1NT Auctions

Robinson's new Jacoby 2NT

Open	Response	Open	Response	Open	Message
1 , 1	2NT	3			The most opener has is an extra king.
			3		Responder has extras.  Tell me about short suits.
				3	No short suit.
				3	Short clubs.
				3NT	Short diamonds.
				4	Short other major.  Preempts club cue-bid below game.
			(3 )		(I think responder wants a club cue-bid and is neutral about short other major.)
			4-major		Forget the whole thing.
		3			Extra ace.  Let's cue-bid.
		3			Extra ace and short clubs.  Cue-bid.
		3			Extra ace and short diamonds.  Cue-bid.
		3NT	f		Extra ace and short other major.  Cue-bid.
		4-level			Telling you I have five cards in this suit makes my heart glow.

In building this table I have extrapolated from Steve's text.  Details of the continuations are left to the reader.  After either partner shows extras, cuebids determine whether or not there is an unstopped suit below game.  (One tricky case.)  Then, if you are the partner that knows there is the strength for slam, you continue to slam.

Also, and this was said in the lectures, 2/1 shows 13 NT points, or the 25 suit points for game in opener's major.

Three issues:

1. What is your system when partner opens 1NT?  (1 minute)
2. What are good overcall systems?  (30 minutes)
3. How do we handle all overcall systems?  (30 minutes)

Tell us your response system.  Only the five cheapest bids seem to matter.

Robinson devotes 80 pages to 1NT opening, when they interfere, and when they open 1NT.  Whew!  It would take several weeks to study his notes.  Most of the situations are rare.

His treatments that I like:

• Garbage Stayman.  4-4, 5-4, or 5-5 in the majors.
• Four-suit transfers.  Spades for clubs, and notrump for diamonds.

John and I play the minor-suit transfers a little different.

• 2 asks about strength.  2NT shows a minimum.  Then 3 or 3 are sign-off.
• Over a 2NT transfer, opener bids 3 with three or more, and 3 with less than three.

I think double of 1NT should be takeout.  We have done seminars where double shows cards, and the results were never satisfactory.  Are your results good when the double of 1NT shows points?  People do not get good results when double shows cards (against my weak notrump.)  We immediately go to an escape system and they get confused in their attempt to punish us.  Often, they must transition from business doubles to their best contract.

Any defense where double is for takeout is satisfactory.  Do not play a system where double shows count.  Unbalanced hands overcall aggressively and advancer bids conservatively. 

Our philosophy is to find the best offensive contract after their notrump opening no matter the strength of the notrump opening.  It is not up to us to decide any particular notrump strength is wrong and therefore should be punished.  Leave that to others.

Read Robinson's Chapter 17.  This is my summary sheet from that chapter.  His rules apply in both seats, against all notrump strengths, and whether or not overcaller is a passed hand.  Our one modification is to require essentially an opening bid when we interfere with a weak notrump.

Robinson's examples all have a singleton or void, and he believes in the short suit.  He does not discuss vulnerability.

The system:

Overcaller is aggressive, and Advancer conservative. 

All Advancer doubles and redoubles ask.  In competition, double or redouble shows support for anything that partner can have.  New suits are therefore natural.  There are contradictions between "new suits natural" and Robinson's text.  Understand his examples.

• 2 = majors.  The difference in major length is one card or less.
  • 2 asks for longest.  Advancer's major lengths are the same and are less than four cards.
  • 3-minor nonforcing. 

• 2 = a single major.  Nominally six or more cards.
  • Normally advance in your shorter major, and partner passes or corrects.  You must bid the other major twice to play it.  (Robinson with 3-1 bids the singleton.) 
  • Over 2 doubled.
    • Redouble = bid and I have some stuff.
    • 2-major = pass or correct.  (Contradiction.) 
    • Pass = play.
  • Over any other bid.
    • Double asks.
    • Suit bid natural. 
• 2 , 2 = 5-card major and 4 + minor.
  • 2NT asks. 
  • New suit nonforcing. 

