Opener's Reverse

 

When Opener reverses he shows a good hand, but, unlike the Jump Shift, the Reverse is not normally played as forcing to game.  The following examples address the issue of how to stop short of game and how to continue the force.

 

 

August 1st, 2007                Board 29      Dealer North       Both Vul

 

 

3♣ here would show a 6-card suit and some extras, but let’s eliminate that as a possibility, this hand is at least an Ace too strong for such a bid, we need to make a forcing bid.  We cannot bid 4♠ here, that would require 4-card support.  Nor can we bid 3NT with that singleton in one of the unbid suits.  By a process of elimination we are left with a reverse into our 3-card Heart suit, and that would be our choice.

 

Isn’t it rather dangerous to lie about our major suit holding in that way?  Not really, at least not in this case.  If Partner takes our 2♥ bid seriously and raises to 3♥ or 4♥, then we can be sure that he has 4-card Heart support.  Therefore, because he responded 1♠ initially, we can be sure that he has 5 in that suit, and can revert to Spades if Partner raises Hearts.

 

 

14th November, 2007       Board 26      Dealer East       Both Vul

 

 

Here’s a recurring problem.  We have a 6-card minor and a 5-card Heart suit with opening values.  Do we open the minor suit or do we open 1♥?  Here’s one approach to the problem:

-         If the hand is strong, there is no problem, we can open 1♣ and then, if Partner bids 1♠, we can afford a reverse to 2♥, showing a good hand with longer Clubs than Hearts.  The actual 10-count is obviously not strong enough for a reverse, but we wouldn’t need much more to make it so.  Adding the A♥ would be enough, and maybe even just the K♥ would be sufficient, when the shape is 5-6 we can afford to lower our HCP requirements somewhat.

-         If the hand is not good enough for a reverse, and if the long suits are similar in strength or the Hearts are stronger, then we would tend to open 1♥, planning to bid the hand as if we were 5-5. 

-         The most problematic case is the one that we actually have here, where the hand is not good enough for a reverse and where the Clubs are substantially stronger.  Now, it seems odd to open that moderate Heart suit when we have such a splendid and longer Club suit.  On the other hand, if we open 1♣ and Partner bids 1♠, we’ll be obliged to rebid 2♣, losing any potential 5-3 Heart fit, and even (if Partner cannot bid again) the occasional 5-4 Heart fit.  Our own choice would be to open 1♣ with this hand, but it’s only fair to point out that on some hands a 1♥ opening will work better.

 

 

8th August, 2007               Board 6      Dealer East       E-W Vul

 

 

South’s hand is too good for a rebid of 3♦, so we’ll have to find another bid, one which will be sure to get us to game.  3NT is our most likely destination but it would be somewhat rash to bid it directly with a worthless doubleton in an unbid suit.  So, we will have to fudge our rebid, either with a fake jump shift to 3♣, or with a fake reverse of 2♥.

 

Conventional wisdom is that it’s a lot safer to lie about a minor suit than it is to lie about a major suit.  Nonetheless, we would reverse to 2♥ here, it’s more economical that 3♣.  If Partner raises to 3♥ (she is not supposed to raise to 4♥, just in case our suit is not real), we will know that she has 5 Spades, so can bid 3♠, offering Partner a choice between 3NT and 4♠.

 

 

13th September, 2006       Board 29      Dealer North       Both Vul

 

 

What are your agreements after Opener reverses?  First, we suggest that you play the bid as forcing and that it further promises another bid, but that is not game-forcing the way that Opener’s jump shift would be.  Second, Responder needs a way of showing weakness and allowing the auction to stop short of game, and one simple way to do this is for 2NT to be the weakness bid, the only bid which allows the auction to stop short of game.  Another option which has become quite common is that the 4^th suit at the 2-level is a weakness bid, as in 1♣ 1♠, 2♦ 2♥ … and that, if there is no such 4^th suit bid available we use 2NT as the weakness bid, as in 1♣ 1♠, 2♥ 2NT.

 

Other bids are game-forcing, so on the actual hand we would simply bid 3♣, which is game-forcing in the absence of a weakness bid of 2♠.

 

8th November, 2006         Board 21      Dealer North       N-S Vul

 

 

Before you answer this one, let’s impose these methods on you for this Reverse auction:

-         2♠ (the 4^th suit) is artificial and shows a bad hand

-         2♥ shows 5 Hearts but is ambiguous in terms of strength

-         All other bids are game-forcing

-         3♥ shows a good suit, and enough for game, but not necessarily a big hand

 

If that is the framework then we’d expect a lot of votes for 3♥, showing a good suit.  Was that your choice?  Well, it’s not ours, though we may be a voice in the wilderness on this one.  Our thoughts are this:

-         If we have a 6-2 fit in our (Heart) suit, we can no doubt find it by rebidding Hearts.

-         If we belong in a 6-1 Heart fit, then the success of this fit will depend upon the quality of the suit.

-         The 6-1 fit will be more attractive if we don’t have a slow loser … we don’t mind losing the Ace or King, it’s the slow loser that is disadvantageous (when compared with alternative contracts)

-         So, if we are to show a good suit, it needs sufficient interior strength to avoid that slow loser opposite a singleton.

 

South’s Heart holding is good, but is it good enough for a jump rebid?  We don’t think so, it doesn’t pass the “Singleton Test”.  Opposite a small singleton, this suit will play for one loser just 36% of the time.  Suppose that we upgrade the suit to KQJ9xx.  Now we are getting closer, opposite a small singleton our chances of just one loser is up to 52%, and we would say that this is a 3♥ rebid, but only just.  Improve the suit further to KQJTxx, and we are up to a whopping 81% and a no-brainer 3♥ bid.

 

The bottom line here is that, on the actual hand, we would bid 2♥ not 3♥.  That suit is just not good enough for a 3♥ bid, in our opinion.

 

 

1st August, 2007               Board 29      Dealer North       None Vul

 

 

An Opener’s Reverse shows a good hand, but is not forcing to game.  After the reverse, the most commonly used weakness-showing options for Responder are:

-         Bid the 4^th suit at the two level, if available, as in 1♣ 1♠, 2♦ 2♥.  Not an option in the actual auction.

-         Bid 2NT to show a weak hand.

-         Rebid 2♠ as a “neutral” bid.  2♠ would be ambiguous, showing a 5^th Spade and any strength, could be weak or strong.

 

Under this schema, North could reasonably bid 2♠ or 2NT.  Our own preference would be 2NT, not feeling the need to rebid that mangy Spade suit, and warning Partner immediately that our hand is weak.

 

 

29th November, 2006       Board 11      Dealer South       None Vul

 

 

How do you and your Partner stop short of game after Opener reverses?  Here is one increasingly popular method:

-         If the 4^th suit is available at the two-level (as it is in the featured auction), then this is an artificial weakness bid, and the only way to stop short of game.

-         If the 4^th suit is not available at the two-level (as in 1♣ 1♠, 2♥), then 2NT is the weakness bid and the auction may stop short of game (indeed, 2NT may be passed, unlike the aforementioned 4^th suit bid)

-         A rebid of Responder’s major (2♠ here) is “neutral”, could be good or bad, and forcing for just one round

-         All other sequences are game-forcing

 

What does this mean here?  Well, the 4^th suit is available, so 2NT is not passable.  That would be our choice, it seems like the most descriptive bid, we wouldn’t waste our time rebidding that poor Spade suit.

 

 

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