BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

WhaT do you respond on this hand after partner opens 1 ♥ ? I’ve been labouring the point about when one should make a jump forcing response to partner’s opening bid. This is because there are still a great many players who stick with the notion that they should do so whenever they hold 16 or more high card points.

This couldn’t be further from reality, and following this practice at duplicate will lead to a lot of poor results. You should only make such a force when you want to suggest slam possibilities to partner straight away; and it follows that you should also know how the auction will proceed, otherwise you need the bidding space to hear more about partner’s hand.

On the above hand, you have 17hCPs and good support for partner’s suit. You are certainly interested in a slam, but you do not yet know whether the best contract will be in hearts or No Trumps. There is no hurry, so make a simple response of 2 ♣ (forcing for one round). We’ll continue this interesting auction tomorrow.