Defence After They Double Our 1NT Opening
Rubensohl
After RHO overcalls partners’s 1NT opening, the following bids are available to you as responder;
Where a 2 level bid corresponding to the transfer bid is available responder would have used it to sign off, therefore in this case, responder is either inviting game or will insist on it. Opener will assume in the first instance that responder is inviting him to game. By completing the transfer, opener declines the invitation. Responder may pass or insist on game by bidding on. If opener wishes to accept the invitation, he does so by making the next highest descriptive bid available to him, thereby setting up a game force.
Example 1
Opener bids 1NT and his LHO overcalls 2H. Responder now bids 3C instructing Opener to transfer to 3D. Responder did not have the option to bid 2D so from Opener’s point of view, Responder may wish to play in 3D or set up a game force. Opener has no way of knowing which and so he has no option but to dutifully bid 3D, completing the transfer.
Opener bids 1NT and his LHO overcalls 2D. Responder bids 3D asking Opener to transfer to hearts. This is different because Responder had a 2H bid available to him if he wanted to play in a heart part-score contract so Opener now knows that Responder is at worst invitational with at least 5 hearts and may be stronger.
If Opener wants to decline the invitation, he can do so by completing the transfer i.e. bid 3H.
Supposing responder is looking at a game forcing hand with a four card major and is about to bid 2C in response to opener’s 1NT when his RHO overcalls. The solution is to bid the suit under the one bid by the over-caller, thereby inviting opener to bid over-caller’s suit, thus the term “Transfer Cue Bid”. Opener’s options are as follows;
If over-caller’s suit is a minor the transfer cue bid (2NT/3C) promises game going points and one or both 4 card majors.
Example 3
Opener bids 1NT and his LHO overcalls 2D. Responder has 14 points and is 4-4 in the majors. He therefore bids 3C, a transfer cue bid to Over-caller’s diamonds, advertising his possession of one or both 4 card majors. Opener has 2 small diamonds and 4 spades. He knows Responder has a major but his first duty is to warn of his own lack of a diamond stopper which he does by completing the transfer, bidding 3D. Responder now shows his hearts by bidding 3H, Opener replies 3S and is pleasantly surprised when Responder bids 4S.
Example 4
Opener bids 1NT and his LHO overcalls 2D. Responder has 4 hearts, 14 points and no diamond stopper. He bids 3C to advertise his possession of a 4 card suit. Opener bids 3D, completing the transfer and thereby denying a diamond stopper. Responder bids 3H and Opener replies 3S. Responder now knows that there is no 4-4 major fit and that diamonds (Over-caller’s suit) is wide open so 3NT is unthinkable. Responder has four clubs so he bids them. Opener has three clubs so while things are not ideal, he is at least relieved that partner did not bid his doubleton, so he passes. The hand is played in 4C with a 4-3 fit which while not pretty, is much preferable to 3NT with a wide open diamond suit.
Conventional Overcalls
Much of the foregoing depends on knowledge of the identity of over-caller’s suit. That’s fine if the overcall was natural but what if it was conventional?
Opener bids 1NT and his LHO overcalls 2C which Advancer alerts. In response to Responder’s query Advancer replies “Landy, 5-4 or longer in the majors”. Responder has 14 points with 4 hearts to the AK and 3 spade rags. The fact that he has 4 hearts is of secondary importance to the fact that while be has hearts stopped, his spades are wide open. He therefore bids 2D, the transfer cue bid to hearts, not because he happens to have 4 hearts but to show a heart stopper and deny a spade stopper. Advancer passes and Opener surveys his hand. He has 4 small hearts and AKx in spades. He knows Responder has hearts stopped but he can’t be sure whether he has 4 since in this auction, showing stoppers is paramount. There is another (not so) subtle issue which is that Over-caller has at least 4 hearts and might have 5 so even if a heart fit exists, the trump break is likely to be bad. Armed with this wealth of information, he bids 3NT which turns out to be far and away the best spot despite the existence of a 4-4 heart fit.
Doubles
The final part of the system relates to the meaning of a double of the oppositions overcall.
The only price you pay for using this convention, apart from the memory load, is the loss of ability to make a 2NT invitational bid after an overcall. This, while not entirely insignificant, is a price worth paying.
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Rubensohl
After RHO overcalls partners’s 1NT opening, the following bids are available to you as responder;
- Pass.
