Mixing sayc and 2/1

[awm]

My partner and I have decided to try an experiment, and I'm wondering if anyone's tried this before, and what people think about it. The idea is this:

 

A lot of people have noticed problems in 2/1 when responder has a single-suited minor suit invite. After the forcing notrump, three of a minor has too wide a range. The usual solution to this issue is to play intermediate jump shifts. However, after partner opens 1♠, consider a hand with 4♥ and 6♣. If we bid the forcing notrump, we are overjoyed when partner bids hearts. But if partner bids spades or diamonds, we're stuck. A 3♣ bid is too wide ranging (in fact it CAN'T be this good a hand, since we play invitational jumps!) and an off-shape 2NT seems undesirable when 3♣ is likely a better partial (and we could be cold for five or six clubs if opener has 3-card support and a stiff heart). On the other hand, if we bid the intermediate 3♣ directly, partner could pass when we are cold for a heart game.

 

Our proposed solution is to reverse the strengths of the direct 2♣ and the 3♣ jumps. Now 2♣ is natural and invitational or better, just like in standard bidding. The direct 3♣ shows a single-suited game force with clubs. No chance of losing a heart fit now, since we can respond 2♣ and raise hearts (if opener bids them) or rebid clubs (with just an invite) or reverse into hearts (with a 4-6 game force).

 

The highest 2/1 bid remains game forcing, and we use the jump in that suit as an artificial raise of opener's major (basically the limit-raise hand that would go through 1nt forcing). As an additional benefit, almost all the hands with 10+ points have been removed from the forcing notrump! The limit raise can be bid directly (and is still distinguished from the "good 4-card" limit raise). Balanced hands or hands with primary minors (over spades) or black suits (over hearts) can respond in their suits. The only remaining hand which bids forcing notrump with 10+ points holds 5+ cards in the highest 2/1. This means that 1♠-1nt-2x-2nt will guarantee 5-card hearts, allowing us to pick up heart fits that might be awkward to find in 2/1.

 

It seems like these methods are simple and solve many of the problems that 2/1 players have been facing for ages (and designed methods like gazilli, bart, and intermediate jumps to address, with only partial success). What do people think?

[pbleighton]

You've pointed out the advantages, but here is the big disadvantage:

 

You say "almost all the hands with 10+ points have been removed from the forcing notrump!"

 

So now you still have the forcing NT, with the disadvantage of having to bid 2m with a 3 card minor and a minmum hand (or worse, a 2 card minor with 4522 shape), in order to support very few invitational hands.

 

If you are going to do this, play 1M-1NT as semi-forcing.

 

Or else just play Standard, and use the jump shifts for GF, with a decent 6 card suit without a side suit.

 

Peter