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Show Modern Contract Bridge By Leila Hottersky 1 1 No. 12. No Trump Take-Outs of a Suit Bid of One VXTIIKN the next player passes aft- ' er your partner's opening suit bid of one, you must try to keep the bidding open if you hnve a trlck-and-a-half In your bund. With no biddable bid-dable suit, nnd with your trlck-and-a-half divided between two suits, a negative neg-ative response of one no trump should be given. If he understands the forcing forc-ing system, your partner will not mis-Interpret mis-Interpret such a take-out for a strength response, but will realize that you are merely paying him the courtesy of keeping the contract open In case be has additional values or another suit which he Is eager for a second chance to show. A take-out with one no trump is always a quite definitely weak response. Holding as many as 2V4 honor-tricks honor-tricks with no assistance and no biddable bid-dable suit, using the yardstick measurement, meas-urement, you would take your partner part-ner out of his suit bid with a Jump to two no trumps. The Jump to two no trumps Is not forcing. While it Is strong encouragement encourage-ment for him to go on, partner may pass, and should do so unless be holds additional honor strength or values not originally shown. When you find In your own hand the 3 honor-tricks necessary to complete the yardstick measurement for game at no trumps (a total of 5 honor-tricks) and have decided that a no trump take-out Is your best choice, you must have the courage to jump to game yourself, not leaving It to your partner's Imagination Imagina-tion to do so. Taking Out When You Hold Trump Support Whenever your partner opens with a minor suit bid of one, even though you hold strength or length In the suit, do not consider assisting his bid until you are sure you would not be better justified justi-fied In taking It out with a major suit or a no trump. Even an overcall in a second minor is better than an assist because, while not immediately Improving Im-proving the situation, such a take-out may eventually lead to a more favorable favor-able bid. The difficulty of stretching a hand to the five-odd tricks necessary for game in a minor must always be kept in mind. Even when holding ample am-ple trump support for your partner's minor suit, a raise should be the last, not the first thing to consider. With a four, three, three, three division, di-vision, which promises no distributional distribu-tional or ruffing tricks, it la usually advisable to take your partner out of a major suit even when you hold adequate ade-quate trump support. To illustrate, suppose your partner opened with one spade, and this was your hand : S-Q 8 6 4 H-A J 4 D-K 10 7 C-K 9 8 Even with your 2 honor-tricks you could barely count sufficient playing-tricks playing-tricks for a single raise. To show the full strength of your hand your only logical response would be two no trumps. Such take-out's are not unusual. It often happens that the responding partner, part-ner, while having more than sufficient honor strength to keep the bidding open, Is lacking in sufficient playing tricks to support his partner's bid. In such a case the only recourse Is a no trump take-out', either a negative response re-sponse or a higher bid according to the count of honor-tricks in your hand. Various responses to partner's one spade bid which has been passed up to you: Bid four spades S-KJ63 H-A Q 6 4 S D-6 C-J 10 8 Bid three hearts S-KJ63 H-AQ6 43 D-6 C-K J 10 Pass S-KJ63 H-6 4 3 D-6 3 2 C-J 10 8 Bid two diamonds S-Q 4 H-7 B 3 2 D-A J 10 5 4 C-10 6 Bid three clubs S-K10 H-K10 4 3 D-KQ C-K Q 8 7 6 Bid one no trump S-109 8 6 H-A 5 4 D-K 6 3 C-7 6 5 Bid one no trump S-K543 H-K5 4 D-K 3 2 C-8 6 4 Bid three no trumps S-K10 8 H-K6 5 D-A K 4 C-J9 6 5 Pass S-6 5 2 H-AJir D-76 4 3 C-10 9 7 Bid four no trumps S-J9 6 H-A K J D-K J 10 8 C-K Q 9 Responses to partner's bid of one diamond which has been passed up to you: Bid two clubs S-J6 H-Q6 3 D-K 6 5 C-K Q 6 3 2 Bid one heart S-10986 H-A J 10 5 D-A J 8 C-6 2 Bid five diamonds S-7 4 3 H-A K 6 D-K109865 C-6 Bid two diamonds S-AQ5 H-10 4 3 D-109 8 63 0-6 4 (. 1932, by Lalla, Hatteraley.) WOT Service |