strength to respond with Jacoby 2NT

[bravejason]

I've read that you need 13+ points to respond with a Jacoby 2 NT. The question is can those points include points that are only counted when supporting partner's suit or do they need to be points as would be counted when deciding to open the bidding? If I have a hand that is worth only 10 to 11 points if I was the dealer, but 13+ in support of partner's major suit, would it be OK to respond with a Jacoby 2 NT after partner bids 1 of a major?

[MrAce]

I've read that you need 13+ points to respond with a Jacoby 2 NT. The question is can those points include points that are only counted when supporting partner's suit or do they need to be points as would be counted when deciding to open the bidding? If I have a hand that is worth only 10 to 11 points if I was the dealer, but 13+ in support of partner's major suit, would it be OK to respond with a Jacoby 2 NT after partner bids 1 of a major?

 

Usually the hands which improved due to shape or shortness or length are expressed with other conventions like splinter, mini splinter etc.

 

But at this level if I were you I'd not worry about them and if you think your hand improved enough, whether by hcps or additional imaginary points, to make a GF raise, then I'd say go for it. It is better to bid 2 NT with 11 hcp which looks like a 13 hcp, than bidding 1♠ 4♠ which usually shows 4-5 card support and half preemptive half making purpose bids. But I'd not use jacoby 2 NT with say 7-9 hcp which improved to13 hcp somehow. Prefer bidding those hands by raising directly to the game level.

 

And do not forget, jacoby 2 NT means 4+ card support. Don't do it with 3.

[Mbodell]

If you have 4+ trumps and would be sick if you made a limit raise and were passed, then Jacoby 2nt is fine. You may have other bids you could make (like splinters if you have shortness, or like forcing 2/1 bids if you have a good outside suit), but Jacoby 2nt on 4+ trumps and an 11 or 12 count isn't wrong, so long as you evaluate it as a hand you want to be in game opposite the sort of hands where your partner would pass your limit raise.

[akwoo]

This is not quite the right answer for novices, since they might not be quite experienced enough to actually answer these questions. However, this is roughly what I do (in marginal situations):

 

1) Picture partner with the worst possible 13 hcp hand (consistent with the opening bid). Do you want to be in game?

 

2) Picture partner with the best possible 15 hcp hand (consistent with the opening bid, not including hands more distributional than 5530). Do you want to be in slam?

 

If the answer to both questions is YES (and you have 4+ card trump support), bid Jacoby 2N.

[keylime]

4 trumps, and the inability to make another constructive call first, like a 2/1 on a hand that has a side five card suit (not in trumps).

[ggwhiz]

I bid it once on something like

 

KQxxx, x, x, Axxxxx got a 3♣ response (on shortness) and bid blackwood.

 

Don't be afraid to experiment a bit as long as you are thinking tricks not points and consider the other ways to bid a hand (2/1, splinter?) before you do it. If you are wrong, it won't take long to find out and you can practice your apologies to partner.