• Double = 4-major & 5-minor, or 6-minor, (or big hand = 19 + vs strong, and 17 + vs weak.) 
  • 2 = minors.  Pass or correct.
  • 2 = majors.
  • 2 and higher = natural.
  • If third seat redoubles, Robinson plays
    • Pass = minors. 
    • 2 = majors.  (Contradiction.) 
    • 2 = diamonds. 
  • If third seat bids 2
    • Pass = no interest.
    • Double = minors. 
    • 2 = majors.  (Contradiction.) 
  • Robinson shows lots of big hands that won't occur.  (Evan:  Forget big hand doubles.) 
• 2NT = Unusual.  This section is missing in my copy.

1NT

Dbl

Pass

?

When does advancer bid 2 and when does he bid 2 ?  Odds are two to one in favor of doubler having a four-card major.  With a singleton club, we think you should try for a 4-4 or 4-3 major fit rather than play a 5-1 club fit.  The outcome might be playing a 6-1 club fit at 3 .

We will look at East-West hands in the Bid 'em Ups.  West is second seat.  Should he bid or pass?  Given he bids, and relative North-South silence, find your best contract.  How did we do?  How often does opener and responder want their pound of flesh?

Assume a system where double shows a specific distribution.  Then, with any count and 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2, 4-4-4-1, 5-3-3-2, and not 4-4 in the majors, I have trained myself to pass smoothly.  If, with lots of count and a 5-3-3-2 pattern, you get hung with a study, it is probably best to show it as a single-suiter.  Then, with this fourth seat Robinson example,

			J x x x x x
			x
			Q x x
			x x x
1NT	Pass	Pass	?

you can bid 2 and not have the opponents call the cops.  Robinson (and also Cohen) imply always balance in fourth seat, and studies showed they are right.  Robinson argued for always having a singleton.  That was not critical in my experiments.

Chapter 12 , 13, and 14 in the defense directory are a discussion and computer evaluation of defenses against notrump.  The computer played a 14 table 2304-board pair game where each East-West pair played a different defensive system.  The result are these conclusions and table.

Think Always Balance.  Vulnerability and length of the longest two suits are important.  Having a singleton (or void) is a plus, but is not a necessity. 

With nine cards in two suits and a bid that shows two suits, always balance.  You expect to make over 50% of your bids.  Making is not sensitive to balancer's point count.  How well you do depends on vulnerability — Both vulnerable you would do better passing if partner would lead your suit.

To bid or not to bid on less distributional hands can be a matter of personal preference.  Possibilities:

• Treat the long suit in a 5-3-3-2 pattern as a six-card suit.  If you bid, you will make less than 40% of your contracts.  You are betting the set will be less than the partscore.  If no one is vulnerable then bid, otherwise pass.  The quality of the five-card suit does not matter.
• 4-4-3-2 and 4-4-4-1 patterns.  Bidding depends on vulnerability and point count.  One plus is an overcall that shows two specific suits.  A second plus is +110 in a major rather than +90 in a minor.  If do you bid with a 4-4-4-1 pattern, show the higher two suits.  In DONT, 2 shows spades and hearts.  In Woolsey 2 shows spades and hearts.  In Brozel 2 and 2 shows that suit and hearts, and 2 shows spades and hearts.
  • You are not vulnerable - Always balance DONT is best.
  • We are vulnerable - Have count or pass. 

If you choose Always Balance (I do), then second seat simply bids to the best spot.  Second seat does not bid to the Marty Bergen limit, and second seat does not attempt to reach game.  Long ago the rule for raising a friend's three-level preempts was game in hand plus trump support, and that should be rule here.  If you can count nine tricks, you can invite, and with ten you may bid game.  If you want a minimum suit count for advancer's bid, choose five or six.  If advancer has many points, then fourth seat is simply bidding his hand.  Defensive points should be between 15 and 25, and 20 is a much better guess than 25.

Balancing over a 15-17 Notrump

	Vulnerability
Pattern	None	N-S	E-W	Both	Comment
6 + cards	Always Balance				Double dummy numbers say no when both are vulnerable.  Partner will not lead your suit.  Balance.
5-5-x-x					If everyone else is passing, you should play DONT, otherwise Woolsey.  With both vulnerable, numbers say bid.
5-4-x-x					With both vulnerable, always balance = 43%.  Count is starting to matter.  You make over half the time, so balance.
4-4-x-x	Always Balance		Have values		Count matters.
5-3-3-2					Balancer treats a 5-3-3-2 pattern as a one-suiter.  Results are similar for any five-card suit, or a three-of-the-top-four suit.

