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In 2020 Robert started to create digital products to accompany of the TWIB Articles. This pages allows you to search the TWIBS with practice hands and other supporting digital products.
TWiB Lesson #585 (1 of 8)
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.
TWiB Lesson #586 (2 of 8)
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. Let’s take look at how this works to make your bidding smoother and more precise.
TWiB Lesson #587 (3 of 8)
When the auction begins 1X – 1Y – 1NT (where X and Y are different suit bids), the modern treatment is to play Two-Way New Minor Forcing. This approach uses both 2♣ and 2♦ as artificial and forcing bids by Responder. 2♦ is an artificial game forcing bid, while 2♣ is generally used to start invitational bidding sequences. XYZ is a convention that is an extension of this approach in other auctions that start with three bids at the 1-level. By learning these tools, players gain greater flexibility, clearer communication, improved accuracy, stronger control of the auction, and better partnership understanding. Let’s look at the details of how this can improve our bidding.
TWiB Lesson #588 (4 of 8)
When we find a Major suit fit and are interested in game (1M – 2M), we need a good way to explore or invite game. The traditional method is the Help Suit Game Try (HSGT), where Opener asks for help in a side suit. We also have 2NT as a general game try (some use it as a trump suit try) and a raise to 3-Major as 1-2-3 Stop or a quantitative try. This structure works but has two main problems: 1) both players must guess about wasted values opposite shortness, and 2) Declarer’s side-suit description helps the opponents defend. Kokish Game Tries upgrade HSGT, giving up very little while solving these issues. Let’s see how they work in real auctions and practical play.
TWiB Lesson #589 (5 of 8)
When partner opens the bidding in a suit at the 1-level and the next player overcalls 1NT, we want to have a system that allows us to deal with this interference effectively. With a good hand (which is somewhat rare in this auction), we make a penalty double. With a poor hand that is relatively balanced, we likely want to stay out of the auction and simply pass. It is the distributional hands with some values, but less than 10 HCP, where we are likely to want to compete in the bidding. One way to make bidding these distributional hands easier is to use a system like the one we use over a 1NT opening.
TWiB Lesson #590 (6 of 8)
Another approach for using 2♥ and 2♠ responses to 1-minor suit opening bids is to use these bids to show a variety of problematic hands that have length in both Major suits. This method, called Reverse Flannery, is particularly effective after a 1♦ opening bid. It originally comes from Precision, where 1♦ is the only “natural” 1-minor opening bid. By using Reverse Flannery, partnerships gain a clearer, more precise way to describe hands, reduce misunderstandings, and improve their chances of reaching the best contract. Let’s look at how this works and see what types of hands these agreements can help us bid better.
TWiB Lesson #567 (1 of 9)
Most partnerships who play Support Doubles have had a conversation about when they apply and when they do not. Hopefully, we will have a conversation with partner about the follow-up bids as well. But one thing that many partnerships forget to discuss is how high support doubles apply and what a double at a higher level shows. Let’s look at support double auctions in detail to make sure we are on the same page with partner.
TWiB Lesson #568 (2 of 9)
Bridge players keep finding more and more ways to use doubles, especially in low-level competitive auctions. But when Left Hand Opponent (LHO) opens the bidding with a suit, partner overcalls a second suit, and Responder bids a third suit, then a double by Advancer is not a responsive double. It is a different kind of competitive double called a Snapdragon Double – a fancy name for another double that wants to compete in the bidding.
TWiB Lesson #569 (3 of 9)
Traditionally, a redouble in a competitive auction shows a strong hand (10+ points), but with everyone bidding it is not likely that Advancer is too focused on showing values. Instead, we want to design our agreements to let us best describe the most common kinds of hands. Here, we will see how using redouble as a conventional bid, called a Rosenkrantz Redouble, can be more effective than this traditional value-showing redouble.
TWiB Lesson #570 (4 of 9)
The modern game continues to create interesting auctions and we need to make sure to discuss how to respond to new situations with partner. Some of the most interesting (and useful) competitive bids are when we use a suit that the opponents have bid – called a Cuebid. There can be many different meanings for bidding the opponent’s suit. Let’s take a look at cuebids of the opponent’s suit in a variety of different auctions and make sure we are on the same page with partner about the meaning of these calls.