- Double (see below).
- Any remaining available 2 level bids are natural and to play.
- 2NT transfers partner to 3C showing length (5+) in clubs and denying a four card major.
- 3C is a transfer to 3D showing 5+ diamonds and denying a four card major.
- 3D is a transfer to 3H showing 5+ hearts.
- 3H is a transfer to 3S showing 5+ spades.
- Exception: the bid that would transfer partner into overcaller’ suit, called the “Transfer Cue Bid” is Stayman
- 3S, over any overcall, is a transfer to 3NT denying either a stopper or a four card major (Slow Denies). Promises invitational points +.
- 3NT, over any overcall, denies a four card major but shows a stopper (Fast Shows). Promises game going points.
Where a 2 level bid corresponding to the transfer bid is available responder would have used it to sign off, therefore in this case, responder is either inviting game or will insist on it. Opener will assume in the first instance that responder is inviting him to game. By completing the transfer, opener declines the invitation. Responder may pass or insist on game by bidding on. If opener wishes to accept the invitation, he does so by making the next highest descriptive bid available to him, thereby setting up a game force.
Example 1
Opener bids 1NT and his LHO overcalls 2H. Responder now bids 3C instructing Opener to transfer to 3D. Responder did not have the option to bid 2D so from Opener’s point of view, Responder may wish to play in 3D or set up a game force. Opener has no way of knowing which and so he has no option but to dutifully bid 3D, completing the transfer.
- Responder may now pass and that ends the auction. Any other bid is game forcing.
- In the event, Responder bids 3H, a cue bid of Over-caller’s suit. A cue bid promises a stopper in Over-caller’s suit and extra length in Responder’s, so in this case, Responder has 6+ diamonds. Opener should now be well placed to choose between 3NT and 5D.
- Responder might have called 3S. That is still game forcing but promises nothing extra and denies a stopper in Over-caller’s suit. If Opener has a stopper, all is well and he just bids 3NT. If not, he has a decision to make but al least he has lots of information on which to base it; he can see his own hand, he knows partner has 14+ HCPs, 5+ diamonds and does not have a four card major and he can presume that Over-caller has 5+ hearts, more likely 6 and a decent hand. Alternatively, the 2H overcall may be conventional (see below).
- Responder might have bid 3NT, promising a stopper and Opener would not have had to engage the brain at all, or would he? Why didn’t partner just bid 3NT directly over the 2H overcall? Because he has slam interest, that’s why!
Opener bids 1NT and his LHO overcalls 2D. Responder bids 3D asking Opener to transfer to hearts. This is different because Responder had a 2H bid available to him if he wanted to play in a heart part-score contract so Opener now knows that Responder is at worst invitational with at least 5 hearts and may be stronger.
If Opener wants to decline the invitation, he can do so by completing the transfer i.e. bid 3H.
- Responder can now pass, ending the auction if he is simply invitational.
- If Responder is game going opposite a minimal 1NT opener, he can bid 3S which is forcing and denies a diamond stop, sign off in 3NT which promises one or bid 4H promising 6 hearts. Confronted with the 3S force, Opener must engage the brain!
- 3NT promising a diamond stop and denying 3 hearts. Responder will pass unless he has 6 hearts, in which case he will bid 4H.
- 3S denying a diamond stop and denying 3 hearts. Now it’s Responder’s turn to engage the brain but look how much he knows! In addition to being able to see his own hand and make inferences about Overcaller’s, he knows that Opener was happy to insist on game opposite a hand that he has no right to assume was anything better than invitational
- 4H to play
Supposing responder is looking at a game forcing hand with a four card major and is about to bid 2C in response to opener’s 1NT when his RHO overcalls. The solution is to bid the suit under the one bid by the over-caller, thereby inviting opener to bid over-caller’s suit, thus the term “Transfer Cue Bid”. Opener’s options are as follows;
If over-caller’s suit is a minor the transfer cue bid (2NT/3C) promises game going points and one or both 4 card majors.
- If opener completes the transfer, he denies a stopper in the overcalled suit but neither denies nor confirms possession of a four card major(s).
- If he has the overcalled suit stopped he shows this by bidding his cheapest 4 card major or 3NT lacking a 4 card major.
- If opener completes the transfer, he denies a heart stopper and denies 4 spades.
