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The Bickersons on Bridge 2010-2011 Page 1
THE BICKERSONS ON BRIDGE
2010-2011 Articles
By Ken and Leah Rexford
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The Bickersons on Bridge 2010-2011 Page 2
March 2010
Contributors Leah and Ken Rexford are going to discuss an issue that
arose recently. Partner opens in a major, you have support, and you
love your hand so much that slam is being considered. How do you
share this great news?
Suppose that your partner opens 1♠, and you are looking at this hand:
♠ K Q x ♥ x x ♦ A x x ♣ A Q x x x
This is a nice collection. 15 HCP, a source of tricks in clubs, and even a
doubleton heart for 16 total points (at least). This has great
prospects.
You want partner to know about your clubs, of course, so you respond
2♣. Partner next rebids 2♦. What now?
This is where the Rule of “2-4-3” helps. “What is the Rule of 2-4-3?”
you may be asking?
When you make a two-level response to partner‟s opening major bid,
your choices for raising partner at your next bid are “ranked” in
strength by the 2-4-3 scale:
2♠ = worst hand. You still have your 10+ HCP, but this is
PASSABLE. Partner can pass with a minimum, or invite back.
4♠ = next-best hand. You have enough for game (about 13 points),
but not much else. Let‟s hope this makes!
3♠ = POWER raise. With the 2-4-3 approach, the three-level
raise is the POWER raise with at least mild slam interest.
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The Bickersons on Bridge 2010-2011 Page 3
So, with this hand (the 16-count example hand), your call would be the
Power 3♠, which is FORCING to game and shows SLAM INTEREST.
What will partner do after this POWER raise? If he has the typical
hand Ken usually has, he will bid 4♠, and hopefully this makes (even
opposite Leah‟s slam-interested hand)! But, if Opener also has a nice
hand, maybe a few “cuebids” will help fill in the picture.
A “cuebid” is a new suit bid after we have already agreed on a trump
fit, with the new suit bid simply showing a “control,” meaning an Ace or
King or singleton or void, meaning something that will “control” the suit.
Responder has slam interest, as we saw, but she is fairly certain that
the opponents would defeat our slam (even if we have 33 HCP) if they
can cash the Ace and King of hearts, right? So, Responder wants to
know about “control” of that heart suit.
What might happen, then?
Well, suppose you have just bid this POWER three-level raise (2-4-3
style) and Opener, with some slam interest himself, bids 4♣, showing
slam interest and a club control (because you are looking at the club
Ace, partner must have the King or shortness, either of which is OK).
You can now bid 4♦, showing a diamond control (you have the Ace) and
waiting to see if partner has a heart control.
Remember, you had:
♠ K Q x ♥ x x ♦ A x x ♣ A Q x x x
If partner bids 4♥, showing a heart control, then he might have this
hand: