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.