Contract Bridge
You are South, both sides vulnerable. The bidding has gone:
South West North East 1 ♠ Pass 2 ♥ Pass 2 ♠ Pass 3 ♣ Pass
What would you bid now with each of the following four hands?
1. ♠ KJ8742 ♥ 643 ♦ KQ
♣ A7
2. ♠ KQ9542 ♥ — ♦ A83
♣ KQ74
3. ♠ KQJ1093 ♥ J6 ♦ 5 ♣
AJ62
4. ♠ AJ7652 ♥ J98 ♦ 10
♣ AQ9
1. Three hearts. Partner obviously has a good hand, since he has made two forcing bids, but caution is needed to reach the best contract. Only two bids can be considered — namely, three hearts and three notrump.
Partner’s bidding guarantees that he has five or six hearts, so although your heart holding is not particularly robust, it is time to let him know you have some support for that suit. Three hearts is far superior to bidding three notrump with your single diamond stopper.
2. Five clubs. Hands rise and fall in value, depending on partner’s (and sometimes the opponents’) bids. Thus, the initial two-heart bid took a lot of wind out of your sails, but the three-club bid has now added significantly to your hand’s original value.
To raise to four clubs at this point would be inadequate. This could all too easily be read merely as a forced response to partner’s forcing bid of three clubs. Now that the club fit has been discovered, you have much more than a minimum opening bid, and the best way to indicate this sudden improvement is to jump to five clubs.
3. Four spades. Game in spades is practically certain, as it is difficult to imagine losing four tricks opposite whatever partner has to contribute. Your spades are playable as trump even if partner is void, so showing your club support is unnecessary.
4. Four hearts. This hand, with its 12 high-card points, is far more promising for game purposes than Hand No. 1, with its 13 points. The difference is one of fit.
In the first hand, you started with a minimum opening bid, and it pretty much stayed that way throughout. You therefore did nothing more than show a preference for hearts. But here, with better heart and club support, and especially because of your singleton diamond, your hand is no longer in the minimum class. The jump-preference is used to express these additional values in case partner is interested in slam.