2/1 basics

[Feegle]

My Precision partner from 20+ years ago has now joined me on BBO. Thanks BBO!

We are examining 2/1 since Precision seems a bit 'old hat' now (?) and we have forgotten most of it :)

Our concern is with the auction 1major-1NT-2minor. Our reading suggests opener has 12-18 yet responder is able to pass with an unsuitable 6-9 count (void/singleton in the major etc.)

I wonder if you two-over-oners could 'flesh out' this area e.g. what sort of 8-9 count responder hand can drop the auction so soon? (assuming what I have read is correct).

[helene_t]

Welcome to the forum, Feegle!

 

Sorry to hear that you consider abandoning Precision. If you want advice on Precision there are many Precision devotes on this forum who will be eager to help :)

 

With 8+ points responder should try to keep the auction alive, usually by taking a false preference to opner's major, sometimes by bidding a new suit. Note that in the 2/1 system,

1♠-1NT

2♣-2♥*

only promises 5 since opener will often have a balanced hand in which case 2♥ rates to be the best contract if responder has five hearts and no fit for the black suits.

 

Also, the auction

1♥-1NT

2m-2♠*

is "impossible" so it is used to show a good raise of opener's minor. Hence with the 8-9 points, responder bids 3m. Of course if the opening was 1♠ such a distinction is not possible and it's more tempting to pass with 7-8 points and a fit for the minor suit. 3m will show appr. 9 points then and with 11 points responder should stretch to bid 2N.

 

The 8(9) point hans with which responder would pass 2m are awkward hands like 1-4-3-5 after it starts

1♠-1N

2♦-?

[dicklont]

With 8/9 hcp you should make (find) another bid, because opener can have 16/17.

 

The articles of Erric Rodwell on better bridge are a very good introduction to 2 over 1.

[awm]

One of the important ideas in 2/1 (and to a lesser degree standard bidding) is the false preference. Suppose the auction begins (for example):

 

1♠ - p - 1NT - p - 2♦

 

Opener could have a wide range of hands, including up to 18 hcp. Of course, frequency-wise he is usually closer to the minimum opening range. Because of this, there are many possible responder hands that aren't really good enough to invite (i.e. less than 11 or a good 10 hcp), but need to try to keep the auction alive in case opener has 17-18.

 

With such hands responder should normally preference to 2♠ on doubleton, even if diamonds are likely to be a better fit (i.e. 2♠ and 4♦, perhaps even 2♠ and 5♦). This type of thing exists in standard too, but it's more common in 2/1 because of the wide-ranging and frequent "1NT forcing" response and because opener's second suit after the 1NT response may be as few as 3 cards (making a pass with 2-4 in opener's suit less appealing than it might otherwise be).

 

Of course, there remain awkward hands where responder has a singleton in opener's suit and something like 8-9 hcp. Here it is unpleasant to have to prefer a 5-1 fit to a 4-4 fit, but you still don't want to pass. It follows that the 3♦ invite can be a bit lighter than a 2NT invite when holding a singleton in opener's suit, and that opener should account for that (i.e. there are hands that are game bids over 1♠-1nt-2♦-2nt that should pass 1♠-1nt-2♦-3♦). Of course, sometimes it is better to just pass even with 8-9 hcp and hope opener was not on a maximum (this is a more likely tactic at matchpoints where frequency is king).

 

There are also a number of conventions designed to deal with these issues which are not part of "standard" 2/1 but are commonly adopted by 2/1 players. Two popular ones are BART where after 1M-1N-2♣, 2♦ is used as an artificial bid to show a number of awkward hand types including some "club raise" type hands and Gazzilli where opener's 2♣ rebid itself is artificial and handles all hands with extras as well as minimums with clubs.