Heidi's Bridge Blog: Trump Suit Asks

Showing posts with label Trump Suit Asks. Show all posts

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Trump Suit Quality Exercises

This post tests your knowledge of asking for trump quality in bidding potential slams. Before reading any further make sure you have read these posts:
Trump Suit Quality - 5 of the Major
Grand Slam Force

Grand Slam Force and bidding 5 of the Major are just a few ways to get to a slam. These bids do not come up that often. Neither do slams. However sometimes slams come up and a partnership just does not possess the bids available to get there properly. You do NOT have to bid properly in order to get there. You are allowed to just blast there. This works especially well for newer players.

Think about it. How many times were you in game making 12 tricks and said to yourself "I REALLY wanted to bid more on that hand but I just didn't know how." Probably quite a few times.

Now think of how many times you played in game and just made it or maybe took 1 overtrick and said to yourself "Sure am glad I didn't bid more! I really wanted to bid a slam on that hand! I would have gone down!" Probably not many times at all.

So next time you want to bid further but don't know how -- JUST DO IT! Just bid at the 6 level! You don't HAVE to bid properly. You don't HAVE to know what you are doing. If your gut tells you to bid a slam -- LISTEN!

Sure you might go down in some -- but I bet you'll make most of them! Plus think of all the fun you will have.

In any case, now you have a few more tools to use to help you in bidding your slams properly.

Let's put some of these latest bids to the test.

On ALL the following hands you opened the bidding 1♠ and Partner bid 3♠ showing 4 trump and 11 or 12 points. What is your bid?

Remember you can bid either:
Pass
4♠
5♠
5NT
6♠
7♠

So what will you bid and give your reason for bidding what you did.

Opener	Responder
1♠	3♠
???

Hand 1

♠Q98632
♥AK62
♦KQ
♣8

Hand 2

♠AKQJ75
♥AQT9
♦
♣A87

Hand 3

♠A8763
♥AK872
♦4
♣AK

Hand 4

♠AQJT97
♥AJ
♦AJ83
♣A

Hand 5

♠A9732
♥KJT
♦K6
♣AK7

Hand 6

♠A98532
♥AK
♦
♣AKQ92

Hand 7

♠AK6432
♥AQJ
♦K8
♣82

Hand 8

♠K98542
♥AKQ742
♦A
♣

Hand 9

♠AJ974
♥Q92
♦A4
♣AK9

Hand 10

♠AQJ73
♥A976
♦AK74
♣

Hand 11

♠K8763
♥AK875
♦A5
♣8

Hand 12

♠J98542
♥AKQ742
♦A
♣

Hand 13

♠AKQ97
♥754
♦A8
♣QJ2

Hand 14

♠AKT32
♥K98
♦A82
♣A2

Hand 15

♠J98532
♥AK
♦
♣AKQ92

Hand 16

♠K97653
♥A
♦AKJT6
♣A

Saturday, December 31, 2016

Trump Suit Quality - 5 of the Major

Bidding FIVE of a Major is an unusual bid. There is no reason to bid 5 of the major unless you are interested in a slam. After all you get the same points for bidding 4 of a major and taking 11 tricks.

Since we have ways to ask Partner how many Aces they have we can’t be interested in that.

We also have ways of asking Partner if they have 2 of the top 3 honours in the trump suit. That bid guarantees a slam however. Either a small slam or a grand slam.

What happens if we want to be in only a small slam if Partners trump are good but if Partner has bad trump we don't want to be in a slam at all.

Say you have this hand:

Hand A
♠J98632
♥A
♦AKJT94
♣-

You open the bidding 1♠. (With two 6 card suits always bid the higher ranking suit first.) Now Partner bids 3♠. In your agreements this shows 11 or 12 points with four trump. What do you bid now?

Well my first thought would be I am probably not going to lose any tricks EXCEPT for the trump suit.

Let's look at a few different hands Partner could potentially hold:

Responder Hand A	Responder Hand B	Responder Hand C	Responder Hand D
♠AQ75 ♥K83 ♦Q984 ♣54	♠Q754 ♥K83 ♦82 ♣KQ42	♠KQ75 ♥K83 ♦82 ♣K842	♠T754 ♥983 ♦Q4 ♣AKQ4
♠J98632 ♥A ♦AKJT94 ♣-	♠J98632 ♥A ♦AKJT94 ♣-	♠J98632 ♥A ♦AKJT94 ♣-	♠J98632 ♥A ♦AKJT94 ♣-
Maybe 1 trump loser No other losers	Probably 2 trump losers No other losers	1 trump loser No other losers	Even if Partner has this (really bad!) hand I only have 2 trump losers if the suit splits nicely No other losers

In a situation like this I cannot bid 5NT. That FORCES our partnership to the 6 level (and maybe the 7 level!) and we might not be able to make a small slam. But I also don't want to sign off in just a game. We might be able to make a small slam. I can ask Partner about their trump quality by bidding 5 of the major. In this case 5♠. Partner raises to 6 of the major (6♠) if they have at least 2 of the top 3 honours. Otherwise they PASS. If Partner's trump are not that good we are NOT at a slam level and I am still allowed to lose 2 tricks.

So on Responder Hand A my Partner will bid 6♠.
So on Responder Hand B my Partner will Pass.
So on Responder Hand C my Partner will bid 6♠.
So on Responder Hand D my Partner will Pass.

Question: Does this bid work with ALL the suits?
Answer: NO! This works for the MAJOR SUITS only! After all 5 of a minor is a normal place to play. You are just saying you just want to be in a game and for some reason can't bid 3NT.

