By Bill Treble
Platinum Life Master and author of Two Over One: A First Course

The 2/1 game-forcing auction where you can and should raise partner’s suit with three of them is:

Opener
1S
Responder
2H

When partner bids a major at the two-level, he will have at least five, so three in your hand will be enough to agree on hearts as trump in this case.

Contrast that with:

Opener
1S
Responder
2C

If the 2/1 bid is in a minor suit, responder could only have four of them, although it's quite possible he could have greater length. Given these circumstances, what should opener’s next action be if he has a balanced hand with three-card support?

My suggestion would be to generally rebid notrump with all balanced hands in the 12-14 range. The one exception would be a hand that is mostly aces and kings along with at least one of the top three honors in partner’s suit.

S A J 8 4 3
H A Q 6
D Q 9
C J 4 2

Opener should rebid 2NT here. He doesn’t have a full diamond stopper, but the hand is too “quacky” and trump-poor for a 3C raise.


S A J 8 4 3
H A K 6
D 9 7
C Q 9 4

On the second of these hands, an argument could be made for bidding 3C. Opener has 5 Neapolitan controls (A=2, K=1) and three-card support to an honor. Aside from that, he has noting at all in one of the unbid red suits.


S A J 8 4 3
H A 7 6
D K 7
C Q 9 4

With the third hand, we have stoppers in both red suits, so there is no reason to deviate from the policy of rebidding in notrump with a balanced hand.


S A 8 7 4 3
H 9 7 6
D A 7
C A Q 4

S 8 7 5 4 3
H K 6
D K J 7
C A Q 4

Of this pair of hands, the first one looks more suitable for a three-card raise, as a troika of aces plus the queen of responder’s suit is certainly not going to be a disappointment for him. Also, a notrump contract may be better declared from partner’s side.

The next hand also has nice three-card support, but a point less and neither of the kings will be a sure trick if the contract is played in clubs. Opener wants to protect his red-suit kings so rebidding in notrump is the way to go.

See also