Texas Transfers

Texas Transfers

Most of you know what a Jacoby Transfer is:

             Partner            You
               1NT               2♦
               2♥                etc.

The 2♦ bid requests Partner to bid 2♥, after which you may Pass (showing a weak hand), or you may bid on with a better hand. In all cases, the 2♦ bidder has at least 5 Hearts.

How about this hand? ♠ 7
                                   ♥ KQJ765
                                   ♦ QJ3
                                   ♣ 986

If Partner opens 1NT, you could consider transferring to Hearts with 2♦, and then raising to 4♥. The problem with this approach is that it makes it easy for the opponents to get into the auction, probably in Spades. Let’s face it, as soon as Partner opened 1NT you knew for sure that you wanted to play this in 4♥. So, why not get there as quickly as possible. That’s where the Texas Transfer comes in useful … it gets you immediately to where you want to be … and it lets the strong hand be Declarer.

Partner            You                              Partner            You
   1NT              4♦                              1NT               4♥
    4♥                Pass                                4♠                Pass

Holding the hand given above, we still transfer, but we do it at the 4-level instead, going directly to where we belong. What kind of hand is suitable for a Texas transfer?

(a) As you are insisting on your major as the trump suit, you need at least 6 cards in that major … the 1NT bidder can be counted on for at least two, which is enough for an 8-card fit.

(b) As you are going to game, you need enough to make game! Duh! Probably a good 7 or thereabouts will usually give Partner a shot at making the contract.

(c) As you are not going to slam (and as Partner is precluded from doing anything other than accepting the transfer), you must not have too much.

Examples

♠ 72 ♥ KQJ76 ♦ QJ3 ♣986
This is virtually the same hand as before, but only 5 Hearts. So, not a Texas hand at all, here we bid 2♦ (Jacoby), then after Partner’s 2♠ we bid 3NT, saying “5 Hearts, balanced, enough for game, you choose between 3NT and 4♥”.

♠ 7 ♥ KQT765 ♦ Q762 ♣ 98
Only 7 HCPs, but enough shape to make it worth a 4♦ Texas Transfer.

♠ 72 ♥ KQT765 ♦ Q76 ♣ 98
Same HCP’s as before, but far less exciting shape, only (just) worth a Jacoby Transfer, followed by 3♥, which says “6 Hearts, invitational values”.

♠ 7 ♥ KQT765 ♦ AK7 ♣ Q86
This hand is just too good for a Texas Transfer, slam might be missed. There are various special methods for handling the slammish hands, it’s a major topic in its own right.

No Trump Auctions

Jacobyites are familiar with these three auctions:

A. 1NT 2♥ B. 1NT 2♥ C. 1NT 2♥
2♠ 2NT 2♠ 3NT 2♠ 4NT

These auctions all show 5 Spades and form a natural progression. A shows invitational values (typically a good 7 to a bad 9), B is enough for game but no more (most 9’s up to around 15), and C is invitational to slam (around 16+).

That leads us to these auctions:

D. 1NT 4♥ E. 1NT 2♥
4♠ 4NT 2♠ 4♣

Clearly, we don’t D to show a slam invitational hand (we have Auction C above for that), so it makes more sense for this to be used as your preferred method of Blackwood. Having said that, it makes even more sense to use E as Blackwood, that way you have a chance of staying at the 4-level if you don’t get a sufficient number of controls from Partner.

In Competition

Now, try these three auctions:

Pard Opp You

F 1NT 2♠ 4♦

G 1NT 3♣ 4♦

H 1NT 3♦ 4♦

Yes, Texas is still on in competition, but only up to a certain point. F is a Texas auction. And, so is G, but that is as high as we go … if they interfere above 3♣, then Texas is off. You can see why this should be so by looking at Auction H. Now, it is better to have 4♦ available as “pick-a-major”. So, if they interfere above 3♣, transfers are off, and the bidding is natural.

A Slam Try

Compare these two auctions:

I                                    J
1NT     4♥                    1NT     2♥
4♠                              2♠       4♠

We noted earlier that I is used to show a hand that just wants to play in game. Do we really need J for the same purpose? No, of course not, so most players use the second sequence as a mild slam try. For example:

            ♠ K74              ♠ AQJ652
            ♥ AJ74            ♥ K8
            ♦ A5                ♦ KJ6
            ♣ KT64           ♣ 72

We open 1NT, and find ourselves in Auction J. Partner is making a slam try. Do we accept? This is not a time for counting our minimum number of points (15), and saying “No”. We have a very fine 15 indeed, definitely worth accepting on this one. How good is the slam? Pretty good … ten top tricks, plus a Diamond ruff in the short hand makes 11 … they may give us the 12^th trick on the opening lead (defenders often lay down Aces against slams, not a good idea on this particular hand) … or the Q♥ may get ruffed out … and, if all else fails, we can always lead towards the K♣, hoping that the A♣ is onside. So, the slam has lots of practical chances.

Let’s tweak Opener’s hand a little:

            ♠ K2                ♠ AQJ652
            ♥ AJT7           ♥ K8
            ♦ AQ4             ♦ KJ6
            ♣ QJ54           ♣ 72

If we opened 1NT and Partner were to invite us to some game or other, we would accept with great alacrity with our maximum 17. But Partner is not inviting us to game, he is inviting us to slam in Spades, and for that our hand is only so-so. We have only two Spades, no ruffing value, and 6 of our points are Queens and Jacks. True, we do have two Aces, and the King of trumps, but if those key cards were all that Partner needed, he should have used (Roman Key Card) Blackwood to find out about them. No, this is a hand that should say “No!”. Even if the opponents don’t get their Clubs on the go, the slam is still no better than 50% to make.

After Two No Trump Openings

Yes, if Partner opens 2NT, we can still play Texas, pretty much by the same rules as above.