Question: What about if the Opponents are bidding and make us bid 5 of a major. Does this still count?
Answer: NO! When the Opponents bid this is not asking for trump quality. This is asking about something else. Or sometimes the Opponents push you into 5 of a major and you were quite happy in 4. There is no need to bid 6 in that case even if your trump are very good. This 5 of a major bid would only be asking for trump quality if there were NO OTHER REASON to bid 5 of the major.

For example:

Opener	Responder
1♠	2♠
5♠	???

Is this bid asking about the trump quality?

YES! There is no other reason for Opener to bid 5♠.

Another example:

Opener	Responder
1♠	4♠
5♠	???

Is this bid asking about the trump quality?

YES! There is no other reason for Opener to bid 5♠.

You try.

Opener	Opponent 1	Responder	Opponent 2
1♥	1♠	4♥	4♠
5♥	Pass	???

Is this bid asking about the trump quality?

Opener	Opponent 1	Responder	Opponent 2
1♥	1♠	3♥	3♠
5♥	Pass	???

Is this bid asking about the trump quality?

Opener	Responder
1♥	3♥
4NT	5♣
5♥

Is this bid asking about the trump quality?

Let's practice. We are going to start off pretty easy. On each of the following hand Partner opens the bidding 1♠. I am going to force a 3♠ bid by you on each of the following hands. This shows 11 or 12 points PLUS four trump. That should describe each of the hands. Now Partner bids 5♠. This bid can only be asking for trump quality. What will you respond with each of the hands below and what are you telling Partner with your bid?

Opener	Responder
1♠	3♠
5♠	???

Hand 1

♠QJ32
♥Q86
♦K2
♣QJT5

Hand 2

♠KT43
♥7543
♦T
♣AJT8

Hand 3

♠AQ64
♥984
♦AT93
♣64

Hand 4

♠A962
♥AT8
♦K84
♣T74

Hand 5

♠J432
♥KT
♦Q95
♣AJT6

Hand 6

♠KT95
♥9653
♦4
♣AQ95

Hand 7

♠KQ75
♥K6
♦K832
♣862

Hand 8

♠Q986
♥85
♦AKT64
♣84

Hand 9

♠AQ85
♥Q8743
♦T65
♣5

Hand 10

♠AQT3
♥J96
♦Q98
♣QJ8

Hand 11

♠KQ97
♥J75
♦J9
♣AJ93

Hand 12

♠KJ62
♥84
♦QJ5
♣AT65

Hand 13

♠AT85
♥Q52
♦J7
♣A843

Hand 14

♠J976
♥5
♦K95
♣AT864

Hand 15

♠K873
♥KT2
♦96
♣AT86

Hand 16

♠K953
♥3
♦T9652
♣AJT

Hand 17

♠AK65
♥8
♦T952
♣Q762

Hand 18

♠Q743
♥KQT
♦T873
♣A5

Hand 19

♠KQ97
♥92
♦KT5
♣QT65

Hand 20

♠K654
♥A76
♦Q6
♣K542

Friday, December 30, 2016

Grand Slam Force

This is an easy form of Grand Slam Force. Experts have a different way of bidding Grand Slam Force. They have ways to show exactly what honour they hold if they only have one. They have ways to play in any suit at the 7 level -- even if it is not the suit they originally agreed upon. This is a bit too complicated to play for most people. But if you and your Partner have zero memory issues please investigate further. Not on this blog though. Expert Grand Slam Force is too advanced for this blog.

In fact this bid is pretty advanced for most novices. If you are new or fairly new to bridge you can just ignore this post. If you have more experience or are a little more daring continue on reading.

Here's an easier version of Grand Slam Force.

Once a Partnership has agreed on a trump suit, a bid of 5NT (that has no other meaning) asks Partner to bid a grand slam (7 level) with two of the top three honours (Ace, King or Queen) in the agreed upon trump suit. If the Partner does NOT have two of the top three honours then they bid the suit at the 6 level only. The 5NT bid is called "Grand Slam Force". The FORCE part means that you CANNOT PASS the 5NT bid. It is FORCING. You are going to be in either a small slam or a grand slam. You are NOT going to play in 5NT.

This bid asks about the QUALITY of the TRUMP suit ONLY. Nothing else matters.

This bid CANNOT be bid after the Partnership bids 4NT asking for Aces. A bid of 5NT in that case has another meaning. 5NT is then asking for Kings. That does NOT change.

But if the Partnership has bid 5NT voluntarily after agreeing upon a trump suit and has not been pushed there in any way by the Opponents or tried to bid Blackwood, then the 5NT is considered to be GRAND SLAM FORCE.

It asks Partner to look at their trump holding. If they have TWO of the TOP THREE honours (Ace, King, Queen) they bid 7 of the agreed upon suit. Otherwise they bid 6 of the agreed upon suit.

Question: Does this bid work with ALL the suits?
Answer: YES! If you have agreed upon ANY suit a bid of 5NT should ask Partner to bid 7 of the suit with 2 of the top 3 honours but otherwise just bid 6 of the suit.

Question: What about if I opened 1 of a suit but Partner bid 3NT? Does 5NT then ask about my original suit?
Answer: NO! That asks about the value of the NT range. For more information check out this post:
Bidding 4NT or 5NT over a Natural NT Bid

Let's practice. We are going to start off pretty easy. On each of the following hand Partner opens the bidding 1♠. I am going to force a 3♠ bid by you on each of the following hands. This shows 11 or 12 points PLUS four trump. That should describe each of the hands. Now Partner bids 5NT. This bid can only be Grand Slam Force. If Partner wanted to ask for Kings they MUST go through 4NT asking for Aces first. Therefore the 5NT bid must be asking about the trump suit. What will you respond with each of the hands below and what are you telling Partner with your bid?

Opener	Responder
1♠	3♠
5NT	???