Partner, that's super!

Here’s a simple and useful tool that should be part of your bidding arsenal.

In this example, you and your partner are playing 15-17 HCP for a 1 NT opening. After a 1 NT opening, your agreed responses include Stayman and Jacoby transfers.

♠ K Q x x   ♥ A K x x   ♦ Q x x   ♣ K x

You	Partner
1 NT ??	2 ♦

Partner’s 2♦ bid is a transfer to hearts. Your call?

ANSWER: Bid three hearts, a “super-accept” of the transfer to hearts.

THE PRINCIPLE:  A “super-accept” of a Jacoby transfer – accepting the transfer, but one level higher – tells partner that you have a "super" hand for playing in the transfer suit. Specifically, you should have very good four-card support, and be at the upper end of your notrump range. Partner can take it from there based on her hand.

When I held that notrump opener recently, my partner had a weak hand with an unimpressive six-card heart suit. He was planning to pass after a routine heart transfer:

♠ x x   ♥ 10 9 7 6 x x   ♦ K x   ♣ Q x x

But after my super-accept 3♥ bid, partner realized that four hearts was now within reach. The heart suit split 2-1, so we only lost the obvious 3 aces, making four. Other pairs, who didn’t play the super-accept bid, were only in two hearts.

So the super-accept can help you find skinny game contracts, but where it really pays off is slam bidding. Recall that responder, holding game-going values but only a five-card major suit, usually bids 3NT after opener accepts the transfer. If opener has a three- or four-card fit, opener can correct to four of the major. But the correction to four of the major doesn’t show extra values, and opener has no way to know if responder has extras.

For example, suppose partner holds a decent hand for game but not quite enough to push for slam:

♠ A x   ♥ Q 10 x x x   ♦ K x   ♣ A x x

Without the super-accept, your auction will probably go

You	Partner
1 NT 2 ♥ 4 ♥	2 ♦ 3NT Pass

Partner is stuck after your bid, knowing you might have three baby hearts and a minimum 15-point hand. If that’s really the case, you’ll be lucky to make four, much less five or six.

But look what can happen when partner knows you have good four-card support and a maximum. Now she knows the heart suit has, at most, one loser. From there it’s just a matter of making sure we have enough aces, either by Blackwood or a cue-bidding sequence. Partner’s hand again:

♠ A x   ♥ Q 10 x x x   ♦ K x   ♣ A x x

You	Partner
1 NT 3 ♥ 5 ♦	2 ♦ 4 NT 6 ♥

Super-accepts are also on after a 2NT opening and a Jacoby transfer at the three-level; in this case, opener jumps to four of the major.

Shapes in the fog

Some hands are easy to bid: a straightforward opening, a raise, a pass. Others are more complicated. This hand came up last week; play along with me while we sort out the puzzle.

 ♠ x    ♥ x x   ♦ A K 10 x x x   ♣ K Q 10 x

Both sides vulnerable, against silent opponents, partner deals and passes. My plan is to bid diamonds, diamonds again, and then clubs if necessary to show the 6-4 shape in the minors.

Partner	You
Pass 1 ♥ 2 ♠	1 ♦ 2 ♦ --

How many spades does partner have? How many hearts?
Partner has at least five hearts, and at least four spades. She knows that I don’t have four spades, else I would have bid 1♠ over her 1♥. So with 4-4 in the majors, there isn’t much reason for her to bid spades. By bidding spades, she’s strongly indicating at least five hearts. Her major suit shape could be 4-5 or 5-5 or 4-6 or even 5-6.

How could partner hold 4-6 in the majors when she didn’t open a weak 2♥?
Two possible reasons: (1) her heart suit is lousy, not good enough for a weak 2♥ opening, or (2) she’s following conventional wisdom of not opening a weak two with a side four-card major, particularly in first or second seat.  

How strong is partner’s hand?

She passed originally, so she holds less than an opening hand. Since she’s willing to bring in a new suit at the 2-level, she probably has at least invitational values; but she might be looking for a safe landing place with a weak 4-5-0-4 hand. With a weak 4-6 hand, she would have tried to sign off in 2♥.

I’m sticking with my original plan, bidding 3♣ to indicate my 6-4 shape. It’s tempting to bid 2NT, but I’m worried about transportation problems in a misfit no-trump contract.

♠ x    ♥ x x   ♦ A K 10 x x x   ♣ K Q 10 x

Partner	You
Pass 1 ♥ 2 ♠	1 ♦ 2 ♦ 3 ♣

How many hearts have I shown partner?
I just denied a three-card heart holding. Her 2♠ bid indicated five hearts, so I would have raised hearts with three.

♠ x    ♥ x x   ♦ A K 10 x x x   ♣ K Q 10 x

Partner	You
Pass 1 ♥ 2 ♠ 3 ♥	1 ♦ 2 ♦ 3 ♣ ??

Uh-oh, a whiff of disaster. I’ve shown partner a hand that is most likely 3-0-6-4, 2-1-6-4, or 1-2-6-4. It’s also conceivable that I hold seven diamonds for this auction.

• If partner holds 2 diamonds, she would correct my 3♣ to 3♦, an eight-card fit. Any port in a storm! 
• If she has only 1 diamond, she could have passed 3♣ if she held three clubs. Correcting to 3♦ would be okay as a desperation move, a 6-1 fit might be the safest landing if she’s 5-5 in the majors. 

