[Brian Davies]

Hi Charles, the original post was about Italian Style Cue Bids, so this a little off topic and maybe a new thread would have been better.

As for mini-splinters, you lose the ability to use a jump in a new suit to show a strong hand. This is a rare bid, but can be useful when it arises. But many do choose to dispense with the strong jump shift response. The term mini-splinter is a bit fuzzy and used in different ways by different partnerships:

• When I experimented with mini-splinters, we used the single jump in a new suit to show support, a shortage and an invitational strength hand. It was a tool to give greater clarity to invitational hands and help partner judge whether to bid game, rather than a slam bidding tool. I think that we were following the methods in the Brian Senior book Raising Partner. We still retained a double jump in a new suit as a standard splinter. Your example hand would still be a regular splinter – so I guess that these are not your methods.
• I have come across some partnerships who play a single jump shift response as showing a singleton and a double jump shift response as showing a void and maybe these are your methods? It seems wasteful to me to have two bids to show essentially the same hand, particularly as the void can often be distinguished later.
• I think that there are other treatments. Maybe you only use the single jump for splinters and have other uses for double jumps? Gerber?

It is also possible to think of other uses for single jump shift responses, if not playing them as strong. One idea that I quite like is to play the single jump as a Fit Jump (invitational +) and a double jump shift as a conventional Splinter. This is quite usual in contested auctions and also by a passed hand and there is no reason not to play this in standard uncontested auctions. I am not a fan of Bergen raises in an Acol context. But I do like using a jump shift (particularly at the two level) as weak. In my most regular partnership we play that 1♥-2♠ (say) is a six-card suit 4-8 HCPs. This helps because the sequence 1♥-1♠-2♦-2♠ is constructive 9-11 HCPs and 1♥-1♠-2♦-3♠ is forcing – which is so much more efficient.

For hand 6 above, I don’t think that Cue Bids are useful after the splinter. Whatever form of Blackwood you use will get you to the right spot.

[Brian Davies]

Melanie, this would not be easy without Cue Bids and Splinter Bids. This is why they are such great tools and I encourage you to experiment with both Cue Bids and Splinter bids (one at a time if this is more comfortable).

The auction is normal up until the 3H bid.

• East then has a difficult problem. East knows there is a fit in both hearts and spades – a double fit is always great news. East has a singleton in the opponent’s suit – also great news. Overall, despite only having 12 High Card Points, East has a great hand. But East is worried about the club suit and cannot bid (Key-card) Blackwood. I sympathise with the 4H bid.
• Over 4H, West also has a difficult problem. West has lovely shape, but East has made a simple raise and not shown any significant extra values. West doesn’t know that East has a lovely holding in his/her second suit (spades). The KQ1063 holding might have been facing a singleton spade and not worth nearly as much. Again, I sympathise with West’s pass of 4H.

Both East and West might have made different choices – but both made justifiable choices given the tools available.

[Brian Davies]

Nik says that he “double clicks” the mouse. This implies that he does have the Confirm Bids option selected, but still does this on auto-pilot. I abandoned the Confirm Bids feature for this reason.

[Brian Davies]

Thanks Julian. I did follow this line, but it didn’t work on this occasion – East having three hearts to the Queen. C’est la vie.

[Brian Davies]

Thanks for posting this Ray, it is an interesting hand.

Julian, can I also add some questions please?

• I believe that in the actual auction, the 4NT ask doesn’t work because West doesn’t know which two key cards East holds?
• One solution, if East West are playing Exclusion Blackwood, is to bid 5H. I think that this works if the response structure is Bernard’s Key Card Responses, because they can stop safely at the five level if no key cards (outside hearts) are shown, bid the small slam if one key card is shown and the grand slam if two key cards are shown. Is this a reasonable approach?
• Now imagine that the East West are playing Roman Key-card Blackwood (1430). Would you use the same response structure to Exclusion Blackwood? Clearly it wouldn’t work on this hand, because a response showing zero will take them too high.
• Finally, if the pair have not agreed to play Exclusion Blackwood, but have agreed to play Italian Style Cue Bids. West can tell that a Cue Bid of four clubs will not allow his partner to give a useful response. Should he: (a) bid 4C as a Cue Bid then bid 5D over the inevitable 4S response or (b) bid 4H as a Cue Bid then follow up with 5D over the 4S response  – which must highlight the club worry? or (c) some other Cue-bidding strategy? And there is still the problem of the King of Trumps?

