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The simplest escape bid is for partner to bid their longest and strongest suit. Opener is expected to pass. The problem is that you may end up with just 6 trumps between you. Partner’s longest suit is a 4 card Diamond suit, and you happen to have a doubleton in Diamonds. Life is not good in this case. | The simplest escape bid is for partner to bid their longest and strongest suit. Opener is expected to pass. The problem is that you may end up with just 6 trumps between you. Partner’s longest suit is a 4 card Diamond suit, and you happen to have a doubleton in Diamonds. Life is not good in this case. | ||
- | A more sophisticated, and more complex, agreement that we can use is the Meckwell Escapes, named after the well know national partnership called Meckwell. That agreement is as follows: | ||
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- | Opener: 1NT LHO: Double :Responder (partner): ?? | ||
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- | **Escape bids:** | ||
- | |Pass |Responder has a 5 card minor or 2 4 card majors, request opener bid 2C| | ||
- | |2C |Responder has 4C and a higher 4 card suit| | ||
- | |2D |Responder has 4D and a higher 4 card suit| | ||
- | |2H |Responder has 5H| | ||
- | |2S |Responder has 5S| | ||
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- | If Responder passed, and there is no intervening bid by opponents, opener bids 2C. If that is the minor suit held by Responder, Responder will pass. If Responder holds a 5 card Diamond sit, the Responder will bid 2D. If Responder has 2 4 card majors, Responder will bid 2H and opener can pass or correct to 2S. | ||
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- | If Responder bids 2C or 2D, if opener is happy with it opener passes. Otherwise opener bids the next higher suit and Responder either passes or corrects to the actual other suit. | ||
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- | If Responder bids 2H or 2S, opener passes. | ||
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- | This agreement is guaranteed to find a 7 card trump fit at the 2 level, and often an 8 card fit. Of course if the opponents intervene with a bid, then the opener and Responder shut up! The partnership is now out of trouble and has escaped! | ||
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- | Occasionally it will be the RHO of the opener who will double after opener’s partner has passed. In this case opener passes, and if LHO passes, Responder executes the same agreement except that a pass is replaced by a redouble. In this case the redouble cannot mean partner has 10+ HCP because it that were so partner would have bid the first time rather than pass. | ||
OK, now that the risky part has been handled, let’s talk about normal constructive bidding in response to an opening 1NT. | OK, now that the risky part has been handled, let’s talk about normal constructive bidding in response to an opening 1NT. | ||
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With a 5+ card major, Responder uses a Jacoby Transfer to force opener to bid the major suit after which the Responder passes. This is essentially an escape. | With a 5+ card major, Responder uses a Jacoby Transfer to force opener to bid the major suit after which the Responder passes. This is essentially an escape. | ||
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+ | For those not familiar with Jacoby Transfers, Responder bids 2D to force Opener to rebid 2H, and bids 2H to force Opener to rebid 2S. | ||
With a 7+ card minor, Responder should consider bidding 3 of the minor suit. Do this only if Responder has 7-9 HCP, because opener may rebid forcing Responder to rebid at the 4 level. | With a 7+ card minor, Responder should consider bidding 3 of the minor suit. Do this only if Responder has 7-9 HCP, because opener may rebid forcing Responder to rebid at the 4 level. | ||
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| 13-16 HCP, no 4 card major | 3NT | To play | | | 13-16 HCP, no 4 card major | 3NT | To play | | ||
| 16+ HCP, no 4 card major | 4NT | Quantitative invite to 6N, opener passes with min | | | 16+ HCP, no 4 card major | 4NT | Quantitative invite to 6N, opener passes with min | | ||
- | | 10+ HCP, 4 card major | 2C | Australian Stayman | | + | | 10+ HCP, 4 card major | 2C |Stayman | |
| 10+ HCP, 5 card major | 2D/2H | Jacoby Transfers | | | 10+ HCP, 5 card major | 2D/2H | Jacoby Transfers | | ||
| 10+ HCP, 5/4+ in minors | 2S | Minor suit stayman, asks opener for 4 card minor | | | 10+ HCP, 5/4+ in minors | 2S | Minor suit stayman, asks opener for 4 card minor | | ||
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When partner opens the bidding with 1NT and you have 10+ HCP and a 4+ card major suit, the first thing to do is check if the partnership has a major suit fit. What you do depends on how long your major suit is. | When partner opens the bidding with 1NT and you have 10+ HCP and a 4+ card major suit, the first thing to do is check if the partnership has a major suit fit. What you do depends on how long your major suit is. | ||