So it looks like her minor suit holding is at best 1-2

What is partner’s shape?
Most likely 4-6-1-2. Second most likely is 5-5-1-2. In either case, she doesn’t want to put me in a 6-1 diamond fit, and she knows I will correct to 3♠ if I hold three spades and a heart void.

What is your call after 3♥?
ANSWER: Pass. Partner’s shape is 5-5-1-2 or 4-6-1-2. We’ve found at least a seven-card fit, maybe even an eight-card fit. With hands that don’t seem to fit together very well, and less than game-going values, any port in a storm!

THE PRINCIPLE: In a complicated auction, try to visualize possible hands for partner that are consistent with her bidding and yours. The shapes of the two hands and how well they fit together is usually more important than combined point count.

Passing the buck, again

In this example, you and your partner are playing the modern bidding system “2/1 Game Force.” After an opening of 1 heart or 1 spade, a new suit response at the two-level shows at least an opening hand and is forcing to game.

Vul: Both

You hold:

♠ Q 9 x x 

♥ J x

♦ A Q J 10 x x x 

♣ --

North	East	You	West
1 ♥ 2 ♥	1 ♠ 3 ♣	2 ♦ (a) ??	Pass

 (a) 2♦ is forcing to game

ANSWER: PASS, forcing partner to either double or bid again.

THE PRINCIPLE: When our side is in a game-forcing auction, either we bid game or the opponents buy the contract doubled. Period. No exceptions. A game-forcing auction creates forcing pass situations just the same as if we had bid all the way to game.

Yes, it is very tempting to rebid the diamond suit. But there’s no way to tell whether partner has any diamonds at all. Partner’s 2♥ rebid might only be a five card suit, temporizing without taking up any bidding space from you. East is doing a lot of bidding, who has all the clubs? What if partner has a fistful of clubs and would like to double? By passing, you indicate that you don’t have a strong preference whether to defend or keep bidding, and want to hear partner's opinion. Maybe the opponents will bid some more, clarifying the situation for you. Because it is a forcing pass situation, partner cannot allow 3♣ to be passed out; she must bid or double. 

The auction continues... you still hold:

♠ Q 9 x x   ♥ J x   ♦ A Q J 10 x x x   ♣ --

North	East	You	West
1 ♥ 2 ♥ Double Pass	1 ♠ 3 ♣ Pass Pass	2 ♦ (a) Pass Pass ??	Pass Pass 3 ♠

ANSWER: Double. This is a fun game, eh? Partner doubled 3♣ for penalty, but her pass over 3♠ is forcing because you are still in the game-forcing auction that your 2♦ bid created. Now you have to either bid or double. It looks like the opponents have wandered in where they don’t belong, solving your side’s misfit problem.

The complete hand:

	North
	♠ A ♥ K Q 10 9 x x ♦ 9  ♣ K 10 9 x x
West		East
♠ x x x  ♥ x x x ♦ K x x x ♣ x x x		♠ K J 10 x x ♥ A x ♦ x ♣ A Q J x x
	South (you)
	♠ Q 9 x x ♥ J x ♦ A Q J 10 x x x  ♣ --

It’s a tricky hand to play in any contract in either direction, but I think careful defense will set 3♠ by three tricks for +800.

Protecting partner's pass

We’re playing negative doubles, a standard bidding method in this century. After an overcall of an opening bid, a double by responder is not for penalty; it instead shows some values without the right shape or strength for a free bid, and strongly suggests a useful holding in an unbid major suit. But that’s not all there is to playing negative doubles…

Vul: E-W

Dlr: South

You hold:

♠ 8 

♥ A K J 8 4

♦ K 10 9 6 

♣ A J 7

South (you)	West	North	East
1 ♥ ??	1 ♠	Pass	Pass

ANSWER: Double. Nominally your double is for takeout, you have a good hand with good support for the unbid suits. But what you’re really hoping for is that partner has a fistful of spades!

THE PRINCIPLE: Playing negative doubles, responder has no way to make a penalty double of an overcall. In an auction that goes opening-overcall-pass-pass, the opening bidder must protect responder’s hand by keeping the auction alive – preferably with a double. Particularly with shortness in the overcalled suit, opener must double because responder can’t. Of course, responder won’t always have a stack in the opponents’ suit; sometimes she’ll just have a weak hand and bid 1NT or take some other weak action.

The complete hand:

	North
	♠ Q J 7 2 ♥ Q 3 ♦  A Q 3  ♣ Q 4 3 2
West		East
♠ A K 9 5 4  ♥ 9 7 2 ♦ J 8 4 2 ♣ 9		♠ 10 6 3 ♥ 10 6 5 ♦ 7 5 ♣ K 10 8 6 5
	South (you)
	♠ 8 ♥ A K J 8 4 ♦ K 10 9 6  ♣ A J 7

At the table, 1♠ doubled was set two tricks for NS +500 -- a better result than making four or five notrump. Take a look at North’s hand. With game-going values, she made a very disciplined decision to Pass after the 1♠ overcall, trusting you to protect her by keeping the auction alive. Bravo! She’s really really hoping you can double; don’t let her down!