- A 3NT bid confirms a heart stopper but denies 4 spades.
- A 4S bid promises 4 spades and says nothing about stoppers.
- If opener completes the transfer, he denies a spade stopper or 4 hearts.
- A 3NT bid confirms a spade stopper and denies 4 hearts.
- A 4H bid promises 4 hearts and says nothing about stoppers.
- Responder bids his cheapest sensible 4 card suit.
- Opener with tolerance passes but with a doubleton bids the next suit up.
- Responder with tolerance passes or with a doubleton bids up.
Example 3
Opener bids 1NT and his LHO overcalls 2D. Responder has 14 points and is 4-4 in the majors. He therefore bids 3C, a transfer cue bid to Over-caller’s diamonds, advertising his possession of one or both 4 card majors. Opener has 2 small diamonds and 4 spades. He knows Responder has a major but his first duty is to warn of his own lack of a diamond stopper which he does by completing the transfer, bidding 3D. Responder now shows his hearts by bidding 3H, Opener replies 3S and is pleasantly surprised when Responder bids 4S.
Example 4
Opener bids 1NT and his LHO overcalls 2D. Responder has 4 hearts, 14 points and no diamond stopper. He bids 3C to advertise his possession of a 4 card suit. Opener bids 3D, completing the transfer and thereby denying a diamond stopper. Responder bids 3H and Opener replies 3S. Responder now knows that there is no 4-4 major fit and that diamonds (Over-caller’s suit) is wide open so 3NT is unthinkable. Responder has four clubs so he bids them. Opener has three clubs so while things are not ideal, he is at least relieved that partner did not bid his doubleton, so he passes. The hand is played in 4C with a 4-3 fit which while not pretty, is much preferable to 3NT with a wide open diamond suit.
Conventional Overcalls
Much of the foregoing depends on knowledge of the identity of over-caller’s suit. That’s fine if the overcall was natural but what if it was conventional?
- If the conventional overcall was 2C and that shows an unspecified long suit, ignore it completely and push ahead with system on but using dbl to replace your normal 2C Stayman bid.
- If the conventional overcall promises a specific anchor suit plus an unspecified other suit (e.g. a Multi-Landy 2H/S), proceed on the assumption that the anchor suit is the overcall suit unless the contrary is established.
- If the conventional overcall promises 2 specified suits (e.g. Landy 2C promising both majors), proceed as normal but as a result;
- A direct 3S bid denies stops in either specified suits.
- A direct 3NT bid promises stops in both specified suits.
- A transfer cue bid of either suit promises a stop in that suit and denies a stop in the other.
Opener bids 1NT and his LHO overcalls 2C which Advancer alerts. In response to Responder’s query Advancer replies “Landy, 5-4 or longer in the majors”. Responder has 14 points with 4 hearts to the AK and 3 spade rags. The fact that he has 4 hearts is of secondary importance to the fact that while be has hearts stopped, his spades are wide open. He therefore bids 2D, the transfer cue bid to hearts, not because he happens to have 4 hearts but to show a heart stopper and deny a spade stopper. Advancer passes and Opener surveys his hand. He has 4 small hearts and AKx in spades. He knows Responder has hearts stopped but he can’t be sure whether he has 4 since in this auction, showing stoppers is paramount. There is another (not so) subtle issue which is that Over-caller has at least 4 hearts and might have 5 so even if a heart fit exists, the trump break is likely to be bad. Armed with this wealth of information, he bids 3NT which turns out to be far and away the best spot despite the existence of a 4-4 heart fit.
Doubles
The final part of the system relates to the meaning of a double of the oppositions overcall.
- If the overcall is natural and at the 2 level, double is for takeout and promises invitational values.
- If the overcall is natural and at the 3 level, double is for takeout and promises game going values.
- If the overcall is conventional and shows unspecified suits (e.g. Multi-Landy 2D) or specified suits other than the suit called (e.g. Landy 2C), a double shows length and strength in the suit called and is therefore Penalty/Lead Directionally oriented.
- If the overcall is two suited showing the suit called as the anchor suit plus another unspecified suit (e.g. Multi-Landy 2H/S) double is for takeout of the anchor suit.
The only price you pay for using this convention, apart from the memory load, is the loss of ability to make a 2NT invitational bid after an overcall. This, while not entirely insignificant, is a price worth paying.
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