Robert Todd

(586) 2-Way New Minor Forcing and Wolff Signoff

This Week in Bridge

(586) 2-Way New Minor Forcing and Wolff Signoff

© AiB                                                  Robert S. Todd
Level:  8 of 10                                   
robert@advinbridge.com

 

 

General

New Minor Forcing is an excellent convention for continuing the auction when Opener has shown a balanced hand that is weaker than opening 1NT. But after a New Minor Forcing bid, the auction often gets complicated if we don’t go straight to game.  It can be confusing whether we are inviting game or trying to make a slam try – which bids are forcing and which bids are non-forcing?  2-Way New Minor Forcing is an upgrade to New Minor Forcing that allows Responder to better describe their hand and simplify and clarify the rest of the auction. 

 

 

2-Way New Minor Forcing

The change from playing 1-Way NMF to 2-Way NMF is in all auctions that begin 1X – 1Y – 1NT (where X and Y are any bids by our side), both 2♣ and 2♦ now become artificial bids. 

  • 2♣* - Usually invitational values.  A forced relay to 2♦*, after which Responder will further describe their hand.

  • 2♦* - Game Forcing New Minor Forcing.  Not 10+ points, but now 12+ points. 

 

 

2♦ Artificial Game Forcing Bid

This 2♦ bid can be a little dangerous in auctions like:

Opener                Responder

1♦                           1♠
1NT                        2♦*

because we are bidding Opener’s suit as an artificial, game forcing bid, and it can easily be forgotten.

After the 2♦* artificial game forcing bid, the bidding is relatively straightforward – the same as it was over traditional New Minor Forcing (1-way NMF.) 

 

Opener’s Priority List

1.  Show 3-card support for Responder’s suit.

2.  Show 4 cards in the other Major.

3.  Show 5 cards in a minor.

4.  Notrump shows nothing else to say.

2♣* Relay to 2♦*

If Responder wants to correct the auction from 1NT to 2♦, they can now do so not by bidding to 2♦, but by bidding 2♣* as a relay to 2♦* and then passing. 

 

But what if Responder doesn’t pass 2♦?  They show more information about their hand – shape and invitational values.  Let’s look at the meaning of these bids in general and through some examples.

 

Example 1 – General

Opener                Responder

1X                           1Y
1NT                        2♣*
2♦*

Any bid is natural and Invitational.  In some cases, there is more than one way to make these bids. 

 

Example 2 – Follow-ups

Opener                Responder

1♣                          1♠  
1NT                        __?

  • 2♣*        Relay to 2♦*.  To play in 2♦ or some invite. 

  • 2♦*        Artificial, game forcing.

  • 2♥           5+♠, 4+♥, 6-9 pts.  Pass or correct.

  • 2♠           5+♠, 6-9 pts.  To play.

  • 2NT        Invitational

  • 3♣          5+♣, 6-9 pts.  To play

  • 3♦           5+♦ (5+♠ by Inference), game forcing.

  • 3♥           5+♥ (5+♠ by inference), game forcing.

  • 3♠           6+♠, game forcing.

  • 3NT        To play

  • 4♣          Gerber (or Minorwood, based on agreement.)

  • 4♦           **Unusual - Self-splinter, 6+♠, S/V ♦ (to discuss with partner.)

  • 4♥           **Unusual – Either 6-5 Majors or Self-splinter (to discuss with partner.)

  • 4♠           To play

  • 4NT        Quantitative

 

Example 3 – Invite

Opener                Responder

1♣                          1♠  
1NT                        2♣*
2♦*                        __?

  • Pass       With 6-9 points and long ♦ (usually 6+cards)

  • 2♥           5+♠, 4+♥, Invitational values (9-11 pts.)

  • 2♠           5+♠, Invitational, 10-11 pts.

  • 2NT        Invitational (2NT directly would be invitational as well.)

  • 3♣          Invitational with 5+♣

  • 3♦           Invitational with 6+♦

  • 3♥           5-5M, Invitational

  • 3♠           6+♠, Invitational values

  • 3NT        Choice of games (5332)

 

We can see from this example that Responder can effectively describe their hand with almost any holding, or they can create a game force with 2♦* to allow for a slow auction where they exchange information with the Opener – similar to a 2/1 GF auction.

 

 

Responder’s Reverse Example

In some auctions, Responder will also have a reverse available to force the auction.  Let’s look at one of these examples as well.

 

Example 4

Opener                Responder

1♦                           1♥
1NT                        __?       

Most bids are similar to before, but we have some Responder’s Reverses available now. 

  • 2♠                                          4+♠, usually only 4c♠.  Game forcing.

