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Thanks for your response, but I don't fully understand your response.
1) With the hand shown, why bother with hearts with the spade support you have? If you show hearts with 1S-2H, what is the likely auction which will tell you that partner has 5 hearts and 5 (not 6) spades? Apart from the low probability of the hand, how do you find out that hearts is a better fit?
2) I don't understand the relevance of your above quote. If my partner bid 3NT over 1H, I would assume 16-18 balanced, 2 hearts, and 3 spades. What am I missing?
I am intrigued by "fit-jumps". Do they replace WJS and/or Bergen raises? Do they show 4+ trump support and are GF? What length/strength suit do they show? How often do they occur?
Hi Pb,
First, let me revisit Jacoby 2NT for just a minute. In Standard American (SAYC and the like), 2NT response shows 13+ HCP. Many have lowered the requirement to 9 points or so (see Luis's response) so that it includes "limit raise or better". This seems very popular amoung european players. We will return to this in a minute.
Why make a fit jump if "we know" we are going to play in spades? The answer to this has to deal with the concept of "potential competitive auction." You have a known 10 card minimum fit in spades. Are you sure your LHO is going to pass quietly? Might he not bid, say 4NT eventually over 4S (if that is where you end up?). Might you not want your partner to be able to apply the law correctly?
What your partner needs to know is should he defend or bid 5S or heck, let them play 5C/5D. The way you help him make an eductated guess is to use Fit Jumps correctly. Here, you partner, knowing you have spades and hearts, will be in a much better position. Say he has a stiff heart, he might choose to defend. Say he has four hearts, he will never defend 5C (clearly a double-double fit hand). I can show a very similar hand with 2/1 GF, but now I set up a forcing pass situation, and I have plenty of time to show partner about my support.
Now, most people who play FIT JUMPS, only play them in competition. This is what I use to do as well. Saving jump shifts for either weak hands or strong hands depending upon partner's preference. But strong hands are really not a big problem playing 2/1 or nmf, and weak hands, well, sometimes you preempt partner and you can alway try to get your suit it with 1NT forcing after all.
Now, if you choose to play fit jumps, (single jumps), that leaves you with double jumps as either splinters, or better fit jumps. It is up to you. That is....
1H - 3C
3H - 4H <<--- better fit jump, pass with min fit jump...
or you can play 3C as limited to 3 level fit jump and 4C as a hand worth game fit jump. I have played both options, but it does seem a little redundant to use both.
Now 2/1 game force, fit jump long suit less than game force or very bare game force, what does that leave 2NT as since no bergen?
Well, I very much like the ability to bid
1H-3H or 1S-3S on 4 card support and dirt. So I follow my european friends and use 1M-2NT to show limit raise OR BETTER. Over this, you can add some of Marty Bergen's ideas for New Jacoby, but you must play either 1M-2NT-3M or 1M-2NT-3C as an escape bid to get out if responder has a limit raise.
As for Luis's never, ever using a fit jump, well maybe he is unlucky, they most certainly do turn up. As a matter of fact, if you lower your requirement for 4 card major support, they turn up a lot, but I like to keep the fourth trump, because I am forcing the bidding to the three level (law of total tricks... 9 trumps, 9 tricks).
How do you find out which suit is better? If it goes 1S-3H-4H-? what do you bid with your hand? I think with the fifth spade, you should correct back to spades... besides, you want the lead coming up to your partners hand, not yours.
Now to the reference about 1M-3NT....
Playing 2/1, your forcing 1NT can include some pretty good hands without a five card suit. Some people use 1M-3NT to separate out some of the potential hands from 1M-2NT.
I have seen 1M-3NT played as 16-17 balanced, 4 card support, and as 13-15 with 3/4 card support, balance. Someone will probably correct me, but I have seen this referred to as something like "sorter". When I use to play Romex, we used 1M-3NT to show 4-4.5 cover cards and 12-13 hcp and a fit. This is why I asked.
Ben
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