This Week in Bridge
(591) Inverted Minors and 1♦ – 2♣ Auctions with Structure
© AiB Robert S. Todd
Level: 10 of 10 robert@advinbridge.com
General
When we use Inverted Minors to raise partner’s suit, the traditional approach is to show Major suit stoppers and determine whether we can play a notrump contract. A more sophisticated approach is to use an artificial structure that allows Opener to show their hand type and strength and allow Responder to determine where to play the final contract (and who should be declarer in notrump). A similar approach to this structure can be used in 1♦ – 2♣ auctions as well. Let’s look at some of these methods in detail.
Inverted Minors with Structure
Here is our structure for how to define Opener’s rebids after an inverted minor auction. Opener can show a variety of different hand types – minimum balanced, minimum non-balanced, strong balanced, and strong unbalanced hands.
Example 1
Opener Responder
1♣ 2♣*
__?
2♦ Natural, 6+card ♣, 5+card ♦ (some extra values since we did not open 1♦)
2♥* Artificial, balanced 12-14 pts (siding relay – see below)
2♠* Artificial, minimum unbalanced or semi-balanced (2NT relay asks shortness - VLMHN)
2NT Balanced Hand, 18-19 pts, GF
3♣* 5+card ♣, Semi-Balanced, GF (extra values)
3♦* Splinter, 0-1c ♦, GF (extra values)
3♥* Splinter, 0-1c ♥, GF (extra values)
3♠* Splinter, 0-1c ♠, GF (extra values)
3NT Does Not Exist (forgot system)
4♣ Minorwood
4M 5-card Major, 6-card ♣, GF (extra values)
Example 2
Opener Responder
1♦ 2♦*
__?
2♥* Artificial, balanced 12-14 pts (siding relay – see below)
2♠* Artificial, minimum unbalanced or semi-balanced (2NT relay asks shortness - VLMHN)
2NT Balanced Hand, 18-19 pts, GF
3♣* Splinter, 0-1c ♣, 1F (splinter below 3-minor not game forcing)
3♦* 5+card ♦, Semi-Balanced, GF (extra values)
3♥* Splinter, 0-1c ♥, GF (extra values)
3♠* Splinter, 0-1c ♠, GF (extra values)
3NT Does Not Exist (forgot system)
4♣ Natural, at least 5-5 in the minors, slammish
4♦ Minorwood
4M 5-card Major, 6-card ♦, GF (extra values)
Follow-up Bidding After Balanced Hand
After Opener shows a balanced 12-14 pts with a 2♥* rebid, Responder can use a 2♠* bid as a siding relay to show a variety of different hand types.
Example 3
Opener Responder
1♣ 2♣*
2♥* __?
2♠* Relay to 2NT, then:
o Pass Rare
o 3♣ Natural, GF, usually no shortness
o 3♦ concentration of values in ♦, GF
o 3♥ concentration of values in ♥, GF
o 3♠ concentration of values in ♠, GF
o 3NT To play (wanting Opener to declare)
2NT Natural, non-forcing, invitational (Responder wants to declare)
3♣ Natural, non-forcing, invitational (Responder does not want to declare NT)
3♦* Splinter, 0-1c ♦, often 5-card ♣, GF
3♥* Splinter, 0-1c ♥, often 5-card ♣, GF
3♠* Splinter, 0-1c ♠, often 5-card ♣, GF
3NT To Play
·4♣ Minorwood
This structure allows Responder to discover a lot about Opener’s hand and hopefully make a good decision about game, slam, and which player declares the hand.
1♦ – 2♣ Auctions with Rebid Structure
If we agree to play that 1♦ – 2♣ denies a 4-card Major (as Inverted Minors does) then we can use a similar structure for these auctions as we did in our Inverted Minors with Structure.
Example 4
Opener Responder
1♦ 2♣
__?
2♦* 5+card ♦, not 3-card ♣ (Relay for shortness VLMHN)
2♥* Minimum Balanced or 4-4-4-1, not 5-card ♥, not 4-card ♣ (2♠* siding relay for NT)
2♠* 5+card ♦, 3-card ♣ (Relay for shortness VLMHN)
2NT* Balanced 18-19 pts (not 4-card ♣)
3♣ 4+card ♣ balanced, usually 12-14 (18-19 pts rare)
3♦ 6+card ♦, 1-loser suit at most, slammish in ♦
3♥* Splinter, 0-1c ♥, 4+card ♣
3♠* Splinter, 0-1c ♠, 4+card ♣
3NT 4-4-4-1, Extra values
4♣ Minorwood
4♦ Minorwood
4M 5-card Major, 6+card ♦ (extra values)
Here we can use this structure to try for the best game, decide which player should declare, or even explore slam.
Conclusion
Although this collection of agreements may seem a bit overboard on use of artificiality for most partnerships, they can be extremely useful for concealing information from the opponents or exchanging shape and strength information with partner. If you and partner enjoy adding structure to your bidding, give these methods a try.