TWiB Lesson #571 (5 of 9)
When the auction begins 1m – 1NT (both bids by the opponents), it’s rare to compete in a minor suit. Usually opponents have the minors, since Responder has denied a 4-card Major. In these auctions, it is effective to play a system geared towards the Major suits where we are most likely to have a fit. Spear is an artificial system that uses all the bids at the 2-level to show different Major suit hands. This gives more options for competing in the bidding. Let’s see how it works.
TWiB Lesson #572 (6 of 9)
When responding to partner’s 1-Major opening bid, Responder tries to apply the Law of Total Tricks (LOTT) – getting to the size of the partnership’s fit as quickly as possible. This LOTT bidding is especially effective when our side has a 9+card fit. Bergen Raises are a set of conventional bids Responder can use when responding to a 1-Major opening bid with 4+card support (at least a 9+card fit). Let’s see how this system works.
TWiB Lesson #573 (7 of 9)
One of my favorite sayings is “2NT is a convention, not a contract.” In specific situations, Responder can use 2NT as conventional raise of Opener’s suit. Sometimes we need to choose between several different conventional methods for competitive auctions. Here we look at our options for how to best use 2NT. If you like conventional raises of partner's suit, then make sure you discuss these auctions with partner.
TWiB Lesson #574 (8 of 9)
Jumping in the auction eats up a lot of bidding space, which is likely to make communicating with partner more difficult. Since our jump bid may make future communication more difficult, it should have a specific meaning. When partner opens the bidding, Responder’s jump shifts can be used to show a variety of different types of hands. We need to decide, as a partnership, which ones we want to use. We will choose different agreements for different situations.
TWiB Lesson #575 (9 of 9)
When partner makes a bid, and we choose to bid a suit of our own, this is called a freebid. In most normal situations freebids show values (called positive freebids) and are often forcing 1-round. We’ve all heard the saying -- a new suit is forcing by an unpassed hand. Unfortunately, this is not always true, but it is often our agreement. Let’s look at freebids made by a passed hand and see how the fact that we are passed changes these situations.
TWiB Lesson #563 (1 of 4)
The Ace is the most powerful card in each suit. It almost always wins a trick (especially in a notrump contract), but the Ace does much more than simply win one trick. The Ace controls the suit. When we hold the Ace of a suit, we get to not only win a trick in that suit, we get to decide when we take our trick and gain the lead. Holding the Ace gives us the power to choose how the play is going to go.
TWiB Lesson #564 (2 of 4)
We usually win tricks with little cards (other than in the trump suit) by setting up our long suits. To establish these little cards in our long suits into winners, we need to play the hand well. This requires using our large cards in the best way possible to establish our little cards. That means we need to play our combinations as best as we can, manage our transportation, and have some good luck in the way the cards divide.
TWiB Lesson #565 (3 of 4)
It is essential to stop the Declarer's attempts to take tricks with small cards in order to properly defend the contract. That means that suits that have potential winners, threat cards, must not be allowed to grow into winners. We attempt to prevent this by covering an honor with an honor (to prevent promotion) and by holding onto our cards in the opponent’s long suits – called guarding the suit.
TWiB Lesson #566 (4 of 4)
Active opening leads attempt to "go out and get" our tricks. Passive leads, on the other hand, attempt to just not give anything away or help Declarer. There are many different types of passive leads for many different situations. Here we take a look at several lead types and hands where a passive lead may or may not have the intended effect!
TWiB Lesson #576 (1 of 9)
Balanced hand bidding is relatively easy. We can usually describe our hand to partner by opening 1NT or rebidding 1NT. This lets partner know both our points and our hand type with either our first bid (when we open 1NT, the best situation) or with our second bid (when we rebid 1NT). However, if we have a big balanced hand then we need to have tools for describing our hand as well. These usually involve the use of 2NT – as a rebid, an opening bid, or even a rebid after having opened the bidding 2♣. But this does not solve all our bidding problems.
