk about hcps, because so much depends on playability, but I would want 16+ to show further interest.
The results of forward going bidding can also depend on responder’s hand. He will not always have 2 hcps when he makes a WJS and his other 7 cards will not always be 322 (a real goat). If responder has some shortness in one or more suits, it could fit well to produce some additional tricks provided that opener started with the requisite 3 or 4 card support. The death knell for opener to try to find a safer place to play when he lacks support. Ridiculous! Repeat it again, Ridiculous!
With 3 or 4 card support, opener also has an opportunity to further the preempt with minimum values. Even with three card support we have 9 trump don’t we. Being LOTT guys, we are not going to let opponents buy a contract at the 3 level. Old stuff, but equally applicable to this setting. Opponents may not have a game, but down one is often very good, right Bob?
I see you, jumping up and down in your seat sitting on KTx, Axx, A, AKQxxx. You have 20 hcps, 8 1/2 tricks and 4 LTC. I would hope that my partners would have the discipline to open this 1 club -- my aspirations may be too high, but I love them all anyway. I hold QJxxxx, x, xxx, xxx. In response to 1 club, I jump at the chance to bid 2 spades and get out of Dodge! Partner, with justification, has continued interest, but needs to find out more about my hand. What is the best approach?
Well, the start is easy; you bid 2NT which is forcing of course. Now you need agreement with partner what this means. In this context if this is “feature”, you may wish you had some other agreement.There is a better way to proceed.
A preferred way to have partner further define his hand is "Ogust." This is not hard to remember if you use Ogust over weak 2’s. However, there is a twist here.You have to redefine the trems “good hand” and “good suit.” A “good suit” is one where the meager high card points you hold are in your suit. A “good hand” is one where you have a single or a void. Thus, in Ogust speak we respond to 2NT as follows: 2c= bad hand and bad suit, 2 diamonds= bad hand and good suit, 2 hearts, good hand and bad suit, 3 spades= good hand and good suit. With this hand I proudly bid 3 spades over 2NT. I obviously have either the Ace or Queen of spades, perhaps accompanied by the Jack. I also have a single or a void. It makes a comfortable 4 spade bid, but the slam potential of the hand is limited by the fact that I do not know the location of the shortness.
If you are really “uptown” card player (boater, spats and a cane) there is an alternate bid that you can add to your arsenal. This bid does not subsume 2NT, that bid remains Ogust. It is a "do-dad" that lets you pin point any shortness in responder's hand if that is important. Instead of bidding 2NT, you bid 3 clubs. This asks partner do you have any shortness and if so, where is the shortness. Without shortness responder replies 3 spades. With responder’s shortness in hearts as in my example, responder bids 3 hearts. If responder had Qxxxxx and nothing else, you have a hand that is too good to play anywhere other than 6 spades.
No matter how well you play, if you do not get to the best contract, it makes no difference. All your talent is wasted on inferior contracts. The first half of a bridge deal is all about communication. As in real life, those who have the best toys often enjoy it the most. If you don’t think so, send me your best real life toy.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
The Weak Jump Shift and its Counterparts
Strong jump shifts by responder have been left for dead. They are now road-kill. The reason? With enhanced bidding techniques for strong hands (2/1, Bergen, Jacoby, etc.) they have outlived their usefulness. A corollary to owning an ACBL card is that you never leave a bid unused for more than a week. Weak jump shifts are an excellent example where that principle makes sense.
Let me get by some definitional issues. The only weak jump shifts that I am talking about are the 6 jump shifts by responder that do not go beyond the 2 level. I am not an advocate of Criss Cross Inverted Minors, but if you use that convention, the 1c/2d sequence is already taken to show a limit raise for clubs, so that would reduce the number to 5
Partner opens 1 club and as responder you hold K10xxxx, xx, J82, xx. Assuming you don’t bid 2 spades with this hand, what action do you take? Well, first you can pass with 2 card club support, a 6 card major and no defense. Don’t like that? Neither do I. Well fine, then bid 1 spade! Now partner bids 2 hearts (a reverse)! Now do you find any action you like? Bidding 2 spades at this point would clearly misrepresent your hand. Now you have worked yourself into a definite case of the “creeping shorts.” What you would like to do is back this auction up, mark WJS on your convention card and respond 2 spades immediately. As I just demonstrated, the WJS allows you to make a bid on a hand like the one described above and not risk a “runaway” auction that progressively slumps you farther and farther down in your seat.
There are some other benefits to using the WJS. First, for simplicity my example did not show competitive bidding, but in a real life setting if the bidding goes 1c/p/p, or 1c/p/1s, there is no way your are going to get LHO to be silent. Alternatively, if you had responded 2 spades you probably would not have heard any chirping on your left. We hate chirping! Second, you have achieved the ultimate in bridge bidding, a “twofer.” You will have told partner not only about the distribution of your hand, but also about your lack of hcps in a single bid.
The biggest mistake by those using WJS is that they don’t use the bid on very weak hands. With Q9xxxx, xx, 82, xx (bid 2 spades without blinking an eye). The opposite is also an equal problem, they use the WJS on hands that are too strong such as KQ9xxx, xx, Q82, xx (bid 1 spade, not two). Max Hardy in his world renowned book, Advanced Bidding for the 21st Century (2000) states that the proper range for the WJS jump shift is 2 to a bad 5 hcps.
You might ask what do I achieve by limiting the bid to such rotten hands. Why not 4-8 or some other more flexible range? The reason is that we have another bidding treatment for the 6 card suit in the good 5 to 9 hcp range. With hands like KQ9xxx, xx, Q82, xx we are going to respond 1 spade and at the next opportunity we will bid 2 spades. By rebidding our suit we will show the 6 card spade suit, but with a hand that may have as much as 9 high card points. Notice that by adopting this discipline, we have very precisely sliced and diced the range of 2-9 hcps, differentiating the WJS from the “suit rebid” response, and thus giving partner a very precise picture of your hand strength and card distribution.
Weak jump shifts are commonly used in competition and over a t/o double. Should they also be used when there is no competition from your RHO opponent? Of course they should. And for all the same reasons. Just because your RHO has not bid doesn’t mean that all is quiet on the Western Front. If you pass that nice 3 point hand, or bid 1 spade, it is a guaranteed that the Terrorist on your left is about to try to steal this auction from your side. Challenge your LHO to bid at the 3 level; it’s like throwing a grenade. Are you safe? Off course you are, you have described your hand to partner in detail. Unless he makes a forcing call, your obligation is over. Remember to check the box on the convention card that says that WJS are used when not in competition. Note that it is marked in “red” and must be alerted.
To wrap up this section let’s talk about what action responder takes when he has a 6+ card suit and 10-11 hcps. Assume you have KQ9xxx, xx, Kxx, Q8. Your partner opens 1 club, there is a pass on your right and you respond 1 spade. Partner now bids 2 diamonds. You must not bid 2 spades. That bid says I have 6-9 hcps and in the above example you have a nice 10 hcps. Jump your second response to 3 spades to show your 6 card suit and invitational values. Partner with a single spade and minimum hand can pass, but more times than not you will happily be in 4 spades. With the above hand if I had another spade or another point or if partner had rebid 1NT, I would bid 4 spades rather than 3 spades.
In the next post to our blog, we will continue this discussion and look at opener’s rebid options when he holds some significant extras and wants to ignore your warnings.
Let me get by some definitional issues. The only weak jump shifts that I am talking about are the 6 jump shifts by responder that do not go beyond the 2 level. I am not an advocate of Criss Cross Inverted Minors, but if you use that convention, the 1c/2d sequence is already taken to show a limit raise for clubs, so that would reduce the number to 5
Partner opens 1 club and as responder you hold K10xxxx, xx, J82, xx. Assuming you don’t bid 2 spades with this hand, what action do you take? Well, first you can pass with 2 card club support, a 6 card major and no defense. Don’t like that? Neither do I. Well fine, then bid 1 spade! Now partner bids 2 hearts (a reverse)! Now do you find any action you like? Bidding 2 spades at this point would clearly misrepresent your hand. Now you have worked yourself into a definite case of the “creeping shorts.” What you would like to do is back this auction up, mark WJS on your convention card and respond 2 spades immediately. As I just demonstrated, the WJS allows you to make a bid on a hand like the one described above and not risk a “runaway” auction that progressively slumps you farther and farther down in your seat.
There are some other benefits to using the WJS. First, for simplicity my example did not show competitive bidding, but in a real life setting if the bidding goes 1c/p/p, or 1c/p/1s, there is no way your are going to get LHO to be silent. Alternatively, if you had responded 2 spades you probably would not have heard any chirping on your left. We hate chirping! Second, you have achieved the ultimate in bridge bidding, a “twofer.” You will have told partner not only about the distribution of your hand, but also about your lack of hcps in a single bid.
The biggest mistake by those using WJS is that they don’t use the bid on very weak hands. With Q9xxxx, xx, 82, xx (bid 2 spades without blinking an eye). The opposite is also an equal problem, they use the WJS on hands that are too strong such as KQ9xxx, xx, Q82, xx (bid 1 spade, not two). Max Hardy in his world renowned book, Advanced Bidding for the 21st Century (2000) states that the proper range for the WJS jump shift is 2 to a bad 5 hcps.
You might ask what do I achieve by limiting the bid to such rotten hands. Why not 4-8 or some other more flexible range? The reason is that we have another bidding treatment for the 6 card suit in the good 5 to 9 hcp range. With hands like KQ9xxx, xx, Q82, xx we are going to respond 1 spade and at the next opportunity we will bid 2 spades. By rebidding our suit we will show the 6 card spade suit, but with a hand that may have as much as 9 high card points. Notice that by adopting this discipline, we have very precisely sliced and diced the range of 2-9 hcps, differentiating the WJS from the “suit rebid” response, and thus giving partner a very precise picture of your hand strength and card distribution.
Weak jump shifts are commonly used in competition and over a t/o double. Should they also be used when there is no competition from your RHO opponent? Of course they should. And for all the same reasons. Just because your RHO has not bid doesn’t mean that all is quiet on the Western Front. If you pass that nice 3 point hand, or bid 1 spade, it is a guaranteed that the Terrorist on your left is about to try to steal this auction from your side. Challenge your LHO to bid at the 3 level; it’s like throwing a grenade. Are you safe? Off course you are, you have described your hand to partner in detail. Unless he makes a forcing call, your obligation is over. Remember to check the box on the convention card that says that WJS are used when not in competition. Note that it is marked in “red” and must be alerted.
To wrap up this section let’s talk about what action responder takes when he has a 6+ card suit and 10-11 hcps. Assume you have KQ9xxx, xx, Kxx, Q8. Your partner opens 1 club, there is a pass on your right and you respond 1 spade. Partner now bids 2 diamonds. You must not bid 2 spades. That bid says I have 6-9 hcps and in the above example you have a nice 10 hcps. Jump your second response to 3 spades to show your 6 card suit and invitational values. Partner with a single spade and minimum hand can pass, but more times than not you will happily be in 4 spades. With the above hand if I had another spade or another point or if partner had rebid 1NT, I would bid 4 spades rather than 3 spades.
In the next post to our blog, we will continue this discussion and look at opener’s rebid options when he holds some significant extras and wants to ignore your warnings.
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