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By Fred Gitelman
Here are five pairs of hands that you can try bidding with your partner. After each hand I will include a "recommended auction" based on the 2/1 Game Force (or 2/1 GF) and 1NT Forcing principles that were discussed in previous articles.
Hand One
Opener
K Q 7 6 5 4
A 10 4
Q J 7
3
1
2
3 NT
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Responder
3
Q 7
A 9 8
A Q J 10 9 5 4
2
3
Pass
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The first three bids would be the same in SAYC or Goren. Responder's 3 Club rebid, however, would not be forcing in these systems -- instead responder would have to "make up a bid" in order to force. Playing 2/1 GF, responder can comfortably rebid his excellent suit, secure in the knowledge that 3 Clubs will not be passed (as responder's initial 2 Club response was forcing to game). Opener, with mediocre Spades, a poor fit for Clubs, stoppers in the unbid suits, and minimum values is able to accurately place the contract in 3NT. Responder has told his story and is happy to Pass.
Hand Two
Opener
K Q 7 6 5
A J 9 8
A 6 5
7
1
2
4
5
Pass
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Responder
J
K Q 10 4
9 2
A K Q J 4 2
2
3
4 NT
6
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Again, the first three bids would be the same using SAYC or Goren. Playing 2/1 GF, however, responder has the luxury of being able to bid a forcing 3 Hearts at his second turn. Playing SAYC or Goren responder would have a real problem -- 4 Hearts would be an underbid, and bidding the fourth suit (3 Diamonds) would likely lead to a confused auction. Also, just blasting into Blackwood with a small doubleton in Diamonds is not a very good idea. You could easily be off the first 2 Diamond tricks and the opponents are very likely to lead that suit.
The responder really needs the opener to be able to show a Diamond control before launching into Blackwood, and the forcing 3 Heart bid (playing 2/1 GF) leaves room for this to occur. Opener isn't exactly loaded with high card values, but the values that he does have are slammish. Opener should therefore make a "positive sounding bid" (as opposed to 4 Hearts, which would sound negative). 4 Diamonds is a cuebid, suggesting first round control of Diamonds -- the Ace of Diamonds or a Diamond void. Many partnerships play that a cuebid in this auction could be based on no more than second round control (the King or a singleton) in Diamonds, but that agreement is not considered "standard."
Once responder knows that the Diamonds are under control he has an excellent hand for bidding Blackwood. I recommend a form of Blackwood called Roman Keycard Blackwood 1430 (or RKCB 1430).
Hand Three
Opener
A 9 8
A 10 9 8 7
K 6
Q J 7
1
2 NT
3
4
5
Pass
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Responder
8
K Q J
A Q J 10 5 3
A 10 6
2
3
4
4 NT
7 NT
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Opener's 2NT rebid describes a balanced hand with stoppers in the other suits. This bid does not promise or deny extra values. It is important, however, that you discuss with your partner how many points a jump to 3NT would show. Playing 2/1GF, it is never necessary to jump the bidding to make sure the partnership gets to game. Jumps to game should therefore describe a specific type of hand. I prefer to play that a jump to 3NT here shows 15-17 points and a balanced hand unsuitable for a 15-17 1NT opening (I sometimes open 1NT with a five-card major, but not always). So for me, the effective range of 2NT is either 12-14 points (that is, a hand too weak to jump to 3NT) or 18+ points (that is, a hand that is too strong to jump to 3NT). With the strong hand, I would obviously plan to bid a lot later in the auction. That's one of the great things about 2/1 GF -- you can often "stall the bidding" with a strong hand in order to get more information from your partner.
Responder's forcing 3 Hearts shows three-card (or better) support and invites a cuebid from the opening bidder. Opener, with a solid hand for the bidding so far, should be happy to cuebid his Ace of Spades. Responder, who still needs some cooperation from opener, then cuebids 4 Clubs, showing his Ace. Opener's 4 Diamonds, on just the King, seems in violation of the principle I was discussing earlier (that most players use a cuebid to promise a first round control). Here is one situation where I am certain it is right to cuebid a King (but very wrong to cuebid a singleton) -- where your partner has suggested length in the suit.
