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Forcing No Trump
The Forcing No Trump is used opposite a 1♥ or 1♠ opening bid as part of the 5-card major 2/1 system. For a brief introduction to this please follow the link. Here are some examples of the Forcing NT from past Wednesday Games.
3rd November, 2010 E-W Vul
In this Forcing No Trump sequence, do you pass 2♣? Or do you bid 2♠? Some considerations: - South’s 2♣ rebid might well be on a three-card suit and 5-2 fits have a tendency to play better than 4-3 fits. - This is matchpoints and majors score more than minors. - Bidding 2♠ makes it harder for E-W to compete. - North is close to invitational values and would like to keep open the bidding just in case South has extras. 2♠ keeps the bidding open … passing 2♣ does not … and it hardly seems right to keep things open by raising to 3♣ on a potential 4-3 fit. So, 2♠ it is! On the actual deal, South does indeed have three Clubs (and no game aspirations), and both 2♣ and 2♠ make 8 tricks.
3rd March, 2010 Both Vul
Let’s assume that East’s 1NT was a Forcing No Trump, and that you are faced with this rebid problem. Do you make the “obvious” call of 2♦? We don’t think so. That splendid Heart suit passes for a six-bagger and 2♥ is surely more descriptive than introducing a 3-card Diamond suit.
7th January, 2009 Both Vul
In the 2/1 style, East’s response is the Forcing No trump, and it places West in an awkward situation. No doubt West wishes that, for this hand at least, he had been playing Flannery. But, it’s too late for that, so what next? Clearly not 2♠, that's a reverse which would greatly overstate the value of the hand. In the circumstances, a rebid of 2♥ seems like the lesser of evils. True, it’s not the promised six cards, but it is a very good suit, and, to us at least, seems less unappetizing than rebidding a two-card minor.
3rd December, 2008 Both Vul
Here’s another gadget, the Impossible Spade. West’s 1NT denied 4 Spades, so the next time around he had no use for a natural 2♠. The common treatment for 2♠ in this auction is for it to show a really good raise to 3♣. Does West’s hand really qualify? Marginal, we would say, and he only has 4 Clubs (remember, East might have just 3 in this auction). A reasonable alternative to 2♠ would be 2NT.
We like East’s 3♠ bid! This is a case of East bidding what he’s got and letting West decide what to do. East paints a clear picture of a man without anything in Diamonds, and that prompts West to bid the only making game of 5♣.
1st October, 2008 E-W Vul
West might well pass 1♠, but if he must dredge up a response he does best to start with 1NT. The problem with raising to 2♠ is that Partner is apt to think we have a better hand, and might well drag the partnership too high. So, Pass is OK, 1NT is OK, but 2♠ is certainly not OK. On the actual hand, a direct raise to 2♠ will have dire consequences, getting E-W to at least the 3-level and probably out of their depth.
4th June, 2008 Board 5 N-S Vul
As North, having passed originally, what is your choice the second time around, after Partner has opened 1♠? We’d say that there are two answers to this question, depending upon whether your general style is SAYC-based or 2/1: - Playing SAYC: In these methods, this hand is too good for a 1NT response, and the obvious bid is 2♥, after which, if South rebids 2♠ or 2NT, that will be the end of that. - Playing 2/1: If this is the method in use then North has the Forcing NT at her disposal (or, as she is a passed hand, let’s make that the so-called semi-Forcing NT). This 1NT is more wide-ranging than “standard” methods and is a viable alternative to that 2♥ bid. We actually like 1NT here, the hand has a No-Trumpish look about it, and 1NT could well be the right place if Partner has opened light in 3rd seat. If Partner has 4 Hearts then she’ll tell us … and if she has 3 Hearts we’ll just have to hope that No Trump plays better than the 5-3 Heart fit.
Suppose that you bid a semi-Forcing NT and that Partner rebids 2♦. Is now the time to show that Heart suit? No, it’s too late for that, 2♥ here would show a weaker hand with a 6th Heart. The correct bid is 2NT, inviting game.
17th May, 2006 Board 11 None Vul
When you are playing a 2/1 style of system, part of which is the Forcing NT, of course, Opener is sometimes obliged to rebid a 3-card minor … on this particular occasion, Opener is obliged to rebid a 2-card minor! West’s hand is just not good enough to reverse into 2♠, so an improvisation of 2♣ is required.