Thanks Julian

[Brian Davies]

Also, Michael Byrne has written a useful series of articles in English Bridge (August 2017 and subsequent issues):

https://view.pagetiger.com/y0yvuhfuf0/7fyg9etyg9qet24bx/page24.htm

 

[Brian Davies]

Hi Alan, Bernard has written about Italian style cue bidding on pages 36-37 of Issue 159 of Bridge:

http://blog.bernardmageebridge.com/bridge-magazine-march-2016-issue-159/

 

[Brian Davies]

If playing “Standard Acol”, there are various possibilities, but if playing Benjamin two bids Acol, North might open 2C. Again the subsequent bidding will depend on partnership agreement about what actions mean over interference. If playing three weak twos, North might open one spade and the auction “might” proceed:

1S-(2H)-Dbl-(4H)

4S-(Pass)-5H …

Now, on a really good day, North might bid 6C on the way to 6S – which must be looking for a grand slam …

Interestingly, Four Spades Redoubled Vulnerable scores 2,280, which will out-scores any pairs who are just in the Grand Slam (2,210)!

 

[Brian Davies]

Reg, I haven’t played precision for years. What are your methods after interference? I seem to remember that we used to play that a pass showed 0-3 HCPs, a double 4-6 HCPs and other actions show 7+. If playing something like this, South should bid 2D probably and certainly shouldn’t pass.

West must have had a major computer malfunction or fallen seriously ill at the table to pass after South passes. At these colours, West should preempt as high as he dares – 4H probably? But even in the face of this barrage, North can bid 4S and South should probably raise to six.

[Brian Davies]

hi Graeme, I can’t remember the example you are thinking of, but I suspect that you are mixing up splinter bids and cue bids. Do you mean:

• Spades were agreed.
• 4D was then bid as a cue bid? If so, thjs 4D bid would deny a club control since it missed out the club suit and you should always bid your cheapest control. Partner should sign off (bid 4S) unless he/she has a club control (because there will be two fast club losers).
• Then, after the 4D cue bid, 4H is also a cue bid showing a heart control. But it also implies a club control since he/she has not signed off in 4S.

If I have misinterpreted and it was a splinter, then you probably need to post the hands please.

You asked “What do you bid  as responder if you have a Club control but not a Heart control?”. You can bid 5C as a cue bid. But, you should only do this with extra values since you are bidding beyond game and committing to the partnership at least the five level. With a minimum, you will often be better signing off in 4S – leaving it to partner to judge whether to investigate further.

[Brian Davies]

Thanks David. I understand.

[Brian Davies]

Hi David,

I have read and appreciate your response. I do understand some of the historical reasons for this and I agree that the hand is not strong as defined by the Blue Book (BB 7.C.1.A) and I agree that it does not meet any of the other criteria allowing you to agree to open this hand (BB 7.C.1.A and BB 7.C.2).

Nevertheless, bridge is a game of judgements. I have agreed an opening 1NT range as 12-14. But you and I will both understand that sometimes my hand will have 11 High Card Points, but I will choose to upgrade the hand and open 1NT. On other occasions, I will have 15 HCPs and judge to downgrade  the hand to 1NT. This is normal bridge. You will also appreciate that judgements become more difficult and more subjective as the hand becomes more distributional.

You ask why I wouldn’t follow other players who would open 1H on this hand. It is because my judgement is that this hand is a strong hand – not withstanding the metric in the Blue Book. It is possible to open one heart and miss a perfectly reasonable slam  when partner passes:+

Given this, I don’t think that it is unreasonable, to consider the East hand as worth an upgrade and assess the hand as strong. Looking at the hand again, I think that a 4NT specific ace ask is not unreasonable!

I am not in the habit of opening 2C with nothing but an eight-card suit headed by the AKQJ and I think I can say with honesty that we have no partnership agreement (including implicit agreements) to open a hand that doesn’t meet Blue Book requirements. This genuinely is an exceptional hand.

[Brian Davies]

On the same evening, the same pair were sitting East/West on this hand:

Another Weak Two (properly alerted) and another double (unalerted). West is very strong this time of course, so an off-shape double would be normal for most players (depending on their agreed strength for 2NT in the protective seat).

But East again chooses to pass – this time with a five-card spade suit and no semblance of defence to Two Hearts in the East hand. The pass is rewarded with a top because +500 out-scores the spade game.

Bad players making poor judgements and getting lucky. Again.

I would welcome your thoughts.

[Brian Davies]

Hi David,

I wasn’t at  the table, but I can’t remember ever having a 2-loser 7510 hand that doesn’t meet the definition of strong. I believe that I could genuinely say that I have no agreement with partner what I would do with such a hand.

Could I use this as a get-out to open 2C?

Thanks

[Brian Davies]

Interesting Michael.

I love Victor Mollo’s description of Oscar the Owl, Senior Kibitzer at the Griffins:

“Unlike other kibitzers, he could make intelligent remarks even after see all four hands and he had that rare gift of maintaining silence for minutes on end, even when he was awake”
<p style=”text-align: right;”>Bridge in the Menagerie</p>

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