On this type of auction responder will often have a hand similar to the above example. Opener's King of Diamonds rates to be (and turns out to be) golden, almost regardless of what responder's hand is. Once the responder hears about the King of Diamonds (4 Diamonds could show the Ace, of course, but responder has that card), he can launch into Blackwood. When opener shows 2 Aces, the responder can count 13 tricks and should place the contract in 7NT.
Hand Four
Opener
K J 10 9 6
A 5 4
A J 10
J 9
1
2
3 NT
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Responder
Q 6
K J 9
Q 9 8 7
K 10 5 4
1 NT
2 NT
Pass
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Here is a typical 1NT Forcing auction. Playing SAYC or Goren, the responder's hand would be worth a 2/1 response, followed by an invitational but non-forcing 2NT rebid. Playing 2/1GF, responder does not have enough to force to game with a 2/1. With invitational values, responder must start with a Forcing 1NT. Opener is not allowed to Pass, but he does not have a second suit to show. Rebidding Spades would suggest a six-card (or longer) suit, and raising to 2NT would show a much stronger hand (17-19 roughly). In this situation, opener must rebid his cheapest 3-card minor (Diamonds in this case).
Despite having four-card support for opener's Diamonds, the responder should rebid 2NT (as opposed to raising to 3 Diamonds). There are several good reasons for this:
- Opener (as is the case here) might have only 3 Diamonds.
- The raise to 3 Diamonds here is a wide-ranging bid. Responder should raise to 3 Diamonds with as little as:
6
7 5 4
K 10 9 8 7
A 8 7 6
- 2NT does a great job of describing both the high card values and the distribution of responder's hand. Responder also has solid holdings in the unbid suits, another good reason to steer the final contract towards notrump.
A 2NT rebid by the Forcing 1NT bidder shows a good 10 to 12 points, generally a balanced hand, and generally stoppers in the unbid suits. I use the word "generally" here as there are some awkward hands that are not perfect for any bid, and a "flawed 2NT" is sometimes the least of evils.
Opener, with 14 points, balanced distribution, and excellent spot cards, should accept responder's invitation and bid the notrump game.
Hand Five
Opener
Q 6
A 9 8 7 6
A
A J 6 3 2
1
2
5
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Responder
K 7
5
10 8 7 4 2
K Q 9 8 7
1 NT
3
Pass
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This layout is a good example of a principle I discussed earlier -- responder's raise after opener rebids a minor (which might be a three-card suit) should not promise a great hand. Here responder does very well to keep the bidding open by not passing opener's 2 Club rebid. Opener has just 15 high card points but he has a great hand for Clubs once the (likely) 10-card fit is uncovered (since opener could have just 3 Clubs responder will usually have five-card support to raise). There is actually a fine play for 6 Clubs due to the perfect fit, but some 2/1 players would not even get to game on these cards -- they would play in a partscore after responder (wrongly) passed opener's 2 Club rebid. This is one of the most common mistakes made by new 2/1 players.
Opener doesn't really know if 5 Clubs is going to be the right contract, but there is no clear way to investigate effectively. This is a judgement situation, and good bidding judgement can only be developed through experience. I have seen hands like these enough times that I have a good "feel" for how much to bid. Once you start playing 2/1 GF with your favorite partner, you will get some hands like these under your belt and start developing good judgement of your own in these auctions.
The fact that both opener's minor suit rebid and responder's raise of that suit are both wide-ranging in both high card values and distribution is one of the biggest weaknesses of 1NT Forcing (and thus 2/1 GF). As a result, in some Forcing 1NT auctions neither opener nor responder will have much idea what the other one has even after both players have bid and rebid. Everything worked out fine in my example hands, but I constructed these hands to make sure that this happened!
2/1 Game Force is not a perfect bidding system -- there will still be deals where there is no "perfect bid" and there will still be bidding situations in which you have no idea what to bid. Also, you occasionally get to a bad contract even when both you and your partner have bid perfectly. The same is true for all bidding systems, however -- each system has its weak areas.
If you have any questions about this article and would like to send mail to Fred Gitelman, please e-mail Zidea.
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