NOTRUMP OPENING BIDS -- PART 1 of 3 (footnote 3)

Author: Larry Cohen
Date of publish: 12/23/2013
Level: All Levels

NOTRUMP OPENING BIDS -- Part I -- Final footnotes

 

Here are a few other discussion points:

 

>SMOLEN: 1N-2?-2?-3M  This jump shows 5-4 in the majors, GF.  Smolen would dictate jumping into the 4-card major. (Without Smolen, responder would jump into the 5-card major). The image above shows a check-mark in the SMOLEN box. Make sure you know if 1N-2?-2?-3? shows 5? + 4? (Smolen) or 5?+4? (Standard).

>After 1NT-2?-2?-2NT, what does opener know? Since 2NT immediately is a transfer to diamonds, this delayed 2NT bid is invitational. But, how does opener know if responder has 4 spades? This is a big downfall (inevitable) of using 2NT as a transfer to diamonds. To get around it, you can play 1NT-2?-2?-2? as a raise to 2NT with 4 spades. Accordingly, 1NT-2?-2?-2NT denies either major. There are more complicated things you can do with this auction, but this is a simple solution to the "does 2NT promise a major" conundrum.