TWiB Lesson #577 (2 of 9)
When Opener makes a jump shift into a new suit with their second bid, it is a strong bid that creates a game forcing auction. This is a good bid because it ensures we reach game, but it is a bad bid because it eats up a lot of bidding space without fully describing our distribution. This is a problem. One of the most difficult opening hands to describe to partner is the unbalanced single-suited (one 6+card suit) hand with 18-19 HCP. This is one of the strongest hands that does not open the bidding 2♣. Let’s look at a system that helps us improve our jump shift methods.
TWiB Lesson #558 (1 of 9)
By defining our 1NT opening bid to show 14-16 points with a balanced hand, we maintain the general strength of the opening bid while allowing ourselves to open the bidding with it more often. We discuss how you bid if you agree to play this, both as an Opener and as Responder.
TWiB Lesson #559 (2 of 9)
When LHO opens the bidding and the auction passes around to us, we are the last line of defense against the opponents buying the contract at a low level - balancing. When we balance we “borrow” some of partner’s values and add those points to our hand - usually about 3 points.
TWiB Lesson #578 (3 of 9)
When partner opens the bidding with a 2-level or 3-level preemptive opening bid then Responder may have a struggle to find the best final contract without getting the auction too high. One of the natural pressures is whether Responder risk going past 3NT to look for a fit or a better fit. Given the variability of modern preempts it can be dangerous to reach the 5-level when partner has taken an aggressive action. Here we look at a tool, called Preempt Keycard, for Responder to ask for Keycards after a preempt, but still keep the auction at a low level.
TWiB Lesson #579 (4 of 9)
Jacoby 2NT is a useful convention, but many players choose to try to improve it. The modern expert 2NT response to a 1M opening showing a limit raise or better (LR+), instead of game forcing, has many different inventors and advocates. The idea of using 1M – 2NT as LR+ accomplishes a couple of goals: 1) It opens up 1M – 3M to always be a weak call (a valuable tool for making life difficult on the opponents). 2) 1M – 2NT as LR+ approach gives away less information about the Opener’s (soon to be declarer’s) hand than Jacoby 2NT. Let’s see how this works.
TWiB Lesson #560 (3 of 9)
A balancing 1NT bid can be a wide-ranging action, about 11-15/16 points. This 5-point range is much larger than most Notrump bids and leaves partner with a more difficult bidding situation. Range Stayman is a tool that can help Advancer better determine the values of our hand and if game is a possibility.
TWiB Lesson #561 (4 of 9)
One place that we do not need a jump bid to show a weak hand is in the balancing seat. In this seat with a weak hand, say 5-8 HCP, and a long suit, we would not bid; we would simply pass the hand out. Theses bids are used to describe different, stronger hands.
TWiB Lesson #580 (5 of 9)
When we move from playing Blackwood to Keycard Blackwood, we improve our slam bidding by including a discussion of the trump King and Queen. Playing Keycards (let’s say 1430), then partner’s answer to our 4NT ask sometimes tells us if they hold the trump Queen and other times does not. In the latter case we need to be able to ask partner if they hold the trump Queen, as we do not want to bid a slam missing a Keycard and the trump Queen. Let’s look at how we ask partner about the trump Queen in a variety of different auctions.
TWiB Lesson #581 (6 of 9)
Most partnerships start with the agreement that they answer this question by showing their number of Kings. But sometimes, a Grand Slam is not about partner having 2 or 3 Kings, but about them having the right single King. This “right King” is often the one opposite our long suit – allowing us to produce a large number of tricks. To get this information, many partnerships evolved their Kingshowing methods from “number of Kings” to “Specific Kings.” Here we look at how we can use Specific Kings in a variety of our Ace-asking auctions.
TWiB Lesson #562 (5 of 9)
When our left-hand opponent opens the bidding and the auction passes around to us, we have a big decision to make – should we get into this auction, or should we leave the opponents to play at the 1-level? We have a variety of bidding tools to help us compete in the bidding.