7th June, 2006 Board 18 N-S Vul
After 1NT are you tempted to rebid 3♥ or 3♠? Not a good idea in our opinion ... true, you do have 17 HCP's, and that nice 6-4 shape ... but the Q♣ is quite useless ... better to downgrade the hand a little bit, and give your side a better chance to find the right strain. 3♥ here would be a plain overbid ... and 3♠ would be approximately OK on values but would overstate the Spade suit and give up on the potential 4-4 Heart fit. So, 2♥ it is ... if Partner takes us back to 2♠, we'll invite to game with 3♠.
19th July, 2006 Board 27 None Vul
With this 6-4 distribution, South has three obvious ways to bid this hand: - Rebid 2♠ ... this shows a 6-card suit and not much extra, so we can eliminate that one right away, the hand is too good ... take away an Ace or a King and then rebidding 2♠ would be fine. - Rebid 3♠ ... this non-forcing bid typically shows a 6-card suit and 5-loser hand (which South has), and that would be our choice here ... we'd say that we are about minimum for this bid. - Rebid 2♦ ... with 6 Spades and 4 Diamonds, we'd normally rebid the 6-card suit, unless we are planning to take one more call ... so, for example, if the auction started 1♠ 1NT, 2♦ 2♠, now a bid of 3♠ shows a hand that is somewhere in between a 2♠ rebid and a 3♠ rebid ... perhaps the hand above, but without the J♠, or with the A♦ changed to the K♦ So there we have it, three ways to bid those 6-card major suit openings after Partner responds 1NT.
7th June, 2006 Board 18 N-S Vul
A tantalizing hand for North! A decent hand, but no clear direction, and not quite good enough to invite. We clearly have at least a 5-2 fit in Spades, and at least a 4-3 fit in Hearts. Which is better? Do you pass 2♥ or correct to 2♠. In general, the 5-2 fits work out better than the 4-3 fits (yes, of course, there are numerous exceptions). And, there is a second reason to bid 2♠ here ... it keeps the auction alive! Partner's 2♥ could be made on a fairly robust hand, one with some extras, so with our 9-count we want to give her another chance.
2nd August, 2006 Board 24 None Vul
West’s 2♥ bid could be made with quite a strong hand (as we already saw on Board 21), therefore it behooves East to keep the auction open when he has 7 or 8 working points and 4-card Heart support. It follows that, if you must stretch to 3♥ on that type of hand, you must also stretch to 4♥ on the actual 11-count that you hold here. Clearly, 3♥ would be overworked if it were used for hands in the whopping range of 7-12, so we take a little bit of pressure off the top end by bidding game with the actual hand.
20th December, 2006 Board 12 N-S Vul
Playing standard methods, here are West’s options: - Well, 3♠ is not an option, the bid is non-forcing and this hand is going to game somewhere - How about 4♠? No, the Spades don’t have enough interior strength for us to be insisting on the suit - 3NT? That’s a possibility but it doesn’t do justice to our 6-card Spade suit, especially considering our dangerous looking Heart holding - A fake jump shift to 3♣? That will establish a force and if Partner does not take our Clubs to seriously we should be able to investigate the best game contract.
We wouldn’t argue with 3NT or 3♣ here, they seem like the best choices in an awkward situation. However, there is a gadget available which gets around West’s problem on this hand. We know it by the name of Power Relay, but it may go under other names as well. Using this device, a rebid of 2NT by Opener is an artificial game force … Responder normally relays to 3♣, after which Opener further describes his hand. Please follow the link if you’d like to learn more.
14th November, 2007 Board 22 E-W Vul
In many bidding systems, this hand would be an easy Pass opposite Partner’s 1NT response. However, let’s assume that we are playing a 2/1 style of system where 1NT is the so-called “Forcing No Trump”. In that case, even though it’s quite possible that 1NT is the right contract, we are obliged to find another bid. Here, we would have to bid 2♣, and what often happens next is that Partner, with a weak hand and two Spades, gives a Spade preference.
That scenario is a disadvantage of the Forcing No Trump, and some partnerships overcome that by making their 1NT response “semi-forcing”. The basic agreement is that 1NT may be passed if Opener is absolute minimum and has 5-3-3-2 distribution. Minimum is usually a 12-count, but miserable 13-counts might also qualify. The basic premise is that Opener cannot envisage game opposite a Partner who is not good enough for a 2/1 game-forcing bid.
The main downside of the semi-forcing No Trump is that occasionally Partner will have 3-card support for Opener’s major and a hand not suitable for a direct raise, for example a hand with invitational values. On the actual hand the semi-forcing No Trump works just fine. Opener’s hand qualifies for a Pass, and 1NT turns out to be the right spot.
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