1. Level 1 defense interference is what you happen to do now.

2. Level 2 defense is a single set of rules used against all defenses. 
   
   "In comp:  Over Dbl or 2 System on.  2NT asks for longer minor.  Neg X through 3 ." 
   

3. Level 3 is what John and I do when they interfere with our 12-15 notrump.  It is not much different than Level 2.  The main difference is an escape system is used over their double of 1NT.

4. Level 4 is Steve Robinson's system.  It depends on their defense.  It takes longer to learn, it requires both partner's interpret explanations the same way, and then is a memory test.

Level 2 Defense

Overcall	Bid	Message
Double	Redouble	Bid 2 and I will pass or correct to 2 .
	Other	System on.
2	Double	Stayman (= Negative.)  Even if 2 is for the majors.  May end in business double.
	Bid	System on.  So, if 2 is majors, you may choose not to transfer.  You may just use the 2 and 2NT part of the system.
2	Double	Negative
	2 , 2 , 3 , 3	Natural and not forcing.  Even if 2 transferred to hearts.
	2NT	Think about it and do the right thing.  You have to know what 2 means.  If artificial, then choose between minors; else invitational.
	3 , 3	Natural and forcing
2 , 2	Double	Negative
	2NT	Choose between minors.  Not forcing auctions.  I may correct to 3 .
	3	Not forcing
	3 , 3 , 3	Natural and forcing, or a cue-bid.
2NT	Double	Negative.  2NT should be for minors or very strong hand.
	3 , 3	?
	3 , 3	Not forcing.
3-level	Double	Negative doubles.
	3-level	?

In some interference sequences, we lose the ability to invite game and must play either partscore or game.  Perhaps a negative double followed by 3-of-a-major should be invitational.

Lebensohl.  Three times out of four you want partner to choose between the minors.  That is why I recommend 2NT as better-minor Lebensohl.  At nationals and at breakfast, I have often heard a pair forming a partnership for that day's event.  About ten years ago, one would be lecturing the other on "slow shows" Lebensohl.  I haven't ever had this discussion with any partner so I can't tell you what to do.  Another player told me he plays "fast shows" with his wife because she forgets.

You opened 1NT with a 5-card suit and the opponents interfere and partner passes.  Should you bid your suit at the two-level?  (Yes.)  Three-level?  (Probably.)  With only a pass from partner, what does opener's double of an artificial bid mean?  (Lead directing/Business.) 

Robinson has long discussions where you have to know what the interference means.  If you interpret their explanation one way and partner the other, you are in trouble.  To add confusion, they may not know what they are doing.

A simpler strategy is to define bids independent of their defense.  (There is one case where you have to know whether a 2 overcall is natural or artificial.)  Our philosophy is find our best contract, and not penalize them for interfering.  A common occurrence is defense against our 12-15 notrump.  One player hears the 15 and thinks strong notrump defense, and the other player hears the 12 and thinks weak notrump defense.

In the play deals, first seat opens 1NT.  Second seat has a minimum of 12 suit points in the longest suit not vulnerable, and 15 suit points vulnerable.  These numbers may be set a little bit high.  The computer overcalls every thing except 4-3-3-3 patterns.  This is essentially 44DONT plus 53DONT.  I am not recommending this defense; I just wanted all possible overcalls.  I have missed speeding deals where you overcall with less suit points.  Second seat chooses a defense.  The table deals with what happens.

• 		J x x
  		K Q x x x
  		x x
  		K x x
  1NT	2 *	?

  * Spades and a minor.  (Hamilton, so the minor can be longer than spades.) 

  This hand bid 3 , got raised, and went down one.  I think this is right and simply unfortunate.  With less, you want to play 3 .  Negative double and then bid 3 .  Else bid better minor 2NT and correct to 3 .

• 		J x x
  		Q T x x
  		K x
  		Q J x x
  1NT	2 *	?

  * Hearts and a minor.  (Woolsey)

  Partner thought our offense was a function of their defensive system and made a business double.  (Negative double was on our card.)  Fourth seat bid 3 .  I showed spades at the three-level.  Partner decided I was one of those people who open 1NT with five spades, and raised.  What should he have done?  2NT is better minor lebensohl, so that is out.  I think you should stretch a point and bid 3NT.  With point less, you pass and go peacefully.