After the 2D Game Force
8 things to know after your partner bids the artificial 2D game force
- Is there a circumstance when you'd ever rebid your 5-card major?
- 2NT doesn't promise stoppers in all suits
- When 6-4 in the majors, which major is the rebid?
- What bid shows "extra" strength
- What does a jump in your major mean?
- What does bidding 3C mean?
- What does bidding 3D mean?
- What does a jump in an unbid suit mean? 1S-2D-3H or 1H-2D-3S
Eight different rebid issues. The only thing we know is that our partner will not pass our rebid below the game level.
In Modern Majors, we'll set these ground rules:
Your major rebid guarantees 6 cards. Don't compromise on this. It also limits your HCP to a minimal opening strength (12-15 HCP). A 'solid' (3 or 4 honor) still does not qualify to rebid your major.
We use a 2NT rebid to define a 'balanced' hand with 12-15 HCP and only 5 of the opening major. Your hand may have a 4-card minor (5242 shape).
With a 6-4 shape, rebid your 4-card major. You will have time to rebid your 6. The exception would be if your 4-card major were particularly poor. Maybe something like 8xxx or worse; then you could ignore it and rebid your long suit.
In general, opener should restrain themselves from wanting to 'show extras' at this point in the auction. Too many 'expert' players want to jump to 3NT to show 18-19 HCP. In our opinion, this consumes too much room for slam investigation. If the responder has a long minor or a both-minors-shaped hand, we might need to find the minor-suit slam.
After the GF response, both sides know they're going to a game (at least). Next, we seek a trump suit (or No-Trump). Jumping in your major is a suit-setting bid. You are stating that this is the only suit to consider for a contract. We define this as a long suit (6-7 cards), and at most one potential losing/missing honor. This is a prelude to seeking out a slam.
In standard 2/1, a rebid of 3C promises extras; it's called a high reverse. Since the 2D response is artificial and we know nothing about the responder's hand, we can't infer that our partner chose 2D vs 2C for a reason. Bidding 3C shows a 2nd suit, clubs. It doesn't promise extra values, but warns that the opener is 2-suited and that No-Trump could be problematic. Remember, mostly flat hands should prefer to rebid 2NT and not mention a 4-card club suit. The opener likely has a 5-5 hand or, less frequently, a 5314 or 5440 shape. A hand that might want to bid a 4-card club suit could have two questionable doubletons, such as SAKT54.HT2.D64.CKQJ9.
Remember the 2D response is an artificial bid. The opener is showing a 5-card diamond suit.
A jump in an unbid suit. These bids don't really make sense. We're in a game force, but haven't located a trump suit. Traditional 2/1 (when the 2D bid shows at least a good diamond suit) defines these bids as a splinter in support of diamonds. We can't use that definition. 2D is artificial. We have agreed not to make this jump bid. Perhaps, someday, somebody will find/invent a definition that makes sense to obliterate bidding room to communicate critical information, but we doubt it.
Sample hands to consider after 1S-2D*
- SKQJ95.H543.DAQ.C632
- SAKT92.H85.D7542.CKQ
- SJ7543.HT53.DKJT.CAK
- SKQT986.H6432.DK.CAT
- SA9765.HA98.DAJT.CKQ
- SAKJ54.HAQ32.DA7.C53
- SAJ432.H7.DA53.CKJ64
- SKQJT95.HK95.D4.CK73
- SAK853.H532.D43.CAJT
- SKQ542.HAJ5.DJT9.CQT
- SAT654.HA2.D64.CKQT9