Fourth Suit Forcing

Fourth Suit Forcing – Part 1

How do you play these Secondary Jumps by Responder?

1♦ 1♥ 1♦ 1♥ 1♦ 1♥ 1♦ 1♥

1♠ 3♦ 1♠ 3♥ 1♠ 3♠ 1♠ 2NT

Is the last bid in each of these auctions invitational or forcing? Nowadays, just about everybody plays them as invitational in all cases, and probably so do you. An agreement on Secondary Jumps is a prerequisite to determining how we use the corresponding 4^th suit sequences. For example:

1♦ 1♥

1♠ 2♣

The last bid in this auction is known as Fourth Suit Forcing (4SF). It is an artificial device designed to keep the auction alive while we investigate our best spot. It follows that we do not use 4SF when we have a descriptive value bid available … such as a Secondary Jump or a leap to game.

Quiz

1♦ 1♥

1♠ ??

What do you bid with each of the following hands?

A. B. C. D. E.

♠ KJ76 ♠ KJ76 ♠ KQJ7 ♠ KJ7 ♠ KJ7

♥ AK72 ♥ AK72 ♥ AK72 ♥ AK732 ♥ AK732

♦ 72 ♦ Q2 ♦ 72 ♦ Q72 ♦ AQ7

♣ 954 ♣ 954 ♣ K54 ♣ 95 ♣ 95

A. Spade fit, values to invite, so bid 3♠.

B. Values for game, but no more, so bid 4♠.

C. Too good for 4♠, so we use the 4SF 2♣, planning to support Spades later. Here we are not using 4SF to find the best suit, we know that we will be playing this one in Spades. We use 4SF to establish the force, and investigate slam.

D. Values for game, but with no clear direction … bid 2♣ and see what happens. At this point, Hearts, Spades and No Trump are all possible contracts. Establishing the force with 2♣ helps us to find the best place to play.

E. Another hand without direction, and with the added complication of slam potential … another 2♣ bid.

Forcing To What?

And 4SF is forcing to what? To game? Or to 2NT? Or does it vary, depending on the auction? There is no right and wrong here, but, having said that, we heartily recommend the simple approach:

4SF is always forcing to game.

The main reason for this recommendation is that it’s less accident-prone than some of the more complicated agreements. This is particularly comforting to anyone who has ever watched his partner accumulate numerous overtricks in a part-score on a hand which was supposedly slam-bound. Yes, you will occasionally have an invitational hand that does not fit the mold of one of those Secondary Jumps. But these will be balanced by other hands where the forcing-to-game treatment works more smoothly. Keep things simple, play it forcing to game. Always.

Opener’s Third Bid

Once we have established the force via 4SF, the next step is to agree a fit. To this end, Opener continues to describe his hand at his third turn. Suppose that the auction has started this way:

1♦ 1♥

1♠ 2♣

As Opener, what is our 3^rd bid with the following hands?

♠ QT65 Pretty simple … we bid 2♥, showing 3-card support for Partner’s

♥ Q76 suit. We do not subscribe to the theory that we are obligated to

♦ KQ73 show our 4^th suit stopper in these situations. No Trump can wait,

♣ A8 support for Partner’s major comes first. But note that this support does not establish Hearts as the agreed trump suit, Responder may well already have something else in mind.

♠ T865 Even with a double stopper in the 4^th suit, it is not necessarily right

♥ Q6 to bid No Trump. Here, the cheaper Diamond bid is surely

♦ KQJ98 preferable, such a good suit can bear rebidding. And, the

♣ AQ cheapness of the bid avoids crowding the auction. For example, perhaps Responder has a strong Heart suit that he would like to rebid … with our Q6 in that suit we would welcome that bid … how nice if he could rebid Hearts at the 2-level, allowing us to raise him below game.

♠ KJ65 Now, the Diamond suit is rather less impressive, and our hand is

♥ 76 dismally minimum. Bidding 2♦ here is rather dangerous, it is

♦ Q8765 better to get that 2NT bid in right away. Our hand suggests that

♣ AQ we discourage Partner from over-exuberance and make a beeline to the (hoped for) safety of No Trump.

♠ K865 Here, we have a dilemma … support Partner or rebid our fine

♥ Q76 Diamond suit? Our suggestion would be to support Partner. We

♦ KQJ98 would even make it a rule that, if we fail to support Partner’s suit

♣ A we deny as many as 3 cards in the suit.

♠ AK65 Oh, well, rules must sometimes be broken! Here, our hand is so

♥ 643 slammish, our Diamonds so strong, and our 3-card support so

♦ AKQT63 weak, surely we should be bidding 2♦ here, withholding our

♣ -- support for Partner’s Hearts. But make the hand less strong, say without the A♠, then our choice would be 2♥, since our reduced values put the emphasis back on finding the best game, not the best slam.

This last hand touches on the issue of what Opener is supposed to do on his 3^rd bid when holding extras. Well, what he will not do is to leap around and crowd the auction … he’ll take things slowly … find the fit, then make the slam try.

