BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

You open 1 ♥ , and rebid 2 ♣ after partner responds 1 ♠ . What do you bid next when partner now bids 2 ♦ ? I assUMe you’ve spotted that 2 ♦ here can’t, or shouldn’t, be natural — because, with a genuine diamond suit, north would have rebid in no Trumps. You are being asked to describe your hand further (often with a special interest in hearing about a half stopper in the fourth suit).

some south players might have raised spades immediately because of the good ruffing values, but the club suit is so biddable that it must be shown in preference — both bids would be equally minimum hands and would be non-forcing. now ‘Fourth suit Forcing’ (FsF) has given you the great opportunity to describe your distribution perfectly; you bid 2 ♠ , and partner will know that, although you’re still minimum in hCPs, you have a 3-5-1-4 shape. When this hand appeared in a match, north held: ♠ aKQxx ♥ x

♦ axxx ♣ Qxx, and 6 ♠ was reached, making all the tricks. how could you have reached such a safe slam without the use of FsF?