Bergen Major Suit Raises

 

Using the Bergen method, when Responder has 4-card support for Opener's major suit opening, he is provided with additional ways of raising Partner.  He can make an invitational raise, just as in standard methods, and also a preemptive raise, and a "constructive" raise.  For more on Bergen Raises, please follow the link.  For examples from past Wednesday Games, please see below.

 

23rd August, 2006            Board 2      Dealer East       N-S Vul

 

 

If you are not playing Bergen Raises, then this look like a simple 2♠ bid to us.  Now, suppose that you are playing Bergen raises.  Is this a 3♠ preemptive raise?  Or is it a constructive 3♣ raise (or, constructive 3♦ if you play Bergen that way).  Yes, indeed, it’s a constructive raise, too good for preemption.  There are many 6-counts which are just fine for a preemptive 3♠, but the 5-4 shape and those 2 valuable high cards make this hand too strong.

 

 

13th September, 2006       Board 23      Dealer South       Both Vul

 

 

What are North’s options here?

-         4♠?      4♠ will probably make, but bidding it directly like that is usually played as a preemptive bid, showing 5 Spades and not much else.

-         2NT?   The hand does not seem good enough for that, Partner might get carried away and take us overboard.

-         4♦?      A Splinter bid, showing Spade support and Diamond shortness, but perhaps the hand is not quite strong enough, and, anyway, it’s generally not a good idea to splinter with a singleton Ace or King, it’s altogether too misleading to Partner.

-         3♠?      A limit raise … this (or 2NT) would be our choice, but it’s not ideal, we might miss game opposite quite a few minimum hands.

 

Actually, if N-S are playing Bergen Raises they’ll have another option, and one that we rather like.  After the opening bid, North will bid 3♣ or 3♦ (whichever one the partnership plays as the limit raise), and then, if Partner signs off in 3♠, she’ll go to game anyway.  To us, this seems exactly right, we want to be in game, just in case it happens to make, but we don’t want to preempt and we don’t want to show game-forcing values.

 

 

22nd November, 2006       Board 11      Dealer South       None Vul

 

 

If you don’t play Bergen Raises, then this looks to us like a hand that should raise to 2♠ and then strongly consider competing to 3♠ based on the 9^th trump (Partner is presumed to have 5).

 

OK, now for the Bergen Brigade.  Those who play Bergen Raises invariably go straight to the 3-level with 4-card support for Partner’s major.  The decision here would be whether to show a preemptive hand with 3♠ or a so-called constructive raise (most players use 3♣ for that purpose).  To be honest, we don’t much care for either bid.  It hardly seems right to preempt with a potential defensive trick in each of the three side-suits, nor does the hand have enough offensive potential for a constructive raise, in our view.  So, even playing Bergen Raises, we would be inclined to bid just 2♠.  Of course, Law of Total Trick addicts will be aghast at such a suggestion, they’ll always go to the 3-level immediately, one way or the other.

 

 

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