The Coolidge examiner., 1932-09-16
Modern Contract
brI0qG BY Leila Hsttersley
No. II.
Responding to Forcing
Two-Rids

ueE lWO-Dlu anu Clearly uHQeT-
stands the part it plays in the fore
ing system, he must realize that for
its success, the forcing two-bid de-
pends entirely on correct responses.
When responding to your partners
two-bid, the most important facts
to keep in mind are:
First-You cannot pass.
Second-Even though you are
trickless you must bid and continue
to bid until a game is reached Cor
its penalty equivalent in a double
of an opponent which will net as
many points as your game would
be worth).
Third-Unless you have at least
one honor-trick, your first response
must be a negative two no trump,
irrespective of whether or not you
hold length in your partners trumps
or a long suit of your own.
Fourth-Any response other than
two no trumps is positive, showing
at least one honor-trick in your
hand.
If you respond with two no
trumps you show that your hand
lacks an honor-trick with this neg
ative response you may have some
distributional support in long
trumps and rufiing tricks, or a long
suit Of your own. Either can be
shown on a later round of the bid
ding.
If you respond with a raise Of
partners suit you show definitely
one hOnor-trick and the normal sup
port of four small trumps or three
to the queen. When more than one
raise can be counted lin additional
honor or ruffing-tricks) the bid
should be jumped for the full
amount of raises. But jump over
the game should be avoided with
less than 2 to 21a honor-tricks.
If you respond with a suit take
out you show at least one honor
trick in a hand containing a bid
dable suit. Unlike your raises, your
suit take-Outs must never be
jumped. They must be bid gradu-
alley even though you have all the
outstanding honor-tricks missing
from your partners hand. The
better reason you have for believ-
ing that the hand contains a slam,
the better reason for keeping the
bidding low and gaining all pos
sible information.
If you respond with three no
trumps you deRy support for part
ner's suit (unless sometimes when
he opens a minor) and also deny
another biddable suit, but you show
from 112 to honor-tricks. The
purpose of the three no trump re-
sponse is to inform your partner i'm
mediately that he can count on pos
tive honor-trick support.
If you respond with four, five, or
six no trumps you show 21a or
more honor-tricks and lack of ade-
quate trump support or a biddable
suit. Your 21a honor tricks, added
to the minimum shown by partners
opening two-bid, put you definitely
in the slam zone. Whether you de-
cided to bid Immediately for the
slam or to give your partner slam
invitation would depend upon
whether your hand contained just
the bare 21a honor-tricks (bid no
trump) or sufficient additional hon.
or cards and shoppers to feel as
sured that, without hearing further
from your partner, a slam bid at
no trump would be a thoroughly
safe and favorable contract.
Examples of forcing two-bids:
NORTH
SIX J 1868
H-432
D-432
CLIO
WEST EAST
S-986 S-A72
H-A65 H-10987
D-AS76 D-10
C-984 C-76532
SOUTH
S-Q4
H-K-QJ
QJ95
C-AKQ
Bidding
Dealer
South West North East
2 Diamonds Pass Spades Pass
No Trumps Pass Pass Pass
NORTH
S-Q97654
H-2
D-S-7-6-5
C-109
WEST EAST
SO SAP
H-1O9S765 H-3
D-A104 D-932
C-QJ2 C-K876543.
SOUTH