Classic Two-Over-One

Play deals investigate support doubles.  First seat should open, second seat should pass, third seat should bid a major, fourth seat bids (jump okay), and opener has a support double.  To benefit from these deals you have to get with the program.

Two-over-one game force serves several purposes:

• Search for a trump suit.
• Announce a suit stopped for notrump.
• Announce a source of tricks for slam.
• Start a slam investigation.
• Tells the opponents what not to lead.  Suggests an aggressive defense against our contract.
• With a game force and shortness in opener's suit, it is what we do.

Grant Baze decreed that with trump support for partner, and a source of tricks, you 2/1.  You do not splinter and you do not use Jacoby 2NT.  Robinson seems to think the same way about splinters.  I am not sure.

Page 94 through 109 of Robinson's book gives rules and examples.

• 4-card Jacoby 2NT.  Old flavor, page 94-95.  New flavor, page 324, Second Edition.

• Two-Tier Splinters

  HCP	Suit Points	Combined Suit Points	Over 1	Over 1	Grant's Name
  9-12	11-14	25-28	3NT	3	Game splinter
  13-15	15-17	29-31	4 , 4 , 4	3NT, 4 , 4	Full Splinter

• Two-over-one game force.
• Splinters
• Cue-bidding

By the time he gets to the four-level, he knows whether or not there is slam.  Given a yes, he then uses due diligence to bid slam.  The value of Blackwood is to stay out of slam missing two controls, and to bid the occasional grand slam.

• Old flavor Jacoby 2NT puts the responder in charge.  New flavor shares decisions.
• 2/1 and cuebids have both players involved in the decision.
• Full splinters cedes responsibility to opener.
• Know when 4NT is Blackwood and when it is quantitative.  I have a "through the 4-level rule before 4NT is Blackwood".
• Blackwood puts the 4NT bidder in charge.  Some control is ceded back to partner with a king ask.  Partner can bid a grand.
• Delay Blackwood as long as you can.

We do not use Jacoby 2NT in our big club system.  If you wish, I can create and post Bid 'em Ups.  As individual partnerships, or as a group, we can investigate the subject.  We certainly need more than the six deals provided by Robinson.

Grant Baze: "If you have a source of tricks that is your bid.  Do not use Jacoby 2NT on those hands." 

There is no fast arrival.  Robinson gives a specific definition to responder's jump rebid to game.  I was dozing when I first read his definition.  He eventually followed with an example where you are known to have 32 HCP in the partnership, and know there is no slam at the game level.  I have him beat with a 34 HCP deal..

I believe in pattern bidding in 2/1.  Therefore, the rebid of opener's major shows six.  Responder must eventually show two-card support.  I rebid 2NT, and then correct to partner's major.  Opener's new suit at the three-level does not show extras.

Theorem:  With choice of two descriptive bids, it is usually best to make the cheapest.

If responder has trump support, he shows it at the second bid.  More often than not this is at three level.  If opener has extras (about an ace), he cuebids (first or second round control.  Ace, king, singleton or void.)  If the fit is found at the two level, then a splinter is a possibility.

Showing extras in 2/1 auction

Total suit points	Action
32-up	2/1, then bid slam.
29-31	Full splinter.  Jacoby 2NT, then show extras.  Cue-bid after fit is found.
25-28	Game splinter Show minimum over Jacoby 2NT.  Cooperate with cue-bid sequence.

Opener's and Responder's minimum suit count.

Suit	Opener's Count	Responder's minimum
Opener's major	14	11
Opener's second suit	12	13
Raising responder	11	14
Opener's minor	Let's talk.

Splinters are a good idea if you can remember.  If you restrict them to 4-4-4-1 hands, they have a one in several thousand frequency.  Can you and partner both remember that 3NT is a splinter?

What is suit count for opener and responder to initiate a slam invite in these auctions?  Last named suit will be established as trumps.

1. 1	2
   2

2. 1

   2

3. 1	2
   2NT	3

Chapter 17 of the Big Club notes discusses splinters of various kinds.  Be aware that some of the discussion is specific to Big Club.

Note to John.  Should we define 4 over 1 to be a splinter?

The easiest type to demo are the full splinters.  (The play deals can only be sabotaged by a second-seat preemptive overcall, (so please don't preempt )).  Splinters remain on.

Responder will have:

• 3 or more in opener's major
• A singleton or void.
• Any length in the other two suits.

Opener is unlimited.  The issue may be to bid a grand slam.  One of 500 deals satisfied these requirements.

Robinson's examples are too limited.  A 5-4-4-0 pattern has to be a splinter.  Responder with more than four trumps has to be acceptable, and I suggest three is okay.  A short suit and a non-source-of-tricks long suit should be a splinter.  Use your judgment on the play deals.

Two week's ago in Bid 'em Ups that I tried with Jon Wright:

A K x x		x
x x		A x x
A J x x x x		K x x x x
K		A Q x x
1		3
?

• We accepted Robinson's rule that 3 is a splinter in support of diamonds, and shows 15-17 suit points in support of diamonds.  I am reluctant to accept this rule in my regular partnerships because the conditions are rare and therefore prone to disaster.  In these discussion groups, I am going to try all of the toys.
• I am surprised that the selection process for deals chose very few three- and four-card minor suit openings.
• Don't panic over the splinter in your A-K suit.  This hand started at 19 suit points at diamonds, and is 18 in the Shorts-Known Count.
• We could willy-nilly into Blackwood, find three controls, and bid 7 .
• But we could be missing the ace and king of hearts, and then we only want to play 5 .  Can we create a cuebidding sequence that determines partner has a heart control and then Blackwood?
• Robinson's example for splinter over a minor has three aces, a king and five trumps, i.e. 18 (19) suit points at diamonds.  (Who gets an extra point for the fifth diamond?) 
• Robinson says a splinter over a minor shows values in the unbid suits.  This is so opener can bid 3NT.  Q-J-x should qualify. 

My scientific approach on this hand is to bid 4 .  Responder is to bid the cheapest control (ace or king) that he comes to.  Assume he bids 4 and this is doubled.  Pass the double back to partner who redoubles with the ace.  I bid 4 and not 4 to force the heart cue -bid.  The splinter ceded control to me, and so I can direct partner's cue bidding.

It is not sufficient to agree to play splinters.  More discussion and thought must follow.

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