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A Try for Game…or for Slam?

It can be hard at times to distinguish between competitive and slam try bidding. This is especially true when the opposition make a semi-constructive bid themselves. What would your choice be on the following hand?

 

With the above, you certainly want to be in game but maybe even higher though 2 is described as an Intermediate Jump which should be in the 11-15 hcp range. So, what is your bid here? You are playing Teams.

This first view would not seem to be the mainstream who would treat a simple rebid of one’s own suit as showing a minimum hand:

Stephen Blackstock “3: I simply don't believe the description of 2 as a "one round force" - even if it's not forcing to game, North must promise another bid. Otherwise South has to bid, say, 4, and then guess what to do after North rebids 4. That is too crude and inefficient to contemplate. If we don't have the agreement that 3 is forcing, we soon will!

 

My next bid is likely to be 4, but it's important to emphasise strong diamonds without insisting that they are the trump suit. We also need space in this auction for meaningful exchanges."

Stephen would certainly not approve of 2 on the North hand below if he believes 3 here is forcing. It would certainly be very convenient for our South hand if our 3 was forcing for one round. If 3 is passable, then we have to, as Stephen indicates, go a level higher  though is that passable? Certainly not say:

Nigel Kearney “4: We must be close to 12 tricks in diamonds even if partner stretched to bid 2. What we do now depends on agreements, but I think a jump to 4 sets trumps and initiates cue bidding, while a strong hand with doubt about strain would start with 3.”

Andy Braithwaite “4: forcing slam try asking for cues or minorwood responses depending on your system here.”

What, though, about a change of suit?

Bruce Anderson “3: forward going; it is unlikely partner has diamond support but if he/she holds long semi-solid spades, a small slam at least is possible if the 2 overcall has solid hearts and little else. If partner bids 3 ,or less likely, 4 with, say, KQJ10xxx xx Jx  Axx, I will use RKC. If partner holds on one key card we will play 5. More likely is 2 key cards; then I bid the small slam even if partner also shows Q as the grand risks going down on a bad trump break.”

Peter Newell “3: keeps the bidding low, and shows my second suit. While 3 overstates the clubs and doesn't get across a key feature of the hand in the strong diamond suit, it does get across it is minor oriented without many major suit cards. In bidding 3, partner has room to make a descriptive bid at the 3 level which will help me in the next round. All other bids have greater flaws, either by consuming a lot of room like 4 or overstating key features like 4. I don't think the ambiguous cue bid will help me or my partner either...”

I do accept that a change of suit should be forcing which means that a simple rebid is not. There will no doubt be some raised eyebrows about the North hand’s 2 bid below (double is an alternative) though finding a playable 5-3 spade fit after that may prove difficult. For 2, North should really have a 10+ hcp and better spades, though the strong club suit is some compensation.  

The real winner this time seems to be a forcing 3 which should enable us to reach 6 after club support from partner, the better of the minor slams:

 

Playing in 6, we can comfortably discard our spade loser on A and then handle a 4-1 diamond break. We would, of course, not want to be higher with the Q lurking dangerously in one of the defender’s hands.

More importantly, how would you handle bids of 3, 3 and 4 over partner’s 2 bid…or even after a negative double? 4 of a minor in such auctions is hardly a place in which we want to play. So, that jump to 4 should be a slam try and 3 should be a 1-round force….though there is the alternative approach suggested by Stephen Blackstock.

Of the 14 pairs who had this problem in a major NZ event, 6 reached 6 and 4  5, the others in far less satisfactory contracts including 4 twice. No-one played in clubs. 

Oh, West did have their Intermediate Jump too.

Richard Solomon

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