  • 2♣* - 2♦* - 2♠                   4c♠, Invitational (usually only 4c♥.) 

These auctions are relatively natural and similar to what we would expect. 

 

Note:  2-Way NMF also allows Responder to describe their hand more often (concealing Opener’s hand.)  In cases where Responder is dummy (like 3NT) there is a significant advantage to not having disclosed much info about Opener’s shape.               

 

Modified Wolff Signoff

When we upgrade our methods to 2-Way NMF over a 1NT rebid, we should also upgrade our methods in auctions where Opener rebids 2NT. 

 

Example 5 – Strong Rebid

Opener                Responder

1X                           1Y
2NT

The modern version of this is called Modified Wolff Signoff – let’s see how it works and how it differs from our 1NT rebid agreements.

 

After a 2NT rebid, Responder’s choices differ from 1NT rebid situations in that there are no invitational hands.  Responder’s hand buckets are

  • Corrective - Wanting to play a different part score than 2NT.

  • Game Forcing – Looking for the best game.

  • Slammish – Wanting to explore for more than game.

 

Responder has similar tools as in the 1NT rebids auctions (2-way NMF) to explore these hand types.  This is how it will work after a 2NT rebid:

  • 3♣* relay to 3♦*               Used to sign off in 3♦, 3♥, 3♠ (other complex meanings possible.)

  • 3♦*                                        Artificial Game Force (NMF type follow-up bids by Opener.)

  • 3♥ or higher                       Natural and Forcing

 

Example 6

Opener                Responder

1♦                           1♠
2NT                        __?

  • 3♣* - 3♦* - 3♠                   6+♠, To play (horrible hand)

  • 3♠                                           6+♠, Slammish

  • 4♠                                           6+♠, To play (just game)

 

So in Wolff Signoff auctions, 3♣ is generally used with the weak (corrective) hands.  3♦* is used to obtain more information from Opener for game or slam.  Direct bids are natural, forcing, and slam-oriented.

 

Note:   Modified Wolf Signoff (2-Way NMF) can be used to create some complex auctions to handle a variety of interesting hands in experienced partnerships. 

 

 

Conclusion

Two-Way NMF and Modified Wolff Signoff are excellent upgrades to our bidding system.  These changes give up very little and simply allow us to better communicate with partner.  Specifically, Responder can now choose between describing their hand or using an artificial game forcing ♦* bid to find out information about Opener’s hand.  Try out this upgrade to your bidding system and see how it improves your bidding!

(585) Modified 2-Way Reverse Drury

(585) Modified 2-Way Reverse Drury

The concept of having a conventional bid like Drury available to show a limit raise in support of partner’s Major suit when we are a passed hand is a regular part of most partnerships’ passed hand bidding structure.  Given that making a 2/1 bid into a minor suit is not that attractive (or even possible!) by a passed hand, it makes sense to allocate both 2♣ and 2♦ as artificial raises of Opener’s third seat (or fourth seat) Major suit opening bid.  Many partnerships that play Drury play 2-Way Drury, using one bid to show a 3-card limit raise and the other a 4-card limit raise.  But a more sophisticated structure can allow us to describe even more hand types in the same bidding space.

(584) Exclusion Keycard

(584) Exclusion Keycard

When we are interested in slam in a suit contract but have a void in one of the side suits, it adds some complexity to our slam bidding.  We may be able to make a slam missing two Aces (or a grand slam missing an Ace), if partner does not have the Ace opposite our void.  When exploring slam, we want to know if partner has that Ace or has the “good Aces”, the ones opposite our losers.  One way that we find out about the location of partner’s Aces is by using control showing bids. This is especially effective if we use them to show first round control (if we play that our control showing bids could be 1st or 2nd round, then we know less about which Aces partner hold).  There is a gadget that we can use in some auctions that allows us to try to solve this problem.  This convention, called Exclusion Keycard, asks partner for their number of Keycards (or Aces if we play Blackwood), excluding one particular Ace – the place where we are void. This Exclusion allows us to find out if partner has enough of the “right Aces” for us to make slam. 

(583) Problems with Kickback Keycard

(583) Problems with Kickback Keycard

Kickback is a convention that can make slam bidding easier, in that it gives us more space to ask partner for the Queen of trump, but it can also cause problems for us in the bidding.  Any time we make a game contract (like 4♥ or 4♠) a conventional bid, there is danger that we have an expensive mixup with partner.  Here we look at some classic danger auctions that may come up if we choose to play Kickback and then discuss some of the common partnership agreements or philosophies for how to handle these dangerous auctions.