FORCING
MAJOR SUIT RAISES by Walt Sturm
An immediate forcing
major-suit raise is an essential part of any complete bidding system. It
establishes the trump suit and permits the use of slam tries below game, while
providing some protection against the opponents` subsequent intervention. The
classical jump raise, e.g., 1 spade - 3 spades, is simple and effective, but it
has been replaced by the more competitive limit raise. Hence, artificial
forcing raises such as 3NT, splinters, and Jacoby 2NT have been devised.
3NT is rarely useful as an
immediate natural bid, making it a cheap candidate for use as a forcing major
raise. The requirements are four trumps in a balanced or semi-balanced hand of opening
(dummy points) strength. This convention is nicely complemented by the use of
splinter bids. A splinter bid is a double jump shift, e.g., 1 spade - 4
clubs,which shows four trumps, a hand of opening (dummy points) strength, and a
singleton or a void in the bid side suit, i.e., clubs in the aforementioned
example. Opener may rebid a splinter with a strong hand.
The Jacoby 2NT is a more
costly major raise because it usurps the natural use of 2NT which occurs more
often than 3NT. Some compensation is the availability of additional descriptive
rebids by opener:
1. a three-level side suit is
a splinter
2. 3NT is a balanced 14-15
HCP
3. a four-level side suit is
a strong 5-carder
4. 3 of the trump suit is 16+
HCP
5. 4 of the trump suit is
minimum
My emphasis on four-card
support is very deliberate. Four-card support is mandatory for all limit and
forcing raises. The fourth trump in dummy gives the declarer additional options
in playing high level contracts. Five-card-major teachers say that three-card
support is adequate, but seldom offer enough explanation of `adequate`. With a
minimum (one bid) hand, of course it is reasonable to raise partner`s major
suit with only three instead of bidding 1NT, even with a perfectly square hand.
Stronger hands with only three-card support are better handled differently,
e.g., by beginning with a two-over-one response followed by a raise.
Ed Note: The following external links are
provided by the web developer.