Splinter, Jacoby 2NT or what?

[Cromlyn]

I open 1H with this hand:

 

KJ6

K9843

A

KJ52

 

My partner holds:

 

-

AQ62

K865

AQ974

 

1. Should he splinter with 3S, bid a Jacoby 2NT or make a waiting bid of 2C?

 

2. Whichever response you opt for how should the bidding proceed?

[billw55]

Definite splinter for me. Spade waste is a big issue here and this will spell it out for partner right away.

[ggwhiz]

I expect to be in the minority but have had sucess using the extra bidding room after jacoby 2NT.

 

North would respond 3nt (slight extra's, we don't show stiff A or K as shortness) and the cuebidding begins.

 

4♣ - 4♦

4♠ - 5♣

 

and south may now try 5nt, graded gsf.

6♦ by north shows 1 of the top 3 and south bids 7♥.

[aguahombre]

I expect to be in the minority but have had sucess using the extra bidding room after jacoby 2NT.

You might be in the minority, but there will be a lot of people who have published that splinters should be limited in their dummy points (support points) and feel that responding hand is too much.

 

J2N people can handled this one with GOOD follow-ups. Non-J2N people can handle it with 2C and good agreements. A splinter sets up a situation where responder uses up room and then must bid again over a 4H signoff --virtually taking over the hand.

[mike777]

Definitely 2nt, way too strong for splinters which promise a limited hand.

 

After that a bit tough but Bergens Jacoby 2nt helps here.

 

1h=2nt

3c(various non minimum hands)=3h(asking bid in clubs)

4c(K)=5s(exclusion)

6d(2denyQH)=7h

 

Good problem, I think this is the first deal I have ever seen that I used a Bergen asking bid after 2nt and exclusion in one hand.

 

OTOH expect many here in the forums to prefer 2c

[ahydra]

1H-2NT (GF raise in H) [i like to keep splinters to 11-14 or virtual-slam-forcing hands, since they eat so much room]

3C (nat with extras) - 4C (nat)

4D (cue) - 4S (cue)

4NT (RKC in H) - 5NT (2 with a void)

6C (asks the heart Q) - 7H

 

Requires some partnership understanding, since some would play 6C as asking for 3rd round control in C, and some would just play it as natural and pass :)

 

ahydra

[TWO4BRIDGE]

1H - Jac2NT

3D! ( shortness ) - 3H ( waiting for more cuebids )

3S - 3NT! ( waiting somemore )

4C - 4NT! ( Meckwell Exclusion RKC for ♥, excluding the ♠A; 4S! would have been regular kickback-RKC for ♥ )

5H ( 2 - ♥Q ) - 5NT ( K-ask )... surprise, surprise... ♦shortness is stiff Ace )

6C ( ♣K, as expected ) - 7H

[whereagles]

The bid is 2C. The hand is too strong for splintering. Splinters and jacoby should be limited to like 11-14. Any more than that and you're constantly guessing whether to go beyond opener's sign-off.

 

But hey, nobody agrees with me on this (or on anything else for that matter), so do whatever you feel like and pray for the best.

[blackshoe]

I think rather that Jacoby 2NT should be strong, not limited. Particularly if you can arrange to split the range for your splinters. For example

 

1M-3under (the suit under the major) shows four card support, a singleton or void somewhere, and 9+ to 12- HCP.

.......3over (the denomination just over the major) shows four card support, a singleton or void somewhere, and 12+ to 15- HCP.

.......2NT shows 15+ HCP, four card support, and may be balanced or unbalanced.

 

How do you show balanced hands in the game range?

.......4♣ shows four trumps with at least two of the top three honors and 12+ to 15- HCP

.......4♦ shows four trumps, fewer thant two of the top three honors, and 12+ to 15- HCP.

 

If my partner bid 2♣ and then supported hearts, I'd expect only three trumps in most cases.

[Fluffy]

I would splinter to be able to show the void since I don´t use exclusion:

 

1♥-3♠

4♥-4♠

5♣-5NT (blackwood, excluding ♠A)

6♥-7♥

 

Missing ♦Q but partner wouldn´t colaborate with just stiff club ♥K and ♦A without the queen.