Bidding No Trump

After 4SF, No Trump bids by either player are usually quantitative … 2NT shows 12-14 HCP’s and a jump to 3NT is 15-17. As an extension to this common style, we can make 2NT an either-or bid … 12-14 or 18-19 HCP’s. An example:

Opener Responder

♠ KJ73 ♠ A62 1♣ 1♥

♥ 985 ♥ AK76 1♠ 2♦

♦ A8 ♦ KQ3 2♥ 2NT

♣ AJ73 ♣ K62 3NT 4NT

Pass

2NT was the either-or bid, so after 3NT Responder is obligated to bid again to show his extras. After 4NT, Opener has not quite enough to make another move. Suppose that we were successively to weaken Responder’s hand:

Opener Responder

♠ KJ73 ♠ A62 1♣ 1♥

♥ 985 ♥ AK76 1♠ 2♦

♦ A8 ♦ KQ3 2♥ ??

♣ AJ73 ♣ 962

Here, with a hand in the 15-17 range, and with the 4^th suit well stopped, Responder jumps to 3NT.

Opener Responder

♠ KJ73 ♠ A62 1♣ 1♥

♥ 985 ♥ A762 1♠ ??

♦ A8 ♦ KQ3

♣ AJ73 ♣ 962

In the hand above, we have weakened our hand down to 13 HCPs. The unbid suit is still well stopped, our hand is square, everything suggests a most descriptive 3NT rebid by Responder. No need to invoke 4SF unless you have a reason.

To summarize our basic rules for NT bidding in 4SF auctions:

2NT by either player shows 12-14 or 18-19. In the case of the latter, the 2NT bidder owes Partner an extra bid later in the auction.

A jump to 3NT by either player shows 15-17.

4SF Exclusions

In a 4SF auction, each of the four suits is bid (without enemy interference) in the first two rounds of bidding. However, bear in mind these exclusions:

Sequences where there is a jump in the bidding: If our auction starts 1♣ 1♥, 2♠, then we have established a game force, and do not need 4SF to repeat the process. Yes, it may well be an artificial or temporizing bid, but not part of the 4SF family.

4^th suit after a 2/1 auction, as in 1♠ 2♣, 2♥ 3♦. Similarly, these auctions are already forcing by virtue of the 2/1 beginning, so their 4th suit considerations are different. Your partnership certainly needs to discuss what these bids mean, however, and playing them as natural is probably not the best treatment.

4^th suit after Opener’s Reverse, such as 1♦ 1♠, 2♥ 3♣. Again, these auctions have their own specialized follow-up, so we don’t include them in our 4SF analysis either.

One Special Auction

One auction which sometimes causes confusion is: 1♣ 1♦, 1♥ 1♠. Given the remarkable economy of this auction, most partnerships treat this sequence as natural, and forcing for one round. If they would prefer to get into a 4SF auction, they use 1♣ 1♦, 1♥ 2♠ instead.

Quiz

Next, a test on Opener’s 3^rd bid, after this beginning:

1♦ 1♠

2♣ 2♥

F. G. H. I. J.

♠ 8 ♠ 8 ♠ 8 ♠ Q52 ♠ 8

♥ A6 ♥ AQ ♥ AQJ9 ♥ 7 ♥ 9854

♦ AQ653 ♦ AQ653 ♦ A964 ♦ AQJ63 ♦ AQ76

♣ KT874 ♣ KT874 ♣ KT53 ♣ K874 ♣ KQJ7

♠ 8 The Club suit is not very appetizing, but nonetheless we recommend a

♥ A6 a bid of 3♣, partly because, without that bid, we’ll never get to 6♣ when

♦ AQ653 Partner is slammish with 3-card support … also, our Heart holding is not

♣ KT874 such that we should be over-emphasizing 3NT.

♠ 8 Some of the features of this hand point to a jump to 3NT … right point

♥ AQ count … shortness in Partner’s suit … double stopper in the 4^th suit. But,

♦ AQ653 the hand is awfully slammish, and we would suggest that a 3♣ bid is

♣ KT874 preferable, despite the poor suit. If Partner now bids 3NT we’ll Pass, notwithstanding our extras. Similarly, we’ll bid 3NT if Partner bids 3♠. But, in both cases, we’ll be a bit nervous, and secretly wishing that we had jumped to 3NT earlier.

♠ 8 2NT, what else?

♥ AQJ9

♦ A964

♣ KT53

♠ Q52 This one is clear-cut, too. Bid 2♠, but be aware that this does not set the

♥ 7 the trump suit, it merely furthers the description of our hand, and says that

♦ AQJ63 we are 3-1-5-4, or 3-0-5-5, with any strength hand.

♣ K874

♠ 8 Perhaps we should have rebid 1NT on the previous round of bidding.

♥ 9854 Now we are in something of a pickle … bidding 3♥ seems misdirected,

♦ AQ76 and 2NT seems odd without a Heart stopper. Nonetheless, 2NT seems

♣ KQJ7 the best choice, at least our length reduces the chances of them rattling off 5 tricks in the suit. If we bid 2NT and Partner now bids 3♠, what do we do next? This is getting worse! Now, it would be perverse to persist with No Trump, so we’ll bid 4♠ and hope for the best. A difficult hand.