Julian Pottage
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
If you have a fit for opener, for sure you adjust for shortages in other suits. If you are planning to bid a different suit then you do not add anything on for a shortage, though you might make a small adjustment if you have a good 5-card or longer suit of your own. For deciding whether to bid a new suit at the two level many people use the rule of 14 – add your high cards to the length of your longest suit and bid a news suit at the two level if the total comes to 14 or more.
The important cards for a slam in partner’s minor are fitting honours in the suit itself and fast winners outside.
K J 8 7
K Q 5 4
7 2
K Q 7
Although this hand has 14 points, it has no aces and nothing in diamonds. You would simply sign off in 3NT if partner responds 3D to 1NT.
A 10 6 4
8 4
K J 2
A 9 7 4
This hand has fast winners in the black suits and the diamond honours will surely solidify partner’s suit. You could simply raise 3D to 4D. A more complicated approach would be to bid 3S over 3D and then if partner tries to sign off in 3NT you would continue with 4C. As well as values in the suits you have bid, you must have diamond support or you would not go past 3NT.
If 1H and 1S show 5-card suits, hands with a 4-card major would need to double. If the opponents overcall at the two level, it is normal for bids of 2H or 2S to show 5-card (or longer) suits so there is some logic to what the poster is playing.
Most people play that 2NT is natural in the reopening/protective position. A 1NT overcall is weaker in this position than it would be in the the direct seat, so if you do not play a 2NT overcall as natural there would be a vary wide range of balanced hands that you would have to double with.
Americans call this the balancing position. I have never heard it referred to as the cheat seat previously. With three other words (reopening, protective and balancing) available I do not think you need any others.
If you are playing that 1S promises 5 spades, a raise to 3S is fine. As Charles Bentley has suggested, a 2D cue bid is a usually played as a general force, often looking for a stopper in the opposing suit.
Of course you are welcome to play 2D as showing 3-card spade support if that is an arrangement you and your partner wish to play.
This system has most definitely not stopped. Whoever is teaching differently is the one out of touch; what you are doing is fine.
Support doubles work fine with a strong no-trump opening but if you are playing a weak no-trump opening you need a way to show a strong no-trump opening when the overcall has removed the option to rebid 1NT (or if 1NT is available but you lack a stopper).
With Benjamin you have two strong artificial bids (2C and 2D) while with standard Acol you have only one (2C). The other key difference is that all two-level opening bids are strong in standard Acol whereas with Benjamin 2H or 2S are weak openings.
I doubt that the opponents are very interested in hearing what form of Blackwood you are playing when you give a brief introduction – but you really need to ask David Stevenson about that.
Most people play that 1S here only promises four spades, which gives you a difficult rebid. 2S is an underbid while a jump raise to 3S would promise 4-card support. The hand is too strong for 2C while the clubs are rather weak for 3C. Finally J-x of diamonds is not even a half stopper.
As the least lie, I would rebid 1NT, the lack of a diamond stopper notwithstanding. There are several reasons for this (i) 1NT shows the point count accurately (ii) partner has plenty of room to investigate a 5-3 spade fit (iii) RHO did not raise diamonds, increasing the chance partner has a few diamonds (iv) partner is likely to have a few diamonds anyway if not holding four hearts or five spades (v) if LHO competes to 2D, you can reopen with 2S, showing the 3-card spade support while not understating your point count.
Bidding the opposing suit to show support is normal if partner has overcalled or opened but not if you have opened yourself.
This is an awkward hand for modern Acol. For me a 3D rebid would be a splinter rather than natural. Even if I was playing it as natural, I would not want bid 3D on a 3-card suit.
For me the choices of opener’s rebid are 4C (natural and forcing), 2NT (15-19 forcing in my methods) and 3H (club support and short hearts). I quite like 2NT because (in my methods) responder can bid 3C over it showing slam interest facing a maximum and asking for further information: opener can then show 18-19 points with 3D.
As Charles Bentley has pointed out, on your actual sequence, South’s fast arrival 4S was wrong – 3S forcing would be better.
Some people play that if the last bid made by the partnership is a NT bid then 4NT is natural but that if the last bid made by the partnership is a suit bid then 4NT asks for aces/key cards.
I would play it the same as you. If I wanted to ask for aces on those Stayman sequences, I would bid 4C or 4D first to agree opener’s major and then bid 4NT on the next round.
I would say 2S is not a traditional reverse – when you opened 1C you had a reasonable expectation that you would be able to rebid 1S. If you had a very good hand you could double 2D (I assume you are not playing double as penalties).
Of course you do not have to bid again – partner will get another chance – so I would say that 2S shows 14-16 points; with 11-13 you pass and with 17+ you double.
It is different if you play that a double of 2D would be for penalties. In that case a 2S rebid would be forcing.
Firstly please note that the 2NT bid is not a ‘transfer’ to clubs. Although the 2NT bid asks partner to bid clubs, it does not promise clubs and so is not a transfer; I believe the technical term if you wish to one, is ‘puppet’ rather than ‘transfer’. David Stevenson is the best person to ask about how to explain Lebensohl to your opponents.
If the overcall is in a lower ranking suit than your own, you have three ways of showing your suit below game:
(i) if you bid your suit at the two level, this is competitive and does not invite game;
(ii) if you jump to your suit at the three level, this is forcing;
(iii) if you bid 2NT and then your suit at the three level, this is not forcing but invites game.
