What should I bid? (August 2023)
The best submission for August came from Robin Tregenza. She wins a voucher of $30, funded by TBIB, toward any purchase made at Paul Lavings Bridgegear or The Bridge Shop.
Nil Vul
N Dlr
North
♠ A7
♥ QJ6
♦ A42
♣ Q7643
South
♠ Q108653
♥ 7
♦ 6
♣ AKJ92
| West | North | East | South |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1♣ | Pass | 1♠ | |
| Pass | 1NT | Pass | 3♣ |
| Pass | Pass | Pass |
I was thinking that 3♣ would be forcing. Given my spades weren’t great I was dubious about rebidding them. What bids are forcing here? What do you recommend as my rebid. I did want to go to game, so perhaps 4♠ is better, but I was worried that partner might hold a singleton spade – which is possible in the 1NT rebid – and my spades weren’t great. Thanks.
Hi Robin,
Thanks for writing in. Responder’s second bid after opener rebids 1NT can be a matter of style. Generally, I think most people who play naturally would play 2-level bids as non-forcing and 3-level bids as forcing.
If you play a ‘checkback’ convention such as new minor forcing or 2-way checkback, then you can have more flexibility to show invitational and game forcing hands, and reserve the 3-level for 5-5 hands – super useful here!
I can absolutely understand your reluctance to shoot straight to 4♠ if partner potentially has a singleton. In these situations, I always consider how likely it is that partner has a singleton spade vs something going wrong if I bid 3♣. If you’re playing with a regular partner then I would lean toward 3♣, but if it’s a first-time or new partnership then I might just bid 4♠ to protect against anything strange happening. And from your question it sounds like if your hand was AKJxxx x x QTxxx you would bid 4♠ regardless, which I agree with – you don’t care so much if partner has a singleton there.
As an aside, if North thinks that 3♣ is natural and invitational (assuming 2♣ would be natural and non-forcing) then I think they should bid 3NT and you could correct to 4♠, leaving no doubt about the shapeliness of your hand.
Cheers,
Lauren