- | With 6+ cards in a major suit, and 13+ HCP, bid 4 of the major. You know opener has at least 2 cards in your suit, giving you 8+ trumps, the definition of a fit. And since you have a combined HCP of 25+ ( your 13+ and partners assumed 12), game is almost assured. Look at it this way, 25 HCP -2 = 23, divide by 3 gives 7.66 HCP tricks. 8 trumps -6 = 2 additional trump tricks for a total of 9.66. Any little extra at all gives you 10 tricks probably 70% of the times. | + | With 6+ cards in a major suit, and 13+ HCP, bid 4 of the major. You know opener has at least 2 cards in your suit, giving you 8+ trumps, the definition of a fit. And since you have a combined HCP of 25+ ( your 13+ and partners assumed 12), game is almost assured. Look at it this way, 25 HCP -2 = 23, divide by 3 gives 7.66 HCP tricks. Assuming it takes 3 rounds to draw trump, the opener's 6 trumps gives 3 additional tricks, for a total of 10.66. |
With 6+ cards and 10-12 HCP, bid 3 of the major, inviting opener to bid 4 if they have 3+ support and more than 12 HCP. If opener bids 3NT then opener has only 2 card support but more than 12 HCP. You can decide to leave it at 3NT or force it to 4 of your major. | With 6+ cards and 10-12 HCP, bid 3 of the major, inviting opener to bid 4 if they have 3+ support and more than 12 HCP. If opener bids 3NT then opener has only 2 card support but more than 12 HCP. You can decide to leave it at 3NT or force it to 4 of your major. | ||
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With 5 cards in your major, use a Jacoby Transfer to force opener to bid your major. After opener bids your major, if you have 10-12 HCP and no other 4 card suit, bid 2NT. If you have another 4 card suit, bid the next level of that suit. This allows partner to choose at the 3 level. If you have 13+ HCP, bid 3NT or a jump in your other suit. Again this allows opener to choose the final contract. | With 5 cards in your major, use a Jacoby Transfer to force opener to bid your major. After opener bids your major, if you have 10-12 HCP and no other 4 card suit, bid 2NT. If you have another 4 card suit, bid the next level of that suit. This allows partner to choose at the 3 level. If you have 13+ HCP, bid 3NT or a jump in your other suit. Again this allows opener to choose the final contract. | ||
- | With 4 cards in one or both majors, use Australian Stayman to ask opener if opener has a 4 card major. We will describe Australian Stayman in the next few paragraphs. After opener responds with an Australian Stayman response, Responder should be able to place the final contract. | + | With 4 cards in one or both majors, use Stayman to ask opener if opener has a 4 card major. If Opener rebids 2D or a major that you do not have 4 of, bid 2NT to invite to game, or bid 3NT if you have 12+ HCP. If Opener rebids a major that you have 4 of, raise to 3 to invite to game, or bid game if you have 12+ points (HCP+DP). |
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- | **Australian Stayman** | + | |
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- | Australian Stayman (AS) is a variation on the Standard American Stayman convention that is more efficient and can convey more information in one response bid. The AS responder, in this case the opener, must alert the responses since they differ in meaning from Standard American Stayman. | + | |
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- | OK, opener bids 1N, responder bids 2C, then opener rebids: | + | |
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- | (Min range) | + | |
- | |2D|Have 4 cards in both majors and min range| | + | |
- | |2H|Have 4H only and min range| | + | |
- | |2S|Have 4S only and min range| | + | |
- | |2NT|Do not have either major and have min range| | + | |
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- | (Max range) | + | |
- | |3C|Do not have either major and have max range| | + | |
- | |3D|Have 4 cards in both majors and max range| | + | |
- | |3H|Have 4H only and max range| | + | |
- | |3S|Have 4S only and max range| | + | |
**No majors, unsuitable for NT** | **No majors, unsuitable for NT** | ||
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OK, Responder has no 4+ card major, and has a hand that, on the surface, does not look suitable for NT. This usually means that Responder has 9+ cards in the minors. If Responder has an unbalanced hand with 6+ cards in one minor, and 10-12 HCP then Responder bids 3 of the minor. Opener must proceed carefully here and usually pass unless opener has a 14-15 HCP hand. If Responder has 13+ HCP then Responder may bid 4 of the minor, inviting opener to bid game in the minor. Since opener has a balanced hand, opener should probably reject any thoughts of slam in this situation. | OK, Responder has no 4+ card major, and has a hand that, on the surface, does not look suitable for NT. This usually means that Responder has 9+ cards in the minors. If Responder has an unbalanced hand with 6+ cards in one minor, and 10-12 HCP then Responder bids 3 of the minor. Opener must proceed carefully here and usually pass unless opener has a 14-15 HCP hand. If Responder has 13+ HCP then Responder may bid 4 of the minor, inviting opener to bid game in the minor. Since opener has a balanced hand, opener should probably reject any thoughts of slam in this situation. | ||
- | If Responder has 5/4+ in the minors, Responder uses the Minor Suit Stayman convention. Using this convention, Responder bids 2S, asking opener to bid a 4+ card minor if opener has one. Based on opener’s response, Responder can pass or raise the bid. | + | If Responder has 5/4+ in the minors, Responder uses the Minor Suit Stayman convention. Using this convention, Responder bids 2S, asking opener to bid a 4+ card minor if opener has one. Opener rebids a minor or 2N to indicate no minor. Based on opener’s response, Responder can pass or raise the bid. |