[Cyberyeti]

I normally play void splinters with the singleton going through 2N, so this hand is easy.

 

Failing this I can use 1♥-3♣ to show 5 clubs to 2 of the top 3, 4 hearts to a top honour and opening hand plus.

 

So would not need any of the options above.

 

Playing more standard methods, it really depends what you've agreed about the nature of your splinters. You can handle bidding the hand by any of the methods listed, providing you're sure about your agreements. It also depends slightly whether 2♣ is F1 or FG, providing you play exclusion it should be pretty easy.

 

Even for example:

 

1♥-2♣

3♣-4♠(exclusion, clubs agreed, void spade)

5♦(2 keycards without Q♣ outside spades)-5♥(bid 7♣ with a heart honour)

7♣-7♥

 

will get you there. Without exclusion available, I'd suggest 3♠ is the best start as 4♠ next strongly suggests the void.

 

My auction with normal partner would be:

 

1♥-3♠(void, show flat broke or give exclusion response)

4♦(2 keycards, no Q♥, I still have an opening bid without spade cards)-4♠(tell me more)

5♣(K♣)-5♦(K♦)

5♥(no more to show)-7♥(OK, you don't have A♠ for 7N)

[Zelandakh]

I play a scheme giving a full range for void/singleton splinters for different ranges. For the in-between splinter the response over 1H is 2S.

 

1H = 10-17 unbal, 5+ hearts

... - 2S = 4+ hearts, either a mini-splinter or an in-between splinter

2N = relay

... - 3S = void in-between splinter in any suit

3N = relay

... - 4H = spade void

4S = RKCB

... - 5H = 2 with HQ (or a 5th heart)

6C = club ask

... - 6S = CQ

7H

 

Playing standard methods I would respond either 2C or 2NT depending on which follow-up methods seemed more promising. If standard J2NT was the extent of the agreements then I would opt for 2C.

[Vampyr]

1H-2NT (GF raise in H) [i like to keep splinters to 11-14 or virtual-slam-forcing hands, since they eat so much room]

 

I don't think that 11-14 or in fact any point range is very relevant for splinters. To get to the really thin slams you need aces and kings, not minor honours. I like splinters to be exactly 3 or 4 controls, with not very much outside unless it is in the trump suit (this doesn't mean that I will splinter with every hand that contains an ace and a king).

[TWO4BRIDGE]

I play a scheme giving a full range for void/singleton splinters for different ranges. For the in-between splinter the response over 1H is 2S.

 

I like it. I've scratched my head for years wondering what the best use is for the 1H - 2S! sequence .

( And the follow-ups for the shortness [ no void ] seem straight forward ).

[Zelandakh]

I like it. I've scratched my head for years wondering what the best use is for the 1H - 2S! sequence .

( And the follow-ups for the shortness [ no void ] seem straight forward ).

 

Glad you like it! The full follow-ups are

 

1H - 2S; 2NT (relay)

============

3m = mini-splinter

3H = mini-splinter with spade shortage

3S = side void, in-between strength

3N = spade singleton, in-between strength

4m = singleton in m, in-between strength

 

The same applies after a 1S opening but uses the 2NT bid, thus my "J2NT" is actually 3C over 1S.

 

1S - 2NT; 3C (relay)

============

3D/H = mini-splinter

3S = mini-splinter with club shortage

3N = side void, in-between strength

4m/H = singleton in suit, in-between strength

[kenrexford]

KJ6

K9843

A

KJ52

 

-

AQ62

K865

AQ974

 

My auction:

 

1♥-2♣

3♣-4♠(exclusion)

5♦(two no Queen)-?

 

5♥ would be to play, so 5♠ asks for Kings. Partner cannot show the heart King without bypassing 6♣ except by way of 5NT, which is what this should show. So, if he does this, as he should, I then bid 7♥.

