constructive two bids

[dick payne]

Constructive two bids

 

As dealer you pick up

A/ QJ10xxx

-

xx

KQxxx

What do you do?

If you open the bidding, will partner bull you into some ridiculously high contract on a misfit? Will he double the opponents in 4H and concede an overtrick? Will you be criticised for opening an eight count? The argument for passing is strong. Before doing so, however, be aware that if partner has nothing but Axxx in spades and a few random red cards of no value at all, the contract of 4S is playable. In spite of that most players will pass and hope to get back into the bidding later. Should the bidding be Pass 1H pass 2NT ? what now? Or Pass 1H Pass 4H ? do we put a toe on 4S ? , and what if it is doubled?

Now suppose that RHO deals and opens one of a red suit. Everybody, but everybody, is into the action. Be it Michaels, Quantum, Ghestem, Questem, or a delicate toe on 1S, all are there on their favourite hobbyhorse.

21

So the consensus of opinion is that if you are first to speak you must concede the initiative to the opponents and hope that they will let you back into the bidding later. Once they have been allowed to have their say you will be more than happy to wade in, if they let you. Alice in wonderland is more pragmatic than that.

 

B/ AQJxx

x

Kx

KJxxx

 

As dealer what do you do? Many will open 1C which has the effect of inviting the opponents to bid the red suits. We open 2S, showing 8-15 points 5-5 or better in spades and a minor, with 6-4 losers. The opponents can bid the red suits at the three level if they want to. Both A/ and B/ open 2S. We leave it to the opponents to distinguish between the two They are both five loser hands

 

Two suited overcalls

 

Weak two suited overcalls gain more popularity than they deserve. Reese had nothing but contempt for them. He maintained that they only told the opponents how to play the hand with the result that declarer made contracts which he would not otherwise have made. Our two suited overcalls are exactly the same as the constructive two 8-15 points and 6-4 losers

 

Responding to the constructive twos

 

The responses are simple and logical. What responder needs to know is whether partner is minimum or maximum, and what is his other suit. He will play a part score or a game, but may ask for controls in one of partner’s suits.

 

2S (showing spades and a minor)

 

Pass - nothing better available

2NT - a sound game try showing two plus tricks

3C - to play or correct

3D - to play in diamonds or a game try in clubs. This is a Multi principle. A parallel sequence is 2D 2S , where 2S is to play or can be a game try in hearts

22

2S 2NT

? The rebids stay below the level of 3NT

 

3C minimum with clubs

3D minimum with diamonds

3H maximum with clubs

3S maximum with diamonds

 

Having clarified the range, the next ask is for controls. The other two suits are used for control asks For example

 

2S 2NT

3C ?

3D asks for controls in clubs and 3H, for controls in spades

Or 2S 2NT

3S ?

4C asks for controls in diamonds and 4H asks for controls in spades

 

2H (showing hearts and another suit which could be spades)

 

Pass - nothing better

2S - pass or correct

2NT - game try

3C, 3D - Multi principles, to play or a game try in the suit or suits bypassed.

 

2H 2NT

?

3C - minimum with clubs

3D - minimum with diamonds

3H - in principle this rebid is idle, it can be used to show minimum with spades, in case 2NT was a game try in hearts, where opener will want to play in 3H with a minimum and no liking for spades

3S - maximum with spades

4C - maximum with clubs

4D - maximum with diamonds

 

 

23

The following hand illustrates the principles of a Multi response to a constructive two.

AJxxx

X

Xxx

KQxx

 

This would be a 3D bid in response to 2H. If partner’s second suit is diamonds 3D is quite sufficient. But this is a very good hand in support of either of the black suits

 

2NT (showing the minors)

 

3C, 3D - to play

4C,4D - invitational

3H - imposes 3S, then 3NT is natural but offers hearts as an alternative game if partner can find a doubleton heart, or the follow up of 4C and 4D are control asks in those suits

[glen]

open 2S, showing 8-15 points 5-5 or better in spades and a minor, with 6-4 losers

what is a common type of hand that responder will have? That will be about average points, no good fit in opener's major.

 

Say responder has:

 

♠ 76 ♥ AQ982 ♦ 82 ♣ AJ75

 

what does responder do opposite the 8-15. If responder bids, he may already be too high. If responder passes, opener might be 14-15, and/or might have ♣s.

 

Say responder has:

 

♠ 6 ♥ AQ982 ♦ 82 ♣ AJ875

 

Now what does responder do?

 

You can discover these types of issues, for this and other methods you have recently suggested here, by using bridge software that produces hands to your specifications, and then bidding them. Best wishes.

[Zelandakh]

As dealer you pick up

QJ10xxx

-

xx

KQxxx

 

So the consensus of opinion is that if you are first to speak you must concede the initiative to the opponents and hope that they will let you back into the bidding later.

The basic premises of your arguments seem to be based on bidding theory from 40 years ago. Rather than telling us the consensus you could have tried running the above hand as a poll - my guess is that even without a 2-suited gadget opening some number of spades >1 would be a big favourite on BBF.

 

 

AQJxx

x

Kx

KJxxx

 

As dealer what do you do? Many will open 1C which has the effect of inviting the opponents to bid the red suits.

Even in England the majority open this hand 1♠ these days. In 5 card major countries I would think this is well over 90%. It is true that Culbertson taught opening 1♣ with 5-5 in the black suits but that was a different era altogether.

 

It is not that I want to poo-poo your idea here, there is indeed a good argument for the lower end of 2-suited overcalls being higher than the majority play it, especially vulnerable. This is a discussion that we have had here on BBF a few times now. I do question your presentation style though, not only in this thread but in previous ones too. Most of the posters here are actually pretty good players. They know when they are being fed rubbish such as the statements highlighted above. Many also have experience of different systems. An example of that would be Fantunes. Those that understand how difficult the Fantunes 2♠ opening, with a very limited range, can be to handle when it is our hand can see immediately how problematic the range of 8-15 is. No doubt this creates problems for the opponents too but to say that you are better off here than, for example, Muiderberg you need to give us more than your word for it.

 

One last (theoretical) point - you do not give a meaning for a 3♥ response to the 2♠ opening. By comparison with [my version of] Muiderberg a logical meaning would seem to be a good (INV+) raise of spades. Perhaps taking the fit-based game tries out of 2NT might allow you to make an improvement there.

 

And finally, to Glen, if I have understood the OP correctly I think he will suggest that both of your hands are 3♦ responses. This could easily miss game opposite 5341 but this seems to be accepted. As with the previous criticism, stating this kind of issue up front would go some way to providing credibility.

[glen]

if I have understood the OP correctly I think he will suggest that both of your hands are 3♦ responses.

3♦: to play in diamonds or a game try in clubs

 

on the first hand, if opener's second suit is ♦s, that often ends in a 5-2 fit at the three level, when 3NT (opener maximum) or 2♠ (opener not maximum) would be better contracts.

[the hog]

AQJxx

x

Kx

KJxxx

 

Does anyone still open this 1C?

Your 8-15 range is far too wide.

[whereagles]

I usually treat weakish freaks by passing and butting-in later in 2NT or whatnot.

 

Works fine, but remember to warn partner of your style.