As a child, I was very bad at talking about my feelings. [My wife might argue that I never outgrew this.]
My mother would try to ask why I was sad, but I would never answer. So she was stuck blindly trying to guess how to help. "Do you want help with homework? New clothes? Do we need to switch synagogues?"
Occasionally, she would hit on the right fix, but often her attempts led nowhere. That was when she resorted to plan b: an ice cream sundae with M & Ms on top was good enough to solve almost every problem.
In bidding, we sometimes have the right help for partner, but it's better if we don't have to guess what partner needs.
Consider the auction (unopposed): 1
--2--3. As responder, we hold something like:
K43
Q852
K3
9542
We're right in the middle of our range. We have some shape. Is this good or bad for opener? Well, if opener has:
Hand A
AQ9876
AJ6
A76
6
then our hand is great. We're going to lose a heart and a club. If opener has:
Hand B
AQ9876
AJ6
6
A76,
then we have problems. We might still make 4, but we have to contend with a heart loser, a diamond loser, and two club losers. On a club lead, we need a lot of help.
This situation is why players have moved away from treating this auction (1-2-3) as invitational, and are instead using it to exercise The LAW (for more on that, ask Larry Cohen). Instead, players utilize "Help Suit Game Tries" (HSGT).
A HSGT is an attempt to find game. It can be made by EITHER opener or responder, and can only happen once we find a major suit fit. Once that happens, new suits below 3-of-our-suit are help suit game tries (even repeating opener's suit).
What does a HSGT look like? It is a hand interested in game if partner has something useful in the suit mentioned. We shouldn't make a HSGT with xxx, because even if partner has the A, K or Q, it's not helping us enough. If we have Kxx or Axx, though, we can use a HSGT.
Help from partner can come in the form of honors or shortness.
With Hand A above, opener would bid 3. They don't care what we have in clubs, but having help in diamonds (or hearts--more on that in a second), would be invaluable. Notice that the person bidding with Hand A doesn't care if the help is shortness or honors.
With hand B, the opener could bid 3.
Evaluating your hand after a HSGT.
If the auction goes:
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| |
1 |
Pass |
2 |
| Pass |
3 |
Pass |
? |
Responder (South) holds:
Q95
J8
J43
KJ842
. Right in the middle of the range. What do we do? Look at the help suit and decide whether the hand is likely to help fill in partner's. Jxx is neither shortness nor a good honor. I would bid 3.
What if responder holds:
Q854
A87
543
A87?
South has no help in diamonds, but the hand is amazing for having bid only 2. South definitely thought about making an immediate limit raise, so they can bid 4 now.
When partner makes a HSGT, you still should accept if your hand is an ice cream sunday with M & Ms on top.