[Cyberyeti]

KJ6

K9843

A

KJ52

 

-

AQ62

K865

AQ974

 

My auction:

 

1♥-2♣

3♣-4♠(exclusion)

5♦(two no Queen)-?

 

5♥ would be to play, so 5♠ asks for Kings. Partner cannot show the heart King without bypassing 6♣ except by way of 5NT, which is what this should show. So, if he does this, as he should, I then bid 7♥.

I agree 5♥ would normally be to play BUT it's nonsensical here, partner has shown a hand which could be AKJ, Jxxxx, Q, Jxxx from his previous bids, so could have shown zero, and you've committed to the 5 level, hence it's extremely unlikely you want to sign off opposite 2 keycards.

[Free]

I would never splinter with this hand, it's way too strong for that! The alternatives are 2NT and 2♣, I prefer 2♣.

[Zelandakh]

If you start 1H - 2C; 3C, you get an opportunity to use exclusion 6KCB - never waste a chance to use this as it is bound to impress everyone in the bar afterwards. ;)

eg

1H - 2C

3C - 3H

3S - 4NT (X6KCB of course :) )

5D - 7H

 

is the simple version. Or you could bid 5NT over 5D if you have an agreement as to which of 6C and 6H shows the ♠A... B-)

[mikeh]

I would have responded 2♣ and thereafter many reasonable sequences lead to the optimum contract. Of course one doesn't know that partner will raise clubs when one has to choose one's response, but I think 2♣ is best because:

 

1. It is cheap....thus maximizing bidding space

2. It is gf, but of course so are the alternatives

3. It is descriptive...far more so than either alternative. It will, for example, cause partner to become enthused about the club K. And should he bid 2♦, for example, you may be able to bring that suit into the picture in terms of counting tricks/losers for grand purposes.

 

 

As for the alternatives:

 

Splinter: unless you have a way to differentiate, immediately, between a void and a stiff, the splinter may harm your auction rather than help it. We hold stiffs more often than voids, so partner will assume a spade loser, unless he has the A, and evaluate his hand incorrectly. The corollary is that the spade A is unlikely to help your hand....which 4th round minor card are you planning to pitch? So he will upgrade the A inappropriately.

 

If you do have the ability to differentiate early, I suspect it is achieved by making a high-level bid...consuming vast bidding space on an auction where you have far more high cards and far more controls than he should play you for. You may survive, but you will have jammed your own auction.

 

J2N: obviously how successful this will be will depend on your agreements. However, many variants will leave the partnership fumbling to clarify the minor suit holdings. In addition, most J2N structures have some degree of focus on opener's strength range, which really isn't very important here. What counts here is degree of fit...where are opener's hcp? The best way to find this out is to embark on low-level, forcing and natural bidding.

 

xx Kxxxx Ax Kxxx makes for a great grand and one that can be bid easily enough after 2♣, but if opener jumps to 4♥ over 2N, as many schemes would require, then responder is going to have a terrible time finding grand.

 

Both splinter and J2N appear to me to be efforts to take control of the auction. Normally a splinter isn't a captaincy-grabbing call, but this hand is so good that I doubt that anyone intends to splinter and then pass a 4♥ signoff...which means that one isn't splintering descriptively, but as a convenient way of taking control. Complicated hands with trick sources and controls can afford, imo, to bid more co-operatively.

[whereagles]

Normally a splinter isn't a captaincy-grabbing call

Indeed. It's quite the opposite: show the support and shortness and leave it to pard, whose hand is way more undefined. This is why a splinter should IMO be limited to some 14 or so.

[mike777]

This is a frequent issue here on the forums.

 

Pard opens a major, we have 4 card support and a good side suit.

 

I think for B/I players, me, we almost always show our 4 card support and ask pard to describe their hand further.

 

Very good players seem to not worry about the 4th support card and show their side suit first.

[Finch]

I nearly always show my 4-card support first, and I would do so on this hand. The only time I make a 2/1 with 4-card support is when I plan to take control of the auction later.

But that is because I have good agreements after Jacoby (and good agreements after a void splinter, although this hand is too good for my void splinters).