A
Txxxx
AKx
QTxx
Holding this hand and with some trepidation you open 1H, what else!
Playing 2/1 partner responds 2D (gf) and you realise that you haven’t discussed continuations in any detail, chose your bid.
2H The hearts give me a headache but I like this bid. It does NOT promise 6 It says whoa partner, I’ve opened on one of my less than fabulous hands. Lets go easy to game, I want to stay out of slam. Of course if partner has a suitable hand they are still free to go slamming but my 2H bid is an early warning.
3D This is ok, support at the cheapest level. Partner has shown 5. Note this is a very different auction to 1H:2C which can be made on xx.
3C I have 54 so it describes shape perfectly but I think it should show a much better hand, one with slam interest and a hand more suitable for NT.
2N Wild horses wouldn’t get me bidding this but I put it in for completeness.
I sent this question to Mike Hargraves who,with his sound advice and kind approach has helped my bridge tremendously.
This is his response;
I agree with the 1H opening. There are two schools of thought on the rebid.
Some would raise to 3D... Doug Fraser, a Grand Life Master and multiple CNTC champion, with whom I play a lot, would raise to 3♦ and think it to be a non-problem. This is within a 2/1 method, btw, which is important.
If not playing 2/1, then the usual approach is that 3♦ is forcing for one round, and hence should promise more than a minimum hand.. altho the 'more' may and often will be in the form of shape rather than hcp.. thus to raise on a minimum requires 4 card support. If playing that method, I would rebid 2♥.
Of course, bridge players being what we are, you will undoubtedly find some who say that you cannot rebid such a suit... and some of them will also say (not on this hand, but if you independently asked them what 3♦ shows) that 3♦ shows extras.. in other words, they will have an incoherent, unplayable set of rules.
And still others will say.. well, bid 3♣ (if any of them approach you...run! Unless they are playing a strong club method, where the 1H bid is limited, they don't know what they are doing)
My own preference is to rebid 2♥ within either a SA or a 2/1 method.. this is the 2nd of the 2 mainstream schools of thought.
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6 comments:
Run! Quick! In my partnership with Judi Radin we bid a cheerful 3C, happy to clue partner in about nine of our cards. Our guiding principle here is "there are no 'extras' in 2/1 auctions. We're forced to game, and if there's a slam we'll find it. Let's describe our hand to the best of our ability."
After 3C, partner can do whatever she likes. 3H shows a game forcing hand with 3-trump support, 3D shows rebiddable diamonds (6+), 3S tends to be groping for 3NT though it becomes a slammish cuebid retroactively if she bids over 3N.
Thanks Stacy :)
And this here is where a lot of my confusion comes from! There is never one right way to bid these hands but several different expert approaches, all with their own merit Im sure.
As a beginning tournament player trying to get better, it is very difficult to make advances in bidding when I don’t know which road to take and don’t have a regular partner with whom to explore the alternatives.
I like opening, I like bidding so I do like 2H here as a warning to partner. If my openings were always sound perhaps this ‘treading water’ bid would be unnecessary.
What should 2N show in these auctions?
1H:2D 2N
Mike is an amazing resource. From his posts on the BBO forums, I have the utmost respect for his point of view.
I'm in the Mike rather than the Stacy camp. One of the big problems in 2/1 is that the auction can get quite high with neither hand limiting itself - the problem is avoiding bidding slams!
So I prefer to play 3♣ as showing extras. But, like Mike, I recognise that this is just one of two schools of thought.
Mike Lawrence, in his 2/1 Workbook, writes about the difference between 1♥-2♦-2NT and 1♥-2♦-2♥.
In summary, you should play either 2♥ or 2NT as the 'catch all' rebid - the one that says you are minimum with nothing else to say. If 2♥ is your catch all, then it does not promise 6 hearts and 2NT shows either 12-14 or 18-19 balanced.
Likewise, if 2NT is your catch all then 2♥ should guarantee a 6-card suit.
I prefer the former treatment.
There is also some merit about opening 1 Club and bidding the hand as a 2434, but certainly if opening 1 heart your better next move is to rebid hearts and keep the bidding low.
I prefer to keep it simple and don't play 2/1. If you are playing 2/1 then the 2H is best.
However if 2D shows a minimum of 10
points and a 5 card D suit then Then
3 D would be the way to go.
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